309
Tony
Yellow Ridge receded in the rearview mirror as I drove. My stomach eased, and I dare say I was getting hungrier. Luckily, Matt had packed me lunch. What was in it didn't matter, but I had the strangest craving for a gigantic steak and a side of that pasta he'd made a few nights ago, potions and all. I was probably going to eat whatever it was long before lunch, but that didn't matter. The dull ache in my chest was more than enough to distract me from the hunger pains.
Why had I forgotten so much? How had I forgotten so much? And to have it all come back now, just when it was almost certain that I was going to lose Ginevra? It was so unfair. My knuckles whitened around the steering wheel, and the echo of Arwen's taunt about Matt buzzed in my ears. It wasn't jealousy, not entirely. More a primal unease, my wolf's instinct was sniffing out a shift in the pack dynamics. Matt was drawing further and further away from me, and it unnerved me. The question was if I even had a choice to follow.
Ginevra, if she survived, would be a werewolf, as would I. I could keep her away from Oren and most of the other packs, but what about Quillan?
And what about now? What if I couldn't resist the alpha compulsion? Oren was older than me. He was my father, after all. While I was certain that I could probably fight him physically if he got the jump on me, what would I do? I'd be putting Matt in danger. Not to mention Quillan and Ginevra.
My soul shuddered at the thought. I felt everything in me growing tense and furious at the thought.
I'd let him nearly kill her. I hadn't kept her safe. It wouldn't happen again.
I took a deep breath and parked in the garage. Work beckoned. Its familiar routine was a welcome solace. The receptionist greeted me. I smiled and waved at her. The scent of lemon lingered in the air as a janitor passed, and I greeted him, too.
As I got onto my floor, I saw Peter emerging from Mr. D'Amico's office, shaking hands with him. I went still, a bit stunned at the sight. One, I hadn't thought they had such an affiliation with Peter. Two, Peter looked at once older and younger than the last time I'd seen him. His hair was more gray, but the edges of his face, the beginnings of wrinkles, had faded.
I heard Peter laugh before Mr. D'Amico pulled him into a tight hug and sent him off.
Our gazes met. He nodded at me.
"Tony," he greeted as he passed.
"Peter."
I stepped aside, letting him pass me. Then, I looked back at Mr. D'Amico.
"You know, part of me was really hoping you wouldn't come." Mr. D'Amico said and waved me in. "But I guess you're a braver or crazier man than I am. Come on."
I followed him into the office.
"We've got some time before war," he said. "Let's talk about something happy, hm? I noticed the overnight reports looking a hell of a lot better than I expected, and that's saying something. What the hell did you do down there for that kind of turnaround?"
I smirked. "Got an embezzler arrested."
He laughed. "I appreciate it."
I took a seat with a deep breath. "I... didn't realize you and Peter were so close."
"Family," Mr. D'Amico grinned. "He's my wife's cousin, bless her fiery spirit." He winked. "Still as beautiful and as much trouble as ever. She has plans to back you cookies if you can get that son of mine in shape. No pressure, but I have a bet of my own riding on it, so if you find it in your spirit to do your boss a favor, do so."
I chuckled. "Give her my regards, and... I'll see what I can do."
"I hope that's one of your underpromise-over-deliver phrases." Mr. D'Amico snickered. "A bit of a history lesson. My company and my family are affiliates of the Black Moon Pack, the same as most businesses in the capital. We handle some of the importing and exporting between the human and supernatural worlds. A lot of that amounts to keeping the pack fed and the humans stocked in medicine."
I envied his confidence and the ease of it. Most of the businesses inside Blue Moon had no real allegiance to the pack. The few werewolves in the pack who did any sort of business all worked for Chance, and Blue Moon's capital was more of a town than the city Black Moon's capital way, let alone Blood Moon's metropolitan city. I pushed those thoughts away. What difference did it make? Those were Oren's problems, not mine.
So what if I had once imagined a time I would modernize every house in the capital and expand it to at least the size of a small city with properly paved roads and traffic lights? None of that mattered now. I wasn't alpha, and I wouldn't be any time soon.
"Now that you're here, I'll be blunt: you look terrible. If you're not ready to deal with your father, I understand. You said there were quite a few things going on."
"I'm... not the type to bring my personal life to work."
He snorted. "You bring yourself. That's close enough. I am asking if you're certain about this. I don't want you unsure when we get in there."
He didn't want me to back out, and I understood that. It would look like a weakness. Hell, it would be a weakness. I met his gaze.
"There was... an incident at the hospital this morning."
"The hospital?" Mr. D'Amico asked. "Are you..."
"Not me," I said. "My..."
I blew out. I wasn't even sure what to call Ginevra anymore. Ex-girlfriend, ex-would-have-been-fiance, current fiance?
"It's complicated. There was silver, and--"
"Someone attacked you?"
The question caught me off guard. The sterile glare of the hospital flashed in my mind, the memory of Nora's fury like a raw burn.
"She had every reason to," I said. "I'm still not entirely clear on the situation and how it's gotten there, but I'm handling it. I don't need to focus on that right now. It's... family stuff."
"Worse than Oren?"
I set my jaw. "Maybe caused by Oren."
He hummed. "Should I be more concerned about you attacking Oren in my conference room or freaking out?"
I met his gaze. "Definitely attacking."
He grinned. "Anger I can use. They'll be here soon, so I'll tell you this..."
Mr. D'Amico's gaze, sharp as ever, drilled into me. "When we're done, you're heading to go pick up your kid and head back to the damn hospital to get looked at."
My jaw dropped. "Sir--"
"No, buts. You look like you're going to kill over. I have half a mind to send you packing anyway." He sighed and opened one of his drawers before handing over a vial. It was marked the exact same way that the one Nurse Greenleaf gave me.
"What..."
"Peter dropped these off. Ironically, for you," he narrowed his eyes. "This might surprise you, but for as long as you're my employee, you're every bit a member of the Black Moon Pack as I am, and we take care of our own. Take it."
I took it in hand. "A nurse gave me one earlier."
"I'm sure, and you should still take it. It's not something you can overdose on, and I'd like you to not look like death warmed over when we have to deal with your dear old dad."
I uncorked it and tossed it back. The warmth of it spread through me, pushing back a sense of cold I had never noticed. I could hear the rushing wind of a blizzard, a soft, weak whimper in the snow drift. My eyes fluttered closed. I saw darkness, and I heard Mr. D'Amico call my name.
"Tony?" He asked. "Tony? Anthony? Hey!"
The warmth of his hand shocked me. I sat up, and something shifted in me.
"Fuck-- What?"
"I'm fine," I said as the feeling faded. The low-grade pain faded, too. The migraine that I had been ignoring cleared slowly. I looked up at him. Mr. D'Amico's eyes widened. He was standing beside me, looking down at me.
"Your eyes..."
I blinked. They did feel strange. My whole body felt like it was tingling, but the feeling started to fade.
"I guess that's... wolf light," he said, tilting his head. "Though... it didn't look like any other werewolf."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I said nothing. I sat back up, blinking through the odd sensation and hoping that it wouldn't happen again.
Then, the comm on his desk beeped.
"Mr. D'Amico? Mr. Chance and Mr. Chance are here from Chance Industries."
I frowned at the comm. Matt couldn't be here with him, so who the hell was the other Mr. Chance?
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