Nothing

Alpha Luciano’s POV
“No.” I didn’t have to think twice about it. The nerves on this girl. How dare she think to make demands of me? Me! She was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Arabella Bianchi was fearless now that she’d discovered she had nothing left to lose since she no longer cared if she lived or died. I would change that. The problem was that I had never expected Arabella would be hiding claws beneath that subservient exterior so I was ill-equipped to handle this situation. A gross oversight on my side that I would soon correct.
“That will never happen.” I repeated making sure she got the point. Give her the right to pick the times we would have sex? Yeah, that was never happening. Did she think we were courting or something? This was not a fucking democracy, it was a dictatorship. I gave the orders, she took them. That was all it could ever be. That was all I would allow.
She rolled her eyes. Fucking rolled her eyes. I was going to kill Arabella Bianchi and damn the consequences. “I thought you would say so. Well, I will do exactly–”
“You will do exactly nothing because you won’t be allowed to. I realize I have been too lax with you and you have taken that privacy for granted. From here on out, you won’t get a minute alone. I will have you watched even while you are taking a dump. I will monitor you day in, and day out. Let’s see how you manage to end your life then.”
I barely restrained a smile at her almost panicked expression. She thought she could one-up me? Well, she could think again. The problem at hand was resolved, I stood up to leave the room to take a shower and rest.
“What did I ever do to you?” She sounded genuinely puzzled.
“Whoever said it was about you?”
I left the room before she could say another word.
*******
Arabella’s POV
That… That man. Ugh. I wanted to throw something at him. Preferably something that would kill him once it landed on him. He was unbelievable. Just when I thought he would give in, he pulled that. I didn’t even ask for something extravagant. Just a right to freaking choose when I had sex. A right I was entitled to.
I fumed while wincing in pain as the pain meds wore off. I sipped some water trying not to move too much so as to not disturb the healing wound.
With a regular bullet, the wound would be healed in hours but silver bullets slowed down healing a whole lot. While it still healed faster than a human injury, it was pretty slow for a wolf.
I drifted off against my will while thinking of all the possible places I could stash Alpha Luciano’s body after I brutally dismembered him.
A knock woke me up. Margaret slipped inside the room. I smiled lightly before remembering what Alpha Luciano had implied. That Margaret had let me steal her phone and it was all part of the ruse to get me running about like a headless chicken.
“Arabella.” Margaret took the seat by my bedside, her face masked with worry. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you would…. Oh, Goddess, this is all my fault.” She sniffed taking in my condition.
I was mad at her, don’t get me wrong. She had betrayed me not once but twice now. But at the same time, I could empathise with her. If her Alpha ordered her to do something, what could she do?
Had I not almost gotten married to someone whose face I didn’t even know because my Alpha who was also my dad had demanded it?
Plus she did not even know me that well and I had only befriended her to take advantage of her after all. So it seemed a little bit on the nose to call her out on what she did without also condemning myself.
“Goddess, Margaret. I shot myself, you didn’t shoot me. It’s fine.”
“But you were able to leave the pack house because of me so it is partly on me.”
I nodded. That made sense. When she put it like that, it was actually her fault. Sort of.
“I forgive you, Margaret. You are a good person. You just… make questionable decisions.”
Margaret laughed. “Yes. That must have been why I volunteered to do a suicide watch for you. Can’t risk you doing more damage to yourself that I would feel guilty about later.”
I laughed. “You are the person Alpha Luciano sent to watch me? That man has a twisted sense of humour and he was so freaking sadistic. I don’t know what exactly I did to him. He’s always going on about me being a Bianchi but really why is he doing all this just because of an ordinary business rivalry?”
Margaret was quiet so I looked up at her. She looked stunned. “You think he is doing this because of a business rivalry?” Her eyebrows have climbed so high they almost disappeared in her hairline.
“Yes. Isn’t that the reason why?” I was so confused. It wasn’t exactly news that the Bianchis and Romano were business rivals so why was she acting so shocked?
Margaret bit her lips and seemed to be actively contemplating whether to tell me or not. She inhaled sharply and faced me. She must have come to a decision already.
“Alpha Luciano found me at the brink of death, my mate dead and my daughter was stolen from me. He saved me, took care of me, found and punished the people responsible. He is still tracking down my daughter to date. The point I am trying to make is that he is a good person. A protector. Except when he is with you.”
“And why is that exactly?”
“I’m getting there. Years ago immediately after the treaty was signed, the Stonecold pack invited the Lupo-Mortale pack to finalise the treaty with them. It was an ambush and the Alpha then, your father, beheaded our Alpha, his men raped our Luna and made her kill herself. Alpha Luciano was a child then. He witnessed everything happen which triggered his wolf coming in early to save his life. Since then he has been bent on destroying your pack.”
“But that’s not possible. Dad told me it was the Lupo-Mortale pack that broke the treaty, not the other way around. Why are you lying to me?”
I found myself getting angry. I’d actually thought she would tell me the reason why Alpha Luciano was the way he was but she had just lied covering for her Alpha. Everyone knew the story about how Luciano’s father had broken the treaty.
How my father had stood up against him for his people and nearly lost his life protecting the people. Which he had done. So the lie that Alpha Luciano had been feeding his people made my throat feel all choked up in rage.
“So that’s what he told you?” Margaret sounded unimpressed. “Since you think I am lying, why do you think Alpha Luciano hates you so much?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because he is a strange fellow? Because he feels he is the centre of the world? Because he has a problem accepting the fact that not everyone wants to bow and scrape to him?”
“Arabella, deep down you know that’s not it. You know something isn’t tallying. I won’t convince you to distrust your father and trust a complete stranger but do give it a thought.”
“I trust my father. Nothing you say will change that.” I turned in my bed to face the wall. Margaret didn’t say anything else. She just sat in that chair quietly watching me. Like her Alpha asked her to. I had to remember that she wasn’t on my side. None of them was.
I closed my eyes to catch the sleep that eluded me with ease.
*****
Alpha Luciano’s POV
Listening to Mikah giving me the intelligence report, I sipped coffee and started my day. The Alphas had set a date for rescheduling the meeting but some of them were pushing for the inclusion of Vitalio Bianchi in the next meeting. Chief amongst them was Dante. No surprise there.
Although I would have to check how deep their alliance was and if Dante would prove to be a stumbling block for me later on.
Meanwhile, all was quiet from Arabella Bianchi’s side. The minx hadn’t tried to kill herself and Margaret was keeping tabs on her every movement. She was going to be discharged in the evening.
Uncle Tommaso stormed into the study and Mikah stopped talking. “What happened with Arabella Bianchi?”
“Mikah, excuse us.” My cool tones brooked no room for arguments.
Mikah bowed and left the room.
I looked at Uncle Tommaso. “A minor mishap. I handled it.”
“Did you really? She pulled a gun on you! This has gone on for long enough. Put a bullet through her head and be done with it. We can cut off her head and mail it to Vitalio. That’s more than enough.”
My wolf growled. He felt threatened and wanted to take over and rip Uncle Tommaso’s head off. How dare Uncle Tommaso talk about killing his mate? I controlled my wolf by taking deep breaths.
“No, Uncle Tommaso. I said I already have it under control. Your advice is appreciated but unneeded. I will handle this in my own way.”
Uncle Tommaso’s eyes widened in shock as though he could not process what he was seeing.
“Don’t tell me you have started having feelings for Arabella Bianchi?”
Before I could reply, Mikah ran into the room.
“Alpha, Vitalio is here.”