Chapter 1

1

T he Ferrari was a V12 black-and-gold menace on the streets of Rome. Laverna drove it like she stole it because she had. It was a custom-built tribute that the Ferrari family gifted to Romulus every ten years. Whenever she was displeased with him and wanted him to know, she stole the current car as revenge. It didn't matter what fancy new security system he had built for it. She would bypass it and take it all the same.

Laverna changed gears, drifting the car around the front of the brightly lit and still crowded Altare della Patria, scaring the shit out of the tourists taking photos in front of it. Laverna cackled and kept driving. She had learned to take her laughs where she could get them. And she needed a laugh.

Five of her people had been found dead, cut to shreds by deadly claws, and mauled on by fangs. They had been hunted by a beast, and Romulus and his wolves were at the top of her suspect list. Romulus insisted that it hadn't been his pack, but she didn't know any other monster living in the city that could cause that kind of damage.

Bringing the car when he came to see the bodies of her slain had been just plain stupid. Romulus wasn't stupid, which meant he was worried, and that made her worry about him. She hated it and couldn't stop. What affected them always ended up reflecting in the fabric of the city itself, and she liked it the way it was.

Romulus had also promised to come and check the bodies at midday and hadn't turned up until sundown. It showed a complete disrespect for her and her time, so she had let minions take him to the bodies, and she had stolen the car.

She wanted to drive the Ferrari straight into the fucking Tiber River, but it was just too pretty in a brutish way, just like its owner. Fuck him and his perfect fucking hair .

Laverna huffed out a frustrated breath, rummaged through the console, and found one of the fancy cigars Romulus always had stashed there. She lit it and breathed out a plume of smoke. Yeah, he always did have the nice shit, and that was one of the reasons she couldn't help taking it.

Laverna really didn't want a war with the wolves. She had only just avoided starting one with Bellona. So she may have kidnapped the love of her life, but she couldn't have known which Rafael was hers! She sure as fuck knew now. They were currently both on a beach somewhere, chilling out, and Rome was safe from Bellona's temper. Disaster averted.

Something was still eating away at Romulus. He had always been in control. It was the stick up his ass that kept Rome in order.

Deep down, Laverna knew he hadn't killed her people, but she wasn't going to rule out any of his wolves. It had been a sloppy and chaotic slaughter, which wasn't Romulus's style. If he were in the mood to kill her people, Laverna would have gotten an official letter telling her exactly why they deserved to die. He was just like that.

There was a lingering magic on the bodies that set her teeth on edge too, and she had no way to account for it. With any luck, Romulus's big nose would pick up a lead on it that she couldn't. Her phone rang, and she hit the answer button.

"Pronto!" she trilled brightly, switching gears just to make the engine roar.

"Bring me back my fucking car," Romulus growled through the superb speaker system.

"Who is this?" she replied. "And how did you get this number? If you are going to try and get me to upgrade my insurance plan to a new provider, you should know I'm very happy with my current one."

"Do you want to hear the information I have on your dead bodies or not?" Romulus asked, the growl turning to a persuasive purr.

A still sensitive place on her neck tingled. He had lost his temper the night before when she had visited to tell him about the bodies. Then he pinned her and licked her neck. Or his wolf had. His eyes had been glowing bright amber, and Laverna had allowed herself a moment of weakness. She let herself want him, just for a moment, before she had shut it down so fast, it had left her head spinning.

Romulus was a force of nature, and she would never admit that she had wanted to climb him like a tree ever since she first met him. He had never seemed to be interested in her in that way until he licked her.

A small part of Laverna might have been hoping that he would try it again that day. She had put on a dress and even made sure she didn't have any dirt on her... and he hadn't bothered to turn up on time.

"How about you tell me what you know, and I might consider not driving this pretty car into the Tiber?" she replied, hating the small hitch in her voice.

"Drive my car into the river, and you won't like what I do to your catacombs, goddess."

Laverna purposely ground the gears just because she knew it would grind his at the same time. "Your clutch isn't working properly. When did you last service this thing?" she asked.

Romulus hung up. Laverna cackled some more and finished her cigar.

She drove until the fuel light started to blink, and then she parked illegally on the footpath on the river walk near the Ponte Sant'Angelo. It was the very spot where she had first seen Romulus all those centuries ago when they were so wild and young, and she was feeling sentimental. She was also feeling vengeful.

She looked down at her red sundress and scowled. She shouldn't have bothered. It had reminded her that whatever had happened in the bathhouse the night before was an anomaly. She felt dumb, and that made her even more angry.

She might be willing to give him his car back, but she was going to make sure his sensitive wolf nose smelled her every time he got in it. Inspired, she shimmied out of her panties, removed a panel under the steering wheel, and stuffed them inside where he would never find them. Fuck him .

Laverna locked the car and tossed the keys into the river. Her phone buzzed with a time for the following day and the café's name. Romulus wanted to do brunch. Laverna wanted to message back and tell him to go fuck himself. She thought of her dead followers and the people who were now grieving for them.

"I hate you so fucking much," she snarled. She took a deep breath and messaged back: Try not to be late this time.

Wear another dress , came the reply.

"In your dreams," Laverna scoffed. She had learned her lesson and wasn't going to fall for it a second time.