Chapter 40: The Mafia Wolves

Draven’s POV

She got me fresh clothes after I bathed with the water she’d prepared.

She was so damn nice, and I still didn’t know her name.

"Can I know your name?" I asked while she pulled a towel from the rack.

"But I don’t know yours either," she replied.

"Oh ... my manners. Please forgive me." I pulled the new shirt over my head. "I’m Draven Blackstone."

"Hmm. Draven." She was the one who actually extended her hand first. "I’m Jade."

My brain had been on pause ever since I left Bloodmoon. I shook her hand. Her skin was soft and cold. She was beautiful ... blonde hair like Astrid, exactly my type. But now wasn’t the time to start catching feelings. Love had already done enough to me.

"If I may ask ... why did you do all this for me? It felt like you knew me from somewhere."

Jade laughed. "Those wolves would have killed you if I hadn’t stepped in. I was just being compassionate." And God, she really did have a beautiful heart.

"Thank you," I said to her again.

"Don’t thank me yet. They’re still coming for you, and you’ll have to face them. I can’t guarantee saving you from this one," she said.

These wolves must have really been something.

"Mafia wolves ... that’s what they call themselves. How have you survived all these years?"

"Too many questions, Draven." She patted me on the back. "Survival instinct will serve you better here, okay?" Then she walked out and left me alone in the room she’d brought me into.

I sat down to recuperate.

I was expected to become a rogue mafia wolf just to survive. They were coming for me. And it was getting closer.

I’d never really experienced street life. I’d spent my whole life in an office ... stacking papers, filing reports on communication statistics. I never imagined I’d end up somewhere like this.

But like Jade said ... survival instinct. She was an angel sent to me. I genuinely believed that.

Then the mafia wolves came knocking.

"Come out, stranger." They yelled from outside.

I walked out and they grabbed me by the arm, dragging me to the centre of the bar. It was deep into the night already. They all looked like people who had taken a lifetime of beatdowns ... men and women alike.

"Introduce yourself," their leader said. "And note ... if you don’t come appealing, we’ll kill you."

The woman beside him was chewing gum, black lipstick, lingerie barely covering anything.

"My name is Draven Blackstone and I’m going to be frank with you all..."

"Shut up. Say no more." He cut me off. "You’re him."

The room erupted.

"You’re him!" the leader kept chanting.

"You’re the one who killed a wolf and got exiled!"

Everyone yelled in response. They all knew. There’s no one without internet, so it wasn’t a surprise ... I’d gone viral after that incident.

"He was fucking his mate’s sister!" another mafia wolf called out.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! He’s him!" They all declared it together.

At some point I genuinely got scared. I thought they were another set of judges assigned to punish me all over again.

But that wasn’t the case. My heart lifted ... just a little.

Damn.

"We are the Valdris Mafia Wolves," their leader announced. "We are a group that doesn’t lack doings. Our work is scattered everywhere, and we think you just might be fit to be our newest member."

He offered his hand.

"I’m Rex," I said, and put out mine to shake ... and he squeezed. Hard. So hard it dropped me to one knee, grunting through my teeth.

"First lesson," he said. "You don’t trust anybody."

I nodded. He let go.

Jade was standing there watching. I kept glancing at her, trying to read her face. I wanted to make an impression. One that said I was a strong wolf. I’d always loved to impress ... and here I was doing it for a stranger in a strange land.

"Are you looking at her?" Rex caught it immediately. "Don’t. She’s neutral ... neither in nor out. Focus on what you have to prove tonight."

I was still standing in the middle of the room, the mafia wolves circling me. This time I counted more carefully ... eight of them. Five men, three women. The women were paired with their men. Their leader was still sizing me up.

I had to survive.

"What do I have to prove tonight?" I asked.

"You’ll have to do two things. Just two things, Draven. The first starts now."

One of his men pulled off his shirt and raised his fists.

What the hell.

Before I could process it, a punch landed square on my face. Heavy. The guy was built like a wall ... trained, thick, nothing like me.

How could this possibly be a criteria? Damn. I was about to reach up and check my nose when another punch cracked it again, then a third hit my ribs.

It finally clicked. I was supposed to fight.

I raised my fists and started throwing blows. Most of them hit air. He dodged everything.

"Fight, Draven, fight!" Rex kept screaming. "You can kill a wolf but can’t fight one? Come on ... don’t play with me!"

I glanced at Jade behind the counter. She was looking back at me, cleaning cups like nothing was happening.

I couldn’t afford to lose focus.

So I stopped thinking and just fought ... pure strength, pure wolf instinct. No experience, no technique. Just will.

We started matching each other. He’d land one, I’d give one back. I knew I was no match for him, but I was determined to survive. We scattered chairs and tables across the bar. It was senseless ... but it was their law, and I had to fulfill it.

Then I got tired.

There was no way I was winning this clean. What do I do? I thought ... and that moment of hesitation cost me. He raked me to the floor, gave me no breathing room, and wrapped his hands around my throat.

He started choking the life out of me.

But then I saw it. A bottle on the floor, just to the left of my head. He was so lost in his near-victory he didn’t even notice when I reached for it.

I smashed it against his skull. Then I snatched a broken shard and drove it into his side.

He went down, bleeding. And the whole room exploded ... screaming, hailing, losing their damn minds.

Their friend was bleeding on the floor and they were celebrating me?

These people would never cease to amaze me.

I stood tall over him and breathed.

"You didn’t play fair, you know that?" Rex said.

"I wanted to survive," I told him ... and immediately looked at Jade’s face. I caught it. A small, subtle smile.

They carried the wolf I’d injured out to attend to him. I hoped he’d make it. He did. I didn’t want to kill another person again. Ever.

Rex looked at me. "You didn’t fall below standards. I knew you could do it."

I was still gasping, blood running from my nose, nodding yes.

"One thing remains," he said.

They opened the bar door and brought in a woman dressed in lingerie. Rex took her by the hand. She was smiling.

He looked at me.

"You’ll have to do to her what you did to your mate’s sister that night."

"Oooohh!" The whole room erupted.

He wasn’t joking. I heard him clearly ... but he wasn’t speaking in clear terms, so I played dumb.

"What exactly do you mean, Rex?"

"To get into our group, the final step is to fuck this woman standing in front of you."

She licked her lips.

What the hell.

This was way beyond mafia. How far could they possibly go? This was pure madness.