Chapter 1

one

DIMITRI

“You sure this is the right place, D?” Marco’s voice sliced through the silence as our car rolled up to the dilapidated safe-house.

I clenched my jaw, eyes narrowed on the crumbling building beyond the windshield. The iron fence was rusted to shit, the peeling paint on the exterior of the house giving the place an ominous aura.

“I’m certain. I’ve had Nick and Enzo stalking the Valentinos for weeks and I trust their intel. This is the place.”

Marco nodded and rounded the block again, looking for a discreet place to park.

“What’s her name again?” Giovanni questioned, his gaze riveted on our surroundings. Scanning. Always assessing the danger level.

I flicked open the latest file, sent to us by our friends in the Jacobs pack.

We’d made the Alphas’ acquaintance a few months ago when they, along with the men in the Maverick pack, saved our sister, Julia, from some sadistic bastards who were running an underground Omega trafficking ring. The men of Pack Jacobs and Pack Maverick didn’t mind getting their hands dirty to solve a problem, and we all quickly became friends.

Now, we were repaying our debt by helping them rescue the Omegas who had been sold in those auctions weeks or even months before Julia had been kidnapped and almost sold.

This was our fourth rescue mission in the last three weeks, but I had a sinking feeling it would be the worst one yet.

The unfortunate Omega, who was raised across the state in Kipper Valley, had been taken directly from her dorm, stolen right off the campus of her local Omega Matching Agency. A place that should’ve been a haven.

Instead, she’d been kidnapped, drugged, caged, and sold off to a bunch of sadistic assholes.

Just the thought of what this woman had endured made me see fucking red.

I swallowed, pushing down the rage, promising myself vindication was coming soon.

“Her name is Kitania,” I told my brothers.

“That’s pretty.” Tommas, the youngest of us, smirked.

“Don’t be your normal dickish self. The poor thing is bound to be traumatized, like the others. She was auctioned off nearly eight months ago.” Which meant the woman had undoubtedly survived endless horrors.

“Fuck.” Marco scrubbed a hand down his face.

“My sentiments exactly.”

All four of us knew how ruthless the monsters in the Valentino family could be. They were our rivals for a reason. Dealing in drugs, illegal weapons, and running a ring of gambling dens, the low budget gangsters had been a problem since they cropped up in Westin, the town bordering ours. They’d done nothing but cause problems, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves, leaving their dead in the streets and propagating violence instead of carefully honed control over their city.

It was messy and barbaric, a far cry from the way my family operated.

Now they were pushing in on our territory, trying to flush us out. It was laughable, really, but their numerous failed attempts were getting… inconvenient . Our family, the Cristenellos, had ruled Silver City, New York for generations, and we weren’t about to cede our territory just because some imbeciles decided they wanted in on our turf.

We might not be on the upside of the law by any fucking means, but at least, in our own way, we were loyal, honorable men. We owned our sins, took care of our own, and gave back where we could.

Like tonight’s rescue mission. It was almost too convenient. The moment I’d learned the Valentinos had purchased an Omega at the auctions, I’d staked my claim on the extraction. While I didn’t technically need one, it gave me a perfectly logical reason to invade their territory and dole out my own brand of justice without having to explain myself.

The last thing I wanted was to upset the delicate balance that existed between us and the surrounding families in neighboring cities. Our peace had always been tentative at best, and if I wiped out an entire family without a damn good reason, we’d be painting a target on our backs.

As it stood, the mistreatment of Omegas didn’t go over well with Alphas in any walk of life, which meant I was free to take care of this situation as I wished.

Two birds, one stone, and if something positive could come from all the bloodshed that was about to go down, it might help offset the black mark that was about to mar my soul—if it wasn’t already completely black in the first place.

The sound of Tommas chambering a round pulled me from my thoughts, but it wasn’t lost on me that the sound was as familiar as my own voice these days. Gone were the days of guilt over violence and fear over weapons. I’d barely started toddling when I learned what it meant to be the eldest born, the blood heir of the legendary Cristenello Mafia. As the years passed, I became well versed in what it took to stand at the head of the family.

“This is gonna be fun.” Tommas smacked his gum, masticating it with a feral glint in his eyes.

Unlike the numbness that always stole through me at the start of a mission, Tommy’s eagerness was palpable. It practically filled the goddamn car, and I had to throw an arm out to keep him from jumping from the vehicle before it had fully stopped. Sure, it would be the least reckless thing he’d do all evening, but he didn’t need to get himself killed because he rushed in without taking stock of his surroundings.

Marco pulled the car off to the side of the road, parking in the shadows just down the street—our target easily in sight.

“There.” Giovanni jutted his chin toward the sides of the house.

In the shadows were four low-level Valentino thugs guarding their stake. Anger pulsed through me at the sight.

Tonight, we’d slaughter every last one of them.

I glanced at my brothers, a silent agreement passing between us. We shifted in our seats, hands grazing holsters as Marco killed the engine. Four precise nods and we split, slipping from the car and stalking through the night like panthers cornering helpless prey.

My boots were silent on the gravel as I pressed against the crumbling wall. A guard smoked a cigarette nearby, the cherry burning in the blackness. I inhaled the acrid smoke and slipped behind him, my arm a steel vice clamping over his throat until the struggle left his body. I dropped him to the ground like the trash he was and brushed off my dark, crisp button-down.

A series of muffled thumps echoed—my brothers clearing the path ahead. Heart thundering, I stalked past them and up the front steps, then rammed my shoulder into the thick wooden door. It gave way with a splintering groan.

Gunfire exploded in deafening blasts, our invasion no longer a secret. The rancid stench of sweat and fear walloped me as we slammed into the fray. The sound of my brothers’ footfalls thudding against the worn hardwood told me they were right behind me, backing me up every step of the way. Bullets flew, exploding into drywall and blasting the old, rotting molding. Wood sprayed around us, the house scarred beyond repair.

Seconds later, the unmistakably familiar coppery scent of blood flooded my senses. I aimed again and again, mowing down the assholes who refused to cower, tuck tail, and run like the fucking rats they were. If they didn’t have the good sense to flee, they deserved the ending they received. I squeezed the trigger in a relentless series of retorts, watching them jolt and fall one by one.

We cleared the entry, but a quick scan of the bodies and I knew we were far from done.

“They’re here somewhere,” I growled. “Find them and end them. I’m going for the girl.”

Marco, Giovanni, and Tommas fanned out, looking for Antonio, Rocco, and Vincent Valentino—the heads of the Valentino Mafia—while I headed for the stairs that led to the basement. Gun trained ahead, I descended slowly, listening raptly for any sounds of life.

I’d barely made it to the bottom step when it hit me… a hint of the most amazing scent slicing through the chaos. Earthy and sweet, though tinged with terror, bitter from fear. It coiled around me, constricting, refusing to let me out of its chokehold.

My gaze snapped to the door along the back wall, and I moved instinctively, as if being called by a siren.

The scent grew richer as I neared the room, awakening a primal hunger deep within me. Steps quickening, I reached for the doorknob, the metal cold against my palm. It refused to budge, fucking locked.

Narrowing my eyes on it, I stepped back and kicked it in with brutal force, sending wood splintering and making the hinges screech in protest as the thing gave way, crashing to the ground with a deafening smash.

I threw myself against the wall beside the door just before bullets whizzed by, narrowly escaping death. My lips hitched in what I could only assume was a feral expression. Timing was everything in these situations, and I waited for my moment, then spun into the room, quickly surveying my surroundings and sending a round flying toward my mark.

Antonio growled when it pierced his arm. His gun listed sideways, his next shot flying wide; so far from me it was laughable. I stalked forward without mercy, keeping my sights trained on the asshole.

Using both hands, he adjusted his hold on his weapon, leveling it back on me. Although I had the upper hand, a sadistic grin twisted his features, almost as if he still didn’t expect to die today.

“Trying to take what’s mine, Cristenello?” he sneered, but I caught the slight shake of his hands and the sweat that beaded on his forehead.

I spared the quickest glance to the girl in question.

There, huddled in the corner of the dingy room, was the source of that intoxicating aroma. The Omega, Kitania, her delicate frame trembling violently, eyes wide with terror as they met mine. Tears streaked her pale cheeks, and her dark hair was a tangled veil that partially obscured her face. Despite how frightened she appeared and the squalor surrounding her, she was utterly breathtaking.

Every Alpha instinct I possessed blazed to life. The pureness of her scent beneath the bitterness twined around me and squeezed the air from my fucking lungs. A rumbling growl tore up my throat as I recognized exactly who she was to me.

Mate.

The instinct to claim her, to wrap her in my embrace and chase away her fears, blazed through me with an intensity I’d never experienced before. But the scent of her distress doused that yearning, reminding me that she was terrified…

Of Antonio.

Of this entire fucked up situation.

And more devastatingly… of me .

“She doesn’t belong to you,” I growled, forcing my gaze off the new center of my universe and back onto the bastard who’d dared to put his hands on her. He and his brothers were undoubtedly responsible for the bruises, scabs, and scars that littered her skin.

They were already going to die, but now I’d derive pleasure from ending their pathetic existence.

My Alpha was nearly feral, and I didn’t wait another goddamn second.

Snarls ripped from our throats, each of us vying for dominance. We acted simultaneously, each squeezing the trigger like we were in a duel. I was already moving—evading—the bullet missing me by fucking millimeters. The stench of Antonio’s distress filled the air as my shot hit true.

Blood spread rapidly, staining his button-down. His gurgling grunt was pure music to my ears, and I strode forward while the Valentino heir fell to his knees. I kicked his gun away when it slipped from weak fingers, then pressed the barrel of my weapon to his forehead.

“I should make you suffer. Keep you alive just to bring you back to the brink of death over and over again. You deserve a lifetime of immeasurable pain for what you’ve done to this poor Omega. But I won’t rest unless I know your pathetic corpse is buried six feet under. And more importantly, I don’t think she’ll rest knowing you still breathe.” I jerked my head toward the Omega I couldn’t bring myself to look at.

I couldn’t take seeing the fear in her eyes as she watched me straight up murder someone—even if he was a monstrous prick. I wanted to shield her from our lifestyle, but here she was, caught in the middle of it, unable to hide from the bloody reality of what we did for a living.

How would she look at me after this? I couldn’t focus on it. Shoving down the concern, I hardened myself, grasping for that familiar numbness, the way I’d learned to.

Antonio’s response was nothing but a choked noise as he tried to plead for his life. I saw the moment he realized he was a dead man, those vicious eyes widening as blood leaked from his mouth. I didn’t prolong it.

With a savage kind of silence, I pulled the trigger, watching the man drop. His lifeless body crumpled at my feet.

Chest heaving, I turned back to the Omega, her eyes wide with shock and fear. My heart clenched at the sight of her cowering away from me. Slowly, I holstered my gun, then held my hands up in a placating gesture I hoped would help her realize I wasn’t a threat to her.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I rasped, my voice hoarse. “I’m here to take you away from this place.”

Though her body shook, her lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but no words came. In that moment, I would have given anything to soothe her fears, to wrap her in the safety of my embrace. But I knew it would take time to earn her trust.

The distant sound of gunfire reminded me that my brothers were still engaged in battle upstairs.

Straightening, I moved towards her with measured steps.

“It’s not safe here.”

She was so goddamn small, huddled in that corner like a frightened kitten. A manacle was clamped around one thin wrist, chaining her to the wall. Her arms clutched her knees to her chest, making her appear smaller than she already was. Long, tangled, dark hair obscured most of her delicate features. But I studied everything I could see…

Mottled patterns of purple and blue marred the soft pale skin of her arms. Grime and dried blood streaked down her ashen face—it all painted a picture of the torment she’d survived. Her entire body flinched with each echoed gunshot.

The beautiful little thing was so painfully fragile, it ignited a possessive fury in my chest.

I wanted to destroy anyone who’d hurt her. Shelter her from the world’s cruelty.

The constant pops slowed, then stopped, but I couldn’t bring myself to check on my brothers and see how we’d fared. All that existed in that moment was the breakable creature that held me fucking bewitched.