Chapter 8
1908 Words
Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport.
A warm breeze carried the scent of sea salt and the ancient city. People rushed around them, embracing, disappearing into the crowd. But she stood still—carved from marble, taller, slimmer, colder than before.
Her eyes hadn’t lost their sky-blue color, but now there was ice in them.
“You’ve changed, sis,” Nico said as he walked up to her with a crooked grin.
He’d grown taller, broader, a tattoo curling up his neck under the collar of his leather jacket.
“And you’re still the same,” she smiled softly, something flickering in her gaze. “Thanks for coming.”
He grabbed her suitcase.
“In three days,” he said as they stepped into the parking lot, “Father will announce the engagement. Everything’s already arranged. Marcus and his father are coming for dinner on Friday.”
Nicoletta didn’t respond. She simply lit a cigarette.
“You don’t smoke,” he said, startled.
“I do now,” she answered sharply. “At least something in my life I get to choose.”
“You still don’t want this?” he asked quietly.
“I have never wanted it. Not then. Not now.”
“Then tell Father.”
“And what? He’ll change his mind? He doesn’t need a daughter. He needs pure blood, an alliance, a contract.”
They got into the car. The engine hummed to life. The radio murmured an Italian ballad.
“And him…” Nico began after a silence. “Do you ever think about him?”
“About who?”
“The one you chose that night. The one you never named.”
Nicoletta stared ahead, a shadow of a smile brushing her lips.
“Sometimes stars don’t align, Nico. Sometimes they just burn out.”
He didn’t push. But something in him twisted. His sister was no longer a girl. She had become a wolf. But at what cost?
That evening, every light in the Bellucci mansion was on.
Nicoletta stood at the open window, staring at the glowing night of Rome. She had dreamed of coming back… yet everything felt foreign, unfamiliar, as if the city had changed its face.
Father waited in his office. Marcus—in three days.
She wasn’t in a hurry to see her father. That conversation would be brutal. Crushing.
“Nico…” she said softly without turning. “Tell me. What’s changed here? What happened in these two years?”
Her brother, leaning against the doorway, exhaled. He’d been waiting for this question.
“Rome isn’t the same, Nicoletta. The packs don’t follow the old balance anymore. Our world cracked the moment Remus returned.”
She turned slowly.
“Remus’s clan took almost the entire city center. His wolves patrol the streets like an army. Confident. Ruthless. Devoted to him beyond reason.”
“And Romulus’s clan?”
“We’re fighting. Trying to hold ground. But even Father can’t deny it anymore—Remus is too strong.”
Clashes everywhere. Blood on the streets. Burned cars. Disappearances.
A facade of peace stretched thin over a city ready to tear itself apart.
“And nobody intervenes?”
“They try. And die. The Elders met several times to negotiate with him, but…” Nico shrugged. “Remus listens to no one. He’s moving toward something. And nobody knows what.”
Nicoletta’s fingers trembled on the windowsill.
“In three days you’re engaged to Marcus,” he reminded her. “Until then, stay away from the city. It’s dangerous.”
He didn’t finish. Just looked at her—at the woman who once ran into the night to escape her fate and now returned to the heart of a war.
“Are you ready, Nicoletta?”
She closed her eyes.
“No,” she whispered. “But I’ll have to be.”
She stepped away from the window, turning to him with a faint, almost absentminded smile—the same one she used as a child when she wanted something.
“Nico…” she began gently. “I want to visit Bella.”
He frowned.
“Now? It’s late.”
“We haven’t seen each other in two years. I didn’t even say goodbye to her that night. She’s family to me. Please… just take me. One hour. I won’t stay longer.”
He studied her. Their bond with Bella had always been strong—but something felt off. Maybe it was the way Nicoletta’s eyes glimmered. Or the quiet resolve in her voice.
“You promise it’s only her? No disappearing acts? No trouble?” he asked pointedly.
“I swear.” She pressed a hand to her heart. “Just to see her. To talk. I need… something that feels like home.”
Nico sighed heavily.
“All right. Don’t make me regret this. I’ll get the car. Wait by the gate.”
“Thank you, Nico.” She hugged him, unexpectedly tight. “You’re still the best brother.”
“Move before I change my mind,” he muttered, trying not to smile.
And while he went for the keys, Nicoletta already knew:
This visit to Bella wasn’t just nostalgia.
It was her first step.
When the car rolled to a stop in front of Bella’s old house, Nicoletta twisted the thin bracelet on her wrist. Mother’s inscription was almost worn away, but her fingers traced the words by memory, as if searching for answers in the fading metal.
“I’ll be back in two hours,” Nico said, eyes straight ahead. “Don’t make me worry.”
“I won’t,” she promised and stepped out.
He waited until she climbed the stairs before driving away.
The door opened almost instantly after her knock.
Bella, in an oversized sweater and a messy bun, froze.
“No. No way!” she gasped, then screamed, “Lucci!” and threw herself into Nicoletta’s arms.
“I’m home,” Nicoletta whispered against her shoulder. “For real.”
“You’ve changed…” Bella pulled back, studying her face. “But your eyes are still the same. Come in. Tell me everything.”
“I don’t understand everything myself,” Nicoletta admitted with a small laugh, crossing the threshold. “But I know one thing. I didn’t return to quietly accept an engagement to Marcus.”
Bella raised a brow.
“What are you planning this time?”
Nicoletta sank into the familiar armchair, letting go of the bracelet. For the first time in a long while, she exhaled—truly exhaled.
“Lucci… why don’t I see any joy in your eyes?” Bella asked, curling up on the sofa.
Nicoletta didn’t answer right away. Her gaze drifted across the room. Everything was the same—yet she felt like a stranger.
“Because there is no joy,” she said quietly. “I didn’t come home. I came back to a cage.”
“You knew they would bind you to Marcus,” Bella reminded softly.
“I did.” Nicoletta nodded. “But hearing about it while living across the ocean is one thing. Coming back… feeling the air thick with someone else’s will… It’s different. Like my life was written without me.”
Bella squeezed her hand.
“You’ve always been strong. You won’t let them force you.”
“And what if it’s too late?” Nicoletta whispered bitterly. “Three days, Bella. Three. Then I become Romulus Junior’s fiancée. Father will be pleased. Nico will adapt. And I… I’ll forget what it feels like to be alive.”
“Or…” Bella lifted a brow. “You won’t forget. Because someone in this city definitely wouldn’t let you.”
Their eyes met.
For the first time that night, a spark flickered in Nicoletta’s.
“You still think fate can be reversed?”
“I believe in you, Letta. And in the man who once claimed you. He marked you, or did you forget?”
“I didn’t forget, Bella. But it’s been two years. He probably doesn’t even remember me. Digging up the past will only complicate things. Tell me about you instead. Do you… have someone? You awakened long ago.”
Bella looked away with a small, twisted smile.
“There is… was… someone.” She shrugged. “It’s complicated. He’s one of those you’re not supposed to love. Not openly.”
“He’s a Wolf?” Nicoletta blinked.
“Yeah. But not from our pack. He’s from the outskirts. We met by accident. One look—and I was gone. Like in those cheesy romance novels. Except in real life, that look leaves bruises, secrets, and fear.”
“You want to be with him?” Nicoletta asked gently.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like he watches me… protects me. Sometimes I think I’ve imagined it all. I told him I didn’t want to see him again. But he didn’t understand.”
“So you do want him?” Nicoletta repeated.
Bella didn’t get the chance to answer.Her phone buzzed sharply, lighting up the dim room. The name on the screen she hid with her palm. She declined the call—too fast. Her fingers trembled.
“Everything okay?” Nicoletta asked, alert.
“Yes,” Bella said too quickly. “Just bad timing.”
“Who was it?”
“No one important.” She tried to wave it off, but her eyes—wolf eyes—were nervous.
“Bella…” Nicoletta’s tone hardened. “You’re shaking. Who called you?”
Bella ran a hand through her hair and finally gave up.
“It was him,” she whispered. “He called again. Third time today. I can’t answer. I… I just can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if I hear his voice… I’ll forget everything. Every rule. Every fear. Everything. And I swore I wouldn’t break. I wouldn’t give in.” She looked at Nicoletta, helpless. “But every call feels like the moon pulling me in. Too strong to ignore.”
“So you do want him,” Nicoletta murmured. “But you’re fighting your instincts.”
“You don’t get it, Letta. You were gone too long. Rome isn’t what it used to be. He joined Remus’s clan. I can’t go against our Alpha. I can’t betray my family. My pack.”
Nicoletta was silent. Her fingers brushed the bracelet. Her heartbeat quickened. They both knew the price of forbidden desire.
The phone buzzed again.
Nicoletta watched her quietly, then whispered:
“Pick it up, Bella.”
“Letta, I can’t…”
“Yes, you can.” Nicoletta placed her hand over Bella’s. “If he still matters to you—you need to hear his voice. Just once.”
Bella hesitated.
The name flashed on the screen again.
Her heart pounded like a war drum.
“What if I break?” she whispered. “What if he destroys everything?”
“Then destroy it first,” Nicoletta said softly. “But don’t drown in uncertainty. It will eat you alive. I know this feeling.”
Bella sucked in a breath—as if about to dive into ice water—and pressed “accept.”
“H-hello…” her voice trembled, but it was alive. “It’s me.”
Silence. Heavy, charged.
Then a man’s voice, low and burning:
“I thought you’d never answer again…”
- Writer
