Chapter Twenty-One

“Come on!” That sounded like Carlo’s voice. Sort of like Carlo, but clear and intelligent, all the dullness gone. It couldn’t be that, it must be a trick of the chaos realm. “I’ve got you! Zoey, come on! This way!”

The air was too thick to breathe.  Zoey couldn’t move her limbs.  It felt as if someone was pulling Zoey through mud, through quicksand, through…through the portal.

She and Dominic went flying through the air and landed with heavy thuds on the dirt, gasping for breath.  A minute later, Arturo and Giuliana came flying out, sprawling.  Dominic reached out and grabbed Zoey’s trembling arm, and pulled her to him.

“Oh, my God. What was that?” she moaned, half-dazed.

“You’re alive. You’re alive,” Dominic chanted, pressing his face into her hair.

The air smelled like blood.  Carlo was saying something. Carlo was standing over her.

A small explosion shook the ground, and she looked up, and the portal was gone.  Benedict lay on the ground, his throat torn open.  Primo was sprawled on the grass next to him, his neck hanging at a strange angle, and Ottavio was on his knees, whimpering and clutching a broken arm.

“I said, are you all right?” Carlo said again.

“All right?” Zoey blinked up at him. “I…I can breathe.  I can see again.” She felt her face, her legs.  “I’m here.  All of me is here. Whoa. That was absolutely horrible, let’s never do that again.” She struggled to stand up.  Dominic climbed to his feet, and they stood there, leaning on each other and shaking.

“Carlo?” Arturo stood up, looking dazed.   “Carlo! You’re healed.  My God, you’re back.”

Carlo nodded slowly.  “When I jumped through the portal after you, everything was perfectly clear.   You were all crawling around yelling, in this strange blank land where everything had no color. It was like the chaos was scrambling your brains, and fixing mine.”

He looked around the clearing.

“I killed them,” he said dimly, his gaze focusing on Benedict and Primo.

Giuliana was still on her hands and knees, puking in the grass.

“Carlo,” Ottavio wailed, cradling his shattered arm.  “Look what you’ve done! To me! I’m your brother!”

“No, Ottavio. Look what you’ve done.” Carlo’s face was bleak as he stalked over to Ottavio.  He pointed in the direction of the city.  “You had Benedict open the gates to hell.  All those people dying, just so you could lure Arturo here.  You knew he’d have to respond to a ghoul attack.  And then you’d throw him through the portal. That was the only way you could kill him, wasn’t it? You couldn’t take him on in a fair fight.”

“Carlo, you’re fixed! You’re okay now!” Ottavio tried to scoot away from his brother.  He gave him a sickly, ingratiating grin, cringing as Carlo towered over him.  “Look how strong you are! You’re stronger than ever! We can rule the pack together now! We can…ahhhhhhh….”

Zoey put her hands over her ears to dull the sound of Carlo killing Ottavio.

* * * *

 

Two days later, they were gathered in Arturo’s living room.  Arturo had summoned Dominic, Romano and Zoey to his house, probably to ask Dominic to re-join the pack. That wasn’t an offer that Dominic could accept.  He’d only come to say good-bye.

Giuliana was there, sitting to the left of her uncle, still looking pale and queasy, as they all were.   Even Arturo’s normally healthy complexion had a pallor to it. Med-mages had done all they can, but they’d all feel like they had a bad hangover for at least another few days.

Carlo sat by Arturo’s right side.  He wore a crisp pressed suit and his eyes shone with intelligence, but they were haunted now.  Killing his own brother hadn’t been easy for him.

They sat nibbling on biscotti and sipping coffee for a few minutes, murmuring pleasantries, while Dominic waited for Arturo to get to the point of why he’d invited them. 

But the question he sprang on him wasn’t the one that Dominic expected.

“Why did you bite Zoey?” Arturo asked. “It wasn’t a moon-bite.”

Dominic set down his coffee and arched an eyebrow.  “How long have you known?” he asked.  Zoey looked at him in confusion.

“I always knew,” Arturo said, leaning back in his seat.  “You’re not a born wolf.  You’re a made wolf.  Only born wolves moon-bite.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Dominic asked his former boss.

Arturo shrugged. “It gave us an easy way to get out of having you enter an alliance with Fabiana.  I knew they only wanted to do it to send her in as a spy. I suspected that they might use it as an excuse to declare war on us, but they would have done so either way.  I also suspected that they were somehow behind the sabotage on our businesses, I just never guessed that Ottavio was part of that too.”

“I knew too,” Giuliana said.  “It’s just not something that comes up that often, because made wolves are rarer than born wolves, and either way, most wolves end up in arranged matings before they get to meet their real mate on a full moon.  But I knew it was impossible that it was a moon-bite.  That’s why I questioned it.  I thought Zoey had placed a spell on you or something, and she was just playing coy to make it more believable.”

“So this was never real?” Zoey spoke up, eyes shimmering with tears.  Dominic shot Arturo a dirty look.  He wished that Arturo had let him tell Zoey on his own, without springing it on her like this.

“My feelings for you have always been real,” Dominic said fiercely.  “And once I shifted and bit you, my wolf took to you right away.”

Zoey blinked harder, and it hurt Dominic’s heart to see her questioning their mating bond. “But why did you even bite me in the first place?”

“Because Ottavio was about to kill you.  I saw you walk up to him and ask for an audience with Arturo.  He was just about to shift and kill.  I know exactly what he looks like when he’s about to do that.  I’ve seen him do it many times before.”

Her eyes widened in horror.  “You’re kidding me. He would have killed me on the spot?”

“He was seconds away from tearing your throat out.  I thought that he perceived that you had disrespected Arturo.  Now, I realize that he didn’t want Arturo to know about the garbage situation in your neighborhood.  But when I saw that look on his face, I just acted on instinct.  To protect you. The only way to prevent him from killing you was to shift and mate-bite you.”

“But…that’s for life!” she spluttered. She looked at him with a hint of doubt.  “Isn’t it?”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it.  “There’s nowhere in the world that you could run and hide from me, Zoey.  You are mine.  I meant it when I said that I was entranced by you the first moment I ever saw you.  I wanted you so much that it was painful for me to talk to you, so I avoided you.  I thought about you all the time, but I was willing to sacrifice my own happiness for the good of the pack.  Then, when I saw Ottavio about to rip your head off, I just…acted.  My wolf and I, together.  And I have never regretted it.”

“Now I have a favor to ask of you again,” Arturo said, and Dominic tensed.  It wouldn’t be easy to turn Arturo down, after living his life only for the Blood Oath pack for the last ten years.

But Arturo shocked him, yet again.  “Primo’s death has created a power vacuum in the East.  The Bianchi pack has been dismantled, and the surviving Bianchi family members have been leaving behind what are currently lone wolves.  They need a leader.  I have no desire to lead them.  You will take over as their Capo di Tutti Capos, with Romano as your Capo, and I would like you to take Giuliana as your med-mage.”

“My brains must still be scrambled from the chaos realm,” Dominic said.  “I could swear that I just heard you say that you wanted me to take over the former Bianchi pack.”

“You heard me perfectly well.” Arturo’s amber eyes shone fiercely.

He meant it.   Dominic. Capo di Tutti Capos of his own pack.   He’d never even aspired to that.  He’d been content leading his own small crew of soldiers and being fiercely loyal to his boss.  

“I don’t know if I’m cut out for it,” he protested.  “I’m nothing like you.”

  “You don’t have to be.  No two leaders are exactly like, but the important thing is, you’ve got the right qualities to lead a pack.  You’re strong and you’re fearless and you’re capable.  And you’re harsh, but fair.  You’re well known, and well respected, in the city.  There is no-one else I’d rather see as leader.  You and I would be able to work in cooperation, rather than competing with each other.  No more pack wars.  No more wasting time and money when we could be making money. No more crying widows.  They’re so loud when they cry.  I find it distracting.”

Yep, that was Arturo, all heart. 

Dominic looked at Zoey.  “My mate would have to agree to this. Asking her to be the Alpha’s mate is a lot.”

“It’s…” Zoey had a dazed expression. “I mean…it would mean peace for the city, wouldn’t it? Peace for the packs? If it would, then I’m willing to try my best.”

“You think that they would even accept me as their Alpha?” Dominic asked Arturo.

“With me backing it, yes.  The Bianchi family has been driven out of town and is in disgrace. This would allow them to stay in their homes and keep their property.” Arturo looked at his niece.  “I know it’s time to let you free to live your own life.  As long as you’re under my roof, I can’t resist my urge to protect you so much that I’m smothering you.  It is agonizingly hard to let you go, but it is what is best for you.  Maybe if I hadn’t been so overprotective with your mother, she would have been able to choose a mate and she would have been happy.”

“Uncle,” she said, and hugged him, crying.  “I know you did it because you love me.  You did the wrong thing, but it was for the right reasons. Thank you.”

“I’m a Capo?” Romano said, looking comically happy. 

“This is what you focus on?” Dominic said, irritated. “If I decide to take over the east side, and that’s a big if, you’re a Capo until you finally drive me nuts and I fit you with concrete galoshes.”

“Excellent!” Romano tried to fist-bump him.  Dominic ignored it. “I should last a good year, at least.  Maybe two.”

“Optimistic,” Dominic muttered.  “And I still didn’t say I’d do it.  I need a few days to think about it, Arturo. But I appreciate your faith in me.”

He stood up, and Zoey joined him, grimacing a little.  “Frickin’ hell,” she groaned.  “Chaos realm hangover suuucks.”

“I hear that,” Dominic said.  “I feel like a million-year-old wolf with arthritis.  Right now I couldn’t be the Alpha of a cub scout pack.”

“Sorry I missed it,” Romano said cheerfully, standing up too.  “Do you want me to carry you? Can I get a walker for you, grandpa?”

As they limped towards the door, Zoey’s phone rang with the “Mama mia” ring tone indicating that it was her mother. She’d called multiple times since the ghoul attack made the news. Dominic grabbed the phone from Zoey.

“Dominic! I will cut you!” she yelled.

“Mrs. Eastgate,” he said, smirking at Zoey. “So glad you called! Are you having a nice day? I have news for you.  You’re going to need to make space in your calendar for a wedding.”