Page 29

Awakening the Wolves

SAVVINE

X ander’s hand rested at the small of Savvine’s back as they stepped off the elevator and onto the Signet Co.’s executive and command deck.

Savvine’s pulse was still thrumming from their lovemaking, from his kisses, his hands around her waist as he fed her spoonfuls of honey cream,

She was still confounded by how he’d gazed at her in the golden hush of the cabin, as if she were both a mystery and the answer to his heart’s questions.

She had to tamp down the overwhelming swell of emotion as they entered the boardroom.

They found the rest of the strong guard waiting to continue their discussion from the day before.

A long side commode of mirror-polished black wood ran along one wall.

On it were carafes of filtered water, flutes of juice, a spread of fruits, cured meats, and delectable finger food.

Soon, with kahawa cups in hand and picking on a selection of biscotti and sweet treats, they settled into their chairs, chatting.

Xander sat next to Savvine, one hand on her thigh.

The man was not hiding their connection from his hermanos , from his possessive gazes to the soft and lingering caresses.

She adored it all, from the coy smiles and teasing glints in his violet-flamed eyes.

‘Hold up.’

Kaal drawled from the far end of the table, biting into a lush cannoli with deliberate slowness. ‘Tell me I’m not the only one seeing this? Care to explain?’

Xander and Savvine tore their eyes from each other, blinking as if waking from a trance.

She flushed and ducked her head, her hair slipping over her flaming cheeks, suddenly aware they’d been caught.

‘I was wondering when someone would say it,’ Boaz muttered, arms crossed, half-grinning. ‘Pretty sure Savvine just got undressed. Twice.’

Savvine choked. ‘Excuse me?’

All heads turned as Santiago leaned against the nearest bulkhead, lazy as ever, wagging a gloved finger between them. ‘So. You two kicking it?’

Savvine opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her gaze darted to Xander.

His gold-ringed eyes narrowed, energy shifted, a whip of menacing warning.

A dark and possessive pulse rippled through the room, a wired petrichor and drop in pressure, akin to the stirring before a storm.

‘Pipe down, cabrón .’

‘ Fokk no,’ Santiago replied, grinning. ‘We’ve been taking bets.’

Savvine gaped. ‘A betting pool?’

Mak shrugged. ‘Unofficial. But lucrative.’

‘What happens in my bedroom,’ Xander clipped, cutting through the laughter, ‘is none of your fokkin ’ business.’

The room stilled, not out of fear but respect.

That dangerous growl, that commanding tone, full alpha, war-wolf mode engaged. Even the overhead lights seemed to dim.

‘I don’t pry into your hookups, hermanos ,’ he snarled, straightening, radiating dominance. ‘I don’t comment on who sneaks random bunks after midnight, or whose boots hit the floor first. So simmer down with your jokes and bets.’

A beat of silence followed.

Then Zev smirked. ‘So that’s a yes?’

Xander gave him a glare penetrating enough to cleave hull plating.

Mak leaned toward Boaz and whispered. ‘ Naam . She’s got his mark.’

The entire pack tilted to stare at her neck.

Savvine pulled back, rearranging her collar, her face burning.

Xander’s spectral energy flared, then exploded over the room. ‘ Suficiente !’

His star wolves retreated, with glints in their eyes.

Savvine cleared her throat and rubbed her temples. ‘Y’all are something else.’

She turned to Xander’s side and hissed under her breath, ‘Next time, maybe warn me that I’ve got a mating mark on my throat.’

Xander’s eyes burned with a possessive gleam. ‘What if I want the entire ship to see it, querida? What I don’t welcome is their verbal speculation about how it got there.’

She huffed, unbelieving as he sat back with a smirk, ‘We done? Now let’s talk business. Miral?’

‘We’ve confirmed the Lombardis are receiving weapons shipments from a shadow contact. They’ve received nano weapons, molecular spike charges, even Hades stealth ordnance,’ the synth AI said.

‘A shadow contact?’ Savvine asked. ‘Who?’

‘It’s not from anyone in the flotilla or an Accord supplier. It’s alien. Unregistered. Beyond anything in our flotilla’s databases.’

Savvine straightened. ‘Who is it?’

Miral shook her head. ‘Still unclear, but whoever they are, they’re organized. They’re arming the Lombardis and pressuring them to destabilize your house, and ours. Eugene’s a key player.’

‘Why?’ she asked.

Xander met her eyes. ‘I suspect because they want him to join a secret coalition that’s nefarious as fokk in their motives. They’re turning the screws and while we presume we are in their crosshairs. We don’t know how far they will go to meet their aims.’

The strong guard exchanged glances, and she suspected they were also fed up with being the Lombardis’ target practice.

She let it go, waiting to see what offer was on the table.

Her jaw clenched.

‘Savvine, it’s clear to us that Eugene is scrambling,’ Xander added. ‘Trying to commission a new frigate, pushing contractors, bleeding credits. It’s slow, inefficient, and exposed. He needs more than a new gunship to maintain order.’

‘So you want us to join you,’ she muttered.

Xander didn’t blink. ‘It’s not about want, Commander.

It’s about survival. The Signet Company has the resources, the infrastructure, and the reach to match this rising threat.

We’ve already intercepted three Lombardi shipments and fought their capos, who’ve blindsided us in attacks.

We can intercept more. We also have the support of Pedro Carvajal and Don Caluccio Diaz Grandos. ’

‘I heard about that,’ Savvine muttered. ‘How did you pull it off?’

Xander smirked. ‘We blew up one of their salami and pastrami supply vessels before their eyes. The craft was empty, but you’d have thought we murdered their grandmothers.’

‘The hell?’ she breathed, choking back laughter.

The pack exchanged amused glances, and she shook her head in disbelief.

‘Y’all are savage, but I need to speak to my people,’ she said at last. ‘This isn’t a solo decision, neither is the sign off on the frigate build.’

Xander nodded once, understanding. ‘I expect nothing less. When you’re ready.

Still, his gaze lingered, and in that look, between the fire and the steel, he wasn’t just offering her an alliance.

He was extending a place for her at his table.

Xander’s office sat on the uppermost level of the Signet command wing.

It was sleek, quiet, and wrapped in layers of security insulation so thick even Miral couldn’t listen in without permission.

‘Use it,’ he told her, gesturing to the central console. ‘It’s encrypted, neural-synced, and private.’

Reinforced glass lined the room, affording a breathtaking view of the ship’s central atrium.

The desk, carved from black wood, a rare, now extinct material, was extraordinary.

A warm light glowed along the under edge of the table, and his chair was redolent of a synth cigar, cedar, and him.

It contained a holo interface, which Savvine activated with her neural imprint, exhaling as the holo-link synced.

After a beat, the shimmering sigil of the Venantia Eterna flickered to life, stabilizing into a call matrix.

She reached out across the connection. ‘This is Commander Savvine Bianchi, requesting direct relay to Abby Noxana, Tactical Control. Priority status.’

The signal pinged once, twice.

Then, nothing.

The logo of her ship quivered, stuttered, and went dark.

Her brow furrowed. Unusual .

She tapped the directive again, escalating. ‘Override, level green priority, engage auto-command protocol B3. Connect my neural imprint. Bring the Eterna online.’

Still, nada .

Her blood ran cold.

A second later, the console spat back a garbled burst of code.

Then: ACCESS TO THE VENANTIA ETERNA DENIED. COMM LINK COMPROMISED.

The screen dimmed.

Panic bloomed in her chest like a bomb.

She staggered back a step. ‘What the hell?’

Her node sparked. A quiet ping. Private, encrypted, one-to-one.

She recognized it and accepted it at once. ‘Abby? Abby, talk to me -.’

Her comm officer’s voice bled through, broken and panicked. ‘Savvine, it’s me. I don’t have long. Something’s wrong. Frameworks are glitching, and your father just told me engineering is down. It appears our ship’s been hijacked.’

Savvine’s heart lurched. ‘How? By whom?’

‘I don’t know. It was subtle. Silent. All our systems flickered out. Backup protocols got bypassed, and malware must have slid into our core operating processors. Enrico and the general have tried to reboot manually, but we’ve been hacked and our credentials are being kicked out of the mainframe.’

Suddenly, the call cut off.

Savvine froze, the blood roaring in her ears.

Surging to her feet, she stormed out of Xander’s office and down the hall toward the atrium where she had left him.

She spotted him, speaking with Boaz and Kaal near the kahawa hub.

‘Xander?’

He swiveled at her urgent call, the expression on her face stopping him cold.

She walked straight to him, eyes burning. ‘I just got through to Abby, Eterna’s comms and tactical officer. She claims there’s an unknown takeover of the ship’s systems. The Venantia Eterna is offline. My people, my ship, may have been hijacked.’

Xander’s face hardened, his eyes flaring.

‘Help me,’ she murmured. ‘Please. I need your help.’

He didn’t hesitate; he stepped in, reaching for her waist, pulling her close.

He bent to rasp into her ear. ‘You have it. What’s mine is yours, belleza .’

Caught between panic at the Eterna’s unknown demise and relief that Signet had her back, Savvine returned to the Signet boardroom with Xander.

Miral, Kaal, and Santi joined them at the table as Savvine linked her comm tab to the conference room holo server.

Miral managed to recreate an encrypted link to Abby on board the Eterna, which they used to gain intel on the Eterna’s systems.

Xander paced at her side, while the hermanos took their places around the table, their eyes focused and alert.