The door swung open. “Lucas, are you hungry?” my mother asked for the third time in twenty minutes.
“I’m fine but thanks anyway.”
Mom perched on the edge of my bed. My leg and ribs had healed, but movement was uncomfortable. “Honey, can we talk about Tessa?”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Tessa is a beautiful woman and dedicated to the pack. She was to be your brother’s mate. Nicolli’s disappearance devastated her.”
“Did Father pick her for Nic, too?”
“No. Tessa and Nic had been together for over two years.” A single tear rolled down her face. My mother was much too beautiful to be crying.
My brother’s disappearance had been particularly hard on her. Nicolli had been the golden boy of the pack, the future Alpha. Mom loved me, but she adored Nicolli. Everyone did.
Mom fidgeted with the edge of the sheet. “You are the future Alpha. Your father must ensure your mate is appropriate to stand in a position of power within the pack.”
Was my entire family stone deaf? “I will not be the Alpha. I’ve told him that at least a hundred times. I came home to help with the company, that’s it. He needs to find someone else to run this pack.”
“Lucas, you are all he has left. When Nicolli disappeared it almost killed him.”
“Nicolli’s life was this pack. I’m not him.”
She started to cry and I felt like a total ass.
“Mom, I’m sorry, please don’t cry.”
She dabbed at her cheeks. “I don’t know what we’ll do if you don’t help your father. He spends all his time trying to manage the pack and run Benelli Enterprises. I’m worried he’ll work himself into an early grave.”
I doubted that. My father was strong and young in werewolf years. He was a great Alpha, though we didn’t see eye-to-eye on pack politics.
“I don’t want to take Nic’s place. There are lots of wolves who would gladly step up and lead this pack. I’ll help him with the company, but I’m not getting involved with the pack.”
She stood abruptly. “You are his only remaining son and it is your job to follow in his footsteps. Put aside what you want for the good of your pack.” She said the words with so much bitterness, I looked up. The faintest flecks of silver shone in her eyes.
I argued with my father all the time and made my mom cry. What a great son.
“Tessa is downstairs. Would you like me to send her up?”
“Send her home.”
“Lucas,” my mother chastised, “that is no way to treat your future mate.” She hurried from the room but left the door ajar.
I managed to scoot up in my bed far enough to see the orange and pink hues of the setting sun. My window looked out into the edge of thick underbrush. It was quiet, peaceful.
My father had gone into town on pack business and the other pack wolves were standing around the front door. Not wanting to run into any of them, I found my cane and limped along the wall to the glass patio door. It had been a long time since I’d been hurt, not since Tristyn and I had run into a very angry demon. That had been worse and no beautiful witch had held my hand on the way to the hospital.
“Breanna, where are you?” I asked the wind. Meeting her had been the only good thing to happen since I returned to Italy.
I had come home with the best of intentions, to work out things with my father. Nicolli handled most of the work for Benelli Enterprises. His disappearance had left a gaping hole in the company and in my father.
Mom had convinced me to come home, saying my father needed me though he would never ask. Mom had been sure this was a way for us to mend the differences between us.
She’d been wrong.
And I was stuck here. My old agent job had reopened a few months ago and I sent in my application without speaking to my father. He’d been livid when the Divine Council called him about releasing me from my pack ties so I could take the job. Mom had intervened to keep us from coming to blows. She knew how hard it was for me to control my wolf around my father.
The smell of female musk interrupted my thoughts. There was nowhere to go so I eased onto the wooden bench.
“Why are you out here?” Tessa snapped, her steps shaking the patio.
“Leave me alone.”
She wrinkled her nose and sniffed the air. “I want to go over the mating vows.”
“No.”
She stomped her foot. “What did you say?”
I’d always tried to be polite to Tessa. Within three days of my return to Italy, my father had told the pack I would be taking Tessa as a mate and replacing Nicolli as the future Alpha. That had gone over real well, since every wolf in the pack hated my guts.
“I will not take you as my mate.”
I thought she’d be upset–instead, she laughed. “Like you have the balls to disobey your father.”
I rose to my feet and placed my cane against the wall. “Call your father and have him come over.”
“Why?” She crossed her arms.
“So I can tell them the mating is not going to take place.”
She laughed again, the sound grating on my nerves. “And what reason are you going to give my father for refusing me as your mate?”
Any kindness I’d ever felt for her was gone. “I don’t want you.”
“You don’t want me? Do you know how many wolves want me?”
My wolf rumbled. He hated her.
She curled her lip disdainfully. “Stephano said you begged him.”
I lunged, but she leaped out of reach. “Go to hell,” I roared, my wolf dangerously close to taking control. If he succeeded, Tessa would never make it to the house.
She narrowed her eyes. “I’ve heard the stories. Your father was so disgusted, he sent you away so you wouldn’t bring shame to this pack.”
Wood splinters flew when I slammed my fist into the patio. The support pole cracked from the impact. Tessa shrieked and ran for the house.
My control was slipping. My hands trembled as I fell back on the bench. My wolf wanted blood. Tessa’s blood.
Tessa stopped halfway between the gazebo and the house. “You killed him, didn’t you? You killed Nicolli!”
My wolf surged as she dashed the last few meters into the house. I hadn’t killed my brother. My life would have been much better if he was alive. At least I wouldn’t be here.
My father’s car wheeled into the drive. “Lucas!” he yelled, stepping from his car.
There was no way I could deal with him now. He’d rant about what a disgrace I was, about how much better Nicolli had done with the company, and about how many mistakes I had made throughout my life.
My wolf wanted to fight the Alpha. Our wolves hated one another with an unnatural passion, but the human side of me didn’t want to fight. The human side of me loved my father in spite of everything that had happened.
A change was coming, my wolf seizing control. Needing time alone, I limped toward the trees. If my father pushed me today, we would fight and one of us would die.
My transition from human to wolf was painfully slow. The injuries affecting my human body resonated within my wolf form but it was worth the pain. My wolf needed to taste blood. Better a rabbit