So he hadn’t had time to find out much about her.
“No, so I’m completely unsuitable.”
“Nice try. I like how you keep trying to fight this. Do you know what happens when prey runs from a predator?”
Zoey stared up at him, trying to speak, but the words dried up in her throat.
When prey runs from a predator, the predator gives chase.
Suddenly, Dominic leaned in and kissed her. She definitely was going to slap the hell out of him for taking liberties, but she somehow forgot to fight back.
His lips were soft as pillows, and her lips parted in surprise. He tasted like mint as his tongue probed her mouth, swirling gently in an intimate dance. He cradled the back of her head gently as the kiss went on and on, and she melted like taffy under his heat.
Zoey sank into a daze of sensation, the world falling away. She was no longer in a gritty alley next to an overflowing dumpster. She was on a plane where only she and Dominic existed. Traffic sounds faded, and the beat of her heart thudded in her ears.
And then he let go and stepped away.
She stood there, astonished.
That’s it? He wasn’t going to throw her over his shoulder and haul her off to his wolf-cave or wherever he lived?
Dominic winked at her, turned, and walked off. Zoey stared after him, reluctantly admiring the view and wondering why she didn’t feel more relieved. He’d let her go. Her map-sense told her the obstacles between here and home had vanished, leaving a clear path.
Did “mate” mean something entirely different than she thought?
Whatever. She waited a couple of minutes to be sure he was gone before retrieving her bicycle from where it was chained up in front of Kalinda’s office. She raced through the streets as if the hounds of hell were on her heels. Her butt still throbbed with every push of the peddles. When would it stop?
As she pulled up in front of her building, the stink of sun-heated trash flooded her nostrils, and rats scampered across the street, unafraid. She was almost tempted to say yes to Dominic’s … er, proposal? Demands? Maybe then she could ask him to have the Moretti Pack do their damned job. But no, she wasn’t going to make a lifelong commitment just to get someone to take out the trash.
She was pretty sure her future husband-slash-mate had just abandoned her anyway. He came on all strong, kissed her stupid, and then walked away. Maybe he didn’t like the way she kissed, which kind of stung, but it also meant she was free. So … that was good news, right?
But he’d mentioned something about her being his mate twenty-eight days from now. Was he going to try to claim her, or was he giving up on the whole idea completely? Nothing made sense.
Zoey was afraid to go to her apartment, in case there was a Moretti squad waiting to ambush her. But after a night without sleep, she was wiped out. If she didn’t take a nap soon, she’d fall asleep on her feet. When she got home, she sank down onto her couch, bleary with exhaustion, and fell asleep with the memory of Dominic’s lips on hers.
Chapter Three
W hile eating lunch, Dominic received a text from Arturo summoning him to the Arena, an entertainment resort with casinos, magic shows, and no-holds-barred cage fighting. It was also owned by the Moretti Pack.
He and Romano left their steaks half-eaten and made the forty-minute, cross-town drive in fifteen minutes, leaving behind a trail of near-accidents and furiously honking horns. It didn’t matter. When Arturo called, his wolves hauled ass.
The Arena was easy to find. Anyone just needed to look for the enormous red and gold neon sign and the perpetual fireworks that splashed across the sky overhead, thanks to some very expensive mage-work. They were visible in the daytime but truly spectacular at night.
The parking lot was full, as usual. He and Romano let the valet take Dominic’s car. Inside, slot machines ka-chinged, waiters glided by with trays of free drinks, and gorgeous, half-naked men and women in gilded cages shifted to animal form and back for an audience of dazzled non-magics.
As they made their way through the casino, Romano trotted along at Dominic’s side, a couple of steps behind him. It was a pack hierarchy thing.
The closer they got to Arturo’s office, the more the hair stood up on Dominic’s neck.
“Something’s off,” he muttered, glancing back at Romano, who quickened his step so he was right next to Dominic in case of an attack.
“Yeah, I feel it.” Romano nodded.
When they reached the door to Arturo’s office, a familiar scent drifted into Dominic’s nostrils.
The Bianchi Pack? What the hell?
He smelled Primo, Primo’s brother and underboss Luigi, and Fabiana.
There was another scent there, one that reeked of magic so strong he had to be a high-level mage. Dominic didn’t hear or scent anything that indicated trouble, but still, the Bianchi Pack members had come to the Arena? That was unprecedented. He and Romano barreled into the room, bracing for a fight.
Dominic’s gaze swept the room quickly. On the surface, everything was calm. Arturo sat on a throne-like chair in front of a rectangular, hand-carved table with paws for legs—the paws of a rival mob boss.
Even in a crisis, he was cool, unruffled, and elegant. He wore an exquisitely hand-cut raw silk suit the color of gunmetal and tailored to fit his six-feet-five-inch height. He had thick, dark hair with a silver streak through it, and a smile that made wolf pups cry and never seemed to reach his amber eyes.
“Please, join us,” he said in a deep, rumbling voice as if it were an actual request rather than an order.
Giuliana sat to his left with Arturo’s cousins, Carlo and Ottavio, sitting next to him on the right. Arturo had turned them in the 1950s.
Ottavio was on the same level as Dominic, a Capo. Unfortunately, Carlo wasn’t. The turn had gone wrong with Carlo, and now the seven-feet-tall murder machine was childlike but still deadly.
At the far end of the table was a dark-haired, narrow-faced man Dominic recognized from news stories. It was Benedict, a member of the Council of Mages. That wasn’t a good sign; they only involved themselves in shifter affairs when some major shiznit was going down.
At the opposite side of the table, facing Arturo, were the Bianchis.
Primo and Luigi were big, blocky men dressed in dark suits. They always looked as if they were on their way to a funeral. Fabiana sat between her uncles, melodramatically dabbing at her reddened eyes with a handkerchief. She wore a pink spandex dress that clung to her body like a second skin. When Dominic walked in, she burst into loud, noisy tears and Primo patted her on the arm and glared at Dominic.
“Don’t you worry, we will avenge your honor,” Primo said loudly.
What the hell?
“What honor?” Romano muttered in a low voice. Dominic elbowed him in the ribs, hard. The situation was already tense enough; he didn’t need Romano stirring things up with his smart mouth.
Arturo waved his hand at Romano and Dominic, indicating they should stand next to him.
“You took your time,” Primo snarled at Dominic. “No respect. No respect at all.”
“You will address me, not my men,” Arturo said coldly. “And since this visit was unexpected, you’re lucky we even agreed to this meeting.”
“Excuse me. I am the mediator, and I will do the talking,” Mage Benedict interrupted impatiently.
Arturo nodded gravely. “Proceed.”
“I’ll cut right to the chase. We are here to address a grievance from the Bianchi Pack,” Mage Benedict said to Dominic. “Primo Bianchi states you formally agreed to a mating contract with Fabiana Bianchi, which was intended to help unite your packs and act as a peace offering.”
Peace offering, my furry ass.
Several months ago, the Bianchi Pack had restarted the hostilities in the first place by carjacking one of the Moretti Pack’s trucks, claiming it had been in their territories. Their actions had set off a revenge raid by the Moretti Pack, and the two packs had been low-key taking shots at
each other ever since.
“After agreeing to this, they say you deliberately humiliated her by mate-biting another female right in front of her,” Mage Benedict continued in a deeply concerned tone.
At this, Fabiana let out a loud, fake wail and collapsed into her uncle’s arms.
Dominic snorted with contempt. “Arturo, you know I would never agree to a mating contract without first seeking your approval and blessing.”
Arturo nodded slightly.
Ottavio echoed the gesture with a vigorous nod of his own. “None of us would,” he said loudly with a fierce glower at the Bianchi’s. Ottavio, who was slavishly devoted to Arturo, was all about pack honor.
Arturo addressed Mage Benedict. “They approached us with the offer several weeks ago, and I said I would consider it. Mating is for life; it is not a decision I would make hastily. As a sign of good faith, I told him I would expect them to refrain from any further attacks on my men and my property while I decided.”
“And we did!” Primo snarled. “Because we keep our word. And because Dominic had agreed the mating would take place. Otherwise, why would we have called off our men?”
Dominic turned to Benedict. “I repeat, I did no such thing. Fabiana has sent me texts and tried to call me repeatedly over the past few weeks. I have not answered one call, I have not contacted her, and I was not the one who invited her to the party last night either.”
“Neither was I,” Arturo said, a hint of steel in his voice. “We’re not certain how her name got on the guest list.”
That wasn’t good. The party was at the Royal Palms Banquet Hall, where they held all their pack functions. Had their security been compromised?
“I came because I was invited!” Fabiana whined and looked accusingly at Dominic, blinking her tear-stained eyes. Her mascara hadn’t even clumped; Dominic would have bet a million bucks she was wearing waterproof makeup because she had planned the fake waterworks in advance. Hell, she’d probably rehearsed this little scene all morning. “You asked me to come! And you were all over me!”
“Excuse me, I was what?” Dominic said incredulously.
At the same time, Giuliana strangled on a laugh.
“You couldn’t keep your hands off me!” Fabiana’s face flushed in a very convincing display of anger.
“He couldn’t get away from you fast enough!” Giuliana laughed so hard, tears ran down her cheeks. Her uncle elbowed her, but his mouth twitched in a brief smile.
Primo growled and let his fangs descend. Luigi leapt to his feet, his face turning furry, and his jaw lengthening. Arturo just sat there with a faint look of amused disdain. To not even bother to react was the ultimate show of disrespect.
“Enough!” Benedict snapped, and Primo and Luigi settled down while Fabiana sniveled quietly and daintily dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Who was in charge of the guest list?”
“I was.” Giuliana’s smooth brow wrinkled in a frown. “The guest list was printed out from the computer. It is possible it was an error because Fabiana was at the last two parties. I went over the list myself before the party, though, and I’m sure she wasn’t on it. Perhaps an old list was printed out instead.”
Dominic thought an error sounded unlikely, and he could see it in Arturo’s face too.
What would somebody have to gain by sneaking her into the party?
Dominic cleared his throat loudly and leaned forward. “Even if I had agreed to the mating, which I did not, a mate-bite on a full moon supersedes that unless I had already bitten and bonded with Fabiana, which would eradicate my ability to sense my true mate. When a wolf spots his mate on the full moon and marks her as his, any prior agreements are nullified. It has been this way throughout history. This is understood by all shifter packs, including the Bianchis. We honor the instincts of our wolves.”
Benedict glanced at Primo and arched an eyebrow. “Is that true?”
Primo scowled. “It’s not as universal as they’re claiming.”
“Bullshit,” Giuliana coughed into her hand, earning her a sharp look from her uncle and a snarl from Luigi.
Benedict heaved a sigh. “I will have to consult with Jeremiah.”
Jeremiah was the Mage Council’s shifter consultant. He was a member of the Moonstone Pack. They owned the family entertainment area in the south side of Encantado and were considered neutral when it came to the fight between the Bianchis and the Moretti Pack. They liked to present themselves as respectable businessmen, although plenty of their guys liked to sneak into the dirtier parts of town to sample their wares.
"I will be in touch. You will not take any further action until I give you my decision. And now I would like to speak to Arturo alone."
The Bianchi Pack members stood, making a big production of it by loudly shoving their chairs back. Fabiana pretended to half-swoon, and Primo propped her up as they stomped out of the room.
"My God," Giuliana said in wonder. "She should be on a telenovela. I almost wanted to ask for her autograph."
"Surely, you didn't fall for her act, Benedict" Arturo said impatiently. “They’re trying to start a war because they hope to take over our territory. Plain and simple.”
Benedict shrugged. “She was obviously camping it up, but that doesn’t settle the question of whether the Bianchi Pack has been wronged.”
He drummed his fingers on the table and gave Dominic a speculative look. “So the mating claim is official? You have brought her back to the pack territory?”
Dominic shook his head. “No, tradition states she does not have to return here until the next full moon.”
Arturo nodded.
What Dominic didn’t add was the reason for the tradition. If a warrior-class shifter bit a non-wolf, she would very likely not survive the bite. Waiting to bring her back to the pack territory allowed her time to say farewell to friends and family.
Dominic’s fur prickled under his skin at the thought. That wouldn’t happen to Zoey. The serum would protect her—his fierce, adorable Zoey, who amusingly thought she could escape him even though she didn’t really want to. His wolf itched to be with her already. It didn’t understand why he couldn’t just grab her by the nape of her neck and drag her back home with him.
“In that case, you could still marry Fabiana and unite the two packs.” Benedict mused. “It would avoid a potential war.”
“You disrespect our traditions,” Arturo growled, baring his fangs. “The wolf made its claim.”
“Very well. We will notify you as soon as we make a decision,” Benedict replied, his dark brows drawing together.
Anger swelled in Dominic’s chest. There shouldn’t be any debate.
Benedict stood to leave. “One more thing. We’ve had our first ghoul sighting in years. A human couple was camping in Scorched Earth, and they barely escaped.”
Giuliana’s eyes grew wide. “What were they doing at Scorched Earth?”
Scorched Earth was an area north of the city, near the Portal. A dragon had flown out of the portal a couple of years ago and burned down a wide swath of pine forest before the combined power of the city’s most powerful mages took it down.
“They were filming themselves, hoping to be on one of those reality T.V. shows.”
“Ugh.” Giuliana wrinkled her nose, although Dominic knew keeping up with a certain T.V. family was her guilty pleasure.
“Did they actually see the ghouls?” Arturo raised a brow.
Benedict shook his head. “No, or they probably wouldn’t have survived to tell. Their dog went crazy barking and alerted them. As they ran for their car, the wind shifted and they smelled the ghouls,” he said. “They called the police as soon as they got back in cell phone range. The police’s sniffer officers found ghoul footprints and ghoul scent.”
Dominic wrinkled his nose in disgust; ghouls smelled foul.
“The ghouls walked to a river and the scent disappeared,” Benedict concluded.
“Did the dog get away?” Carlo blurted out, and everyone turned
to look at him.
“Yes,” Benedict said, flashing him an irritated look. “The dog was right at their heels when they fled.”
“Oh, good. I like dogs.” Carlo didn’t seem to notice Benedict’s annoyance.
Ottavio elbowed his brother, who just looked at him in confusion.
Dominic felt a chill of unease.
Zoey’s neighborhood was pretty far north. Of course, there were guard stations all across the city’s northern border, dedicated to keeping any magic spillover away from the city.
One bite from a ghoul was fatal to humans, and mages too for that matter. Within minutes, the bitten turned to mindless, rage-filled husks of their former selves. The fact shifters were immune to the effects of a ghoul bite was one reason they were so vital to the city’s defense.
Dominic saw the look on Arturo’s face. Ghouls walking to a river? It almost sounded as if they’d done that so they could wade in the water and throw off the trackers. That would indicate planning. Intelligence. If there were some new type of ghoul spilling out of the portal, the type with the ability to reason, then humanity was hosed.
“They couldn’t have come through the portal.” Arturo tapped his fingers on the table, his thick brows drawing together. “The guards would have reported it.”
“Yes, I know,” Benedict acknowledged. “No ghouls have emerged from the main portal. There’s always the possibility of a lesser portal having opened.”
At least lesser portals never stayed open long. It was unheard of for them to be open for more than a few hours.
Arturo’s gaze never flickered. “I can put my best scenters on it. Maybe they can pick up something the police missed.”
“That would be appreciated. Have them report to our headquarters.” Benedict nodded at Arturo and the others and left.
Ottavio waited until he was gone before spinning on Dominic with a snarl. “Your wolf just had to bite her, didn’t it?”
“Yes,” Dominic snapped, “it did. Would you like to discuss the matter further?” By which he meant, did he want Dominic to slice him, dice him, and make his fur into a coat?
Romano let out a low, rumbling growl of support but hung back.
Mated to the Capo (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 1) Page 3