Chapter 12: Blood Calls to Blood
1500 Words
The battle ended with the Russos retreating, leaving behind fifteen dead wolves—nine theirs, six Valentino's.
A costly victory. If it could even be called a victory.
Giuliana sat in the medical room while Rosa stitched the claw marks on her side. The wound was already half-healed thanks to the mark, but Rosa insisted on treating it anyway.
"You're getting stronger," Rosa observed. "The mark is changing you faster than normal."
"Is that bad?"
"I don't know. Every bonding is different. But your body is adapting quickly. Almost like..." She paused.
"Like what?"
"Like you have wolf blood in you already. Distant, maybe. Dormant. But there." Rosa finished the stitching. "Has anyone in your family history been connected to wolves?"
"I don't know. I was orphaned at seven. No family records. No history." Giuliana frowned. "Why? What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that maybe the Moon Goddess didn't choose randomly. Maybe there's more to you than we realize."
Before Giuliana could respond, Marco appeared in the doorway.
"We found something," he said. "You need to see this."
In the Don's study, the entire inner circle had assembled. Isabella, Rosa, Marco, the Don, and three of his most trusted guards.
Except Giuliana noticed immediately—one of those "trusted" guards was someone she'd never seen before. Young, maybe thirty, with sharp eyes and a calculating expression.
"Who's that?" she whispered to Marco.
"Vincent. My father's new head of security. Started two months ago."
Two months. Right before the attacks escalated.
"We recovered this from one of the dead Russo wolves," the Don said, holding up a phone. "Messages between them and someone inside our organization. Someone giving them detailed information about our defenses, our patrol schedules, our safe locations."
"V?" Isabella asked.
"No. This person is identified as 'Serpent.'" The Don's expression was grim. "We have at least two traitors. V and Serpent. Possibly more."
"How do we know who to trust?" one of the guards asked.
"We don't," Marco said flatly. "Which is why only people in this room are privy to our investigation. Anyone else is suspect."
Giuliana's eyes kept drifting to Vincent. Something about him felt wrong. Off.
"Vincent," she said suddenly. "Where were you during the attack?"
All eyes turned to her, then to Vincent.
"Defending the west wing," Vincent said smoothly. "With the other guards. Why?"
"Can anyone confirm that?"
Vincent's eyes narrowed. "Are you accusing me of something, human?"
"Luna," Isabella corrected sharply. "You address her as Luna."
"Fine. Luna." Vincent's tone made it an insult. "Are you accusing me?"
"I'm asking a question. Can anyone confirm your location?"
Vincent looked to the other guards. They exchanged glances.
"I... I didn't see him," one admitted. "But it was chaos. Easy to lose track."
"I was fighting," Vincent said, voice hard. "Defending this family. What were you doing? Hiding?"
"I was fighting too," Giuliana said evenly. "With Isabella. Defending the Don's study from five Russo wolves who knew exactly where to find sensitive documents. How did they know that, Vincent?"
"How would I know?"
"Because you're Serpent," Giuliana said. The accusation hung in the air.
Vincent laughed. "Based on what? Your feelings?"
"Based on timing. You arrived two months ago. The attacks escalated two months ago. You have access to security protocols, patrol schedules, everything Serpent would need to feed the Russos." Giuliana stepped closer. "And based on the way you're standing. Favoring your left leg. Like you're injured. And I shot one of those Russo wolves in the left thigh. Want to roll up your pant leg and show us there's no wound?"
Vincent's expression flickered. Just for a second. But it was enough.
"Take him," the Don commanded.
Vincent moved fast—faster than human, enhanced by his wolf. He grabbed the nearest guard, using him as a shield, and backed toward the window.
"You think you've won?" Vincent snarled. "You've won nothing. V is still out there. Still planning. Still going to tear this family apart from the inside. And when you're all dead, when the Russos rule this territory, I'll—"
Marco's gunshot cut him off. Vincent dropped, the bullet through his head, dead before he hit the floor.
"One traitor down," Marco said coldly. "One to go."
The Don nodded approval. "Dispose of the body. And double security. If Vincent was Serpent, and V is still active, they'll be planning their next move."
"Father," Marco said. "We should evacuate you. Get you somewhere safe until—"
"No." The Don's voice was absolute. "I'm not running. Not hiding. I'm the Alpha of this pack, and I will face whatever comes."
"Even if it kills you?" Giuliana asked quietly.
The Don met her eyes. "Especially then. A coward's life isn't worth living. I'd rather die fighting than live in fear."
It was, Giuliana realized, the most wolf thing she'd ever heard.
---
That night, unable to sleep, Giuliana found herself in the estate's library.
It was massive—three stories of books, rare manuscripts, family histories going back centuries. She wandered through shelves, looking for... something. She wasn't sure what.
Then she found the genealogy section.
Pack records. Family trees. Bloodlines traced back hundreds of years.
On a whim, she pulled out the Valentino family history. Flipped through pages of names, dates, marriages, deaths.
And stopped.
There, three generations back. A Valentino daughter who'd married a human. Had children. Was eventually exiled from the pack for weakening the bloodline.
The daughter's name: Elena Hart.
Hart. Giuliana's last name.
Her hands shook as she traced the lineage. Elena had three children. One died young. One disappeared. The third—a daughter named Maria—married and had children of her own.
Giuliana pulled out her phone, searched her fragmented family memories. Her grandmother's name had been Maria. Maria Hart.
"No," she whispered. "That's impossible."
But the evidence was there. Elena Hart, exiled Valentino, was her great-great-grandmother.
She had wolf blood. Distant, diluted, but there.
"Interesting reading?"
Giuliana spun to find the Don standing in the doorway.
"I..." She held up the book. "I think I'm related to your family. Distantly. Through an exiled daughter."
The Don moved closer, studying the page. His expression was unreadable.
"Elena. Yes. She chose a human mate. My grandfather exiled her for it. Called it a betrayal of pack purity." He looked at Giuliana. "She died young. Heartbroken, they said. Separated from her family, her pack. Unable to shift anymore because the exile severed her connection to pack bonds."
"I'm her descendant," Giuliana said. "Which means I have Valentino blood."
"Diluted. Weak. But yes." The Don's eyes were calculating. "That explains why the mark took so quickly. Why you're adapting faster than a normal human would. The wolf blood in you, however faint, recognized the call."
"Could I shift? Ever?"
"Normally? No. The bloodline is too diluted. But..." The Don tilted his head. "With the mate bond strengthening you, with Marco's mark changing you, with training and time... maybe. It's unprecedented. But possible."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you're pack now. Truly pack. Not just by Marco's mark but by blood. Elena's exile was a mistake. My grandfather was wrong to punish her for following her heart." The Don's expression softened slightly. "You're righting that wrong. Bringing her bloodline back into the family. Becoming what she never could—Luna of the Valentinos."
It was the kindest thing he'd ever said to her.
"There's something else," the Don continued. "The Russo family has a saying: 'Blood calls to blood.' It means family recognizes family. That wolves can sense pack bonds, bloodline connections." He paused. "If you have Valentino blood, you might be able to sense things others can't. Feel connections. Identify threats."
"You think I could identify V?"
"I think you're uniquely positioned to do so. V has been hiding among us, but blood doesn't lie. If they're threatened by you, if they realize you might be able to sense them..." The Don's smile was sharp. "They'll have to act. And when they do, we'll be ready."
"You want to use me as bait."
"I want to use every advantage we have. Including your unexpected heritage." The Don moved toward the door, then paused. "Welcome to the family, Giuliana. Officially this time. Your great-great-grandmother would be proud."
After he left, Giuliana sat alone in the library, processing everything.
She wasn't just human anymore. She was part wolf. Distant Valentino blood running in her veins. Connected to this family by more than just Marco's mark.
It changed everything.
And made her wonder—if blood called to blood, if V was family, could she sense them?
She closed her eyes, reaching for that new awareness the mark had given her. The pack bonds she was beginning to feel. The connections that tied wolf to wolf.
And felt... something. A wrongness. A connection that pulled tight and sharp, like a string about to snap.
Someone in this house wasn't who they claimed to be.
But who?
- Writer
