“Why?”
“Because you don’t go where anyone would be fine to follow you.”
Giuliana paced in her living room. “Then you feel like he left on his own choice.”
“I never believed he left under any other way. The reason may be unknown, but that doesn’t change what happened. The why isn’t something we can deal with until we know more or find him.”
“Agreed. So how are we going to do this?”
“We’re going to follow the trail, that’s how.”
It made sense to him, of course. For her, she’d only seen scenters work from afar. They typically stayed to themselves, their nose giving them more information than others were willing to share. And other times, their nose could be what hurt them. Ciro, for example, could handle being in her shop with her old stuff because she kept it spotless and free from dust. But when she first opened, he couldn’t walk in without going into sneezing fits.
Pasquale stayed away from the inner circle’s mated pairs unless called. Giuliana wondered if it messed with his nose like Ciro’s.
First, she needed to understand what “following the trail” actually meant.
She sighed and leaned against the wall. “Explain for the non-scenter in the room because that just sounded like a cheesy cop line.”
Pasquale chuckled, and her lady bits started acting stupid. Was everything about him supposed to make her want to jump him?
Um, yes. Mate. Hellloooo.
What if I shift underwater next time?
You wouldn’t.
Try me.
“Sorry. Old habits die hard. We’re going to pack light for several days and travel on foot to follow where the scent leads. Once we find him, we can call in for pickup, but it’s easier and less obvious if we travel through Greenwald as our wolves until we reach Scorched Earth.”
“Weapons?”
He frowned at her. “We’re wolves.”
Giuliana rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. But we’re still expected to work with the Family. If we reach Scorched Earth without some appearance of our business, they’ll wonder what’s up. The shifters there on guard would think we’re deserting our pack or up to some shit.”
“Are the border lands so harsh?”
It was her turn to frown at him. “Have you ever been? Of course, they’re like that. Being caught there without authorization is the same as leaving a pack. It’s not that leaving a pack is wrong, but trying to run from a portal city is illegal.”
“Politics.” He turned the word to a harsh curse.
“Yes, but belonging to a pack with grease all over the place could help. No one will question why wolves from the Lombardi Pack are in Scorched Earth.”
“The pack’s that strong?”
“Yes and no. The alliance with Moretti has strengthened us, and now there is Kalinda …”
She let her words trail off. Okay, so she was entertaining possibly having a mating with him and dealing with him long enough not to want to rip his head off, but she was still an Enforcer for Dominic. That meant other than what may be common knowledge, she wasn’t going to share what Dominic had not.
For all intents and purposes, Pasquale was not even a ranking member of Lombardi while he was still establishing his loyalty. Technically, in the pecking order, she outranked him.
The Morettis and Bianchis never got along. The battle between Primo and Arturo expanded into even their Capos and brewed under the surface for years. Arturo had changed his cousins Ottavio and Carlo in the 1950s. Unfortunately, only Carlo appreciated it. Ottavio’s aggravation with Arturo’s accumulation of wealth and power made him jealous. Enough to plan a coup with the Bianchi Pack, while also positioning Primo’s daughter, Fabiana, in a prime location at Dominic’s side.
Had they succeeded, Arturo would have been dead, and they would have had a Bianchi in place over the Moretti Pack as well as increasing their own. Giuliana had lived with it, watching Dominic struggle to handle the expectations on his shoulders even when he met Zoey, the mate of his heart.
As a scenter, Pasquale should have known much more about the workings of Encantado as a whole, especially a place as big as Scorched Earth. How sheltered and controlled had Primo kept his pack? Hell, Fabiana stayed in the house on the outskirts of Lombardi lands with some of the other former Bianchi members. Giuliana had barely seen the girl except in flashes.
