Page 56 of Dark Wolf Soul
“Family sucks, sometimes, doesn’t it?”
I whip my head up to look at Dutch, trying to read whether he’s just being a dick, but he looks serious.
“Did yours also disown you and let you grow up without love or safety?” I ask.
“Actually, yeah.”
I blink in surprise at his answer. “You’re fucking with me,” I say warily.
“I’m the son of a general, so, no, I’m not fucking with you.”
“What’s a general?” I ask.
“Vincenzo has his territory divided up among four men he calls his generals,” Dutch explains. “They’re like property managers except they manage people, and by manage I mean enforce, kill, and terrorize.”
“At least, you had your dad. How does that compare to what I—”
“Remember the terrorize part of their job?” His brow lifts as he explains, “Let’s just say my dad’s a fucking pro in his field because he had me to practice on. I might have been raised by the asshole who made me, but there was no love or safety in it.”
I start to say I’m sorry again but then change my mind. The last thing I want are apologies from strangers that don’t change anything. I have a feeling Dutch feels the same way.
Instead, I ask, “How does Vincenzo have territory and generals? I thought Franco was the pack alpha.”
“Franco’s the high alpha over the entire mafia pack, which is made up of all of Indigo Hills. Vincenzo is the alpha of the Giovanni pack, which is a smaller group within the whole.”
“There are multiple smaller packs that make up the big one?”
“Only two packs. Giovanni and Diavolo. We used to have four, but the other two were taken over.”
“By Vincenzo?”
“One of them,” he nods. “The other was Franco deciding they were gaining too much power, so he took them out.”
“Why hasn’t he done that with Vincenzo?”
“Truth? I don’t think he perceives the old man as a real threat.”
My brows lift at that, but he shrugs. “I get it. Vincenzo’s spent his entire life trying to unseat Franco, and he’s never come close until now. I don’t think Franco respects him enough to worry much.”
“His confidence will be his downfall,” I say.
Dutch nods. “Pretty smart take for being so new to all this.”
“So, it all comes down to these two packs fighting for control of one another?”
“More or less. But to fully understand the hierarchy, you have to remember that we’re also an organization. Think of it like a business.”
I huff a laugh. “Being a wolf is business?”
“Being mafia is,” he says with a shrug. “We all work for someone, and we all help generate revenue for the branch we serve.”
“Okay, so Franco is like the CEO, and Vincenzo is what? A branch manager?”
“Vincenzo is another CEO, but his company is smaller and owned by Franco’s.”
“So, one pack, multiple businesses?”
“And only one alpha who owns them all,” he says.
