Page 4 of Spider Demon's Kiss

“No, Ma! I’ve had it with this shit,” I said getting up.

“Dante, sit down!” Ma insisted.

“I don’t mean to disrespect you, Ma, but this is ending right now.”

“And what is it that you’re ending?” Pa asked with more calm that he had a right to have.

That told me what he was thinking. Pa was built for confrontation. His wolf lived for it. He made our wolves into the killers they were with the broad side of a bat and the lit end of cigarette butts. While he did, he never flinched, just like he didn’t now.

Staring at him, he reminded me of the stakes. If you come at the king, you best not miss. Pa had us late in life but he wasn’t an old wolf. At least, not old enough to expect him to go off quietly. When he looked in the mirror, he didn’t see the grey hair and relentless wrinkles. He saw himself as a man who could take me.

Calming myself, I took a breath and then brushed speckles of Ma’s marinara from my vest.

“This second-guessing ends now,” I told Pa not needing to look at him. “Your role as the head of this pack is complete. You will always be our father and we give you the respect you deserve for it. But when it comes to running pack business, that job is mine now.”

“I haven’t given you it, son,” he said coldly.

I looked at him assured.

“You don’t have to give it to me, Pa. I’m taking it,” I said whipping off my vest and shirt and shifting before Pa knew what was happening.

I knew what I looked like to human eyes. I was big. I always had been. My wolf took up space, so when I jumped onto the dinner table and locked my eyes on Pa’s challenging him, everyone backed away.

Staring at my father who remained in human form, I crouched approaching him. I wasn’t gonna underestimate him. As fast as I could shift, Pa was faster. I had learned the trick from him. If I looked away for a moment, I could turn back finding his fangs lunging towards me. So instead, I stared, approached, and growled.

Just out of reach of Pa’s knife, I stopped. I was close enough. He, like everyone, knew what I was doing. If he thought he still had it in him, this was his time. If he didn’t at least shift, his hold on the pack was over. To fight and lose was one thing. To not even step into the ring was another.

When long enough had passed that Pa would no longer be able to recover his reputation, I next turned to my brothers. If there was someone else who thought they had what it took, this was their time. No one challenged.

I next turned to Matteo. If anyone thought they could take me, it was him. Standing on the opposite side of his overturned chair, he only stared back.

This was it. This was the moment. I was now the unchallenged head of our pack. From this point on, things were gonna be different. There would be no one second guessing my decisions. If they did, it wouldn’t be just me, they would have the whole pack to deal with.

Jumping off the table and shifting, I stared back at my family as I pulled on my pants and got dressed. It was never as intimidating watching someone get dressed as the shift itself so I filled the space with my plan.

“Now, I will be cleaning up our pack’s mess by getting married. You can get on board with it or not. Frankly, I don’t give a shit. This pack needs to be led into the future. And the old ways of doing things are done.

“If any of you would like to come to the wedding, I’ll send you an invitation. If not, who the fuck cares? Either way, you will respect me. And as the new head of the pack, you will do what I say.”

With that, I adjusted my jacket, gave a final look at my stunned family and left.

I took a deep breath making sure to fill my lungs with the sweet smell of the Brooklyn streets as I descended the stairs to the sidewalk. Why? Because I knew the scent could be my last. No one talked to my father the way I just had. At least, no one who lived to talk about it.

My being his son didn’t make a difference. Word was that Pa once tried to kill his own brother. No one could confirm it because his brother disappeared soon after. The thought was that he moved back to Italy.

Every so often we would hear from him. Mostly during the holiday season. It usually came with a request for safe passage back into the country. But the fact that I’ve never met him, speaks to my father’s ability to hold a grudge.

Rounding the sidewalk, I started to believe that I had done it. I had claimed the pack and he had accepted it. In his lack of immediate action, he had declared me the victor. I officially had the reins of the Ricci pack. And my first official act would be marrying the woman who would allow my true life to begin.

“Dante!” I heard yelled as I was about to get into my car.

I braced myself. Would I turn around to the wild eyes of a charging wolf? Whose would it be? Would it be Matteo’s? I should have considered the grip Pa had on him.

With not enough time to shift, I steeled my spine and spun finding a surprise.

“Lorenzo! What’s going on?” I asked, seeing the brother who avoided these dinners as if it were wolfsbane.

“We need to talk,” he said approaching.

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