Chapter Five

Lorenzo POV

The pounding bass of music that did nothing to hide the sounds of fighting somewhere in Hell’s Pit that still throbbed in my chest as I pushed through the doors and into the cool night air leaving behind the scent of sweat, sex , whiskey, and blood that clung to my nostrils but none of it mattered.

Not after what I had just seen. My chest heaved, all while my hands clenched into a tight fist as I stalked toward my car.

I had spent years convincing myself that the idea of a mate was nothing more than a cruel joke the Moon Goddess played on wolves like me—wolves who didn’t need the distraction of love or the weakness of devotion.

If I was going to beliild the largest empire on the West Coast then I couldn't afford to be derailed by petty things like love and emotions.

So even though there were nights that I welcomed the blood and gore there were other nights when the loneliness was choking and all I wished for was a mate.

But years had come and gone and she wasn't there so I had long since buried the hope of finding her, of ever feeling that pull.

Yet, tonight, in the filth of Hell’s Pit, surrounded by criminals and lowlifes, that Vincenzo kept close to him I had smelled her.

My mate.  Mine.

After years of believing I was destined to live without one, after convincing myself I didn’t need a Luna to rule by my side, she had appeared like a drop of water in a very dry desert that was—Hell’s Pit, a den of sin and vice where I conducted business and not– never romance.

If my hands clenched any tighter I would likely break something, I stalked toward my car fury bubbling in my gut.

I was furious but not at her, I wasn't even sure I could be mad at her but I was furious at the gods who had made me wait this long, only to throw her into my life in the worst possible way.

I yanked the car door open the car door, slid into the driver’s seat, and slammed it shut with enough force to rattle the frame. Gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles went white, I turned on the ignition and the engine roared to life, the guttural growl matching the beast inside me.

My wolf was on edge, howling for me to turn around, to go back and claim what was mine.

Not yet.

Not when I was seconds away from losing control.

I sped through the city streets that all but blurred around me the darkened skyline nothing more than an inconvenience for what I wished I could actually be doing.

Stripping my mate and pushing deep into her warm willing body, blood rushed to a place I would rather not have had it go to, and I huffed.

Of course I needed release, I hadn't had a woman in quite a while and I while I had come to Hell's Pit on business, it had been in a way intertwined with my pleasure. So I was a little bit off,  I barely registered the red lights I ran or the honks of furious drivers, it wasn't like I would be fined for it anyway, I was careful enough not to kill someone but other than that it didn't matter much to me .

The only thing I saw was her—the way she had looked at me, the scent that had crashed over me like a wave, her presence slowly lighting something inside me I had thought long dead.  I had never felt that level of need in my life before and I had been half certain I was dreaming it.

My mind a spiraling tunnel of thoughts.

Who was she?

What the hell had she been doing there in a place like Hell’s Pit?

Did she even know what she was to me?

Hell’s Pit wasn’t just a club—it was a battlefield, a neutral ground for rival packs and mafia families to conduct their dirty dealings run by a man who was my complete enemy.

I wouldn't have put it past Vincenzo to have spiked my drink but I hadn't drank anything, so my reaction to that girl had been totally normal. If she was there, she wasn’t just some innocent girl.

She was involved in this world and that made things more complicated.

By the time I reached my estate, I was still seething, though the controlled fury had settled into something colder.

I pulled into the long driveway, the iron gates closing behind me as I parked. I shoved the door open and climbed out, slamming it shut behind me, the bitter  crisp night air doing nothing to cool my temper as I stalked up the steps and into my home.

The house was quiet, likely most of the pack was off running one of my errands or the other.I ran this territory in the south and all the people in it answered to me unofficially of course.

My beta, Rafe, was waiting at the entrance, leaning against the stone railing with his arms crossed, he straightened when he saw me, his  gaze assessing me like he always did.  Rafe had been my friend since the day we were born.

Wer had gone from cradle to guns at the same time and there was no separating me from him,not even my father had succeeded in tearing us apart and the old man had tried.

So Rafe knew me and knew how to thread carefully around me.

“You look like you’re ready to kill someone,” he said, pushing off the railing as I slammed the car door shut.

I didn’t answer, just stalked past him into the house, I heard him shout out some orders to one of the guards by the door before he followed without another word.

Inside, the grand foyer was dimly lit, shadows stretching across the marble floor, i didn't need the light, but my mother was human and she had always had poorer vision so I had never bothered to change it even after she died.

If it made the life of my human workers easier then I didn't mind it anyway.

"I take it your night didn't go as planned?"

I ignored him, as I stalked deeper into the room  I shrugged off my jacket and throwing it over the back of the couch before heading straight for the bar.

I needed a drink.

I poured myself a generous amount of whiskey, downing  it in one go, the burn did little to dull the fire still raging inside my gut so I  poured another and downed that down too before finally turning to face Rafe.

He raised an eyebrow.

“You gonna tell me what happened, or do I have to guess?”

I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair.

" I found her.”

Rafe’s expression didn’t change, but his grip on the back of the chair tightened.

“Your mate?”

I nodded and his brows drew together, silence stretching between us as he processed my words.

I wasn't the only one who hadn't found their mate either, for years, we had both assumed neither of us would never find her.

That either the Moon Goddess had cursed me, or my mate had died before I could ever meet her. It was something I had forced myself to accept

Rafe  finally let out a low chuckle,

"Well, shit. I never thought I'd see the day."  He said as he walked to the bar and grabbed a glass and gestured for me to pour him a drink. He gulped it down immediately and looked over at me

" Well I'm assuming you mean at some coffee shop that I didn't know you were going to visit, which would prompt me to ask where she is" he muttered, I looked away from him.

He knew exactly where I had gone and that they had been no detours so there was no need answering that question

He  blinked, his expression shifting from amusement to disbelief.

"You found your mate in Hell’s Pit?"

I shot him a dark look.

"Don’t start."

He held up his hands in surrender.

" Hey I'm not judging you've always been risque"

" What does that mean" I grunted and he laughed

"I’m just saying, that’s not exactly the kind of place you’d expect to find your fated mate. Was she working there?"

" No_" I sighed running my hands through my hair

" I don't think so–I didn’t even get her name."  I muttered underneath my breath

"What do you mean you didn’t get her name? "

“And you left her there?”  he hissed and I flinched, only Rafe could have me feeling like a god-damned pup.

“I had to.” I said between  clenched teeth  as I poured another drink but didn’t touch it.

“If I’d stayed, I would have done something reckless.”

Rafe sighed, running a hand over his face  shaking  his head, letting out a low laugh.

"You’re an idiot."

I glared at him.

" I know."  I gritted because although I hated to admit it I knew

"Seriously, Lorenzo. You find your mate after all these years, and instead of claiming her, you storm out and come home? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn’t," I admitted ruefully sipping at the new glass in my hand.

"I panicked, like I said I was sure if I stayed I would have done something stupid "

“Alright. Start from the beginning.”

I told him what he needed to know

He knew that I had gone to Hell’s Pit for a meeting, how I’d caught her scent before I even saw her.

I could still remember it, Jasmine and something else that had mh wolf stirring and anxious, my entire body had locked up the second I laid eyes on her.

She was beautiful— a fragile thing that was meant to be coddled. She didn't belonged in this world, but I didn’t know how or why she has gotten there.

" So Valerie introduced you" he asked and I nodded sipping from the glass that I had just poured

He exhaled, dragging a hand through his dark hair.

“That complicates things.”

“No shit.”  Valerie dealt with sex slaves or workers, women reserved for men's pleasure, getting her to release this woman even though I had told her to reserve her would be very difficult.

We stood in silence for a long moment. My wolf paced restlessly inside me, itching to go back, to take what was his. I poured another glass and finally, Rafe spoke.

“So what’s the plan?”

I stared into my untouched drink before pushing it aside.

“I’m going to get her back.”

Rafe smirked.

" That’s what I thought.”

" You know that this is going to be very dangerous right "

“She’s mine. I don’t care what they think"

My voice was steel, final.

“She belongs here—with me.”

Rafe leaned back against the bar, considering me.

“You sure she’s going to see it that way?”

I met his gaze, my expression unyielding.

" She will.”

Because fate didn’t make mistakes.

And neither did I.