8. Nico

CHAPTER EIGHT

NICO

I leaned against a gnarled tree and glared at the abandoned cabin. Once upon a time, someone must’ve thought the place charming. The yellow paint peeled from the exterior in large curls, exposing the weather-worn boards underneath. Shutters framed windows so filthy they appeared black.

A perfect mirror for the wolf I’d become.

Elise would make a powerful alpha someday. Maybe not in Dusk Valley—she respected her alpha too much for that, despite her complaints. But somewhere. Someday. She’d never be at peace until she stood at the top of a pack.

Where she belonged.

Movement flickered behind a grimy window. This? This was where I belonged. In the shadows, covered in muck, ready to call down death and destruction.

Elise wanted me to be good. To play nice with her pack and ignore the blood debt carved into my bones.

But some sins couldn’t be washed clean. Some ghosts wouldn’t rest until justice was served.

I’d bolted for the border as soon as she left. I couldn’t make it to Denver and back, but the urge to track down the scene and confirm my worst suspicions loomed large. Especially when I found a fresh scent. Hours old, not the days her packmate reported.

Security was shit in the entire state.

I crept toward the cabin, staying low and using the overgrown vegetation for cover. My wolf snarled beneath my skin as I caught the scent again—faint, but unmistakable. Expensive cologne. Cigars. Blood.

Paulie Calafiori.

My vision went red. Memories of that night flooded back—gunshots, screams, the sickening thud of bodies hitting the ground. My baby sister, taking a bullet meant for me.

I didn’t bother with stealth after that. Let the bastard hear me coming.

I kicked in the door, wood splintering beneath my boot. The stench of unwashed flesh and fear assaulted my nose. I blinked, momentarily thrown by the scene before me.

The great Calafiori boss—the man who’d helped orchestrate my family’s massacre—cowered in the corner. His designer suit hung in tatters, his perfectly coiffed hair a greasy, matted mess. He looked... unhinged. Broken.

Good.

I crossed the room in three quick strides, hauling Paulie up by his collar. “Remember me, you piece of shit?”

“Please,” he wheezed, clawing at my hand. “I’ll give you anything. Money, territory, women?—”

I squeezed, hard, cutting off the spew.

My wolf chomped at the bit. Every cell of me vibrated to tear him limb from limb. Destroy another enemy. Revenge the pack, and my sister. Make the world safer for our mate.

We didn’t deserve Elise. We weren’t worthy of her affections. We were destined for darkness forever.

“Tell me about the wedding,” I snarled. “Tell me about Denver.”

Paulie’s eyes widened in recognition, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of the ruthless bastard I remembered. Then it was gone, replaced by sniveling terror. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he babbled. “I’ve been here for months, hiding from you ? —”

I backhanded him, his head snapping to the side. “Shut up. You’re going to answer my questions, or I’m going to start removing body parts. Got it?”

The door burst open behind me. I whirled, keeping the boss pinned with one hand as I faced the intruders. Two men—one tall and broad-shouldered, the other lean and wiry. The alpha and his lackey, no doubt.

The scent of wolf rolled off them in waves. Dusk Valley pack.

“What the hell is going on here?” the bigger one demanded. His eyes flickered between me and Paulie, assessing the situation.

“Please!” Paulie begged, hand outstretched. “This madman, he—he’s going to kill me. Help me?—”

I growled low in my throat and slammed Paulie back against the wall.

“This doesn’t concern you,” I said, keeping my voice level. “Walk away now, and we can forget this ever happened.”

The alpha—Rafe—narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think so. Kai, get that man away from him.”

Alphas. Always sticking their noses where they don’t belong. As if this piece of shit deserved their protection. As if he hadn’t ordered the deaths of dozens—hundreds—of innocents.

The wiry one—Kai—moved to circle around me. I bared my teeth, my wolf rising to the surface. “Touch him, and you’ll lose the hand.”

Pure rage dumped into his scent as he clenched and unclenched a fist.

Alpha power cracked the whip of dominance. The fucker tried to force my hand, and I let off a snarl. It might have worked on a lesser wolf, but I was beyond his control. I barely felt his attempt to bend my will.

The only true alpha I answered to was Elise.

He lunged at me, all coiled muscle and righteous fury. I released Paulie and met the alpha’s charge head-on. We crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs and punching fists.

Kai darted forward, aiming for Calafiori. I lashed out with my leg, catching him in the stomach and sending him stumbling back. Rafe used the distraction to land a solid blow to my jaw.

The taste of blood filled my mouth. I felt my control slipping; the wolf clawing its way to the surface. I grinned, feral and wild. “That the best you got, alpha?”

His answering expression was pure viciousness. He cocked his arm, ready for another punch?—

“What the fuck is going on here?”

We froze at the sound of Elise’s furious voice. She stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock. Another wolf—Orion, I guessed from her descriptions—loomed behind her.

Rafe didn’t take his eyes off me as he answered. “I could ask you the same thing,” he snarled. “Like, why the hell your scent is all over the rogue threatening our pack?”

Elise’s face paled. She looked between Rafe and me, conflict warring in her eyes. “I can explain,” she began.

“Care to start with why you’re harboring a fucking feral monster? You know, the one killing his way across the country this last year?”

“Three,” I laughed in his face. “You have bad info.”

Another flash of anger crossed Rafe’s features, but Elise took a single step closer. I felt what the move cost her. The weakness she exposed, not just about me, but about herself.

“He’s my mate.” Her tone dared Rafe to challenge her. “He’s ours.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Rafe’s grip on me loosened, shock clear on his face. Orion and Kai exchanged bewildered glances, clearly unsure how to react to this revelation.

And then, from behind us, came a low, menacing chuckle.

Paulie’s demeanor changed in an instant. The cowering, broken man was gone, replaced by someone cold and calculating. He straightened up, brushing off Kai’s restraining hand like it was nothing more than an annoying fly.

“Well,” he said, his voice dripping with smug satisfaction. “Isn’t this interesting?”

The door burst open once again, this time admitting a flood of heavily armed men. I recognized some of them—enforcers from the Calafiori and Varano families.

We’d walked right into their trap.

Fuck.

ELISE

Enemies surged inside like water breaching a dam. Half a dozen wolves, bristling with guns and knives. Their scents flooded the cramped space. They were wolves, though none of them smelled remotely familiar.

To me.

Nico swept a murderous look over them all as he and Rafe scrambled to their feet. When his gaze returned to the bastard who started this whole thing, his lips peeled back in a snarl.

The ragged wolf sauntered toward us, golden eyes gleaming with malicious glee. My wolf snarled, hackles raised.

“Been hunting you a long while, Bassani.” A sneer twisted his cruel lips. “Who knew all it would need was a buncha broads with enough mojo to force you from your wolf and throw a locator whammy on you?”

I slid a sidelong glance to Nico. The night by the stream. It had to be. Fates thrust him into danger the same night they gave him the best chance at protection.

I willed him to look at me. To play this smart. A never-ending growl rattled in his throat. His fingers twitched as if he was aching to wrap them around the asshole’s throat.

The blast from Nico’s past reached out, grabbed a fistful of Nico’s hair, and yanked his head back.

Nico’s eyes flashed silver, a low growl rumbling in his chest. I tensed, ready to spring.

The asshole leaned in close, his breath hot against Nico’s ear. “Go a little nutso, did ya? When my boy popped that skinny twig you called a sister?”

The world exploded into chaos.

Nico shifted so fast I barely saw it happen. One moment he was human, the next a massive black wolf with fangs sunk deep into the syndicate fucker’s arm. Blood sprayed, and a scream pierced the air.

And then everyone was moving at once.

Gunshots rang out, deafening in the small space. I ducked, narrowly avoiding a bullet that whizzed past my ear. My wolf surged forward, and I let the shift take me. Bones cracked and reformed, fur sprouting across my skin.

I lunged at the nearest gunman, my jaws clamping down on his arm. He screamed, the gun clattering to the floor. I shook my head viciously, feeling bones snap beneath my teeth.

To my right, Rafe had shifted as well, his massive gray form bowling over two men at once. Kai nimbly darted between attackers while Orion’s powerful build sent enforcers flying.

For a moment, our pack bonds thrummed with unity. Despite the tension, the unresolved arguments, we moved as one. A well-oiled machine designed for violence. Some of the syndicate shifted, others stayed human. All were targets for our fangs.

Nico fought like a demon possessed, his eyes wild and feral as he tore through our enemies. For a moment, I glimpsed the monster he’d become during those years alone—and my heart ached for him.

My wolf reveled in it. His strength. His power. The lengths the inferior males went to defeat him. Hunting him, setting their traps. Trying to catch him out while he took his vengeance.

A lone wolf wouldn’t survive, but Nico wasn’t alone any longer.

Across the room, I saw Rafe and Orion working in tandem, taking down attackers with brutal efficiency. Kai held his own against two burly enforcers until Rafe and Orion crashed into their backs.

My pack. My mate. My responsibility.

This was what it meant to be an alpha—to protect, to lead, to make the hard choices for the good of everyone.

Time seemed to stretch and compress. It could have been minutes or hours. All I knew was the rhythm of battle, the pulse of adrenaline in my veins.

And then, suddenly, it was over.

The last enforcer fell, clutching at his torn-out throat. Silence descended, broken only by a savage growl and whimper of a man defeated.

“You fucking traitor,” Nico’s target snarled at him. He turned and spat blood on the ground. The wounds on his body were already healing, but it was no use. He’d lost the numbers and surprise. “You turned your back on your family the moment you ran that fucking mouth of yours?—”

Nico lunged for the ragged man’s throat, his fangs gleaming with murder.

The crunch of bone echoed in the cabin, quickly drowned out by a gurgle of pain.

Then silence.

Nico stood over the crumpled corpse, chest heaving. Blood dripped from his muzzle. His eyes glowed bright silver in the cabin’s gloom.

Rafe took a cautious step forward, but Nico stopped him with a feral snarl.

Dominance prickled through the air, nearly suffocating in its intensity. Power surged in my veins, an instinctive response to Nico’s display. He needed comfort, stability. Peace.

I shifted back to my human form, ignoring the chill air on my bare skin. I approached Nico slowly, my hands raised to show I meant no harm. His hackles lowered slightly as I drew closer, but there was still an unsettling emptiness in his expression.

“Hey,” I murmured, keeping my voice calm and level. “It’s over. We won.”

He eyed me warily, muscles still tense. A growl rumbled deep in his throat, his ears flattening against his skull.

The power swelled inside me, a tidal wave demanding release. “Shift, Nico,” I commanded, letting it carry my words.

His silver eyes locked onto mine, filled with confusion and rage. I continued to murmur soothing words, inching closer until I could almost touch him.

“Come back to me,” I urged. “Shift back, Nico. Let go of the wolf.”

The wild light dimmed in his eyes. I watched as he fought an internal battle, his body trembling with the effort. Finally, with a low whine, he allowed the shift to take him, bones cracking and reforming until the man knelt before me naked and panting, his head bowed.

I dropped to my knees and pulled him close, holding him tight against me. His heartbeat pounded wildly in his chest, and his skin was coated with a fine sheen of sweat. But he was alive. Alive and safe in my arms.

“Elise,” Rafe’s hard voice cut through the quiet. “We’re not finished.”

My wolf snarled, rising to the surface once more. How dare he? After everything we’d just been through, after seeing the truth of my bond with Nico, he still thought he had the right to dictate my choices?

“I will not give him up,” I spat, baring my teeth. “Don’t push me, Rafe. I’d hate to make Maddy a widow.”

The threat hung in the air between us. Part of me recoiled at the words—Maddy was my packmate, Violet was just a baby. But my wolf was done playing nice. Done pretending to be something she wasn’t.

Rafe’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a challenge?”

I cast my gaze around the room, taking in the faces of my packmates. They were paired off with mates waiting at home to offer support in the battle’s aftermath. They’d fought and killed to protect their claims. But I didn’t get the benefit of the doubt? I didn’t get to plead my case and keep my mate?

The hypocrisy of it all made my blood boil.

My fangs began to descend, my wolf clamoring for control. “Yes,” I snarled. “Yes, it fucking is.”

I braced myself for the fight, for Rafe to lunge at me with fangs and claws. To force me to prove myself worthy of leading this pack.

But instead, he dropped to his knees.

My jaw went slack as Rafe tilted his head, exposing his throat to me. The ultimate sign of submission from one wolf to another.

“Oh, thank fuck,” he heaved a sigh of relief. “You deal with the pack now.”

For a moment, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. This was... not at all what I’d expected.

I looked at Nico, seeing my shock mirrored in his eyes. Then to Kai and Orion, who seemed equally stunned by this turn of events.

Slowly, I approached Rafe. My wolf rumbled with satisfaction as I placed my hand on his exposed throat. I could feel his pulse racing beneath my palm, but he didn’t flinch. Didn’t try to pull away.

“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Rafe met my gaze, and for the first time, I saw the weight of leadership in his eyes. The bone-deep exhaustion, the constant worry. “I’m sure,” he said. “You were always meant for this, Elise. I was just keeping the seat warm.”

A lump formed in my throat. All this time, I’d thought Rafe saw me as a threat. As competition. But now I realized he’d been waiting for me to step up and take my rightful place.

I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. This wasn’t the time for weakness. My pack needed me to be strong.

“I accept,” I said, infusing my voice with all the authority I could muster.

One by one, they dropped to their knees. Even Nico, though his eyes sparkled with a mix of pride and mischief as he did so.

My mate. My equal. My partner in all things.

A ripple went through the room as the power of the alpha mantle settled over me. I felt it in my bones, in the very core of my being. The responsibility, the duty, the connection to every member of my pack.

It was overwhelming. Terrifying.

Exhilarating.

And I was ready to lead.