Prologue

Luciano's POV

Before you start this story you should know something. I'm not a good person.

20 years ago

The meeting was set for 2 pm and the day was overcast. I shouldn't have been there really but I was eager to prove myself capable of taking on responsibility.

"I'll be good. I want to come along." My mom exchanged an exasperated look with Dad, her black hair identical to mine gleamed in the sunlight.

She bent so she was around my height. Her brown eyes sparkled as she regarded me. "Luc, you can come some other time. Mamma and Papa will be back soon, you should stay with Uncle Tommaso." She ruffled my dark hair. I brushed her hand off.

"I'm not a kid," I growled. "How can I lead the pack in the future if I can't go for just an agreement meeting?" Mamma's face crumpled and I fought the urge to apologise to her. Uncle Tommaso always said a leader needed to be strong and assertive to protect their people like Papa.

Uncle Tommaso's laughter drifted towards us as he walked in to wish my parents farewell.

"Well said Luciano." He patted my back. He bowed to my father before they gripped each other's arms doing a weird man-back-slapping hug.

"So Tommaso, you agree with Luciano?" Papa asked curiously.

"Of course, Alpha. He is the heir to our pack and cartel. He is smart enough to recognise the importance of immersing himself in the business early." I almost preened in pride. Papa nodded in agreement but Mamma still didn't look convinced.

"He is a child. He should enjoy it while he can." She said.

"Luna, it is a mere formality, nothing serious. He will be quite alright and I, as this pack's Beta, will take care of everything on the homefront."

That was how I found myself there. Often, I wonder if anything would have changed if I hadn't gone. I still don't know the answer.

The meeting place was a neutral area between our territories. We left with a normal escort of eight elite soldiers as was demanded by the treaty we signed. A treaty to finally end decades of bloodshed between my pack, the Lupo-Mortale Pack and the Stonecold pack. I was proud to be the son of the Alpha that was ushering in a new era.

The ambush was unexpected. One minute we were at the meeting grounds, our men spread out to secure the grounds in preparation for the meeting, the next wolves were everywhere. Mamma grabbed me and shielded me with her body as we backed away from the fray. Our men held their ground, firing rounds of bullets laced with wolfsbane killing enemy wolves. It seemed we would win until the men in the trees began to shoot as well.

Unable to see where the shots were coming from or properly shield themselves, our men began to drop like flies.

"Lucille, take Luciano and run." Papa growled before shifting into a massive black wolf. Mamma hesitated, then grabbed my arm and began to run.

"No, Mamma. We can't leave Papa." I struggled against her grip.

She paused and held onto my arms tight. So tight that I felt my blood circulation cut off. Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears and her normally blue eyes looked silvery as she fought with her wolf.

"You wanted to be treated like a man? Well, this is what men do. They make difficult decisions for the sake of their pack, their familia."

I followed her quietly this time as we ran. The forest looked the same to me but Mamma ran with purpose following the scent leading us to the cars. To escape. We could already see our car when they jumped us. I don't know how far back they'd been following us or if they'd just hung around waiting for us to return.

There were five of them and they attacked immediately. Mamma pushed me to the ground, rounding on them and taking one out with a roundhouse kick to the temple. She was a whirlwind of motion and energy, her claws flashing as she took no prisoners. She disarmed one of his guns and shot him in the face with it, then slashed another across his face.

He yelled in pain, clutching his bleeding face, and the remaining two circled her with caution. I just stayed on the ground frozen, my bladder loosened with fear and my pants wet. Maybe I could crawl to the car. Get it started then Mamma would– I felt cold steel against my neck. The man Mamma had slashed across the face held me captive.

"Bitch. One more move and I kill the brat."

"Luciano!"

"Mamma!" I attempted to call out to her but the man's hand around my throat tightened and I could barely breathe. One of the men attempted to jump Mamma while she was distracted and she ripped out his throat, his blood spilling all over her face and dress. The man's knife tore into my back and I screamed as hot pain seared through me. Mamma froze. The man kept cutting and my screams rose in intensity.

"Stop. Please stop. I'll do anything you want. Please stop." Mamma rose her hands in surrender moving towards me, her silvery blue eyes wide with worry.

"On your knees." The man holding me commanded. Mamma hesitated and he cut again, deeper. At the sound of my screams, Mama knelt and the last man standing kicked her to the ground and cuffed her with silver handcuffs.

This was all my fault. If I hadn't come, Mamma would have dispatched these men. Mamma would be safe.

They dragged us back to the meeting clearing. Me bleeding profusely and gasping at every movement in pain, Mamma struggling, cursing at, and fighting them every step of the way.

"Found the bitch? Alpha wants– Shit, what happened to your face?"

"Shut up. Take the brat." He flung me to the half-clothed enemy wolf, then went back to grab my mom, pulling her by the hair.

I wriggled, wincing in pain as I looked around for Papa. Everywhere I looked was filled with blood and gore. The stench of death hung thick in the air. Dead wolves and humans. Pieces of them scattered about, a hand there, a claw there, and guts everywhere. The flies were already beginning to buzz and vultures circled overhead.

We were led forward, walking over the dead bodies of our people who had given their lives for our failed escape attempt.

"Oh look. Your family has joined us." Papa was on his knees chained with silver, bloody and battered. He began to struggle anew as he saw us. "How touching." The man mocked.

Then the man kicked Papa in the head so he hit the ground. He grabbed Papa's hair, lifting his face off the ground. "Never thought I'd see the day Julian Romano kissed the ground beneath my feet." He gave a cruel laugh and I recognized him at once.

Vitalio Bianchi, Alpha of the Stonecold Pack.

Our business rival. The person who had signed a peace treaty with us and invited us over to formalise it. He'd betrayed us.

"But I guess dreams do come true." He snickered. "Gather around wolves." He called out and his warriors gathered around, some injured, most able and strong-bodied. "Today we usher in a new era. For decades, we have fought the Lupo-Mortale Pack losing our fathers, brothers, relatives and loved ones.

Now we have their legendary Alpha Julian Romano here with us on his knees and we shall show no mercy. The way they have shown none in the past. Today we make history and break the pathetic hold of the Lupo-Mortale." The warriors cheered, raising their fists, stomping their feet and hailing their Alpha.

All I could see was the crushed gaze of my father who'd always sued for peace. The pain in my mother's eyes as the man with the bleeding cheek tightened his grip on her hair, leering at her. The bodies of our soldiers, men I knew, who played with me, giving me piggyback rides and sparring with me. Vitalo Bianchi bent over and whispered something into my father's ear. My father's expression became enraged and I saw one of the chains holding him snap.

Vitalio smiled and cradled my father's face in his hands as a lover would, and then he snapped his neck. Mamma screamed. Vitalo growled and with a heft of his hands, he removed Papa's head from his body, blood spewing everywhere as Papa's body dropped to the ground still jerking and spewing blood.

Vitalio held Papa's head in his hands, his smile broad and feral.

The warriors cheered and my world, as I knew it, changed. Vitalio moved towards my mother, Papa's head cradled in his arms. He touched her cheek with his hand stained with Papa's blood.

"Lucille." He said her name like a prayer. "The brat has to die of course. But you. You could be at my side, together we–" Mamma spat at him. It landed squarely on his face.

"Traitor. Betrayer." She keened. Mamma looked devastated brimming with righteous anger. "We trusted you. Our pack trusted you. We agreed to lay our weapons down to usher in an era of peace! You could never best Julian in an open fight, so you chose this cowardly route. Now, this war will never end. We will not stop until every member of your pack is dead and food for carrion." Vitalio laughed, wiped the saliva from his face and backhanded Mamma.

"Tall words from a dead woman. I never wanted Julian's leftovers anyway." He looked up at the man with the weeping gash on his face. "Do what you wish with her, Killian. Then kill her and the brat." Then, he turned to the remaining force.

"Pick up our dead and injured. Let's go home and mount Julian Romano's head on a pike." He left and his men filed behind him leaving behind a skeletal crew of maybe ten to carry the bodies.

Killian smiled and began to tear off Mamma's clothes. She fought him as much as she could while chained and held down by some other soldiers hoping to take their turns with her too. I closed my eyes as he took her. Her screams echoed in my head as I lay there helpless. Drenched in my blood, laying in a pool of our men's blood, my every movement smarting with pain.

Unable to shift because I didn't even have a wolf yet, powerless as I heard my mother's screams. Then I heard cursing and I opened my eyes. Somehow during the rape, Mamma had gotten her hands on a dagger close by that was now buried in Killian's dick. She pulled it out.

"I am the Luna of Lupo-Mortale Pack. I will not be dishonoured." She locked gazes with me, then the dagger went into her chest.

Killian fell to the side screaming like a woman and bleeding out. I looked at Mamma. Her head fell to the side, blood on her lips. A lone teardrop fell from her eyes and everything changed. The pain soared and eclipsed me.

My bones began to crack and shift, elongate, and morph and I saw red. I was furious, I was hell-made flesh and I ripped into them. Maybe if they hadn't just fought a battle, been injured, relaxed, and underestimated me because I was a ten-year-old, they'd have stood a chance.

It was not their fault after all wolves only shifted at thirteen after all and it took hours for the first shift. I was different though. Very different. As I tore into them, I felt the entrance of other wolves. New wolves entering the fray. No matter, I would deal with them in due time. I would kill them all. I would dance in their blood and feast on them. After the last Stonecold wolf was dead, one of the new wolves approached me slowly. Carefully. He morphed back to his human form and I saw it was Uncle Tomasso.

"Luciano." His voice sounded broken.

I whined, my voice low in my throat realising the danger was over. I went over to Mamma. Her body was cold already. I nosed at her body futilely, trying to wake her up. Uncle Tomasso's hand settled on my furry shoulder and I shifted back. Holding Mamma in my arms, tears streaming down my cheek, I spoke, my voice altered.

"I will destroy them all. The entire Stonecold Pack."

"We will." Uncle Tomasso concurred.