DARINA“You can sleep, Darina. I will stay here until Nico comes back. I just hope he won’t be too angry with us.” Katherina sighed. Sal went back to the mansion to wait for Nico to come home from the party.I felt like crying, but it hurt too much. “I won’t let him punish you or Sal, it’s all me.” I managed to say.Katherina pressed my hand softly. “He won’t hurt you, Darina.”Yeah, maybe not just yet, I thought, but stayed silent. I was woozy from the pain medication, and I closed my eyes and fell asleep.Katherina’s startled yelp broke through my slumber. I pried open my swollen eyes to see three men dressed in black barge into the room. One closed the door and stood with his back to it.“Who are you and what do you want?” Katherina jumped up. She ran around the bed to reach for the bell to call a nurse.“Not so fast, Doll!” The largest of the three grabbed her by the waist, stopping her from reaching for it. She screamed and he backhanded her. She fell next to my bed. I moved a tr
Nico moved closer to the bed, looking at me and frowning. He grimaced. “You are so bruised. I don’t know what to do with you, Darina. You could have killed yourself.” He helped me to put my arms through the T-shirt, careful not to touch my injuries.“You said you needed me?” I asked. “For what reason, Nico? Just to be your plaything? Your slave?”He opened the covers, and I climbed in under them. I sighed, laying back onto his pillows. They held his masculine scent, and it calmed me somehow.“You are more than that,” he said, but he turned away from me. “Do you believe in soulmates, Darina?” he asked, with his back still turned to me.“What? I have never thought about it. Why do you ask?” Surely, he didn’t think…? No, that would be ridiculous.“I’ll explain later. You need to rest, and I must speak to Salvatore.” He changed the subject. I watched as he changed into running shorts and a tank top, discarding his suit on the chair. “Sleep. I’ll join you later.”He turned off the light an
NICOSo much blood. Why was there so much blood? I licked the wound and it closed, but it still seeped blood. Was she too weak? I should have waited.“Darina?” She lay still, corpselike in my arms. “Darina, talk to me, dammit.” I placed my cheek against her nose. Her breathing was shallow and her heartrate slow. I picked her up and moved her to my bed.“Sal! Come to my room. Now!” I shouted into my cell phone. Moments later he knocked on my door and I let him in.He took one look at my face. “What the fuck did you do, Nico? Is she dead?” He rushed over to her, turning her head to look at the wound on her shoulder. “Did you bite her? Oh, fuck! Is she going to turn into a werewolf like you?”I growled at him, he had to move away from my mate. “No, I marked her. I don’t know why the mark is still bleeding and she won’t wake up.” I was near to panicking. This was exactly why I didn’t want to do it in the first place. I didn’t know what would happen to a human being marked. If she died, I’
DARINA It must have been a nightmare, or I must have hit my head harder than I thought. I didn’t see Nico’s face change. No, I couldn’t have. “Darina, how do you feel?” Nico asked. He was on his knees next to his bed, holding my face. The last thing I remembered was his teeth sinking into my neck. I slapped his hands away from me. “Get off me!” My body was on fire. I had a weird taste in my mouth, metallic like blood. Blood? A strange man sat at the foot of the bed. “Who the hell is this?” I drew Nico’s large T-shirt down to cover my legs. “Dr. Anthony Miller, Miss.” The man smiled at me, “Glad I could help.” “Help? Nico, what’s going on?” Sal stood by the door “Come here, Darina.” Nico held out his arms to me. I shook my head. “You bit me!” I grabbed my neck where it met my shoulder and frowned. There was no blood and no pain. In fact, I’ve never felt better. My body didn’t hurt at all. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Nico said softly. “Can you remember what I told you?” “No, n
I fell asleep in Nico’s arms, faintly aware that he was covering me with a blanket on his bed. My body was exhausted. Waking to the smell of food and his musky scent when he wrapped me in his arms, I opened my eyes to find his mouth on mine, demanding, taking.“Nico…” I gasped. His touch had me wanting more.“About time you woke up. You need to eat. You’ve been asleep for more than a day.” He frowned, “I was getting worried.”“I am starving.” I sat up against the pillows, wrapping the blanket around me to cover my nakedness. I saw his eyes flash yellow for a millisecond. He didn’t like it when I covered myself from his view. But I was still not used to it.He took out a shirt from his cupboard, passing it to me and I put it on. I sniffed the material, inhaling his scent. I saw him smile briefly. I sniffed the air. There was such a lot of different smells. I’ve never noticed it before.“Your senses will feel overwhelmed in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it. Come.” He held his h
Nico held his hand out to me where I lay panting at his feet.“Come, I think I know what will make you feel better,” he said. He opened my bedroom door, letting me through. “Get dressed. I will wait for you.” He went back into his bedroom.My mind was a mix of emotions. I have never felt like this, the rage, the need to hurt, to kill. It was an explosive emotion. I wanted to lay into Nico, to tear into his flesh and taste his blood. It scared the shit out of me. But when the red wolf claimed mine, she melted under him and I experienced her desire for him so intense, so wantonly primitive. The she-wolf lay sleeping at the back of my mind, her energy spent.I felt ashamed of myself because it was how Nico made me feel every single time, he touched me. Even when he basically raped me in the kitchen. He was cruel and angry, and he wanted me to feel his hurt. It hurt him when I said I wanted to leave. That part of me wanted him to hurt, it made me feel good to see it in his eyes. He deserv
NICOI couldn’t stand it any longer. She needed the power exchange but then it sent me over the edge. I felt like a fucking coward, screaming like that. Shame and disgust filled me. I had no patience with weakness, not even with myself.Twelve years agoThey were constantly fighting, Mother and Constantin. He was in a foul mood and drank more than usual that night. I was fourteen at the time, my wolf hadn’t even surfaced yet which made me basically human.I was busy cleaning up in the kitchen, as usual, when he hurled an empty glass at my head.Mother was on him in a flash, and they started up again, hurling insults at each other until he slapped her, and she ended up in a bleeding heap against the counter. I snapped seeing my mother in that state and went for him. My mother was my whole life. She had always protected me from him, from all of them.But I was no match for a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound angry werewolf. He swatted me away like a fly. Then he dragged my mother by the hair
DARINAHe left my door unlocked. Also, the adjoining one between our bedrooms.“You can come and go as you want, just don’t leave the premises. You have to promise me, Darina.” He said, as he got dressed.“Okay. Thank you.” I said.“Come here.” He called to me, and I went to him. “Where is the choker I gave you?”My hand went to my neck. “The doctor must have taken it off. I didn’t get it back,”“No matter. I will give you another one.” He opened a drawer and I noticed there were different types of chokers – leather ones, velvet ones and some that resembled dog choke chains. I raised my brows, feeling more than a little concerned.“Why? Is it important to you?” I asked, frowning. I didn’t understand half the stuff he did, or why, and I was afraid to know the answers.“Which one?” he asked, pulling me toward the drawer. “Choose. You can pick a different one every day if you want. To suit what you wear.” He grinned at me.I shrugged, if it made him happy… I picked a white lace one that
The atmosphere in the living room was tense as seconds ticked by waiting for Nico’s reply. His arm around my waist tightened and trying to calm him, I stroked his broad back, feeling the muscles contract under my palm.But then he spoke. “Zane, Mariana, I don’t want my children to grow up not knowing where they came from. I want them to know their grandparents.”I blew out a deep breath I never knew I held in. Nico looked at me and back at them. “All these years knowing what hell we’ve suffered at the hands of Constantin and yet you did nothing. It’s hard to wrap my head around it, knowing that I am your son.” The lines around his mouth deepened while he looked at Mariana.“I didn’t know everything, Nico. You know he never allowed us to visit.” Mariana stepped away from Zane who went to sit down with Anthony by his side. Anthony put a comforting hand on Zane’s thigh and Zane covered his hand with his own.Mariana reached for Nico. He made no move to go forward. “I never wanted to give
DARINAWhat was taking so long? “I can’t stand it anymore. They should have been here already, Sanda. Something’s wrong.” I was in panic mode, pacing around the living room.“Slow down, my love. Nico won’t let himself get caught. You’re making yourself ill.” Sanda smiled serenely back at me, lounging on the couch.“I don’t know how you can just sit there so calmly. We should have gone with Zane.”“Darina,” Mama came into the living room with Daciana on her hip. “Is Lycas with you, because I can’t find him.” Daciana held onto Mama’s neck with her little fist in her mouth, giggling at us.That boy would be the death of me. “I left him in the playpen together with his sister, Mama.” He must have transformed again. I sighed. Using the mind link, I sent out messages to the pack to help find my small wolf cub. “I have a mind to spank his little behind.” I said, storming to the front door.“Boys will be boys.” Sanda laughed. “He’ll turn up when he’s hungry.”“Someone lost a pup?” Nico filled
“Can everyone just calm the hell down!” I glared at Zane and Sanda. My grip on Darina tightened as I held her around her waist with her back to me, hiding my erection. She didn’t struggle but leaned back against me ever so slightly. “I get it, you are mad at me. I fucked up. Maybe.”That earned me a snort from Sanda and Zane’s eyebrows raised a few inches. He stood with his arms folded across his broad chest and I knew from the look in his eyes he was considering breaking a few bones.“But as soon as the dust settles and we’re all back at Romania, we can go on with our lives. Just like you wanted. No more humans trying to get us killed or wanting to use our pups for lab rats. No more Mafia. Okay?” By the gods! What more did they want from me?Sanda came towards me. “Idiot.” Her hands on her hips, she glared at me, “You should have trusted us.”“Sanda’s right.” Darina wriggled her way out of my grasp. “That’s not how you treat us, your mates. We don’t keep secrets from you.” She went t
NICOA few days earlierJohn wasn’t kidding. That blast knocked the shit out of me, also, burned off my clothes. I guess I should have moved further away before I pressed the button. Then I heard Sanda scream, and it took all of my willpower to stop the wolf from rushing back to comfort her.Our mate was in anguish, and he fought me with everything he had to go there. She was crying, screaming my name. I dug my nails into the earth and clamped my jaw shut not to cry out. The wolf turned his back on me in disgust.We’ll go back when it’s dark, hide in the stables. I tried to placate him, but he huffed and turned away. My blood turned to ice when I heard the men screaming for Darina to stop. Oh, no! She ran towards the burning wreck! That was when the wolf took over. There was nothing holding him back. He rushed towards the blaze, but the heat was too much. Whining he backpedaled.But then Sanda came, and I heard her say that no one could survive that. I reigned the wolf in hard. Patie
The day of Nico’s funeral came, the day all of us dreaded. Zane, silent as a ghost, moved about the mansion, looking but not seeing, touching things but not feeling. I had no words for him. Because I felt the same. Mama knew better not to touch me or look at me with pity. She only did that once and I snapped at her. I needed to be strong for my babies and for Sanda. She needed me more than ever. More than once I found her in the bathroom, hiding in a corner, crying. I’ve never seen my dear one so broken.“What makes it so hard for me, is that I could do nothing to protect you or Nico.” She said through her tears, “I’ve failed both of you.”I took her into my arms and stroked her tear-streaked face. “Nonsense. Stop this. If we have to blame someone, blame Nico. His arrogance got him killed. Nothing else.” I kissed her trembling lips, closing my eyes, because I didn’t want her to see how deep the hurt was that I felt.So many cars, so many people coming to his send off. All of his assoc
DARINAMen running, women screaming and above them all I heard Sanda’s voice lifting into a howl. I crushed the twins to my chest, wide-eyed and terrified. My legs wanted to run, to see what was happening, but my brain refused to cooperate.Katherina ran to me, clutching her belly. “Darina! Oh, my God!” She fell down at my feet, sobbing.I was frozen like a statue with the twins in my arms. They cried just as hard as Katherina. She looked up at me. “His car… oh, my God, his car…”Something snapped into place in my brain. “Whose car?” Nico and Sal went out early that morning. I put the twins down next to Katherina and my legs carried me out of the house.When I saw the inferno in front of me, I sank boneless to the ground. “No. No. No.” I couldn’t believe it. Not Nico. Not my mate.Sanda ran to me, her face contorted with anguish. “Darina, he’s in there. We have to get him out.” She screamed at me, but my ears refused to hear.“It can’t be. No.” I clawed at the earth beneath me. Sanda
NICOHours earlier“Are you sure about this, Boss? I mean, why do this now when everything is going so well? We’ve destroyed our enemies and we have control over the city once more.” Sal tried his best to convince me to discard my plans. Although he did everything I asked him to do, he wasn’t happy about it. Which was fine by me, he didn’t have to like it.The meeting with my associates went well. Business was picking up and the money rolled in. Problems with the cops and the feds were minor. Most of them could be bought, it was just a matter of the right price.Sal and I were having lunch at a bar in London, going over the plans for my death.I touched Sal’s shoulder. “Yes, Salvatore. I am doing this for my mates and my pups. Zane is right, I don’t want this life for my children.” I twirled the glass in my hand, staring at the golden liquid. Besides, I owed it to my pack because of all the trouble I caused.“But you lived for this, for our business.” Sal groaned, “I can’t do this wit
DARINA I can’t believe the arrogance of this man! Acting like he is invincible or immortal for that matter. Sanda followed Nico around like a watchdog, she never says it, but I know she loves him with every fiber in her body, just like I do. Thank the gods for the twins, because I would lose my mind worrying about Nico and our safety.“He just received another threat, I heard when he answered his cellphone.” Sanda came into the nursery where I had just bathed the twins and put them in their cribs. “The voice was disguised, like they used some kind of machine.” She plopped herself down onto the rocking chair, holding Daciana’s pink unicorn on her lap.My hands stilled on the clothes I folded. “Sanda, if you continue trying to be his bodyguard, you’ll make yourself sick. If anything should happen, there’s not much we can do about it, is there?” I made my voice sound casual, but my stomach clenched with anxiety.She glared at me like I was crazy. “Don’t patronize me! You’re just as worr
“You have officially lost your mind.” Salvatore spat out his cigarette. “What the fuck’s wrong with you, Nico?”“Lower your goddamn voice.” I growled at him and pulled him after me down the steps. “I don’t want the girls to hear us.”He pulled his arm out of my grasp. “Well, I think they should. Talk some sense into your…”“Salvatore!” I let my Alpha aura wash over him and he submitted at once, dipping his head in deference. “Let’s take a walk to the stables.”He followed me, silenced by my authority. It started to rain, and I lifted my face to the cold, grey sky. I would miss this place. This was the first place where I felt I belonged.Sal drew his hand through his dark mop of hair. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”“Dead serious. I want to fake my death. But it must look believable.” I went into the stables, inhaling the warm scent of hay and horses. There was no way I was going to leave my horse here.Salvatore looked at me as if I had grown horns. “How the hell do you expect m