Page 14 of Claimed By the Werewolf Boss

Chapter eleve n

Valentino

I ’m walking on the spiritual plane. Clearly, all my bad deeds haven’t landed me in hell, but in heaven.

That’s the only way to explain how I’ve got so fucking lucky with Cheyenne.

My passionate little homebody who likes it when I beat the shit out of a stranger.

Who let me buy her things all day and do my fair share of rambling about spots I used to loiter around and cause trouble as a kid.

It’s been a day I never want to forget, even with our little hiccup.

This is like the sweetest cherry on top of a perfect day.

The bonfire crackles in front of us as we settle in for the night.

The whole family lounges outside, feet up and staring at the sky.

We don’t get this back in Tolson. Between work and all the trappings of being an adult, we don’t get to take too many breaks.

There is always someone who needs to talk to us, someone who needs something or wants something from us.

This little destination wedding is the closest thing to a vacation I’ve had in years.

On my right, Andrea gazes at the stars, his fingers tapping on his thigh like he’s trying to count them.

Cheyenne’s curled up on my other side, facing Junelle and whispering about some drama that I don’t really understand.

They laugh and drink, and I bask in the pure, unadulterated joy coming off my mate.

It’s almost easy to forget there’s a rat, forget there is business that will need my attention soon.

As much as I’m on vacation, I’m still the boss.

I’ve still got a capo imprisoned who needs to be released.

While our lawyer is working on it, I’ve got to make a call tonight to grease the wheels. I want my man out. It’s been months.

But a few more minutes won’t hurt.

“You’ve got to apply for this one. Their form just opened.” Junelle’s bright phone light blinds me as she turns in my direction.

“Cons are a lot of work. And what if I run into someone I know from school? People will want to take pictures with me and blegh,” Cheyenne says.

“What con?” Andrea asks .

Embarrassment coats her cheeks and my heart heats with it through the bond as Cheyenne looks over her shoulder. I can’t help but smile. I don’t remember the last time I’ve felt anything remotely close to this.

“You’ve got to trust people more.” Junelle passes her phone to Andrea. “This is a big deal book signing, you could meet readers who have been following you for years.”

“How many people would be there?” I ask. “What are the details?”

“It doesn’t ma—”

“Seduced in Tolson,” Andrea shouts over Cheyenne. “July next year, open to all romance genres, two days of signing, expected crowd of two thousand excited readers, at the Zarro Opera House Convention Center.”

“Please, Chey, give me something to look forward to,” Junelle whines.

Andrea gapes at his fiance’s antics, but my mate still doesn’t look sold on the event.

I grab the phone and look at the basic sign-up form.

It’s not overly revealing, the company that’s running the event is literally called Seducing in…

, and while I could have my guys back home do a full deep dive into them, I don’t want to force my girl to do something she isn’t ready for, or that could be dangerous .

She’s done an amazing job of protecting her privacy from the average citizen, why ruin that anonymity now?

“Baby, you’d be a shoo-in, but if you don’t want to go, I’ll find a reason for us to be away that weekend. And any other weekend you need me to,” I promise.

“They’re just a lot of work,” she whispers. “I’m already exhausted thinking about it.”

“That’s the beauty of having us as your assistants, though.” Junelle throws her arm over Cheyenne’s shoulder. “You know we could make it work for you.”

Cheyenne looks at Junelle, then back at me. I’m not going to tell her no or yes here. This is her choice, her career. Whatever she decides, I’ll support her.

“Send me the link, and I’ll think about it,” she says.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Andrea smiles. “You know if you do, we’ll all be there as the Remi Roman cheer squad.”

“Oh, we could get shirts,” Junelle exclaims.

“And I will be here to fight off these yahoos if you don’t want to,” I assure her.

Cheyenne nods before she yawns. “I’m going to head to bed, I think. What are the plans for tomorrow again?”

“We’ve rented out the pier for the day for some private swimming, then family dinner in the evening. Nice and easy before the big day,” Junelle says.

“Sounds good.” She yawns again. “See you in the morning.”

I stand quickly and offer Cheyenne my hand. Her soft fingers slide over my palm, shooting warmth through my chest. My mate. We walk back to her room, and just as I’m about to open the door, my phone vibrates in my pocket. She raises her eyebrows at me when I don’t immediately answer.

“Go ahead, but don’t lock the door.”

“And if I do?” she teases, a little sparkle in her eyes.

“Then I’ll break in, and you’ll have to see how I punish dirty girls who don’t listen.” A growl rises in my throat, the predator in me hungry for a chase.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Valentino.”

Cheyenne opens her door and disappears, leaving the door unlocked. I like this side of her, all playful and relaxed. I want to do everything I can to keep her this way. A smile still plays on my lips as I answer my phone.

“Talk to me.”

“Mr Benetti, how are you?” Rick Mooney, the city mayor, greets me.

“I’d be better if you weren’t falsely imprisoning my friends, Mooney.” I keep the smile on my face even as he sputters down the line .

“The DA has a very solid case against di Carlo. They found everything the tip said they would. His computer has everything they need to put him away.”

Shit.

I pinch my brow trying to think who in our fucking family would plant evidence against Ezio.

He’s an old-school guy, even if he is younger than me.

He’s too damn smart for his own good and knows that he can’t leave a digital trail.

He still does all our other accounts on physical books because he doesn’t trust the government not to be watching him.

On top of everything else, for us, not being able to shift fucks with our mental state. It makes us volatile, weakens our mind until we break. A werewolf can only remain sane in captivity for so long before they snap and tear apart whoever comes near them.

So who the fuck has that sort of information and hatred for us, while also having Ezio’s trust? Every person I can think of, I immediately dismiss because they wouldn’t double-cross us like that. If we were simply human, I could let the paranoia take hold of me.

We are wolves, though. We are a family and a pack. A secret beyond the laws of man binds us together. It’s something that shouldn’t ever be corruptible.

“You should be grateful it doesn’t implicate the rest of the Benettis.”

“Are you trying to say something?” I growl .

“No,” he nearly shouts. “No, no, of course not, Mr Benetti. I’m simply saying that it’s interesting the laptop only threw one of your men under the bus.”

Yeah, the one man who makes sure our money is safe and accounted for.

No money means no business, which means our clientele start looking elsewhere for secure shipping.

This fucking rat is trying to cut us out completely.

Systematically taking us apart and using any associate who is weak enough to fall for his alpha bullshit.

“Have you ever heard of a computer growing legs?” I ask.

There’s a pause on the line. Mooney’s not a smart man. He wouldn’t even be fucking mayor if weren’t for me, but really, I’m asking a pretty obvious fucking question here. He needs to hold up his end of the bargain and help us out when we ask him to.

“I’ve heard it could happen,” he whispers like a fucking weirdo.

“What happens if this one does?”

“I suppose with the right judge, they could be persuaded to lighten the sentence to probation seeing as he’s been locked up for a few months now… assuming said computer pays his rent.”

I grind my teeth together. This greedy shit stain.

We are not allowing him to be re-elected.

On principle, I don’t work with the pigs.

They are nothing short of scum of the earth.

But fuck, would it be useful sometimes to plant one of my people in their building as a cleaner or something so they can just take the fucking thing out of lock-up.

“You’re pushing your luck, Mooney. Do you not remember exactly how you got your shiny new office?”

There is a pause on his end, and then he clicks his tongue. “Of course not, Mr Benetti, the people voted for me.”

He hangs up and I stare at my phone. What in the fuck is going on? Did I miss a message? Am I actually dead and my ghost means jackshit to people these days? Mooney has never had a backbone before, and I don’t believe this reaction is coming from nowhere.

This rat needs to be got rid of now before I start losing my mind. Luca claims he’s got a lead, so I need to trust he can handle it. Even if his attitude has been off recently. Once he meets Cheyenne and we work through whatever’s got into him, it will all sort itself out.

I need a drink.

The kitchen is bright when I round the corner. Dino and Ugo eat leftover risotto right out of the dish, not even stopping as I pull a glass down from the cabinet. It isn’t until I have a second glass of grappa that either of them speaks to me .

“That bad, boss?” Ugo asks around a mouthful of food. He looks down at the cold rice in an offering, but I shake my head. I only want the burn of liquor right now.

“Call your guy, Dino.” I breathe heavily around another shot, begging the alcohol to dampen my spirits before I wolf out and put a fist through the wall.

“I want Mooney smeared from the North Side all the way down to Kingston. Anything but us is on the table. I want it over every fucking tabloid and gossip site.”

“Can do.” He smirks.

“What can I do?” Ugo’s grin is downright fucking crazy. He smells the blood in the water and wants his turn. He’s a hungry wolf, and he hasn’t been fed in a while.

“Once we are home, once Ezio’s back at our table, I want you to make that stupid fuck suffer.”

I take a third shot, the burn in my throat doing nothing to stop how out of control I suddenly feel. It’s a drink meant to be enjoyed, and I’ve practically wasted it just to have my edges sanded a little softer. I want to rip out Mooney’s stupid fucking tongue, but I can’t do that right now.

“You alright?” her soft voice calls from the wide entryway. Cheyenne’s got her phone in one hand, her arms crossed over her chest to hide her tits from anyone’s view. She’s dressed for bed but done waiting for me to come to her this time.

Worry, concern, and a deep sense of care trek across the planes of my chest as I look at my mate.

She feels all those things for me. It’s almost suffocating how much emotion she’s packing through our new bond, but all I want is to be smothered in it right now.

I want to hear her voice and have it drown out all the worry sitting on my shoulder.

“We’ve had a long-time client break contract,” I say, words chosen carefully to avoid lying. I don’t want to be dishonest around her. She can know as much or as little about my day-to-day life as she wants, but I need to ease her into it one secret at a time.

“What a dick bag,” she states simply. Her words already have a smile pulling at my lips, reminding me that Mooney is nothing for me to really stress over. He’s just a bag of dicks I need to take out to the trash.

“He wishes he was that useful,” Ugo snorts. “More like a cum rag someone forgot under their bed years ago.”

Cheyenne’s nose scrunches up as she walks towards me. Her pretty eyes are heavy with the need to sleep, but she leans against the counter instead. Her free hand rests on my back before she slowly starts rubbing up and down until I could almost feel the ghost of my tail fucking wagging .

“Was it a bad break?” she asks.

“I don’t tolerate disrespect,” I answer. “And nobody ices me out of business.”

Her head cocks to the side. The loose braid of her hair falls off her shoulder, and I take the chance to grab the wispy tail of it. I smooth my thumb over it like that will soothe me.

“If there is no legal recourse, then I guess you could get creative. Maybe he can be scared straight.” Even as she says the words, I’m not sure she believes them. Nor do I think she truly understands I’m going to scare Mooney to death.

“How would you ruin a fictional man from one of your books?”

Her cheeks colour at how blatantly I’m talking about her writing in front of others, but I’m genuinely curious. She’s a creative, devious little author. There must be a multitude of ideas running through her head about how to make a person suffer.

“Depends on what he did.” She eyes the boys, but they look ready to take fucking notes. “I had one guy rip out another guy’s fingernails one by one. I don’t know if that’s really doable though.”

“With the right leverage,” Ugo says. He scratches his forehead. “And long enough nails.”

“Any other ideas?” I press.

She purses her lips while she taps a blunt nail on the counter. “Oh, I saw in an episode of this vampire show once where a guy had his guts spilled, but they purposefully kept him alive so he had to see it. The effects were gnarly.”

If only I had more surgical precision. Ugo, however, has perked up immensely, abandoning the cold food in front of him to lean across the counter to talk to my mate.

“What’s the wildest way you can think of to torture a man?” he asks.

I pull up a barstool for my mate, and I listen to her and Ugo brainstorm torture and murder plans. My mate doesn’t know it yet, but she’s downright perfect for our family.

As long as the werewolf thing doesn’t terrify her.