Chapter Fifteen

 

“Is that him?” Andrea jumped up from her chair and hurried to the window for the dozenth time that hour.  They were in the parlor of Arturo’s house, a sprawling mansion on the outskirts of the northwest side of town.  She was looking out over the broad front lawn, her eyes laser-focused on every car that drove by.  Arturo’s property was ringed in by giant iron gates, which were adorned by enormous wolves and bristling with magic protective spells.

The car drove on by the front gates.

“Not yet,” she answered her own question, shoulders slumping in despair.  She slunk back to the overstuffed velvet armchair she’d been sitting in, and collapsed.

Armed men and wolves paced the front of the property.  Most of the pack members lived there, in houses scattered across the grounds. Wolves were social animals and needed to live together, or their animals risked going feral.  The pack members lived in houses whose size and luxury depended on their position within the pack.  The low rank single pack members lived in dormitory style accommodations. 

It had been two hours since Dominic and a crew of men had headed into Bianchi pack territory to storm the building and take back her son by force.

Cin sat hunched in her own chair in the far corner of the room, hugging herself, steeped in misery.   Stewart sat quietly in a chair next to Andrea’s, looking wretched.  Giuliana kept flipping the pages of a magazine that she wasn’t really reading.

“Andrea,” Zoey said finally.  “It’s not Cin’s fault. What did you want her to do – stay there and fight, all 95 pounds of her? Get killed or kidnapped?  Did you want that skinny little girl to be in the hands of those Bianchi creeps?”

“No.” Andrea scrubbed at her face with her hands.  “Not that.”

“Lorenzo’s almost being eighteen.  He’s basically an adult.  He makes his own choices. Cin didn’t hold a gun to his head and force him to visit her.  And she’s not a bad person.  She takes care of a whole crew of homeless kids, keeps track of their whereabouts, makes sure they have food and clean clothing and a place to sleep.”

A small sound emanated from Cin’s chair.  She was crying quietly.  Andrea stood up and walked over to her and knelt down next to her.

“I’m sorry,” Cin said, her voice watery with tears.  “I shouldn’t have let him visit us.  He isn’t part of our world.  I just liked him, you know.  And when he talked about you, I’d pretend that you were my mom too. But you aren’t.  I don’t have a family, I don’t deserve a family.”

Andrea shook her head furiously.  “It’s not your fault.  And of course you deserve a family,” she said.  “If your old family left you behind, then they don’t deserve you.” And Cin cried harder.  Andrea pulled her into her arms in a hug.

“Hey, can I get in on that?”

Everyone looked up.  Lorenzo was standing in the doorway, battered and bruised, leaning on Dominic. Romano was right behind them.  Lorenzo’s eyes were blackened, nose swollen, lips split – but he was alive. Cin shrieked with joy, and Andrea burst into tears again, and everyone ran over to hug him.  When they crowded around him, he cried out in pain.  Giuliana elbowed them out of the way.

“Everyone back off, people!” she yelled. “Let me work my magic.  Hugs can wait.”

Lorenzo’s knees gave way, and he fell into Dominic’s arms.  Romano scooped Lorenzo up in his arms and carried him off, and Giuliana walked with them, her hand on Lorenzo’s arm.  Her healing power would be working as soon as she touched him. Andrea, Stewart, and Cin crowded around them as Romano headed to the clinic.

Dominic and Zoey were alone in the room now, standing a few feet apart.  Zoey folded her arms defensively across her chest.  Dominic had shed his suit jacket, and his white button-down shirt was splattered with blood, and his movements were a little stiff, but he didn’t seem to have any injuries that were life-threatening.  Not for him, anyway.

“I am glad to see that you made it back in one piece,” she said frostily.

“That’s what I do,” Dominic said. “I live through things.” There was weary, bitter tone to his words, a tone of old haunted guilt, that Zoey might have questioned if she weren’t simmering with fury.  “I’m having your stuff moved here, by the way.”

“I see.”

“And you’re pissed at me.”

She gave him a dirty look.  “Using Lorenzo’s life to blackmail me was a really low, despicable move.”

Dominic met her gaze, unblinking. “But a necessary one.”

“Excuse me!” Ottavio’s harsh tones made Zoey jump.  He stalked through the door. Carlo bustled along behind him, glowering with his usual dull expression.

Ottavio fixed his icy gaze on Zoey. “I have been told that you are now permanently living on pack property.  Have you come to this house of your own free will?” he demanded.

Zoey met his gaze fearlessly.  “Yes, I have.”

“And you know that because of the wolf’s bite this may be your final month on this earth, and that you are not required to be here yet? You are granted that final month of freedom to say farewell to your loved ones if you so choose?”

Well.  Nice way to sugarcoat things.

“I am aware that I am not required to be here.”

Ottavio put his hand on her arm and led her across the room.  Dominic watched, his eyes glowing with anger. 

He spoke in a lowered voice.  “Did he coerce you? Because you didn’t want to be here before, and now you do.”

“I volunteered,” Zoey said, shaking his hand off her arm.  “Should you be touching me in front of my mate?” She flashed a poisonously sweet smile as she said that.  Ottavio looked rattled.

Dominic walked over to them.

“No, he should not.  He will not do it again. And I can here every damn word you say, Ottavio, I may not be a born shifter, but I am a shifter nonetheless, and I’ve got shifter hearing. We’re done here.”

Ottavio let out a threatening growl.  “We’re done when I say we’re done.” And he returned his attention to Zoey. “What are your powers?’

“None of your business.” Dominic stepped in between her and Ottavio.  “She is my mate. She is here of her own free will.  This conversation is over.”

“It is absolutely my business. I need to know everything about her before I decide if she is permitted to stay here.  Arturo’s safety is my responsibility.”

“It’s the entire packs’ responsibility! Do you imply that his safety is not my first priority?” Dominic’s ears went pointy and furry, and cruel dark claws shot from his fingertips. 

Ottavio’s lip wrinkled back in a snarl.  “I imply nothing. I openly state that you have been making many questionable decisions recently, which weaken the pack.” He was looking at Zoey as he said that.  Then his lips twisted into an ugly snarl.  “We can take it outside.”

“Gladly.”  Dominic’s eyes took on that scary glow.

“Enough!” A wave of power rolled into the room, making Zoey’s hair frizz.  She felt as if she’d rolled in static electricity.

Arturo strolled in, big and imposing.  His cold blue gaze swept the room, and he looked Zoey up and down slowly.  “Welcome to our house.”  He glanced at Ottavio.  “Biting Zoey was a decision that Dominic’s wolf made.  I do not expect to hear you bring it up again. As for her staying here, I can sense her powers.  She is an Earth witch of low-level magic abilities.  She is no danger to me. And my herb garden will enjoy the benefits.”  His lips quirked in a brief smile.  Then he gestured at Ottavio and Carlo. “Come with me, I require your assistance.”

  Ottavio and Carlo followed him out of the room.  Zoey waited until they were all gone before she spoke to Dominic.  “I said I’d stay under this roof.  I didn’t say I’d stay with you.  I would like my belongings moved into my own room.”

Dominic’s expression turned bleak, but he nodded.  “I hope you’ll change your mind,” he said, but she was already walking away from him.