A Pack of Two. Jacky Russell

threatening to suffocate me.

      “Why did you cut short the meeting with Burlesconi? I spoke to him this morning and he said you left your dinner meeting without an agreement.”

      My wolf bristled at the accusatory tone. “Something came up. I called and rescheduled the meeting. He didn’t sound upset.”

      Josef turned and stalked to the door, his body shaking. “What came up?”

      I opened my mouth to answer as he turned back and stormed to my desk.

      “And why were you on the military base? You have no business there.” The desk shook with the force of his rage. “Is that what happened to your face? A human teach you a lesson for being with his whore since you seem incapable of satisfying a woman of your own kind?” And then he delivered the dagger to my heart. “You were with a woman, I hope.”

      Why was I doing this? Nothing I said would be the right answer. “I think it’s time I leave Italy. This isn’t working and we both know it isn’t going to get any better.”

      He stared out the window. “You can’t run from everything, Lucas. It is time you took your role in this pack. I have neither the time nor the desire to fight you every step of the way. I gave you the most desirable woman in the pack as your mate, yet you refuse her. I offered you a place as my second-in-command and you parade your disrespect by not bothering to attend any pack functions.”

      “Not going to pack functions has nothing to do with disrespect for you. I don’t want to be a part of this pack. I don’t know how many times I have to say it for you to understand. I only came home to help you with Benelli Enterprises, period.”

      He didn’t bother to turn around. “I hope whatever was so important last night was worth it, because you cost this company a twenty-million-dollar contract. Your brother would have never done something so selfish and irresponsible.”

      He walked out the door and I grabbed the edges of my desk to keep from chasing him. Why did I keep doing this? I should throw my clothes in a bag and catch a plane to somewhere, anywhere but here.

      When I was working as an agent for the Divine Council, I had the legal right to move freely from pack territory to pack territory. Now, because I lived in Italy, I was a member of the Italian Pack and not welcome on other pack territory. My father wouldn’t release me to join another pack and the life expectancy of a lone wolf was less than a year.

      Maybe lone wolf wasn’t a bad idea after all. I’d be a target for other Alphas angry with my father and he had plenty of enemies. At least I’d be away from here. The way my mom had been acting, she wouldn’t miss me either.

      Pent-up rage bubbled to the surface as I flipped the desk, sending papers and pens flying. My phone slid across the floor to safety but my laptop wasn’t so lucky. I sank into my chair and buried my head in my hands, the desk flipping incident not making me feel any better.

      “Mr. Benelli?” Clara asked, peeking around the corner. “Are you all right?”

      She frowned at me like a kid who had broken a window. She leaned down and retrieved the blueprint. Maybe she didn’t see the silver flakes in my eyes but she knew I had lost control again.

      “I’m sorry, Clara.”

      “Mr. Benelli, I may be out of line and you may certainly fire me if you so choose, but I think you should go back to your Divine Council job. This business is not for you. You are not happy and no matter what you do, your father will never be satisfied.”

      Her words crashed on my head like a brick wall. “I was stupid to come back.”

      Cloth rustled as Clara crossed the room toward me. “Not stupid, just not in your best interest. You’ve never been a pack wolf, Mr. Benelli. Why did you think things would be any different this time?”

      I couldn’t look at her face. “I didn’t think things would be different. I only came back to help with Benelli Enterprises. I wasn’t exactly a joy as a child, so I thought I owed it to my parents to help.”

      She stood to the full height of her five-foot-one frame. “You owe them nothing, particularly your mother.” Tiny flickers of silver flecked her eyes as she swiped a handful of pens from the floor. Clara patted me on the shoulder and I did my best not to flinch. My wolf did not approve of her touch, even in kindness.

      “You will never be happy in Italy.”

      She was right but I couldn’t walk away. I didn’t care about the pack, but I did wish my father and I could get along. We’d never be as close as he and Nic had been, but I’d hoped we could at least eat dinner together without arguing. So far, that had not happened and it didn’t look good.

      I grudgingly returned my desk to its upright position and gathered the broken laptop.

      “I’ll take care of this, Mr. Benelli. You should take the blueprints to your father. He’s meeting the client at Coraleon’s.”

      My wolf rumbled at the thought of being in the same room with my father. Clara held out the roll of blueprints and I took them gingerly. Coraleon’s was only a ten-minute walk and fresh air would be good. Clara was gathering up my mess as I flashed out the door.

      “Mr. Benelli?” she called before I rounded the corner.

      I glanced over my shoulder.

      “Be sure to check your messages.”

      “Thanks, Clara. Will do.”

      After dropping off the prints to my surprised father, I drove out to my house for lunch and a run. My wolf needed to kill something other than my father.

      Almost forgetting Clara’s advice, I quickly checked my messages and found several. Only one mattered. Breanna had called. Bravo Company pulled out early this morning and she’d called to say goodbye.

      Now I really needed to kill something.