The Lonely Wolf (6 page)

On his way to the harbor of Civitavecchia, he listened to his favorite opera, one of Alessandro Scarlatti’s earlier pieces, aptly named
L’onestà Negli Amori,
the honesty of love. Since the seventeen hundreds, after attending a soiree at Teatro Capranica where the maestro’s best operas were produced, Quintilius had always had a soft spot for Scarlatti’s work.

What had started like patronage, soon became a friendship that lasted several decades. Even after three centuries, Quintilius still missed the composer’s wit and good nature. Scarlatti wrote
L’Onesta’ Negli Amori
after Quintilius confided his love pains to him. The only mortal Quintilius had ever befriended and one of the few people he trusted with the truth about his love for Ludwig. The rest about him, his being a werewolf he could never share, and although his friend must have wondered a time or two about Quintilius’s never-changing appearance, Alessandro never asked.

The Palermitan composer accepted Quintilius for what he was, without judging him. When he died in Naples—Scarlatti moved from court to court throughout his whole life—Quintilius traveled to the south and mourned him with such grief, people wondered about the nature of their friendship.

Quintilius tended to listen to Scarlatti when he was in a dark mood and needed the comfort of his friend’s soothing music.

Without meaning to do so, Quintilius pushed his Jaguar to the limit and entered the port half an hour later—a full thirty minutes earlier than expected. Despite the right music, the drive hadn’t helped him relax. The phone call from Peter reached him when he was about to park.

“We positively identified the boy. Lupo Solis belongs to the Reds and he was at Castel Gandolfo. Ravenna and I will approach him tomorrow.” Peter sounded happy.

“Thanks for keeping me in the loop. Let me know if I can do anything for him.” Hopefully, the boy was redeemable. After dealing with Raphael’s situation, Quintilius couldn’t bear the idea of another teenager lost to a bloodthirsty gang like the Reds.

At the corner of Via Condotti and the Spanish Steps, Lupo realized he was being followed. Stranded on foot—he had left his bike down at the Metro garage—he briefly wondered if he could get away by entering one of the posh shops dotting the street. One look at his leather jacket, dirty black jeans, and scuffed combat boots, and he dismissed the idea; he would stand out like a sore thumb and draw attention to himself rather than disappear among the elegant shoppers.

Glancing over his shoulder, he recognized his pursuers and swore out loud. The two most powerful watchdogs of the paranormal world were after him. After skirting the Immortal Council’s justice for so long, he should have known they were just waiting for him to do something stupid. From escaping the orphanage, breaking and entering the same institution, to assaulting a bloodsucker, he had done plenty lately to be on the Council’s radar, but for them to send the demon and Ravenna Del Sarto to retrieve him seemed excessive. Rock’s words came back to him and he couldn’t help but find the whole situation ironic.
“Even if they send the Enforcer…”

Tired from several sleepless nights, poor dietary habits, a week of full days of delivering all over Rome, a fruitless lunch break where he had stared at the girl’s building for a whole hour, and now this, Lupo’s mood was foul. To top it all, he had just turned eighteen, which meant that whatever he was accused of he would be tried as an adult.

It was happy-hour time and Via Condotti was crowded with people. Tourists hurried to buy one more item of clothing from one of the many high couture stores before the buses came to pick them up. Romans converged to the city center for an aperitif before dinner. The din of scooters, honking horns, laughter, clinking glasses, assailed Lupo’s wolf and made him howl in frustration.

To run away at the speed he needed to lose his shadows would attract attention. Wolf-fast was way faster than any human gold medalist runner, and Lupo couldn’t use his enhanced abilities among the unaware crowd. The only rule all paranormals—renegades, criminals, and upstanding citizen alike—followed was to never, under any circumstance, let the mortals know about them. And even if he could outrun the enforcer, the controller would be on him in a matter of minutes. As much as he hated admitting it, demons were stronger than wolves.

Better to get it over with and let his Red brothers take care of the consequences. His family would help him out of this one.

With a grin on his face, Lupo turned and faced the duo hurrying toward him. He leaned against the doorjamb of a perfumery and waited for them to catch up with him.

“Controller, Enforcer. What an honor.” He bowed.

The demon walked up to him. “Lupo Solis, you are under arrest on attempted murder charges.”

Lupo had to tilt his chin to look the controller in the eyes. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Rock had instructed him to never confess to anything if caught.

“Drop the act, boy.” The Enforcer shook her head. “It’s going to be much easier for you if you just tell us the truth.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong and I want my phone call,” Lupo recited the words Rock had taught him.

“There’s someone who wants to talk to you first, then you’ll have your phone call.” The demon grabbed Lupo by his elbow. “Don’t make a fuss.”

Lupo’s wolf stood at attention, but not in reaction to the controller’s handling of him. As if a magnet was calling to him, his eyes went to the other side of the street, where the Bulgari store was. His heartbeat sped in anticipation. The elegant, albeit bulletproof door opened, and a well-dressed girl escorted three hooded figures out.

Happiness bubbled inside him as he recognized the small form in the middle. A black city car with tinted windows slowed to a halt before Bulgari, and a tall, beefy man came out of it and opened the passenger door.

The controller tightened his hold on Lupo’s elbow to make him move.

Lupo jerked back. “Wait.”

Look at me.

“We don’t have time to waste. Let’s go,” the demon said.

Look at me.
Without averting his eyes from the small figure, Lupo answered, “I said
wait
.”

“What’s the matter?” the Enforcer asked.

“Give me just a sec.” Lupo’s wolf growled as the demon propelled him forward.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he stubbornly pressed his heels down.

“Stop.” The demon squeezed his gloved hand over Lupo’s elbow, then immediately loosened his hold without letting him go. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Pain radiated throughout Lupo's arm. “What the—?” Then he remembered the demon’s power was to amplify sensations through his touch, and thanked the Great Wolf the man was wearing gloves. His eyes filled with unwanted tears, and he blinked them away.

When he opened them, the girl was entering the car. But before lowering her head to clear the passenger door, she looked up. Dark, liquid eyes stared into his. Surprise, then happiness passed through her expressive gaze. Even though he couldn’t see the rest of her face, Lupo knew she was smiling. His wolf reached out for her panther, and the black beauty entered their field of vision. Sleek and elegant, the animal circled his wolf, sniffing the air and tilting her head. Then she approached his wolf and bowed before him. With a growl of pleasure, his wolf licked her muzzle with slow strokes and she purred low. The joy Lupo felt in return was such he forgot about the pain.

You are mine.

The words formed in his mind, but weren’t his. Startled, he watched as the girl disappeared inside the car that left the curb and was out of sight in a matter of seconds.

****

The boy had been sitting in the same position for the last thirty minutes, and Ludwig didn’t know what to make of him. Neither did Ravenna nor Peter who had escorted Lupo to Ludwig’s apartment two hours earlier. If the Immortal Council discovered about all the infractions he was committing to help Quintilius, he would pay dearly.

“Lupo, I need to know if the pin belongs to you.” Ludwig had asked the question already, but he was hoping the boy would eventually answer him. “Would you like something to drink? Are you hungry?”

When the werewolf’s lips remained sealed, Ludwig pushed himself up and exited the living room. In the kitchen, he found Ravenna and Peter exactly in the same position he had left them. The demon working with his cell phone, and the enforcer pacing from one end of the room to the other, her heels clicking on the marble flooring and giving away her anxious mood.

“Has he said anything at all?” Peter raised his head from his phone.

Ludwig sighed. “No, he’s giving me the silent treatment.” There was also something ineffable about the werewolf that kept Ludwig on edge. Like a déjà vu effect or an afterthought that remained at the periphery of his mind. Familiar and foreign at the same time.

“We can’t keep him here any longer.” Ravenna stopped at the table and placed her hands on the back of a chair. “We need to take him to Castel Sant’ Angelo. I’ve already left a message for Martina. She’ll represent him and he’ll have a fair trial.”

“I know.” Passing a hand through his hair it felt longer than usual, and Ludwig realized he hadn’t shaved his head that morning. Since the day before, he had been preoccupied with meeting Lupo. His hope to resolve the matter fast had died the moment he saw how stubborn the werewolf was. Trying to explain to a renegade the Immortal Council wanted to help him, was like trying to reason with a vampire that the sun wasn’t evil. “Give me one last chance to talk to him alone, then he’s all yours.”

On his way back to the living room, Ludwig grabbed a soda can from the fridge. He also quickly turned on his cell phone to check his email. Ten new messages had arrived in the last hour, all of them flagged as urgent. On top of the list, there was an email from Azahel, asking to visit Ludwig’s office at the Immortal Council’s headquarters to take measurements.
I’m not gone yet,
he thought angrily. He shut off his phone and mentally prepared for his next round with the boy.

“You must be thirsty.” With cautious movements, he deposited the can on the coffee table before Lupo. “I understand your reticence. I do. But if you don’t open your mouth to answer yes or no to my question, someone I love will go through an enormous deal of unnecessary trouble.”

Lupo finally shifted on the sofa. “How much is this answer worth to you?”

Ludwig inwardly smiled, happy that his ruse had worked. Blackmail was a language the boy would understand. He should have thought of making himself look vulnerable earlier on, but usually he didn’t have any need for it.

Angels were proud and they seldom resorted to subterfuge to obtain what they thought they were entitled to. An angel only had to open his mouth to unleash his Wrath and kill or maim whomever was unlucky enough to be on his path. Even though Ludwig disagreed with his own race on their conceited opinions, he still was an angel and expected people to obey him. The years disguised as an immortal had been quite the eye opener for him. Something he was thankful for.

“As I said, I need to know if that pin is yours.”

“I answer and you let me go.”

“You answer and I promise you’ll have a good lawyer representing you.”

“I walk out or nothing.”

“I wasn’t the only one who saw you in Castel Gandolfo. An eyewitness positively identified you on the premises, and I was there when you tried to kill a vampire. You do understand your predicament, don’t you?” Ludwig walked to the open window overlooking the Tiber and on the other side of the river the Immortal Council’s headquarters, Castel Sant’ Angelo.

“I wasn’t there—” Lupo’s voice was higher than a moment ago.

Turning, Ludwig opened his wings by the side. “Not sure you are aware that I am the Archangel.” He wondered if the boy knew what his office meant. “My word is sacred.”

A derisive cough was followed by Lupo rolling his eyes heavenward.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Ludwig couldn’t help a raised eyebrow, and his now cold expression must have made an impression because the werewolf visibly blanched. “And even if my word weren’t the law, the victim has already testified giving a description that matches the eyewitness’s one.” Waving his hand to the side, he extended his wings to their full span which reached the opposite walls. All the rooms in his apartment were large enough to accommodate his need to stretch once in a while. “But I have the power to make life easier for you if I am so inclined.”

The cub didn’t need to know Ludwig would have helped him anyway.

“So, for the last time—” Ludwig stopped the boy before he could utter yet another lie. “Think twice before your answer, because I won’t ask again.” He pointed his chin at the door. “The enforcer and the controller are waiting for me to release you in their care.”

Without lowering his eyes, Lupo relaxed his stance and stretched his legs in front of him. “What’s going to happen to me?”

Although Ludwig admired the kid’s boldness and disliked to play games, he knew he had to act cold until the truth finally came out. “It depends. If you finally decide to cooperate, I’ll make sure you are taken care of.”

“And if I don’t?” Lupo’s blue eyes sparkled with rebellion.

Quintilius would have loved this boy.

The thought lingered in his mind longer than necessary, then Lupo frowned and brought one finger to his temple and Ludwig’s heart skipped a beat at the image that was too familiar. Quintilius used to frown in the same exact way.

“What happens to me if I don’t give you what you want?” the werewolf asked once again, shaking Ludwig from the temporary spell he had fallen in.

“You already know the answer. If convicted, and the Vampire Nation will make sure of that, you’ll go straight to Regina Coeli since you are not a minor anymore.” With a shrug, Ludwig caressed his jaw. “The vampires will hire the best lawyer…” He let the rest of the sentence trail away as he studied the boy’s reaction.

The more Ludwig looked at him, the more he wondered about his alpha-demeanor and the little quirks that made the boy unique and yet so similar to Quintilius in certain aspects. Same build, same mannerism, although those were shared traits in alphas. And yet at a closer look, his facial traits too reminded Ludwig of Quintilius. But then again, the boy had startling blue eyes, a shade Ludwig had never seen before, with a brown and gold ring around the pupil, whereas Quintilius’s were dark brown.

I miss him so much, I see my wolf everywhere,
Ludwig chided himself.
I need a good flight.

Crossing his ankles, Lupo said, “You said you’ll provide a lawyer for me—”

“I will.” The boy was ready to give in, but Ludwig wasn’t proud of how he had reached his goal. “I won’t leave you alone.”

Lupo nodded. “The pin is mine.” He averted his eyes, directing his gaze outside. “I guess it fell out of my jacket that day.”

Despite the long pause that followed, Ludwig felt the werewolf hadn’t finished and waited for him to talk.

Several seconds of awkward silence passed before Lupo shook his head and asked with a choked voice, “Is the bloodsucker alive?”

“Yes, I arrived just in time to save him. At least you won’t be tried for murder.”

“It’s not that. I mean I’m glad about it, but I needed to know if he was alive or if…” The cub’s façade crumbled and he sobbed once before hiding his face in his hands. “I didn’t want to kill him. I thought I could, but I can’t.”

Before Ludwig could say something to calm Lupo, Ravenna stormed into the room and took the boy in her arms.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry,” she said while cradling him.

Peter had walked inside too and was now at the boy’s side. “We’ll help you.”

Ludwig collapsed on the couch opposite the trio. “Why did you have that pin?” The question couldn’t be delayed any longer.

Looking up from the comfort of Ravenna’s embrace, Lupo wiped his eyes. “What?”

“Why did you have Quintilius’s clan pin on you?” Enunciating the words slow, Ludwig shook his head at Ravenna who gave him a reproachful stare. “It can’t wait,” he whispered to her. Maternity had truly changed the stern enforcer.