“I’ll show her …” A growl ripped from his uncle’s throat, a sure sign that his wolf was near the surface.
“Do you mean to break your word?” His jaw tensed, wondering what Anatoli was planning. “What are you up to?”
“None of your business.” He sank back into the seat. “I told you, I already have plans in place. And the Alpha and her bitch daughters have opened up even more possibilities.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard, he might have crushed it in in his hands. “Possibilities?”
“You.” He turned to him, a smile on his face. “Why do you think I offered you to them? To play nursemaid to that would-be Alpha?” He laughed. “You will be the perfect spy.”
A tightness in his chest formed. “A spy?”
“Keep close to her, boy. Listen in on her conversations and then report back to me. Do you understand?” Anatoli’s voice held a graveness that he’d never heard before. “I want to know every single thing that has to do with that little bitch and her mother. Don’t you dare leave anything out.”
“I won’t.”
“I mean it, Darius.” He gave him a warning look, then turned his gaze forward.
“You don’t trust that they will keep their word?” he added. “That they will provide us with the contracts they promised?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Anatolia scoffed. “All I’m saying is that we will see how this plays out.” Anatoli threaded his fingers together. “It won’t hurt to be prepared, in case the wind blows in the other direction.”
He knew better than to probe further, lest his uncle become suspicious. Would he betray the Alpha? Punishment for disobeying an Alpha was severe. It could mean being cast out and forced to become a Lone Wolf. Or imprisonment in the ice deserts of Siberia. Or it could even mean death. The fact that Anatoli would risk such things meant he was planning something big.
He knew now he couldn’t just hide his attraction to Adrianna. Anatoli always had a deep-seated hatred for him. He never said anything, but it was there, bubbling under the surface. When Darius was fourteen years old, he had found an orphaned, injured kitten that wandered into the compound. He kept it in his room, nursing it back to health. When Anatoli found the poor thing, he had Alexandru take it away. “There is no place for such things in The Family, boy,” was all he said. He never did find out what happened to the kitten.
Since then, he’d learned to never show Anatoli or anyone that he cared for anything, lest they be taken from him. Because who knows what Anatoli would do if he even showed the slightest interest in the future Lupa?
The only way to keep her safe was to sever anything he felt for her.
Chapter Five
“All right, this is the last one!” Adrianna declared as she dropped the box on the floor and then plopped down on the bed of her new home. Well, it wasn’t new, per se, as it had belonged to their family for three generations. But this was the first time she would actually be living in the old Victorian mansion in Barnsville, New Jersey,
It was the weekend, but also moving day for her. She packed up all her essentials from her apartment at The Enclave and put them in Julianna’s car. Some stuff she would keep there in case she needed to stay in New York, but otherwise, most of her possessions were going with her to New Jersey.
Julianna walked in and set a suitcase next to the discarded box. “Of course you left me with the heavier stuff.”
“You’ve got all those muscles from training,” Adrianna teased.
Julianna smirked at her, then jumped on the bed and lay down beside her sister. “Brings back memories, huh?”
“Yeah. Remember the time you, me, and Isabelle decided to have sleepover here when I was thirteen?”
“And Nonna Gianna caught us trying to sneak outside because we were looking for ghosts?” Julianna added.
“Oh my God, she was so mad at us!” Adrianna nearly choked on her laughter. “She thought someone was trying to break in and came out into the backyard, her frying pan raised above her head.”
“And … and …” Tears streamed down Julianna’s cheeks. “She was … had her mud mask on and was wearing her nylon stockings and her robe!”
She howled at the memory of the old woman, standing outside on the back porch, frying pan ready to knock out whoever dared try to harm her family. Julianna was clutching at her stomach as she tried to take deep breaths. When they both finally stopped, they looked at each other and Adrianna knew she wore the same sad look that was on her sister’s face.
“I miss Nonna,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s been almost ten years since she died.”
“She had a long, happy life.” Julianna rolled over onto her back and stared up at ceiling. “I remember that day when she passed, and we were all with her. She said the only reason she was sad was that she would never get to see us all married with kids of our own.”
Nonna Gianna was their great-grandmother’s human cousin and had been a part of the family ever since they could remember. She’d actually run the Muccino’s Italian Restaurant kitchen when Uncle Dante moved to New York. She was also the last of their family to live in the old Victorian house where the New Jersey Alphas had been living for three generations.
Adrianna sighed. And now she too had to move in here. There really was no backing out. She still had to head into New York every day since the Muccino International Offices were still there, but this was her home now.
It was inconvenient, but surprisingly, moving into the old house was the most pleasant part of having to take up the role of Alpha. She had always loved this place; she had so many happy childhood memories here, from Christmases to birthdays and summers spent cooking in
