Chapter 1 The Deal

Inside the high-ceilinged study in one of the mansions in Vincent Stone's estate, he poured a glass of liquor, the ice clinking like a threat. His views never left the man across from him.

"I don't like waiting, Mr. Petrov," Vincent spoke, tone down. "Not when I'm delivering cartons of death that cost more than your life."

Petrov, a fat-necked Eastern European in a tiny trench coat, moved in his seat. "The docks are being observed strictly. If you need the firearms to land safely in Italy, we must wait until it's less risky."

Vincent twirled his liquor, then downed it in one gulp. "You keep watching while I move."

Barefoot, Evelyn Stone hurried quietly through the passage, her black hair buried beneath a silk headscarf. She ran her fingers along the cold surfaces, trailing with her senses conscious. She wasn't supposed to be up by this hour of the day.

But she had discovered long ago that in her world, you had to steal the truth if you wanted it. She wanted to know about every deal in her father's clan.

Without making a sound, she stopped by the door where her father was in a meeting with Petrov. She caught sight of her father leaning back through a small crevice, his jaw clenched tight. That was one of those deals going on. She recognized the expression on her father's face. The one before blood, which means he's suspecting the man he's dealing with, and is also angry.

"I want the names of those delaying my shipment. And I want them while they're bleeding." Vincent barked.

Evelyn's breath caught, hearing those words. This seems like one of the bloody deals her father had been involved in. It sounds more than a mere shipment.

She was about to sneak downstairs, where another meeting was being held. Her Uncle, Dmitri Stone, was meeting with the Romano family, a rival gang, for the first time in ten years. And then the hallway's lights began to flicker. Then the power went off.

Everywhere was sucked up by darkness. With her heart hammering her ribs, she slowly retreated from the door.

********

The meeting room downstairs was a tense place. None of them noticed the light had gone out upstairs. The Stone and Romano families had not sat at the same table for ten years. But tonight, they had to. Salvador Romano has finally realized he can't do without Vincent Stone after he had lost too much to incompetent hands. His shipments had been compromised since his only connection had been taken down. Now, he has decided to swallow his pride and ally with Vincent Stone, who controls New York as if he owned it.

The place had mixed smells, the smoke of cigars, and secrets. Staying around the edge, serious-faced and heavily armed fellows protected the two families.

Don Salvatore Romano drew slowly from his cigar, his gaze fixed on Dmitri Stone, Vincent Stone's brother, who sat opposite him like a sleeping bear, silent and watching. Tall and quiet, Luca Romano stood by his father's side, his arms crossed and suit spotless.

In matching charcoal suits, Dmitri's sons, Sergei and Ivan, leaned back comfortably in their chairs. They had been whispering ever since they entered.

Finally, in a gravelly voice, Salvatore said, "Let's stop dancing. We need each other, and that's why we are here. Next week, my ships will arrive. 50 crates. Superior Balkan weapons. Untraceable and clean. I want a smooth landing, and you know that's where you come in."

"And in return?" Dmitri smiled.

"Ceasefire between the two families." Your men stay east, and ours stay west. Our shipments come in without a hitch, and yours do too. There are no bodies in the river or abrupt movements.

"Ours has always been landing safely. Could you please say precisely what you want? peace?" Ivan sneered.

Salvatore squinted his eyes. "I won't call it peace, but rather a business. We both make money; that way, neither of us buries a son."

Luca spoke in a firm, low voice, leaning in a little. "Sergei, you too have enemies around your routes; A war between us and them is possible. So don't act like you don't need us."

"We have dealt with worse." Sergei shrugged.

"You've survived worse. A distinction exists." Luca corrected.

To keep his sons quiet, Dmitri held up a hand. He pounded the table once with his thick fingers. "You want an alliance with us because Victor, your only connection, was taken down. You want our connections working for you. It's like you're asking us to make you members of our family. What will stop you from betraying us?"

Salvatore's smile was thin. "The reality that you need us just as much as we need you."

Dmitri sat back. "Reality, Salvatore is a funny word. It does not exist in our world."

"Then we refer to it as mutual leverage."

There's a hold-up as if the room held its breath.

Dmitri then gave a gloomy laugh. "I'll take your offer into account. But I'm looking for more."

"More?" Salvatore's eyebrows went up.

"Loyalty, sealed by blood." A union between your son and my niece." Dmitri declared.

Luca's jaw tightened. Salvatore's fingers hesitated on his cigar. "That's not necessary," Salvatore remarked icily.

"Necessary," said Dmitri. Blood has a stronger binding power than contracts. I have an obedient niece. She's gorgeous, and she will not meddle.

"She's a pawn," Luca interrupted sharply.

"A queen if you play it right," Ivan added with a smile.

"You claim to desire peace. I demand assurances." Dmitri shrugged.

Salvatore took a deep breath, his lips curling in a smile. "We'll respond to you in two days."

"I anticipate it tomorrow."

Next, then.

BLOOM!

The distant wall of the apartment fell, covering everyone in trash. Chairs tumbled, men roared, and a surveillance signal blared amid the chaos. "Get down!" Another blast shook the building as Sergei shot blindly at the entrance. Ivan cursed in Russian and dodged behind an upturned table.

"We are being set up!" a Romano guard yelled before a bullet hit him. There is smoke all over the room, blood, cries, and flashing lights. Someone had attacked them. "We need to move, now!" Dmitri roared at his sons.

They heard a crash and gunfire upstairs where Vincent's meeting was held with Petrov.

Poo poo poo.

Evelyn hurried away from the scene, her pyjama swirling like clouds, her feet gentle against the surface. Masked men stormed the building, causing screams in the night. Evelyn watched the battle from her hiding place behind a statue. Like flies, guards died.

The marble floors got splattered with blood. A guy in a mask with a flashy neck tattoo yelled orders in Russian. When Evelyn saw the symbol on his neck, her breath seized. It was Petrov who set them up. The European man her father was meeting earlier.

A hand suddenly covered her mouth. After tackling, she saw Marco, the security chief for her dad. Fear filled his wide eyes.

"Miss Evelyn, we must go immediately!"

"No! My Dad."

"He's down, Miss. I must get you out of here, or we'll be down soon, too."

He took her through the secret passage behind the bookshelves, but Evelyn twisted away halfway. "I will not abandon him!" Another explosion shook the mansion before he could argue.

Below them, the floor cracked. After being flung back, Evelyn crashed into the wall. She ran back to the secret passageway in a daze and quickly sealed it. She could see the study's edge through a hole in the wall.

Her father lay quietly on the ground. Beside him, two guards lay sprawled, blood pooling from under their heads.

Then Luca Romano emerged, tall, all-black, with a jaw carved from ice, and piercing grey eyes. She remembered him from funerals and gala nights, where he was constantly present but in the background. He was now a god of death, standing amid the carnage.

Luca looked around the space. His nose wrinkled. Then... a change occurred.

His entire body shook. His back arched.

His bones snapped violently.

Evelyn stared in shock as his limbs broke and reshaped, and his muscles grew larger, so they tore off his suit.

His skin exploded with black fur, and in a few seconds, a huge black wolf whose eyes resembled those of the moon was standing where Luca Romano was.

He roared, and it shook the chandelier overhead. He lunged and easily ripped humans' throats. Screams filled the air as blood spilled. Evelyn's heart raced. She bit her hand to stop herself from screaming and stumbled away from the wall crack.

"What did I just see?"

One impossible truth had just turned her world, which had been carefully protected with alliances, lies, and firearms.

There were werewolves. And one of them had just killed her father or saved him.

Evelyn fell to the ground, trembling, before a deep voice sounded from the darkness.

"That wasn't for your eyes."