Mated to the Capo (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 1)

by Georgette St. Clair

  Dominic groaned in frustration. “Zoey!”

  She ignored him and hurried from the tent, her cheeks flaming in embarrassment. What had just possessed her?

  She pushed her way through the crowd and rushed back home. She was already in her apartment when she realized she hadn’t even asked him her question.

  Chapter Eleven

  T he wind had a crisp chill to it. Two hostile groups of wolf shifters stood a short distance apart from each other on a road in the rural area just north of Encantado city limits.

  Primo Bianchi’s dull black eyes fixed on Arturo as if he hoped to make him burst into flames with his gaze alone. Primo’s men crowded around him, bristling with aggression and peeling their lips back to show their fangs.

  Arturo didn’t seem to notice they were there. He stood with Romano, Dominic, Ottavio, and Carlo, making idle conversation. His lack of response to the Bianchi Pack seemed to aggravate Primo even more, which was entirely the point.

  There had been a ghoul attack nearby hours earlier. A man had been killed while he was mowing his lawn. His neighbor had called the police and sirens had alerted all of the residents to take shelter indoors. A police squadron had arrived and quickly killed two ghouls who were tearing at the door of a small ranch house.

  The Council of Mages had ordered the two packs to temporarily set aside their feud. Both packs had been summoned there to send out their best scenters to find out where the ghouls had come from.

  Benedict stood by the roadside, sipping hot tea from a cardboard cup and watching silently. If either pack attacked the other during the search, they would be punished.

  The scenters and foot soldiers were searching the woods, following the ghouls’ trail.

  Where could they have come from? It didn’t make any sense. There was only the one portal, and it was constantly guarded.

  “What if it’s a new larger portal?” Dominic mused. “A permanent one?”

  “That wouldn’t happen in our territory!” Ottavio growled. “We’ve got it under control!”

  “Yeah, we’ve got it unner a troll!” Carlo echoed, always loyal to his brother. “Wait, there’s a troll?”

  Ottavio waved his hand at him, making a shushing motion. “Carlo, leave the talking to me.”

  Dominic snorted. Ottavio believed brute force was the answer to everything. He was an idiot. Sheer numbers and physical strength of their pack had no more to do with a portal opening than it had to do with a volcano erupting. They were forces of nature; they just happened.

  “We have to consider all possibilities,” Arturo said calmly.

  “Of course, we do,” Ottavio agreed instantly.

  Dominic rolled his eyes. Ottavio was a dull echo for everything Arturo said. If the man ever had an original thought, it would die of loneliness.

  Carlo looked at him in confusion. “That’s not what you just said.”

  Ottavio was usually patient with his brother, but he’d clearly had enough today. He let out a snarl and bunched up his fist, but Arturo interrupted him.

  “Stop,” he said in an icy tone before flicking a glance at Primo. Primo glared back at them with fierce intensity. “Do you want him to see us as divided?”

  “Of course not.” Ottavio shifted his weight from one foot to another. “I just get antsy seeing them over there looking at us like that. It’s not good for the pack, letting them treat us with disrespect.”

  “Matters will come to a head sooner rather than later.” Arturo shrugged.

  “Can’t come soon enough for me.” Ottavio flashed his fangs at the Bianchis and quickly retracted them.

  Dominic strolled off to call one of the men he had watching Zoey. The answer he got made him growl. She was working her bike messenger job today and kept managing to shake his people and disappear for long stretches of time.

  She was surprisingly good at dodging his men, better than she should have been. She was new to the city, and his men were pros, so how was she doing it?

  It wasn’t just that he was a control freak and antsy about the possibility of other men flirting with her. He also wanted to be able to keep her safe. She hadn’t lived in Encantado that long, and she had such a naturally decent nature.

  He wished there was something he could do about that.

  What if she trusted the wrong person? What if she stopped to help someone with a flat tire and it turned out to be a trap? Or she went to give money to a panhandler and they stabbed her?

  He shook his head impatiently, trying to clear his thoughts. What the hell was wrong with him? As a member of a mafia pack, he was accustomed to loss. People died, plain and simple. You accepted it, you moved on. No matter how strong he was, no matter what powers he had, Dominic couldn’t be everywhere at once, watching everyone close to him all the time.

  That was the way it was in portal cities. He’d learned that lesson a decade ago, and it had nearly destroyed him. Hell, in some ways it had—he’d never be the man he used to be.

  Since then, he’d built a stone wall around his heart to protect it, and nobody had ever breached it. It wasn’t like him to worry like this. Hell, Zoey wasn’t even officially bonded to him, not until the next full moon.

  But the thought of anything happening to her nearly made his fur burst from his skin.

  He called his man again. “Did you find her yet?”

  “In the last sixty seconds?” his guard squawked incredulously.

  “Excuse you?” Dominic barked into the phone. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

  The guard took in a sharp breath. “I will find her and report back immediately.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought you said.” Dominic hung up and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

  He needed to step up his game and show Zoey the benefits of being with him. Maybe he could find some suggestions on the internet? No, that was just embarrassing. If anyone ever saw “how to woo your reluctant mate” in his search history, he’d have to kill them. Or let himself get eaten by an ogre.

  “Here comes someone. Oh, it’s just Fabiana,” Romano announced.

  Fabiana was a scenter, so she’d been included in the search party. She came trotting out of the woods and walked toward the Moretti Pack instead of the Bianchis.

  She shifted and stood naked before them, blinking her big brown eyes. Arching her back, she made a huge show of tossing her shiny black hair over her shoulder, looking right at Dominic as she did so.

  “Romano, leave us.” She flipped a slim hand in dismissal. “I need to speak to my future mate.” Turning her attention to Dominic, she batted her eyes. “I’ve thought about it, and I’m willing to forgive you. You were drinking the night you bit her. It must have effected your wolf’s judgement.”

  “Don’t give orders to my men. And as for you, I’d rather mate with a ghoul,” Dominic said coldly.

  “You cannot seriously want to shackle yourself to that fat little nobody!” Fabiana’s eyes blazed in anger.

  Fur rippled over Dominic’s face, and his claws shot from his fingertips. “Do not ever speak of my mate like that again!” he snarled.

  She stepped back and burst into tears. “Don’t hurt me!” she cried out loudly.

  Fake-cringing, she raised her hands in front of her face. As if. She-shifters were vicious as hell when cornered. If he’d made a move to hurt her, she’d have shifted and gone straight for a vital organ. Probably the one between his legs.

  Dammit. Fabiana had deliberately provoked him, and he’d fallen for it like an idiot.

  Primo and Luigi came barreling toward them. The Moretti Pack members rushed to Dominic’s side.

  Benedict stood back and sipped his tea, watching the show with an expression of mild interest.

  “You threaten my female?” Primo bellowed. “That is a new low, even for you!”

  “You really are spoiling for a showdown, which we are happy to provide right here,” Arturo drawled. “Your hearing is every bit as good as ours, and you know exactly
what your female just did to provoke my Capo. What would you do if one of your females came up and barked orders at a made man like that?”

  “Bite her face off!” Luigi snapped furiously.

  Primo spun around and punched Luigi in the head so hard he fell to his knees. “You do not speak for me!” he growled.

  Primo sent a wave of force so intense, they all felt it, and Luigi clawed at his throat, eyes wide and panicked.

  Fabiana’s gaze shuttled nervously back and forth between the Bianchis and the Morettis. She was one of those women who got through life manipulating men by either seducing them or stirring up trouble by flirting with mated men.

  Dominic felt a faint burning discomfort, and Romano grimaced, but Primo’s powers were nowhere near as strong as Arturo’s.

  Finally, Primo released Luigi, who fell to his hands and knees, his face purple. He gasped and wheezed, desperately sucking in air.

  “Your questioning this makes no sense,” Arturo said coldly. “Your parents’ pairing was a moon-bite.”

  “My father was actually choosing a mate. He was not trying to get out of a legitimate mating contract by biting the first floozy who—” Primo suddenly turned red and clawed at his throat.

  Arturo pumped out waves of power that made Dominic’s head hurt. Everyone backed up quickly. Although Arturo was directing the power straight at Primo, it affected those around him.

  Several of Primo’s men hurried forward to try to help, and Arturo’s power caught them up too. They gasped, their eyes bulging from their heads. The rest of Primo’s men backed up warily.

  Benedict hurried over. “Enough!” he bellowed. “I demand you release them! If you wish to kill Primo, issue a formal challenge and do it by the book.”

  “Very well.” Arturo released all of them. They collapsed, faces purplish, wheezing and clawing at their throats.

  When Primo could speak again, he turned to Benedict. “You saw what he did to us!” he croaked.

  “I remain neutral.” Benedict stepped back, a smirk curling his lips.

  Fucking weasel.

  Benedict and the rest of the mages would be delighted to stand back and watch the two packs fight to the death.

  “Do you wish to meet me in the death arena?” Arturo demanded. “You can bring two of your strongest men with you; it won’t help.”

  Primo stared at him with burning hatred. Arturo had just humiliated him. If Primo said yes, Arturo would kill him in the arena. If he didn’t agree, he looked weak in front of everybody.

  The moment stretched on and on. Primo shook with rage. Arturo had dismissed Primo completely as any kind of threat.

  Boom. Now Arturo had just handed him the ultimate humiliation.

  “Here they come,” Romano called out and gestured at the woods. The scenters and the foot soldiers came trotting out, looking as glum as wolves could look. They shifted back to human form and walked up to the roadside, pulling on the clothing they’d left behind.

  Arturo snapped his fingers at Ciro, his best scenter. “What did you find?” he said impatiently.

  “The scent goes through the woods to a small dirt road and then vanishes,” Ciro said, looking frustrated.

  “Like they were let out of a car?” Arturo raised a brow.

  “That’s difficult for me to say. The road has a lot of car smells, some fresher than others.” Ciro frowned. “I’m sorry, boss, we didn’t find any sign of a lesser portal, and we have no idea where they could have come from.” The other shifters nodded.

  Primo gestured impatiently at his lead scenter, a wolf named Pasquale.

  “We found the same thing.” He made a face as if agreeing with the Moretti Pack’s scenters left a sour taste in his mouth.

  “So both of you failed,” Benedict said irritably. He scowled at Primo. “Your pack leaves first. The Moretti Pack will wait twenty minutes. You both will return to your respective territories before hostilities are permitted to commence.” He headed to his car and drove off.

  Arturo waited until the Bianchi Pack left before gesturing at his men. “Wait for me in the cars. You too,” he added to Romano, who glanced briefly at Dominic before walking away.

  Returning his attention to Dominic, Arturo frowned. “Ottavio seems to have issues with you these days,” he said coolly. “He thinks you’re not doing your job. Specifically, there seems to be more trouble in the territories I’ve assigned to you.”

  Dominic swallowed a surge of anger. Ottavio loved to make other high-ranking wolves look bad because he thought it made him look good, and he lived and died for Arturo’s favor. “I don’t care about Ottavio’s opinions. I care about yours. Do you think I’m not doing my job?”

  “If I thought that, there would be so many pieces of you, nobody could stitch them back together. But I have concerns. Many businesses have folded up shop. And there was the issue with the garbage collection. What have you found out so far?”

  Dominic grimaced. Arturo wasn’t going to like his answer. “The owner of the waste disposal company abandoned his business and left the city, just like the other business owners. I haven’t been able to get any of them to speak to me yet. If we weren’t facing this challenge from the Bianchi Pack, I’d suggest I get a special travel permit from the Mage’s Council so I could go question them face to face and assure them no harm would come to them if they explained themselves. I was going to give you my report this morning, but then the call about the ghouls came in.”

  Arturo stared at Dominic, his gaze hard and searching. Finally, he gave a short, sharp nod. “Continue investigating. If you can’t find answers soon …” he let his voice trail off without elaborating.

  He headed over to his car and slid in the back. Ottavio and Carlo piled in the front, and they pulled away.

  Dominic went to his car, where Romano was sitting behind the wheel. As they drove off, he felt a stirring of uneasiness. He didn’t give a rat’s ass what Ottavio thought, but Arturo was right; something was rotten in the city of Encantado, and that really said something.

  Chapter Twelve

  Z oey glided to a stop in front of the warehouse on Lombard where Cin and her friends were staying now. She had a big box of pastries and a mission. Lorenzo was traveling to the Bianchi Pack’s territory to hang out with Cin, and Zoey had to report back to Andrea that Lorenzo was all right.

  Dominic had done yet another disappearing act, which made her nervous. She was constantly checking over her shoulder as she worked. She’d been in touch with Cin the whole time, and he hadn’t seemed to be trying to track her down.

  Cin, Lorenzo, and Heath were sitting on empty packing crates in front of the warehouse, waiting for her. A half-dozen kids gathered around a makeshift burn barrel stove, roasting squirrels on sticks. She didn’t know their names, and sadly, the way new kids came and went all the time, half of them would probably be gone by next week. Cin and Heath had stuck around much longer than most.

  She handed them the box of pastries, and they tore into them enthusiastically.

  Cin, as usual, wore gorgeous new jewelry that looked out of place with her ragamuffin clothes. She couldn’t possibly have afforded it on her own. Her necklace and earrings were dragons sculpted from silver wire. Little red flames accented the pieces.

  “You have excellent taste in shoplifting,” Zoey said to Cin.

  “Mmmf fd bff cmfl,” Cin replied around a mouthful of donut.

  “Say what, girl who was raised in a barn?”

  Cin swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I said, you should be careful. Have you heard about the ghouls? Word on the street is that they ate some guy.”

  Zoey frowned. The street kids sometimes heard things before anybody else did. On the other hand, they loved gossip as much as any teenager, and it wasn’t always accurate.

  For instance, there were no killer mermaids eating people who boated on the pond at Greenwald Park.

  “Wouldn’t that be on the news?” Zoey quirked a brow.

 
“Not always. Sometimes the police hide it because they want to make sure poor people get eaten,” Lorenzo said loftily.

  “Says who?”

  “Says Cin.”

  Cin nodded vigorously. She was already on her second donut. “My fremfs up norf tole me,” she mumbled, crumbs falling out of her mouth.

  “If ghouls are coming through the portal, maybe you guys should move farther south,” Zoey said uneasily. It was possible the news had been suppressed so tourists wouldn’t be scared off. It would be impossible to keep a full-blown ghoul attack under wraps, but an occasional ghoul slipping through the portal? They might be able to keep that quiet.

  “Into the fancy areas? No way,” Cin shook her head. “Too many cops.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Lorenzo said confidently. “If any ghouls come near us, I’ll kick their skinny behinds.” He reached into the pocket of his denim jacket and pulled out a pair of nunchucks.

  “Do I want to know where you stole those from?” Zoey asked.

  Lorenzo smirked. “I don’t know, do you?”

  Zoey tried to grab his donut from him, but he dodged her easily.

  She made a clucking sound of disapproval. “Prison’s not going to be as much fun as you think it is.”

  He smirked at her with all the confidence of a teenager who knows everything. “I run fast.”

  There was no point arguing with an infatuated kid who was trying to show off for his larcenous crush.

  “Be careful. Lorenzo, you need to go home after this. Andrea is going to worry if you don’t. I’ve got to go,” Zoey said. “I’ve got a final job this evening. Peace out, juvenile delinquents from hell.” Zoey climbed onto her bicycle.

  “Later days, naggy old woman.” Cin gave her a sarcastic mock solute.

  Zoey clapped one hand to her chest in an exaggerated show of hurt. “Naggy, I will accept with pride. But old woman? How dare you. Just for that, stale donuts for a week. Not even kidding.”

  “Wait, you are kidding, right?” Heath called out after her. “Hey, I’m not the one who called you old! It was Cin! Cin gets the stale donuts, I get the good ones! Right?”