THE CONTRACT
GIANNA DE LUCA
A part of me felt like he didn't even want me around him.
Our wedding procession started almost three hours ago, but still, Alpha Lorenzo Giovanni hadn't said a word to me. He didn't even look at me when we said our vows.
If anyone's meant to be upset about our forced union, shouldn't it be me? I had nothing to do with the scuffle between our packs five years ago. Somehow, I was now in the middle of eveything.
The cheers from the ignorant crowd when i slid the ring unto his finger made my stomach sink. Not even our pack members knew the gory details behind this match made in hell. Even if they did, would any one of them be able to stand up to Lorenzo?
Definitely not. Especially when the strongest ones i knew, my brothers Frank and Dominic, had fallen to his will.
It'd been six months since I'd seen my older brothers, and yes, a part of me felt good knowing that my fathers abuse wouldn't be doubled down on by their unforgiving hands, but still, my will was nothing compared to the forces against it. If my father's unforgiving aggression wasn't enough, then Lorenzoi's brutality was certainly the finishing touch.
I knew he'd personally requested my hand in marriage as the only way he'd release my brothers. I remember very vividly the look on his face when he read every clause pertaining to our contract marraige. The smirk he had on just before he penned down his signature was still clear as day at the back of my mind. Why then did he treat me with so much disgust? My hazel eyes trailed up his dark hair.
"Why won't you even look at me?" I muttered, and I knew he heard me, but still, he chose to give me the cold shoulder.
So i waited.
Waited for the processions to end, waited for the ignorant attendees to graciously fizzle out, waited for the arms of a cold November night to finally embrace the city of New York… and then i confronted him.
"I thought we had a deal" I said, just before he could disappear alongside his heavily bearded beta, Rafael Martini.
Now i was sure he heard me, cause my words halted him in his tracks.
"...my brothers" I completed.
"Is that really why you're here?" His deep baritone echoed, and sent spikes through my skin. "I don't remember you caring so much about your—"
"We both know this marriage is your way of mocking my p… my former pack" I corrected myself. "I've done my bit, i think it's time you do yours."
Where was this courage coming from all a sudden? I don't remember being able to talk back to anyone, let alone trade glances with them. Why then did it feel so natural with Lorenzo? Something about this man made me feel… different.
"Fine!" He said "Rafael, release the brothers, and bring all three to me."
Three?
Now, he made up for not wasting a single glare on my frail body during the procession. His glare didn't shift for a second. Not until my brothers were dragged to our midst did his expression only slightly change.
"Frank? Dominic?" I tried reaching for my now pale brothers, but Rafael blocked my path before i got close enough.
"I wouldn't advise that, Mrs Giovanni" his emotionless demeanor warned me as best as it could.
"You bastard! I'm going to make you pay for this!" Frank tried summoning the strength to start a scuffle, but he could barely get passed Rafael when he was pummeled to the ground once more.
I'd never seen my older brothers so… weak.
"You can come out now, old man."
I picked up the familar scent the second he trailed into our midst, Salvatore de Luca, the Alpha of the Bane pack…
…My father.
"A deal's a deal then". Lorenzo walked over to me, leaving my brothers and father on the other side. "You get your boys back."
My dad had the most expressionless look on his face. However, telling from the way he clenched his fists, it was clear as day that he hated Giovanni to his very soul. But there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He'd already signed the contract, regretting it was basically crying over spilled milk.
Raphael tossed my brothers to my father's feet like they weighed nothing, then walked over to stand beside Giovanni.
"Enough beating around the bush now, you three are on the Blood Moon grounds." Lorenzo's eyes glimmered the darkest shade of red, "...I suggest you leave now."
"Gianna?" I'd never heard Dominic's voice bellow so softly. "...did you…?"
He'd pieced together everything in a matter of moments, and the look of realization on his scarred face left me in shambles.
Like my mother before me, i too was the sufferer… of a contract marriage.
Up until now, it had never once crossed my mind that this would be the last time I'd see the people i called family. Sure we didn't act like it, especially ever since mom died. But a part of me still loved them, even if they didn't love me back. I bent my head in an effort to shield my tears, but Giovanni raised my chin up just so i could see the look on their faces.
The powerless Salvatore De Luca, the seething Frank de Luca, and the emotionless Dominic De Luca. Curse my naïve state. Even after all they'd put me through, a tear rolled down my cheeks when my silence bade them our final farewell.
"Leave us" I heard Lorenzo say, the second they faded with the midnight mist.
It took a while before he said anything, but the moment Raphael's lavender scent vanished in the darkness…
"Let's make one thing very clear. I hate you with every bone in my body."
Even after all I'd been through, his words took me back a little, and i raised my teary eyes to trade glances with him.
"It didn't falter when i first saw you five years ago, and it hasn't changed now." He took a step closer, and i felt the oxygen seep out my lungs. "You're just insurance until i find a permanent solution to your Father's annoying little Bane pack. In the mean time…" he grabbed me by my ponytail and i shrieked in pain. "...try to stay out of my way, or I'll make your life even worse than it was when you were a Bane. Is that clear?"
"My head… my hair… you're hurting me" i said, already in tears.
"Is. That. Clear?"
I had no choice. Clause One of our contract marraige.
#MY YES IS YOUR YES, NO MATTER WHAT#
"Yes, Alpha Lorenzo"
With those trembling words, he let go of my hair and i plummeted to the ground under my bodyweight.
Giovanni was… not the same man from five years ago.
The neck-long hair and perfectly tanned skin weren't the only thing that had darkened since our first meeting.
I remember the rush of emotions the first day my hazel eyes glanced across his fiery red ones. We'd accidentally bumped into each other on aisle six at the Metropolitan supermarket, south of the city. His petrichor scent made my skin bubble, and his cold touch felt like a perfectly spiked drink.
Goosebumps trailed my skin, and i could've sworn my heart stopped beating for a couple seconds. I'd never felt that way about anyone ever before. I knew, then and there, the Alpha of the Red Moon pack was my mate.
But even then, he didn't acknowledge me. Not even when Raphael and him got into a scuffle with my Father's men. Now that i remember, he even used me as a shield that day. Perhaps the Alpha, like everyone else in my life, never really cared about me. Not even after saving his life… with my powers.
Did Lorenzo really forget every thing that happened that day?
