Arabella's POVWe arrived at the council meeting place. It was situated in the middle of acres of council-owned vineyard fields somewhere in Sicily. The place looked like a private mansion of some crazy rich don. It was large, sprawling and completely white with sculptures and columns that recalled anything I had ever seen before. Alpha Luciano and I dismounted from the car and Zaza the driver turned the car around to go drop it off at the parking lot. Wherever that was. I couldn't see any cars from where I stood. A staff dressed in a suit featured for us to follow him and we did. Alpha Luciano's arm went around my waist as though providing me support to walk in my heels but I knew what he meant it to be. A show of possession. I fought the urge to push his hand away and simply walked with him.We entered the house and were led through a hallway with numerous paintings and murals. Lights hung from designed placements lighting up the entire house as though the windows were open. We
Arabella's POV"Vitalio Bianchi, state your case." The masked person spoke. Dad stood up. Tears sprang to my eyes at the sight of him. He looked like he had lost a bit of weight but save from that, he looked the exact way I remembered him. Domineering and strong. He looked at me as he spoke, listing all of Alpha Luciano's many crimes. Kidnapping, Murder, Rape… the list went on and on...When he finally finished speaking, the hall was filled with indistinct murmurs from the witnesses that quietened down when the masked council member spoke again."Arabella Bianchi, step up."Inhaling sharply, I moved closer to the council table. My thoughts were in disarray and my mouth was dry. "Is what your father says true? Were you taken against your will?"I looked at my father. The man who I'd always wanted his love and attention even though he had been cold to me all my life. The man who'd forced me into an unwanted mating that had enabled Alpha Luciano to kidnap me. The man who was now trying
Arabella's POVI ran towards our wrecked car and searched for Alpha Luciano's phone. I found it outside the car, the screen was broken and it didn't come on. I checked the driver's dead body for his own phone. It was a burner phone with its records cleared so I couldn't call anyone. The only phone numbers I had memorized were that of my former pack members and my dad. If I called either of them, I might as well kill Alpha Luciano with my own hands.I was going to save my mate. I had to believe that there was a real reason the Moon Goddess made him my mate. He was a wicked, heartless man but when push came to shove, he'd saved my life. Someone like that wasn't irredeemable. If the fact that I was willing to forgive all he'd done made me a weak person, I would take that label. When he recovered, he could do even worse unspeakable things to me and I accepted that too. The one thing I had was my integrity. I would always do what felt true to me as a person. In the same way, I had chose
Alpha Luciano's POV"We were unable to get exclusive rights to Song." Natasha said her head bowed and her voice lowered."Explain yourself. Wasn't it a done deal already?" My voice was low with barely restrained anger."Almost. Then the suppliers got a big shipment order from an anonymous buyer that made them change their mind about exclusivity.""And who is this anonymous buyer?" I questioned."I am still investigating this, Alpha." Natasha sounded extremely contrite.I tsked tapping my fingers against the tabletop. "Natasha." I purred drawing out her name the way I was wont to when I was not pleased. "You are losing your edge. Is it because you feel irreplaceable? I assure you that you aren't. What was his name? Ah, Bishop. Bishop will be more than happy to ease the burden that seems too large for you." I watched her stiffen at the sound of her arch-nemesis's name. Natasha went on her knees and pressed her head to the cool tiled ground."Forgive me, Alpha. I will rectify my mist
Arabella's POVI shouldn't have spoken to him like that. I definitely shouldn't have bitten his earlobe but I was pissed. I'd thought that him not touching me wasn't a problem. It wasn't. But I didn't want him touching other women either.What we'd done in the shed had changed things for me. I now wanted things I had no business wanting. Alpha Luciano growled then he yanked my hair back and devoured my lips. It wasn't a kiss but a claim. He rolled his tongue into my waiting parted lips and kissed me like he wanted to clean away the taste of any other man in my mouth to replace it with just him. I moaned into his mouth and I moulded my body to him, rubbing my breasts against his chest and grinding against his length. He squeezed my breasts and I used my claws to slice his shirt open and pushed it off before sliding my arms around his neck pulling him closer. The feel of his skin on mine was entrancing and I shivered against him. He pushed me up against the tree and hiked the skirt o
Alpha Luciano's POV"We'll hit him here." I tapped on the map of the docks and marine supply chain of Vitalio Bianchi. It hadn't taken much to bribe one of his men into leaking the information. The man was repulsive and a traitor. It was only normal for him to attract people of his kind.Uncle Tommaso hmmed and I knew immediately that he had something else to suggest. "How about we attack the ship while it's still at sea? We could sink the entire ship. That way it'd take less time and casualties on our side."I looked at the plans again. That would work and I had no compunction about killing Vitalio's men. They were every bit as evil as he was. But the sailors who were ferrying them across… "Let's go with it. This is why I need you around Uncle Tommaso. You are always so insightful."Uncle Tommaso laughed lightly. "I have been looking for a partner for you that will take my place in giving you all this advice. A nice quiet fertile lady."I sighed pulling back. Of course, we always c
Emery's POVIt had been a whole week since Alpha Luciano threw me out of his room and his bed. I was angry, angry at myself for pushing the issue and getting kicked out of his life. Angry at him for disregarding all the time we'd spent together. Had I truly meant nothing to him? But most of all, I was angry at her. Before she'd come here, everything had been perfect. Now, she seemed to be walking on sunshine, smiling every day while I was here sitting on pins and needles, anxiously waiting for Margaret to call my name. The other women found it weird that she would be cheerful after being kicked out of Luciano's life but they didn't know what I knew. That he was still having sex with her but it was no longer on the schedule because, with her, he was that spontaneous.I had never needed or asked for much. Just for my parents to protect me, to get a good mate and for Luciano to care a little about me.My parents had volunteered me to the harem in pursuit of power, I never found my mate
Arabella's POVFor a minute after I spoke, everywhere was silent and Alpha Luciano looked at me as though he had a lot to say but he just stormed away leaving me wondering whether or not he would accept this decision I had made. I huffed and began following him much slower to the pack house when someone bumped into me. Hard. I smelt incense. My shoulder was knocked back and I turned but the person who had bumped into me was walking away briskly, a cloak covering their figure so I couldn't even tell if it was a male or female.I swung my fist meaning to yell, but I dropped it back down. I was too tired for that. Tired of this pack that would never accept me. Tired of my mate, Luciano Romano, who was doing his best to make sure every good image or presumption I had of him was wrecked.I turned forward to continue my walk only to see there was a white envelope on the ground. The person must have dropped it in their haste. I picked it up and looked up to see the cloaked figure around a c
Alpha Luciano's POVI sat outside the surgical ward as they took the bullet out of Arabella.Uncle Tommaso sat next to me and we were silent for a time."I'm sorry." He began."Me too."I was sorry about a lot of things. I was sorry for the way I had treated him, he was my uncle. The man who had raised me. He deserved better.I was sorry about the way I had treated Arabella in the beginning when she had been as much of a victim as I was. Vitalio Bianchi, may his soul rest in peace had never betrayed my family. Instead, he had been betrayed by his own family."I shouldn't have kidnapped her… you were right. Vengeance is a blade that cuts both the wielder and the person who is cut."I was silent. In my head, I was replaying the scene from earlier on. Seeing Arabella shoot down the man who she had thought to be her father until just seconds ago. I should have felt cheated out of my revenge but I couldn't help but feel like she was the one with a larger claim to it. I wondered what it w
Arabella's POVI was shocked. My father was using me as a human shield? Surely there was a mistake. A misunderstanding because what parent would use their child as a shield?Luciano paused in his tracks but his uncle looked like he could have cared less. As long as he was able to kill my father, he didn't care who else had to lose their life in the process. Luciano raised his hand to stop his uncle, his jaw was clenched and his blue eyes burned an unholy silver."Vitalio, would you really threaten your daughter's life just to ensure your own escape?"My father laughed, his chest vibrating behind me and a chill swept through my veins. "Father?" There was a mistake. There had to be. Maybe he just wanted to use me to escape. He would apologise any minute now and tell me that this was the only way for him to escape with his life. He would tell me–"Shut up you dumb slut." He said his gun digging into the back of my skull. I froze in that moment realizing that I might not know my father
Alpha Luciano's POVThe first thing I did after seeing the warehouse was to mind-link my men. It was on the outskirts of the city. By the time they got here, the fight would be almost over but I wanted them here anyway in case Uncle Tommaso decided to play a fast one on me. That way Arabella would be safe. The limo zoomed off behind us and we entered the building. The moment we entered, gunshots went off. I dropped to the ground and rolled. Before they could begin shooting on the ground, I was already hiding behind some boxes. I pulled out my gun. Vitalio Bianchi did not follow the unspoken terms for the meeting. He had brought in his men. It wasn't like I hadn't expected it. It was Vitalio after all. It was just that I was having a problem connecting someone who was as despicable as him to someone like Arabella.The shots continued to go off but I didn't scent Uncle Tommaso's blood so I knew he was alright.I followed the trajectory of where the gunshots were coming from. One, two,
Elder Tommaso's POVI watched the realization dawn on his face that he couldn't do anything, that he was powerless in this situation. Luciano's face twisted with anger and violence as his grip on me tightened to the extent that my vision blurred. Good. This was the fighter I had raised. I suddenly felt a pang of hope. She hadn't completely killed off the Luciano I knew."If you do not tell me where she is, you will not cross the threshold to this office alive. I will dice you up bit by bit until there is nothing left of you.""If you kill me, Arabella also dies." I pried his now loose fingers from my neck. It was pathetic how easily he had given in once he heard her name. "She is in a very volatile location. If you care for your mate even a little bit, you will have to do exactly what I say to get her back."I saw the unchecked fury and disbelief in his eyes and the way his hands clenched into fists. He obviously wanted to pummel me in but because of his mate, he had restrained hi
Arabella's POVWhen I woke up, I was tied to a chair. The last moments of the fight came to me. How I had fought to the butter end. How someone had jabbed me with a needle. And how it had all gotten dark. Yes, I could remember now. What I couldn't do for the life of me was tell you where exactly I was. I looked around. I was in a basement. It smelt familiar and come to think of it, the painting of the room looked familiar.Someone entered the room. It was Luciano's uncle. I couldn't believe it. I thought he was sick so what had happened? After Luciano had told him about us, had this been his reaction? I thought about the timeline. It hadn't been an hour after Luciano left when those men came. There was only one explanation. He had planned it all. Removed Luciano from the equation so that I would be defenceless.Goddess, I didn't know for sure what was going on but I intended to find out. "Arabella Bianchi." He spat my name out like it was a curse. Maybe it was for him. "You kidn
Arabella's POV"Emery!" She shouldn't have been here. She should have been far far away. I shook her awake but she remained passed out on the ground. I needed to take her in and call Luciano. Then– I smelt wolves approaching. I could smell three of them. They could have been the perimeter guards that Luciano had told me about. But looking at Emery's prone body in front of me, I had my doubts. I pulled Emery into the house and locked the door. I backed away and picked up my phone. I had to inform Luciano. I called him. It rang but he didn't pick up the call. I tried it again with the same result. Someone pounded on the door and I jumped.The door would hold. It would– I saw an indent of a fist in the iron. I took my phone and ran for the side exit in the kitchen. There were only three. I could leave out back before they rounded up to the sides. It was possible they didn't know about that exit. I needed to leave now. I ran to the dining area and the kitchen. I pushed open the doo
Arabella's POVAt this rate, he was going to be late to work. Again. I really had to stop trying to assist him with getting ready for work. It wasn't helping either of us.Luciano pushed me against the wall as our tongues duelled for dominance. I wanted him so fiercely as though an hour ago, we hadn't been at it.His hand moved between my thighs expertly fingering me, I gasped into his kiss riding his fingers as I tightened my grip around his shoulders. His phone rang. We ignored it. I was almost there, my orgasm a few heartbeats away. I grabbed at the zipper of his office pants. I needed him inside me now. The clasp gave way under my ministrations. As I slid my hand down the zipper and Luciano buried his fingers so deep inside me that I was sure he could lose his ring inside me if he tried, the bloody phone rang again and again.I groaned in frustration as he pulled away shortly to pick up the call before settling firmly between my legs to continue touching me. I threw my head ba
Emery's POVWhen I opened my eyes, I was in an unfamiliar basement. It had a barely functional light bulb and many knickknacks spread about. Where was I?Last I remembered, I was leaving. I hadn't even gone back to my parents' home. I sent Mom a heartfelt letter containing my apology for being such a problematic daughter, asking for her forgiveness and advising her to take this opportunity to leave that man. To leave the person who couldn't give two shits about us. I refused to keep being a burden to her. I left through the back woods to avoid notice. One minute I was leaving this wreck of a pack behind, the next I felt a blunt object hit the back of my head then darkness. Had Luciano changed his mind about sparing me? No, I didn't think so. Luciano wasn't one to attack from behind. He would have killed me and gotten it over with. He was the Alpha after all. No one would even question him. The door creaked open and Elder Tommaso stepped in. My eyes widened with shock as I realized
Emery's POVMy stomach rumbled in complaint. My strength was waning. When Luciano had told me to wait for my punishment, I didn't think it would take so long. I had no idea of the amount of time that had passed. No one came to give me food or water. I tried to reach out through the pack link to contact Mom to know if Luciano had taken his anger at me out on her. So I sat in my cell awaiting my punishment. What else could I do at this point? I had paced so much that I wondered at how the stone floor showed no signs of wear. I was anxious, tense, tired, and weak. I thought about what I could have done to induce a different outcome. Should I have let Anastasia's man kill Arabella that day? Should I have left when Luciano asked me to leave? My mind spun with the possibilities of what ifs and I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke up to the sound of the door of my cell opening. Luciano stood at the cell door himself. That wasn't right. If he intended to execute me, he