She walked—the four-month-old child walked—through Arturo’s foyer like she owned the damn place. Well, she did, in a sense. As the designated heir of both the Moretti and Lombardi Packs, she was shifter royalty. Arturo’s men respectfully bowed and exposed their necks in submission as she passed them.
Arturo had called Isadora “treasure,” and she was. Named after the wife he’d loved so much, there was nothing she couldn’t ask for and not receive on pain of death.
“Nonno, meat.”
Having received the report on Isadora’s growth, Carlo still wondered how she was growing. She wasn’t speaking in full sentences yet, but her development was uncanny. She wore a yellow babydoll dress, white socks, and flat black slippers. Her hair had been styled into a braid that hung over her shoulder, the green stripe prominent as it wove through the braid. Innocence personified. Until Carlo looked into her eyes.
She watched him, a small twist in her lips. “Neck.”
Did she just …?
He had to be imagining it.
“Neck,” she demanded again.
No, he wasn’t. Isadora was ordering him to expose his neck, to show his submission. She may be Alpha-born, and may eventually one day outrank him, but right now he was a Capo, and second only to Arturo. Until she was strong enough to put him on his ass, he would not be exposing a thing.
“Grow a bit more, pup, before you bite off more than you can chew.”
“Carlo.”
Arturo’s warning growl permeated the room, but Carlo didn’t back down. He was born during the recession, had survived his transformation during the Pendulum Swing of the 1950s, and had even regained his fucking senses when he’d stepped into the Chaos Realm.
He’d been a Made man of the mafia for nearly as long as he’d known how to carry a gun.
Carlo caught Arturo’s gaze. “She must know the hierarchy if she’s going to survive. Alpha-born does not make her my Alpha.”
He didn’t have anything against the child. On the contrary, he loved her. It was because of that care for her that he wanted her to be careful. If she came across another wolf from another pack, like the Moonstone, she’d cause an incident. With their numbers larger than the combined force of the Moretti and Lombardi, they bowed to no one. It was only because they had interest in the district they ran with no inclination to expand that they weren’t a direct threat.
“She isn’t around other wolves; she’s around her famiglia.”
“All the better to teach her, Alpha. Am I to be disrespected in front of my men to satisfy her need for dominance?”
“Neck!”
The sudden blast of Alpha call made Carlo stagger, but he locked his knees to keep upright. The little shit. A rumble filled his chest, his wolf answering her challenge with deadly warning.
You’ll have years yet before you can challenge me.
Carlo had been mindless for a time. “Soft in the head,” as Ottavio used to call him. Standing to his seven-foot height, he didn’t hide his displeasure on his face. He’d been bullied and knocked around enough by his brother after his change had damaged him. It was well-known that changing a wolf could often lead to their death. Luigi, that sniveling shit under Primo, and Ottavio both found Carlo to be more deadly than they thought possible when they’d tried to betray the Morettis.
“Yield,” he told Isadora.
Arturo stood to one side, watching the stalemate, his dark hair with a silver streak slicked back from his angular face. Though Arturo was a seasoned wolf, he still had many, many years of life in him. His amber eyes flashed with amusement.
“She isn’t so weak, primo. Be careful, or she’ll take your head off.”
Arturo was crazy enough to enjoy that sentiment. Carlo didn’t take it personally. Arturo was a wolf who masqueraded as a man, not the other way around. It was what made him so dangerous. The Capo di tutti Capi had taught Romano and Dominic the ropes of leading their own Family before Dominic had ever thought to take over as Alpha.
Isadora curled her fingers, her claws growing out of her nails.
A partial shift. That’s … unexpected.
Still, Carlo wouldn’t be deterred. He rolled his shoulders and stepped forward. The Alpha call was stronger the closer a wolf got to the Alpha using it. Isadora’s was no different, but Carlo wanted to prove he was unafraid and strong enough to face her.
Another step, and the weight of her order pressed down on him. He fought to keep his breath even, his countenance unaffected before her.
You will not break me.
