CHAPTER THIRTEEN: the wolf he couldn’t quiet
759 Words
The car moved through the dark city in silence.
Haru had stopped speaking after they left the warehouse. His words had dissolved into quiet sniffles and broken breaths as he stared out the window, watching the city lights blur past without really seeing them.
Dante sat beside him and said nothing.
His wolf, however, was not silent.
It paced restlessly beneath his skin, agitated by something Dante couldn't explain. He had felt his wolf react to danger, to fights, to challenges. This was different.
Softer.
More unsettling.
He glanced at Haru.
The omega pressed his sleeve against his mouth, trying to muffle the sounds of his crying as though he was embarrassed by them.
Dante looked away.
His wolf did not.
He let Haru cry. Some instinct told him that words wouldn't help. Haru didn't need comfort. He needed permission to break without someone trying to force him back together.
Eventually the crying faded.
Haru's shoulders relaxed.
His head tilted against the window.
Then slowly, exhaustion won.
Dante watched him fall asleep.
Without the tension that constantly lived in his face, Haru looked different. Younger. Softer. The fear and caution that usually lingered in his expression had disappeared, leaving something painfully vulnerable behind.
Too innocent.
Dante studied the tear tracks drying on his cheeks.
There was nothing threatening about him.
Nothing calculated.
Nothing that belonged in Dante's world.
When Doran had delivered a male omega instead of the daughter he had promised, Dante had been furious. He had intended to treat the arrangement as nothing more than a transaction.
But somewhere along the way, something had changed.
And he hated that he couldn't explain it.
Why are you staring at him?
The question irritated him.
Dante Moretti didn't like questions he couldn't answer.
Yet here he was, unable to look away from someone who had spent the evening falling apart in front of him.
His wolf had no such confusion.
His wolf knew exactly what it wanted.
That was the problem.
Dante forced his attention back to the road.
The mansion appeared at the end of the private drive.
The car stopped.
Before anyone could move, Dante reached for Haru, sliding one arm beneath his knees and another behind his back.
The sleeping omega barely stirred.
Dante carried him through the mansion and down the long hallway until he reached Haru's room.
When he stepped inside, he paused.
He had never entered it before.
The room couldn't have been more different from the rest of the mansion.
Color.
Warmth.
Life.
Soft blankets, bright fabrics, and small personal touches filled the space. Everything about it felt lived in.
Safe.
For the first time, Dante felt strangely out of place in his own home.
He crossed to the bed and laid Haru down carefully.
For a moment he simply looked at him.
Then he pulled the blanket over Haru's shoulders and turned away.
Outside the room, he closed the door quietly behind him.
His wolf was still pacing.
His phone was already in his hand before he reached the end of the corridor.
The call connected after two rings.
"Don't kill him," Dante said.
His voice was cold now.
Emotionless.
"But leave him broken."
A brief acknowledgment came from the other end.
Dante ended the call.
"Aren't you doing a little too much?"
Dante looked up.
Marco stood leaning against the corridor wall with his arms folded.
His expression carried the familiar look of someone who was far too observant for his own good.
"Are you doing all this because Doran gave you a male omega instead of a female?" Marco asked. "Or is it something else entirely?"
The corridor fell silent.
Dante's face remained unreadable.
"What are you trying to say, Marco?"
Marco lifted his hands.
"Nothing."
"Good."
Dante held his gaze for a moment longer before walking past him.
He never looked back.
Marco watched until his brother disappeared around the corner.
A soft sound drew his attention.
Elena stepped from the adjoining hallway and stopped beside him.
Her eyes remained fixed on the space Dante had just vacated.
"He thinks very highly of himself," she said quietly.
Marco said nothing.
Elena turned toward him.
"It should be you."
His expression shifted slightly.
"You should be the one in that position. Not him."
The certainty in her voice was unsettling.
"And I will do everything in my power to make sure of that."
Silence settled between them.
Marco looked once more toward the corridor where Dante had disappeared.
He said nothing.
Which, in its own way, was answer enough.
- Writer
