“No! He’ll destroy them.”
Fear permeated the air. Fabiana grabbed her paintings and hugged them to her chest. She was so broken, so tortured because of the hell of her father.
“Fabiana, I will never lie to you. What you painted, two of them I recognize, and I may know a person from another.”
Fabiana looked up at her with a fragile hope in her eyes. “He won’t take them?”
“Pasquale is not your father. But if he tried, I’d kick his ass for you.”
“You’re nothing like my father said you were.”
Giuliana rolled her eyes. “We’ve established your father was an ass. But what did he say?”
“That you were cruel, just like your uncle. He said you only cared about having life the way you wanted and you should have been put down.”
Giuliana growled. Of course, she’d wanted her own life and to be free of the bullshit she was forced to endure to stay safe. She hadn’t wanted to be wrapped in gossamer and steel, protected from so much as a hangnail. She’d wanted to be free to be who she was and live life her way.
But to a man like Primo—because she refused to call that bastard a wolf—she probably was someone he wanted killed.
“Your father had an issue with women who spoke their mind. He didn’t like anyone who could challenge him.”
Fabiana watched Giuliana for a moment. “My father thought women were only good for breeding.” She tilted her chin toward the windows. “Most of the wolves in our pack were males, did you notice?”
“I did, but that is to be expected. Not all have found mates and won’t risk having long-term relationships if they know they could meet their intended one day.”
Fabiana shook her head. “It’s more than that.” She closed her eyes. “The women of Bianchi either bred with him and his chosen wolves when asked, or they were put to death.”
Giuliana sucked in a breath. “An Alpha has to breed with a mate. He can’t just have children outside of that. Otherwise, one could have an army of Alpha-powered males who’d tear the pack apart for control.”
Fabiana’s gaze was dark, a direct challenge. “Yes.”
What the hell had been wrong with Primo? What he’d tried to do was impossible, and the wolves had to know it. Children between mated pairs was easy enough, but unmated pairs tended to be unable to see a pregnancy through to birth. It was a quirk of their species, perhaps, but it was a known fact.
“Why did he do it?”
“So they would fear him. Wolves would fight to be one of the chosen few because they had a chance to mate. Then they had a chance for the women important to them not be taken by others. Without that protection …”
In short, Primo found ways to destroy both the women and men under him until they followed blindly in order to protect themselves.
I’d gut him if he were still alive. Feed him his balls like Hannibal.
Red, you’re getting right bloodthirsty, but I’d help you.
“You’re talking to your wolf.”
“Yes. We’re deciding how we would have killed your father if he were still alive.”
That elicited a surprised laugh from Fabiana. “How can you be so strong?”
Giuliana stepped up to Fabiana, crowding her space. The younger woman bowed, fear leaking from her. Fabiana tucked her chin, not daring to look Giuliana in the face.
“Look at me,” Giuliana ordered.
“I-I can’t. You’re an Alpha mate.”
“And you are the daughter of an Alpha. You are not weak. I don’t care who stands before you, you look them in the fucking eye. Right here, Fabiana. Right now, claim who you are.”
The woman forced her shoulders back. It was slow, painfully slow, but she lifted her head in degrees. Her fists were clenched at her side, but she raised her face. When Fabiana’s gaze met Giuliana’s, neither woman said a thing. They looked at each other, two daughters of Alpha blood. Two women who’d been controlled by those around them.
