Yes, Adonis knew the plight of the broken woman.
“Are they all dead?” Adonis forced the question past gritted teeth.
“Every one of them I could put my hands on.”
For a moment, they weren’t too wolves fighting over control but rather two men who had protected someone dear to them. Two men who needed retribution for the pain and damage caused by callous hands and dangerous words.
“And the ones you couldn’t put your hands on?”
Pasquale nodded. “Carlo took care of him for me.”
Primo.
“Almost wish I knew a necromancer or two just so I could kill him again.”
Not that Adonis would admit he in factdidknow a necromancer and would search them out soon enough. But first …
“My coming to her this way was traumatic.” Adonis glanced around at his men. “I look like him.”
“Yes, her first real interaction with her mate, and he’s just like her father. What a shame.”
No, this wolf didn’t care much for Adonis either. With a shrug, Adonis tossed off the concern. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but he would never apologize for who he was. He’d earned his position through violence because that was the world he knew. He couldn’t protect his mother and be kind. His father never would have given her up.
How Adonis came to be was no one’s fucking business. And only Raphael knew the whole truth. Not even his mother could claim that. And Encantado? Every citizen had their own hopes and dreams, their problems and heartbreaks.
All of them were able to go through those things because ofhim.
Encantado had no idea who he really was, and that was fine. It let him move in the shadows, pull strings, and protect the city he’d decided to call home. He didn’t need a medal or some bullshit accolades to do it. This city belonged to him and that was enough. Everyone—paranorms and humans alike—should fear him. Adonis was a monster in silken fabrics and dazzling looks.
Sure, he’d used them to his advantage, but Fabiana was different.
She would be the queen.Hisqueen.
“I am who I am and what I am meant to be. She is mine, which means she is made to stand by my side. While others may find terror at having me before them, I can at least promise she will never be one of them.”
“Then you’ve already broken your promise.”
Adonis released a frustrated growl. “You know what I am saying, pup. She and I are inevitable, and the sooner she learns this, the better. I will not harm your sister.”
“But will you loveher? As she is.”
An impossible question. “Doessheeven know who she is?”
Pasquale frowned and slid his hands into the pockets of his black cargo pants. All his wolves matched him in attire, with dark shirts. They were militant in their bearing and Adonis could appreciate and respect that. They were ready, at a moment’s notice, to attack.
Good.
“She’s never been allowed to. I’ve … tried.”
“Perhaps you aren’t the wolf for the job, then.”
The wolf went to speak again but paused, his face going blank.
The rumored conversations with his wolf. They’re true. Interesting.
***
“Red, baby.”
