Page 17 of Broken Wolf Heart (Mafia Pack #3)

GREY

L exi stands just inside the room, frozen, like if she breathes too loud, the entire house will collapse under the weight of what she’s been through today.

I know the feeling. My skin’s still buzzing, adrenaline high, and wolf pacing restlessly just beneath the surface.

My beast doesn’t like the silence that hangs inside these walls—not to mention the stench of Franco taking up every square inch.

He wants to go back downstairs and circle the territory we just claimed. Stake it. Defend it.

But Lexi’s my territory too.

And she needs me now.

“You were perfect,” I say, ignoring the demons inside me as I kiss her softly.

“I don’t know about that, but at least, no one else tried to kill me.”

I pull her into my arms, holding her as long as she’ll let me. As long as she needs. When she finally pulls away, she doesn’t look at me. I can feel her utter exhaustion through our bond. I feel other things too. Darker things. I don’t tell her that, though .

We’ve had enough darkness for one day.

She tugs on her clothing. A second later, her hands hover at the clasp on her shoulder, her fingers twitching like she can’t quite remember how to undress.

“Here, let me.” I step closer.

She lets me undo the clasp at her shoulder and then slide the fabric apart, peeling it down her torso where it pools at her waist. Wherever Mia found this thing, I need to tell her to get more of them.

Watching the entire thing slide away from her skin is making it hard to concentrate.

“The way you controlled your wolf tonight was impressive,” I say, forcing myself to refocus, even as my dick twitches.

She shakes her head. “I’m not sure who controlled whom.”

“Any other newly shifted wolf probably would have ripped out Cliff’s throat for challenging you. Your self-control didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the pack. You should be proud.”

Her laugh is dry. “If my wolf is so under control, then why does it feel like I’m going to puke?”

“Because you’re human, too.”

That gets a flicker of something in her expression. She finally lifts her eyes to meet mine, and I see it then: the fear. “And what if the wolf swallows the human whole?”

I shake my head. “It won’t.”

“You sound so sure.”

“I am.”

She stares at me for another beat, then lets out a breath and pulls the fabric so her one-piece outfit slides all the way to the floor at her feet.

My mouth goes dry.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen her naked—not even close. But this time feels different. There’s no performance here. No walls between us. Just Lexi, stripped down to nothing but her bare skin and the rawness still clinging to her bones from what happened today .

She unhooks her bra next, then steps out of her panties.

Following her lead, I peel off my shirt. The moment it hits the floor, I realize how tightly I’d been holding myself together. Waiting to see what Lexi’s pack would do when she took control. Wondering if we’d have to fight our way out of this house before it was over.

I kick off my boots. Jeans next. Boxers. Until we’re standing there, naked and exposed, just feet apart.

The room is dim, moonlight filtering through the curtains, painting her skin in silver and shadow.

She crawls into bed without a word.

I follow.

The sheets are cool, soft cotton against overheated skin. I pull them over us and stretch out beside her. For a few long seconds, we don’t speak. Don’t move.

Then my hand finds hers beneath the sheet.

Our fingers link.

She scoots closer, curling against me, her head on my chest.

Her breath is shaky.

“What if I can’t keep their loyalty?”

“Rugs, remember?”

She tilts her face toward mine, lips parted.

In the back of my mind, I know I should tell her about the visit from my father earlier.

The threats he made. But that doesn’t feel nearly as important as putting my hands on the breathtaking creature before me.

All I can think about is taking what Lexi offers me like the desperate, obsessed predator I am.

So, instead, I kiss her.

It starts gentle, just a brush of mouth on mouth. A whisper of heat. But it grows quickly, like a spark in dry grass. Her hands slide up my chest, fingertips tracing the line of my collarbone, the dip of my throat. She’s not trembling anymore.

She’s hungry.

So am I .

I roll her onto her back, sliding between her legs. My cock is already hard, pressed against the inside of her thigh. She arches beneath me as I kiss down her throat, over her collarbone, down to the swell of her breast.

Her body is fire beneath mine—soft and strong and hot enough to melt steel. I slide a hand down her stomach, fingers teasing between her thighs. She gasps, hips lifting.

“Grey—”

“I’ve got you.”

I slide two fingers inside her, curling them until she moans. Her walls clench tight around me, and the sound she makes is almost enough to undo me completely.

I kiss her again, deeper this time. Our teeth clash. Her nails dig into my shoulders.

Her hips rock up to meet mine, and I groan. My cock rubs against her entrance, and it’s all I can do to hold back.

I shift, line us up, and slide into her.

She lets out a strangled cry—half pleasure, half something more desperate—and clutches me tighter.

The world narrows to this.

Her. Me. The rhythm of our bodies. The sound of skin on skin. The way my name sounds as she moans it against my throat. I want to memorize every piece of her all over again. I want to feel her come undone around me, and then put her back together with my hands, my mouth, my body.

She moves faster, rocking into me like she can’t get close enough.

And then—she freezes.

Her breath catches.

Her body tightens in a way that has nothing to do with pleasure.

“Lexi?”

She doesn’t answer.

She jerks beneath me, her back arching off the mattress, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her nails rake down my back?—

Only they’re not nails anymore.

They’re claws.

My skin burns as it’s peeled open.

“Lex—fuck—I need you to stop, you’re?—”

With a groan, she shoves me off her with more strength than she’s ever had before.

I land hard on the mattress beside her and scramble up just in time to see her glowing.

Her eyes. Her fingertips. Her entire body pulsing with barely leashed power.

She’s not shifting completely, but she’s close.

Her fingers are elongating again. Her teeth have sharpened.

Her chest rises and falls like she can’t get enough air.

She clutches the sheets to her chest, panicked. “No, no, oh my God—I didn’t mean to?—”

“It’s okay,” I say, hands up. “You’re okay.”

“I could’ve hurt you.”

“You didn’t.”

She looks at my back. At the blood I can feel trickling down my spine.

She shakes her head, eyes wild. “I did.”

“You stopped,” I say. “That’s what matters.”

“I almost couldn’t stop it.” She chokes on the words. “I didn’t even feel it coming—just this… pressure. And then I was gone, and she was in control.”

I climb onto the bed and sit beside her, reaching for her hand. Her claws have retracted, but her skin is still flushed and hot, like the magic hasn’t fully faded.

“I’m losing myself,” she whispers.

“No,” I say, and this time I grab her chin and make her look at me. “You’re waking up. And yeah—it’s messy. But we can figure this out.”

Her eyes search mine. “How?”

“We find Franco’s lab and go look for answers. ”

A beat of silence.

Then she nods. “Okay,” she whispers.

I pull her into my arms again. This time, she doesn’t resist. Her head tucks under my chin, her breath hot against my chest.

“I’m scared,” she says so quietly I barely hear it.

“I know.”

“Don’t let me become him.”

She doesn’t have to say Franco’s name, but I know who she means. And how she feels.

“I won’t,” I promise.

She exhales and slowly—finally—sleeps.

But I can’t.

Not tonight.

The air is cold against my skin as I stand on the rooftop patio. I didn’t bother putting on a shirt when I left Lexi in our bed and slipped up here. I needed to breathe. To feel the night against my skin.

Below me, the sprawling lawn of Franco’s estate stretches out like a blanket.

Lights glimmer from the guardhouse down by the road, twinkling through the tree branches that offer privacy for the front of the house.

Along the northern perimeter, I can sense guards patrolling.

Can almost make out their murmur of voices as they chat while they walk.

Life continues, ignorant of the storm brewing inside this house. Inside me.

Franco’s dead.

Lexi’s the high alpha now.

And I’m… something else entirely.

I grip the edge of the concrete railing until my knuckles go white.

My wolf is snarling just beneath the surface, pacing like a caged animal. There’s no peace in him. No calm. Only this constant, gnawing heat—like I’m being boiled alive from the inside out.

I feel stronger. But not better.

Feral. Unstable. Like if I breathe too hard, I’ll shift. Like if someone looks at me the wrong way, I’ll snap their neck. Even my own pack bond isn’t enough to settle the darkness.

Franco’s power is inside me.

I can feel it. Crawling through my blood. Whispering in my ears. It started as a nudge, but since the declaration of war my father made earlier, it’s been growing louder. More insistent. And now, it has a voice.

Franco’s voice.

Control is for the weak. Take what you want. Kill what stands in your way .

I shudder and shove the voice away, but it comes back louder.

She’ll never be strong enough. You’ll always have to protect her. You’ll always be the one bleeding. Dying. Breaking. Take her place. Rule them all. Make them bow.

“Shut the fuck up,” I snarl.

I slam my fist into the wall beside me. The stone cracks. A few pieces come loose, raining down at my feet.

“Whoa,” Dutch says behind me. “Didn’t realize we were remodeling.”

I don’t turn around. “What do you want?” I snarl, harsher than I intend.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he says, his voice placatingly calm. “Thought I’d check on the rest of the insomniacs.”

I round on him, glaring. “I don’t need to be checked on.”

“Your anxious pacing and resting bitch face would suggest otherwise.” I open my mouth to spew curses and threats, but he cuts me off. “Bro, you’re lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. ”

I look down at my hands. My veins are glowing neon blue beneath my skin, like they’re filled with something other than blood. My stomach turns as I realize what it is: magic.

“It’s been like this since I killed him,” I say in a ragged voice.

“And you’re just now telling me?”

“I’d hoped it would go away when Lexi became alpha,” I admit.

Dutch crosses his arms. “And how’s that working out for you?”

“Not fucking great as you can see.”

He sighs like my outburst only confirmed what he already knows. “You’re scared.”

I glare at him. “I’m dangerous.”

“Those things aren’t mutually exclusive,” he says. “Look, man. We’ve seen power gone wrong before. Packs who lose their mind when they bond. But this… this seems different.”

“Because it is,” I say, hoarse with the reality of it.

“I didn’t just kill an alpha. I took his magic.

His legacy. Including whatever synthetic shit he pumped into his own veins inside that lab.

And now it’s inside me, mixing with the magic of the hex blade, crawling around like it wants to tear me apart from the inside out.

” I bite back the fury that rises as my next words tumble out. “It’s doing the same to her.”

“Who, Lexi?” He waves my words away. “She just needs time. First shifts are always hard.”

I turn so he can see the wounds on my back. They’ve begun to close already, but not by much.

“What the fuck,” Dutch says, gaping.

“This is more than a first shift,” I say. “She almost couldn’t stop it. Her control keeps slipping. Like at the meeting.”

“Maybe the synthetic alpha magic Franco used on her is mixing with her own alpha power—just like yours is doing. ”

“Maybe.” I stare bleakly out at the night. “And she doesn’t have two decades of being a wolf to ground her against it.”

Dutch is silent for a moment. “You think she’s gonna lose it?”

“I think she’s holding herself together with string and duct tape. And I think, if I don’t hold it together too, we’re both going to implode.”

I can feel it inside both of us. The pressure building.

The rage.

The grief.

The power.

I want to burn the world down just to quiet the storm inside me.

I shake my head. “Sometimes, I swear I hear his voice. Like he’s still here. Laughing at me. Waiting for me to become him.”

“Your dad?”

“Franco.”

Dutch looks over at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have.

“You won’t,” he says at last.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. Because I’ve seen what you’re willing to do to not be him. Or your old man, for that matter. And I’ve seen what you have that neither of them ever did.” I look at him. He shrugs. “Lexi. She’s your anchor. Neither one of those bastards has love like that. They only ever ruled with fear.”

I exhale, closing my eyes.

“I want that to be enough,” I say.

“It is,” Dutch says.

He sounds so certain that I let it convince me for a moment.

But when he finally leaves, and I’m alone again, the voice comes back .

Only this time, it sounds like my father.

You think you’re strong enough to protect her? You couldn’t even keep her from turning into a monster.

I clench my fist. Drive it into the wall again. It crumbles a little more. My knuckles come away bloody.

I stare at the red staining my skin, weirdly relieved that it looks normal now that it’s escaped my veins. It’s a sign of normalcy—one I need desperately right now. Almost as desperately as I need answers. For Lexi. For me. For our future.

As soon as we can, we go to the lab.

And if there are still monsters inside it—anything that represents the horrors that were done to Lexi or anyone else—I’ll kill every last one of them. Maybe then the voice in my head will die too.