Page 4 of My Solemn Vow (The Mafia Arrangement #1)

VALOR

A VILLAGE

“I don’t understand why we can’t hit them where it hurts.

The D’Medici family has been coming after everything we do.

They were at the human underground fighting arena.

What happens if they find the wolf fights next?

If humans find out about us...” One of the older men of the pack growls his opinion.

The threat is left off because no one likes to theorize what would happen if wolves were made known to the public.

Rumbles from the twenty men in the room fill the air as they voice their agreement, and someday it’ll be my job to answer these questions. But not today.

My father and his pack second, my uncle, Neil, are in charge.

Both are in their fifties, but there’s another decade or more before they step down as heads of our business.

Until then, I get to sit on my father’s left, a symbol of my status, at the table set up in the front of the room before rows of chairs where pack members sit.

They won’t find us. We protect the human fights less than the wolf fights for a reason. My wolf echoes my thoughts on the subject. Usually, my opinion isn’t being asked for. I’m here to be involved and show my support without directly having a say.

But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t itching to do exactly what the man is suggesting.

I want Gregorio D’Medici dead and buried long enough for his son to take over the family business and get his feet underneath him.

I clench my fist, trying to dispel some of my own feelings about our situation.

I don’t go off half-cocked though. Mine is a personal vendetta.

I have a mate to avenge, and I’m playing the long game. I’ll be a patient hunter.

“We all know the risks,” another man, probably irritated with the length of this meeting, snaps.

I shuffle in my seat, not liking his tone. But my father stays relaxed, unbothered. Neil, however, is clenching his fist like he’s holding something back.

Movement in the front row draws my eye. My younger brother, Royal, had shuffled in his seat and is now leaning back in his chair. With his phone in his hand, his thumb flies across the bottom. I know before I feel the vibration in my pocket that he’s sending me texts.

There’s no point in hiding it. Everyone in the room heard it go off. Wolf hearing.

I open the message quickly and look at it.

Royal:

Fix your face you look like an axe murderer.

Unless that’s the vibe you want to go for, make everyone think you’re unhinged.

I really don’t want to be Alpha though, and as younger sibling... it was never my job. That’s why I learned IT like we discussed. Look less unhinged or unhinged enough that someone challenges you. K thanks.

And I told Mom and Dad I wanted a little brother why? Regardless, I relax my jaw, unclench my fist, and try not to ‘look like an axe murderer.’ I try for my usually cool and unaffected interrogator facade and put my phone away.

Because he’s a good uncle to our pup. My wolf tries to offer support for Royal.

But it’s not needed. As much as he gets on my nerves, we’re brothers. We always have each other’s backs.

“Let’s go over what we know.” My father tries to be diplomatic, and I’m ready for him to disclose the edited version of what Mick told me about ‘Greg and Ed’ D’Medici after I put Kerrianne back to bed in the wee hours of the morning.

“I don’t want to put too much information out there and be wrong about it. ”

“Ian. I want to hear it from Valor direct.” The older man from the pack, Thomas O’Halloran, coughs. The years of cigars are catching up to him.

Neil scoffs from the other side of my father.

My wolf growls, but I suppress it. Civility is best suited right now.

For the longest time I only handled the non-pack part of our business, but recently, my dad has requested my involvement more and more with the pack operations.

I understand his reasoning, but it can be disruptive to the established hierarchy.

Three dominant wolves at one table trying to lead isn’t easy.

“Fair enough.” My father looks over at me with a silent warning to keep it to the basics.

Heat warms my collar with that glare. Dad’s usually more forgiving when the pack wants to hear something from me.

Did I fail to silence that growl? I check with my wolf, but he plays dumb to the question. Fuckin’ hell.

I straighten in my chair, raising my gaze to look more pointedly across the room, and start with the important pieces.

“We know the D’Medicis are looking to branch out.

Drugs and information aren’t enough for them to sell.

They’re trying to fill the gaps with the special kinds of shipments we refuse to touch. ”

“Fuckers,” a man toward the back of the room barks, a thick Irish accent giving away that it’s one of our more recent transplants. “Traffickin’. Disgusting.”

“What are we doing about it?” Thomas raises his voice with a growl, clearly ready to issue a challenge.

“The obvious.” Neil cuts in.

“From Valor,” someone toward the back shouts.

Neil grumbles, but over the murmurs of the pack, I can’t hear what he said.

Dad huffs the way he does when he disagrees with something.

Like when I used to tell him I was going to a friend’s house, but I was really hooking up with Holly.

It wasn’t a lie; she was a friend. He didn’t believe me, but he didn’t stop me either. Disagreement but not an objection.

I clench my fist again but don’t take Thomas’s bait for a challenge. Ready to defer to my father, I give him a sideways glance, but instead of stepping in, Dad remains silent. He gives me a nod of approval.

The huff wasn’t directed toward me. I don’t look down the table because the tension in the air is enough to know a discussion is coming after this meeting.

Taking a second before speaking, I uncurl my fingers and drum them on the table.

“The rat I worked last night didn’t have enough answers for me to confidently say we should make a move.

If we were to err on the side of caution, we should suspend the fights until we have a better handle on what is or isn’t going on — D’Medicis or otherwise. ”

Groans of disappointment fill the air, but no one contradicts me.

While we, the ‘Irish Mob’ as the government agencies have dubbed us, make many decisions through votes and open forum discussions, at the end of the day, the pack alpha makes the final call.

The pack not disagreeing with me is a good sign that Dad’s silent support of my decision to wait will go uncontested.

“We need to end the war once and for all. The D’Medicis’ numbers keep growing while our pack keeps shrinking,” another man pipes up from the back of the room .

Yes, they have more children than we have pups every year, but I’ve been slowly and diligently wiping out illegal business after business of the D’Medici empire.

The end game is to remove them as a threat entirely.

But in the process, I also want vengeance for Holly’s death.

It’s been seven frustratingly long years of searching for evidence of who killed her, and when I have it, that person will pay for the pain he has put me through and the impact of Kerrianne never getting to know her mother.

Berto and Gregorio D’Medici are on the top of my suspect list, and when I have proof and the opportunity, I’ll drag them to my basement, kicking and screaming.

I’ll take pleasure in dismantling them piece by piece as I force them to tell me why and apologize for what they’ve done.

I’ll make them beg, with false hope, for their lives.

Royal clears his throat, and I know it’s his way of telling me to fix my face. I spare a glance at him, and he’s pointing to his lips. I’m so tired that I’m smiling at the thoughts of murder. Maybe the pack should be concerned about me.

We’re wolves. Death is normal. My wolf defends me all while thinking of the taste of blood.

Yeah, the pack should be concerned about me.

“I understand the frustration postponing the fights will cause. It’s valid for us to worry about the next moves.

” Dad puts a voice to the decision he, Neil, and I made in his office earlier this afternoon.

“Let’s reconvene at the next full moon. We’ll talk about resuming the fights.

I’ll have better answers for you then. Valor is working a lead on how to hit the D’Medicis back.

We all know when my son goes on a hunting expedition, he comes back victorious. ”

“Objections?” Neil shuffles in his seat, and when I stretch back in my chair, I catch a glimpse of his features pinched together.

No one raises any additional concerns.

“Adjourned.” Dad pats his palm on the table .

I try to contain my sigh of relief at this day being that much closer to over. But Royal snorts, and I know I failed. Fuck it, I’m done for the night.

Murmurs around the room meld together as pack members stand, some heading outside to run under the light of the full moon while others, including myself, head to the main meeting space of the home, where refreshments have been set out as prepared by my mother and some women of the pack.

A few women make eyes at me as I navigate the space full of shifters.

Some of them, the more stubborn or more delusional ones, are still vying for an opportunity to be the next alpha’s mate, and they try to put themselves closer to the path I’m walking with hope I’ll give them a chance. It’ll never happen.

One or two hopefuls used to wander up at every function and offer a drink, a meal, or more.

But now they know my lack of interest isn’t a side effect of grief.

I’ve made it clear I’m not to be approached.

It’s not that they aren’t great options.

Most will make good mates for someone else someday. For me though? There are no sparks.