Page 12 of Broken Wolf Heart (Mafia Pack #3)
He looks like he wants to argue, but then he sighs. “You don’t,” he admits. “I felt it when I chased you here. You have more than a newly shifted wolf should. They must have felt it when they bowed to you.”
Either that, or the triple murder convinced them.
“I will deal with my father. Later. Right now, all that matters is making you alpha.”
“I thought you said I already was.”
“The leadership voted you in. Now you have to convince the rest of the pack to pledge their loyalty to you. Then, it’s official.”
Shit.
No one said anything about pledges of loyalty.
“Will you help convince them?” I ask nervously.
“Wife,” he says, pulling me to my feet and stroking a hand down my cheek. “I’ll be by your side every step of the way.”
An older model sedan is already parked on the side of the road when we finally make our way out of the woods.
I squint through the darkness and am surprised to realize I can make out the figure inside.
Enhanced eyesight. Endurance. Scent. I’m still trying to process all of the abilities my wolf has given me.
“Is that Crow’s?” I ask, faltering. “How did he know we were here?”
Grey hesitates.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, instantly on alert.
He blows out a breath. “Nothing. It’s just… a pack thing.”
“Pack?” I repeat, frowning. They’ve been in the same wolf pack since I met them, and he’s never mentioned they can sense one another’s location like this. I don’t even think our mate bond will let me do that. “I don’t understand.”
“When my father took you, we knew we’d have to be ready to fight to get you back.”
“What does that have to do with?—”
“The night before the wedding, Dutch and the others pledged their loyalty to me, using a hex blade.”
A pledge of loyalty. To him.
“Does that mean?—?”
“I’m a full alpha now.”
“Oh.” I glance away, emotions swirling too fast for me to hang onto any single one.
An alpha. Of his own pack. A pack that doesn’t include me. How can we be mates but belong to two different packs?
“Say something.” His voice edges toward a plea.
“Is that how you were able to kill Franco? Because you had alpha power already?”
Honestly, discussing murder was preferred to the stupid hole in my heart his words caused. How could I still feel abandoned and alone after being married and mated to this man? Ugh.
“Yes. We’d taken the oath only hours before that. If we hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been strong enough. ”
I bite my lip, concentrating on that. Without the pack oath, he might have been hurt. Or worse. Franco might have?—
I don’t let myself go that far.
When I look up, Grey is still watching me warily. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. I wanted to,” he adds quickly. “But things have been moving fast, and I didn’t want you to feel like you were?—”
“What?” I snap harsher than intended. “On the outside?”
His jaw tightens. “You’re not on the outside with me, ever.”
“But I am,” I say, quieter now. “You’ve got your pack. The ones who chose you. The ones who belong to you. I’m just an impostor demanding total strangers accept me or else, apparently, I’ll rip them apart.”
“You’re not just anything,” he says fiercely, closing the distance between us.
I don’t move as his hands cup my cheeks. His touch isn’t gentle, but it’s not rough either. More…determined. Impassioned. Desperate.
“You’re more than a pack member. You’re my mate. My bonded. My heart. That’s not some rank to hand out. Or a pledge to make, hex blade or not. That’s everything.”
My eyes sting. I hate that it still sounds like a consolation prize.
“But I’m not part of your pack,” I whisper.
He looks at me like he’s trying to will away my hurt.
“No,” he says quietly. “You’re not. Because I don’t want you beneath me. Or behind me. I want you beside me.”
“That sounds nice,” I say. “But it’s not the same as feeling it. Being in it. And it’s not like I can just drop my own pack and join yours. If we do that, who will rule the city? Your father?”
He doesn’t have a response for that.
I turn away before the ache in my chest makes my legs give out. This day feels centuries long .
“So, you have a pack bond. And that’s how Crow knew where you were?”
He nods. “It doesn’t happen to every pack. My father doesn’t... Anyway, it happened after Franco. After I inherited his power. We felt the boost in our bond immediately.”
“So, you bonded to your pack,” I say flatly. “And I didn’t.”
He flinches, and I hate that my reaction is hurting him—but not enough to take it back.
It’s the truth. But so is the bite mark I gave him.
And our marriage. This is not me losing him.
It’s us building the next part of our future.
That’s what I tell myself, at least. And maybe if I repeat it enough, I’ll start to believe it.
“I’m not angry,” I say after a beat. “I’m just… I’ve spent my whole life not belonging to anyone. And now that I have a mate, and maybe a pack of my own, I still feel like I’m orbiting something I’ll never quite land inside.”
He steps closer again. This time, I let him. His hand brushes mine, fingers tentative.
“You’re not orbiting, Lex. You’re the center . They’re circling you .”
I blink hard, my eyes suddenly burning.
He grabs my hand and presses it over his heart. “Feel this. Feel me. Our mate bond. It means more to me than anything. You are my entire reason for existing. And that’s how I know it’s all going to work out. Because we have each other.”
I nod once, swallowing around the lump in my throat.
“I hope you’re right,” I say.
He leans in, pressing a kiss to my forehead like a vow.
“I usually am,” he murmurs.
And for the first time in a long time, I wish I could believe that without hesitation. Rather than let him see my worries, I change the subject as we begin walking toward the edge of the woods again.
“Can you tell through your connection whether Razor’s okay? I think I might have nicked him on my way out of the meeting earlier.”
“He’s fine. Already healed,” Grey assures me. At my worried expression, he holds my gaze and says, “I sent him with the others to find out what my father will do next, now that you’ve been crowned. Otherwise, they’d be here too.”
At the mention of Grey’s father, I tense all over again.
It’s only a matter of time before he calls in my end of the deal.
And that’s if Ramsey hasn’t already told him I was a spy for Franco.
But before I can think too hard about Vincenzo’s wrath, we reach the edge of the tree cover, and I remember that I’m very, very naked right now.
When I hesitate, Grey tucks me behind a tree knowingly. “Wait here,” he says and then jogs to the car.
He returns a moment later with a blanket and wraps it around my shoulders, pulling it tight.
Then he leads me to the SUV and helps me inside.
I marvel at how he seems to know what I need before I can say a word.
He’s always been driven to give me what he thinks will make me happy.
But he hasn’t always been good at knowing what that is.
Another perk of our bond.
“Hello, love birds. There’s a pair of shorts on the seat for you, Grey. Lexi, sorry, my orders are to stay away from the penthouse, so I couldn’t get you anything.”
“It’s fine,” I tell him, drawing the blanket tighter around me while Grey slips on his shorts.
Where to?” Crow asks as Grey slides into the backseat next to me and shuts the door.
“Franco’s,” Grey says and then quickly corrects, “The Giovanni estate.”
Crow twists in his seat. But he doesn’t look at Grey. Instead, he gives me the kind of direct look that only Crow can. I swear this guy sees so much more than he lets on.
“You good?” he asks me .
My heart swells. The concern means so much more than he’ll ever know.
“Yeah,” I say, trying for a smile.
I fail—miserably. But Crow must be convinced because he turns back to face the windshield and puts the car in gear.
“In that case, welcome to the family, Mrs. Grey,” he says.
The title sends a jolt of surprise—and pleasure—through me.
I look over to see Grey watching me as if trying to read my reaction. I give him a soft smile and then press my lips to his quickly. “I think I like this title best,” I whisper.
I watch as he lights up, his joy unmistakable through the mate bond, and then he kisses me back in the darkness for the rest of the car ride.