03. I’m going to tame that Alpha

VICTORIA

I went completely still at Mom’s proposal.

My mouth opened, but no words came out.

“Give us a minute alone,” she asked my brother.

Enzo gave me one last complicated look before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

“Mo...m...” I stammered, standing up and fighting to look her in the face. “What do you mean... by mating?”

“I’m going to be blunt, Victoria, because this might be the last calm conversation we’ll get to have.” The tension showed in her features, filling the room with urgency.

“What’s going on?”

“Your brother’s position as patriarch is hanging by a thread.” I tensed at her words. “The older Alphas are threatening him, taking advantage now that your father is gone.”

“No... but Dad built this family. Didn’t Enzo take over the important stuff?” I asked, not understanding, but a sad smile slipped onto Mom’s face.

“See it for yourself.” She tossed an envelope onto the bed, one I hadn’t even noticed she was holding.

It landed on the sheets and I tore it open fast.

What I found inside made the knot in my throat tighten until it wouldn’t go down, and the pain in my chest turned unbearable.

“Dad...” My hand flew to my mouth to hold back the sobs.

“Pietro always protected you in silence, even if his pride would never let him admit it out loud,” she confessed, the hurt stamped all over her face.

“He used his influence and contacts to set up deals for that Alpha of yours, to help him climb the ranks of the Vasiliev family.” Her voice started to rise.

“And now those same things are being used against your brother... and you’re standing here telling me you couldn’t even hold on to your position as Luna?!”

Her angry roar made me flinch and drop my gaze, crumpling the papers in my fists.

Helplessness and rage twisted together inside me. How dare Luca tell me he never got help from Dad?

“We can’t take you in because we can’t even guarantee our own protection. If you stay here, your head could roll tonight right along with ours...”

“No!” I shot up despite the pain, shaking my head. I was the main reason this crack had opened in my family’s reputation.

I challenged my father’s authority. I refused to follow through with the union that would’ve made us stronger.

“Tell me what I have to do...” I walked to her and took her cold hands. “Tell me, Mom... what is this mating with the Greco family?”

My heart pounded, and determination sank its roots into me.

“The Greco family is looking again for a companion Omega, like that time... the time you rejected them,” she threw in my face, pulling away from my touch.

“If we can ally with them... nobody will question your brother’s position, and he’ll be able to protect us...”

I pressed my lips together as we stared each other down.

Of course I rejected it back then. To me, it was humiliation.

They only offered me the role of the companion. The womb for the heir. The second wife in a luxurious castle, basically.

Omegas were good for breeders, not as Lunas.

“Who... who is it this time?” I asked, my voice breaking.

“The same one as before. Lorenzo Greco, the patriarch of the family.” My legs went weak and that familiar panic came rushing back.

That was why I rejected it back then, too.

That dominant Alpha is the powerful shadow behind the Greco family... but the man who ran that empire and held it together with an iron grip wasn’t someone you took lightly.

“But... I heard he ended up marrying an Alpha and taking her as his Luna...”

“His wife died in an attack they suffered. No descendants.” Mom’s tone stayed hard. “Things aren’t simple for the Greco family either. They need an heir, and if you don’t accept, they’ll find another Omega, no matter how scarce Omegas are...”

“I’ll do it.” The words slid out of my mouth before I could think them through.

My options were slim. I had something to gain... and so much to lose.

“I’m willing to accept this time, but there’s a problem, Mom... I don’t know... if I can get pregnant.”

I confessed it as I watched her frown, worried. Her gaze dropped toward my belly and my stomach turned, nerves crawling under my skin.

What if, now that I was ready to face this, I was still useless to my family?

“There’s only one way to know.” Her voice went flat, decisive. “Tomorrow we’re going to a fertility clinic and you’re getting a full workup. We can’t lie to the Greco family.”

The nausea came back, that knot in my stomach that wouldn’t loosen, but I only nodded, lowering my head.

Then, to my surprise, a tense hand brushed my cheek, and my eyes burned.

“If the doctor says you can’t... I’ll help you get out of the city. I have contacts. Maybe with a cousin...” she murmured.

“No.” I lifted my head, and determination flickered in my golden eyes. “I’m not running from my fate this time. I have to be able to. I’ll mate with Lorenzo Greco, and I’ll give him an Alpha heir... half Bianchi.”

I said it with more courage than certainty.

Mom stared at me for what felt like forever, her eyes trying to say a thousand things she’d swallowed for years.

“I know you’ll do it. You’re Pietro Bianchi’s daughter, and a Bianchi might lose a battle... but never the war.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded, tasting the bitter salt of tears sliding down my cheeks.

Mom finally left the room, and that night I didn’t sleep, nerves shredded, turning every possibility over and over.

I was even scared we’d suffer some internal attack before dawn.

The next morning we went early to one of the top private clinics in the city, and every exam left me more anxious than the last.

I’d never dared to get them done because deep down I was terrified they’d confirm I really was infertile.

I was about to chew my nails off when the nurse told me I could change out of the hospital gown and that the doctor was waiting in his office with my mother.

I changed in the bathroom of the VIP room, smoothing down my black dress, dark circles heavy under my hazel eyes... but I walked out determined to end this uncertainty.

When I stepped into the hallway, one of the bodyguards was waiting to escort me to the doctor’s office at the end of the wing.

I walked in with my heart squeezed tight, and my soul dropped straight to the floor when I saw Mom’s deep frown as she sat across from the specialist’s desk.

“What is it?” I shut the door and sat beside her, looking at the doctor. “I... I can’t conceive?”

“Taking illegal suppressants, of course you were never going to get pregnant.”

“What?” My voice shot up.

He adjusted his glasses, annoyed.

“Miss Victoria, your bloodwork shows traces of a drug that isn’t prescribed anymore because of the side effects. I don’t know where you got it, but if you keep taking it, you’re going to end up infertile permanently,” he scolded me.

“I didn’t... I didn’t take anything, I swear, Mom. All this time the only thing I wanted was to give the Alpha an heir!” I looked at her, furious.

“Foolish girl... truly. We spoiled you too much and you grew up without a drop of malice in you.” Shame burned under my skin at her words.

The doctor understood right away what I understood, too... someone had been giving me those suppressants without my consent.

Someone who brought me my so-called “womb supplements” every morning, while poisoning me slowly.

Marcella. That fucking, rotten bitch.

“Luckily, there’s a solution with a treatment plan I’m going to prescribe.”

“Seriously?!” Relief surged through me and I reached for Mom, but her frown didn’t ease.

“How long will it take for her to stabilize? Is pregnancy possible through IVF?” she asked, and only her hands clenched around her purse strap gave away how anxious she was.

“Pregnancy is possible through IVF, because the lab does the work,” he answered, and I could almost hear her exhale.

It looked like that option was acceptable to the Greco family, which struck me as strange.

“And as for how long it’ll take to stabilize her Omega hormones and heat cycles, it’ll be faster if she’s in contact with a dominant Alpha.”

“What does that mean, doctor?” I asked.

“It means semen in the vagina and male pheromones are the best treatment to stabilize you.”

I went silent, imagining intimate encounters with Lorenzo Greco, and a shiver slid down my spine.

“And you should know that during the detox period, you’ll have sudden heats, and they’ll be very painful. You’ll need your partner’s support to soothe you...”

Those words just hung there in the air, in a thick, uncomfortable silence.

That man wasn’t going to have compassion for me, especially after I rejected him before... but I had my own plans.

“Then prepare a full report right now and email it to me. Victoria, I’m going to step out and make that call.”

My mother warned me, giving me one last chance to back out.

“Do it,” I said, firm.

Now that I knew I wasn’t infertile, I was going to use my best weapon to save our skin.

Mom nodded and left to call the Greco matriarch and Lorenzo’s mother, Mrs. Julietta.

“I’ll go ask the nurse for the summary and write your prescriptions,” the doctor said as he stood, leaving me alone in the office.

I sat there frozen in the chair, processing everything we’d just said.

Those bastards, Luca and Marcella, were going to pay for this.

I was done being nothing but a disposable womb. Without a Luna at Lorenzo’s side... there was a chance.

I clenched my fists, determined to win that man over. No romance. Just pure convenience.

The challenge roared in my chest.

I’d stabilize my family’s position and crush that worm Luca under the heel of my shoe.

I didn’t care where he hid within the Vasiliev family. If I earned Lorenzo’s favor and conceived the next heir, Luca would be nothing to me.

In the middle of my thoughts, the door opened and I turned to see Mom’s solemn face.

“The matriarch agreed. They seem eager, Vicky... their lawyer is on his way to our pack, and they want you in their territory tonight.”

I shot to my feet, my soul hanging by a thread. Cold sweat ran down my spine, but the decision was made.

“Then we’re not wasting any time. Let’s go back and show all those old Alphas that Enzo Bianchi has the Greco family behind him.”

I headed for the exit with my chin high after so many humiliations.

Armor forming around my body and my heart, because the Alpha I’m about to submit to is the same one I rejected once.

But now, for my mother and my brother... and to get my revenge, I’m walking straight into the beast’s lair.

No matter how fierce Lorenzo Greco is, I’ve decided... I’m going to tame that man.