The Lonely Wolf by Monica La Porta Page B

would have happened.” He took the hand she had pressed on her heart.
    “You forgot I didn’t want to marry you either.”
    Her words were soft like a caress, and he brought her hand to his jaw. “I should’ve done something—”
    “What? I put myself in this situation.” She caressed his face in slow circles. “My handsome alpha, why are we even talking about it?” She shook her head. “Stirring the past will only make the present unbearable, and I am so happy, here, with you who has given me so much already.”
    “You should have had a lover, cubs…”
    “I knew what I was doing when I drank that vial.”
    Camelia was right, they shouldn’t be reminiscing about what had happened that night so long ago, the pain was still very much alive and it hurt.
    One hundred and fifty years earlier, the Wolf Council had decreed Quintilius had forgone his duty as alpha long enough and it was about time he gave the clan an heir. The elders had reunited and after a lengthy consultation, they had matched Quintilius with Camelia Del Rei, a Spanish she-wolf with impeccable lineage, the right astral conjunctions, and a rare healing power.
    On the paper, Quintilius and Camelia were the couple of the century. In practice, they had been so unhappy, Camelia decided to take fate in her hands and put herself out of the equation. She was successful in her effort, so much so that the elders declared Quintilius free from the matrimonial contract.
    “You know how many times I awake from a dream where you didn’t succeed in poisoning yourself?” Images of Camelia lying on the floor, blood seeping out of her mouth came back to Quintilius so often, he wondered if they would ever go away and leave him in peace. The night of their ceremony, just a few hours before the whole circus would start, he found her outside the wedding gazebo. Unconscious, she was still holding the vial he hid as soon as he realized what she had done.
    One shot of undiluted curare. Not enough to kill her, but just enough to cripple her wolf so that she wouldn’t be the perfect specimen for the alpha anymore. It didn’t help his conscience that the night before he had confessed to her he was in love with someone else. She had reciprocated his sentiment by saying she had a lover back in Salamanca who would come to her rescue. But her werewolf never came.
    “Don’t think about it. I don’t.” Camelia’s eyes swelled with tears, but she kept her lips curved up in a small smile. “I don’t want to talk about it any longer. It pains you.”
    “As it should, my flower.” He grabbed the wheelchair handles and pushed her back inside the house.
    “Tell me what has put you in such a mood.”
    And Quintilius told her about how he had ended his relationship with the love of his life once and for all, first while dining, then before the fireplace in his studio where they usually spent their evenings conversing about their days.

Chapter Six
    “Ludwig, what a pleasant surprise.” Holding a recalcitrant toddler in his arms, Alexander Drako opened the door himself.
    Ludwig had expected Pietro, the Greek’s loyal majordomo, but thanks to the triplets the household had become rather informal. “I promise I won’t take long, but is there any chance I could talk with Raphael and Luisa?”
    “You’re always welcome to stay as long as you like. If you don’t mind little rascals afoot, of course.” Alexander stepped back and to the side to let him inside his villa in Coppedè, one of the most elegant neighborhoods in Rome.
    “Who’s this? Serses?” Ludwig couldn’t distinguish the kids. They were all olive-skinned, with dark-brown curly hair.
    “Darius.”
    The boy giggled as he slapped his father’s face with a slimy hand.
    “I’m victimized by those two feet of cuteness on a daily basis.” Alexander grabbed his son’s chubby hands and kissed them.
    The kid said, “Dada lovvee.”
    “Love you too, bebè .” With a radiant smile, Alexander closed the door