The Real Italian Alphas (7 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

            The moon was finally full. Both Gabriel and Betsy could feel it in their bones. Betsy’s heart was pounding erratically in her chest as she longed for him to get it over with. Yet still Gabriel waited. He transformed into a wolf and stared at the ceiling, waiting lest Lucretia come in again.

“She isn’t going to come in here until you’ve actually changed me.” Betsy pointed out. “Just do it, already. The pain is almost unbearable, Gabriel.”

“Sorry,
mi amore
.” he said as he rubbed the previous bite. “Get your gun ready. I don’t think she is alone.”

“Not alone?” Betsy groaned. “Who is with her?”

“Alphas,” he explained. “At least four of them. Her brothers, I think. They may intend to end us both.”

“Do you really think so?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes,” he whispered in his gravelly, wolfish voice. “They believe I have betrayed the pack. I should have seen this coming. I should have known better than to get you involved in all of this. I am sorry for being so very selfish, Betsy.”

“No, Gabriel, don’t say that,” she insisted. “I wanted this, too. Please, just bite me. We can get it over with. Besides, we may even be able to survive. I have at least ten bullets in the pistol.”

“You won’t be able to reload without gloves once you’re bitten,” he told her. “Make them count.”

Betsy nodded as she cocked the gun. Gabriel moved forward and bit into her shoulder again, this time spitting into it instead of taking his time. The rafters began to shake, and the ceiling broke open as a group of six wolves burst through.

“Rico!” Gabriel growled.

“They made me tell, Gabe.” he said, and then he fell to the floor, clearly bleeding from one of his furry legs. He managed to crawl across the floor to join the other two. The three of them prepared to fight off the others with determined scowls.

“Hello, brother.” growled the largest wolf in the room. “I see you decided to elevate your whore. Big mistake.”

“Betsy is my wife.” Gabriel growled. “My only true wife. Not one forced on me by your father.”

“Do not disparage my father.” he growled in a warning tone.

“Don’t come any closer, or I will shoot you.” Betsy told him.

“You might shoot me, but you can’t shoot us all at the same time,” he scoffed. “Face it, woman, you chose to marry the wrong man, and now you are going to pay for it.”

Betsy didn’t bother to respond, since she knew the big, brutish wolf was going to signal to the others once he tired of their banter, anyway. She pulled the trigger and shot him right between his eyes. The others surged forward, and both Rico and Gabriel leaped to stop one of them, which unfortunately left two of them to try for Betsy. She couldn’t even tell which wolves were which, so she simply fired bullets into each one, and then fired two more bullets into the wolf Rico had in a grapple. None of the fallen wolves was Lucretia, meaning the last wolf standing had to be her.

“And now we dance, little one.” she laughed playfully as she skirted Gabriel and moved to strike at Betsy. She barely nipped Betsy’s ear, making her yelp in pain as she realized she, too, was beginning to transform.

“Oh, you want to play rough?” Lucretia grinned. “That’s good. I will wait.”

Betsy pulled the trigger, but she missed her mark, firing just to the side of Lucretia’s face. The she-wolf’s eyes grew round as she looked at her more closely.

“You’re a rather ruthless bitch, aren’t you?” she said as she swiped at her with a claw. Gabriel caught her arm and yanked her backwards so that she fell on top of him. She turned and punched him in the snout. “I’ll deal with you later, darling. First things first.”

Gabriel was clearly dazed by the blow. He shook his head to clear it as Betsy watched the exchange. She did not hesitate to shoot again, this time hitting Lucretia’s shoulder. She hissed with pain and indignation, and lunged again, baring her teeth. Betsy shot her in the face, and she fell to the floor, unmoving.

“Is there anywhere on this bitch’s body I could shoot that would make her stay down, Gabriel?”

“No,
mi amore
.” he said. “Only a direct order from Lupo himself would make her leave you alone, I’m afraid. And she is his granddaughter.”

“Well then, I suppose we’ll just have to go and get him to give one.” Betsy growled.

“Are you crazy?” Gabriel asked. “You want to just walk into the den of Lupo the Wolf and ask him to tell his granddaughter to stop trying to kill you, when he’s probably the one who ordered the hit?”

“What’s the matter, Gabriel, are you afraid of a little negotiating?”

“No, by all means, let’s go.” he said. “Only be careful,
ma bella,
Lupo is partial to feisty women. He could very well decide to keep you for himself.”

“As if I’d allow it.” she growled as she flexed her newly strengthened muscles.

“Just because you’re strong does not mean you are invincible, Betsy.” he felt the need to tell her.

“Well, whatever we’re doing, we should probably go do it,” growled Rico. “This pack of hounds isn’t going to stay dead very long.”

“You’ve got that right,” Gabriel agreed. “Let’s go.”

*

Betsy imagined the three of them made a strange sight as they piled into the limousine with a driver, waiting outside the warehouse. They were all still in wolf form. She almost giggled as they passed a street bum seated near a garbage can who sat there with his mouth hanging open. She asked, “Aren’t you afraid he’s going to tell someone about us?”

“If he does, they’ll just think he’s really drunk.” Rico pointed out, making Gabriel and Betsy laugh.

“Don’t look now, but we seem to have company already.” said Rico as he looked in his rearview mirror. The largest of the wolf brothers was loping along behind them. He floored it, easily keeping ahead of their would-be attacker, but only just.

“I hope Lupo’s ready for a party.” said Gabriel.

“He’d better be.” said Betsy. “I’m not giving up without a fight.”

Gabriel nodded as he looked behind them. Then he said, “You may just get your wish,
ma bella
.”

Betsy was certain that she would.

*

The tension in the car mounted as Rico continued to drive at breakneck speed out of the city and onto the highway towards Buffalo. They turned onto a long, winding road somewhere along the way, and the turns in the road slowly allowed the pursuing werewolves to creep closer. By the time the car crashed through an old, rusted gateway locked shut with a huge padlock, their pursuers were less than ten yards behind.

“What are we going to do?” Betsy asked the others.

“We’re almost there,” Gabriel told her. “With any luck, we’ll be able to make it inside before they catch up to us.”

“No, I mean, what are we going to do about them?” she repeated, pointing ahead of them rather than behind. About twenty very large werewolves were standing there watching them approach.

“They’re not attacking us.” Rico said. “That, at least, is a good thing. They must have been ordered to let us pass.”

“Unless they’re simply waiting for the back-up group to catch up and pen us in.” Gabriel pointed out.

“Bite your tongue.” Rico growled. “I think Lupo might have decided to grant us an audience. At least I hope so.”

“Drive right into the garage, Rico.” Gabriel suggested. “If Lupo doesn’t intend to have us killed, these boys have probably been sent out here to keep our pursuers busy long enough for us to get inside.”

“I think you’re right,” Rico agreed. He drove right inside the garage and then slammed on the brakes in quick succession. Since they were all wolves at the moment, none of them were overly affected by the impact.

“Run for it.” Gabriel told Betsy. She wasn’t quite used to her legs in her current form, but she managed to figure them out quickly as he grabbed her hand and dragged her along behind him. Her heart pounded in her chest at they ran through a door and entered a fancy-looking and rather calm room. Several gentlemen sat around, reading newspapers. They only looked up briefly when the three werewolves entered.

“Excuse me,” said the doorman. “It’s considered quite rude to come in here in your enhanced forms. Please be kind enough to transfigure, and I will lead you to your destination. I assume you’ve come to speak to the Master?”

“Yes, of course.” said Gabriel as he took on his human form. Rico also transformed, but Betsy cast them all a helpless look. She had no idea how to return to her human form at will.

“This is her first time.” Gabriel excused her. “I didn’t really have time to teach her the basics yet.”

“Very well,” said the man in a long-suffering tone. “This way.”

They followed behind the man as he led them further into the building and into an elevator. He pressed the down button as the doors closed. After a time, the elevator finally landed somewhere at the bottom of its long shaft, and the doors opened.

They were deep underground in a huge cave. Betsy’s two companions seemed familiar with the place, but she felt a moment of panic upon realizing that should she displease Lupo the Wolf, there would be no leaving the place afterwards. Their fates were completely tied to the old werewolf’s whims.

They stepped through a low overhang and moved on into a large cavern. A man seated on a raised area there, glanced over at the trio with slight interest. He leaned forward to speak with their escort as the man stepped forward to tell him what he needed to know.

“Gabriel, you are late.” he said in a slightly stern tone. “And why is this woman still transformed?”

“Forgive me, Signore, her powers are too new to her.” Gabriel explained with a slight bow.

“Why have you come here now, when you must know how displeased I would be?”

“My tardiness was the fault of your grandchildren, Signore.” he explained. “They appear to want my wife and I dead.”

“Your wife?” he smirked. “I do not see your wife in this room.”

“Excuse me, sir, but I am his wife.” Betsy told him in a scolding manner. “And I will continue to be his wife no matter what you say. Nobody is going to tell me otherwise.”

“Betsy!” Gabriel gasped in warning.

“So you feel that strongly about it, little one?” Lupo inquired, smirking even more. “You would really be willing to face my wrath rather than relinquish him?”

“I would.” she said, though her voice trembled slightly in fear. “I know that you could kill me here and now if you wanted to, but I don’t believe that you will, sir. Surely even you understand that a man does his job much better when he’s happy at home than he does when he is not.”

“So your argument is that you should retain your position in order to keep Gabriel happy?” he clarified, trying not to laugh outright since he could see how very serious she was in the matter. “That is a very noble thought, but why should I choose you over my own granddaughter. You don’t believe she could keep him happy?”

“Lucretia doesn’t even want Gabriel.” Betsy scoffed. “Why should she care if he’s with me? It’s not like I’m after her job or anything.”

“If I spare you, Betsy Russo, you will have to work for me from now on.” Lupo told her.

“Work for you?” Betsy asked worriedly. “Doing what?”

“Unfortunately, the Los Angeles family is as good as history now that Peter has died,” he explained. “I have need of Gabriel in a more useful capacity than to leave him languishing in that dwindling enterprise. And, as he has chosen to transfigure you, you might also prove of use to me. I’ll use you to pass checks, I think, at least for a start. I’ve seen a picture of you, child, and you look completely innocent. No one would suspect that you were helping to launder my money.”

“Do you really think I can do it?” asked Betsy worriedly.

“If not, I suppose I will just let Lucretia have you.” he said with a stern look. Then he said to the doorman, “You can let them in now.”

“Wait, don’t!” gasped Betsy. “They’re trying to kill us.”

“My dear, they know better than to attack you in this place,” Lupo told her.

Lucretia and her four brothers stepped inside, all of them back in their human form. The woman sneered as she took in Betsy’s wolfish form. “She doesn’t even respect you enough to transform back? Why does this nuisance yet live, Grandfather?”

“It suits me to let her live, Lucretia,” he said. “You and your brothers will cease trying to kill these three. I do not wish to lose their service at this time.”

“But—“

“That’s all I have to say on the matter,” he cut her off. “Andre, take the Russo’s and their servant upstairs and give them accommodations until I have worked out where best to use them.”

“As you wish, Signore.” said the doorman with a slight bow. “This way, please.”

Betsy gave Lucretia a disgusted look before she turned and followed the others out of the room.

“One day, Betsy,” Lucretia called after her. “One day, I promise you.”

Pausing, Betsy looked back over her shoulder to say, “Maybe you will, Lucretia, but it won’t be today.”