Page 20 of Broken Wolf Heart (Mafia Pack #3)

The wolf snarls as I shove it back. My pressure on the knife’s tip against Severin’s throat eases a little.

Bright red blood trickles from the tiny wound, and I have to turn away from the sight of it before my wolf takes control in her thirst for more to spill.

My veins burn with what feels like some kind of chain threatening to snap.

Mia gently covers my hand with hers and slips the knife out of my grasp. Severin stumbles aside, pressing a hand to his bleeding neck.

I meet Mia’s eyes, my hands shaking with the effort of leashing my beast.

To my relief, there’s no judgment or pity in her expression. Only understanding. “He’s done hurting people,” she says. “Done hurting you .”

I nod, not trusting my voice.

“Are you okay?” Davina’s voice cuts through the silence.

I look over, half-expecting to find her worrying over Severin. But she’s looking at Grey.

“I’m fine,” he says, folding his arms behind his back.

Behind him, Crow frowns but says nothing.

“What did I miss?” Mia asks sharply.

Davina stares steadily at Grey, and I swear the air around us begins to thicken.

“Nothing,” Grey says, and the pressure dissipates as suddenly as it came.

Davina returns to the computer and hits a few keystrokes. Then she pulls a thumb drive free and holds it out.

“These are the names of the people they experimented on. And the medical outcomes. Tests, notes, stuff like that. There’s more about the LAG gene itself in the deeper files. You’re welcome to them, but it’s pretty science-heavy with lots of medical jargon.”

“Thanks,” I tell her.

Before I can reach for it, Mia steps in front of me and snags it out of her hand.

Davina doesn’t look insulted. In fact, she barely looks at Mia at all. Instead, I feel the full weight of her stare. And whatever secrets are locked behind it.

“Will it tell me how to reverse it?” I ask.

She hesitates, her brow furrowing.

“It’s a gene activation,” I say, my voice pitching high as fear spikes. “There has to be a way to turn it off again.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” she says.

I tense, the fury from earlier rising swiftly. Grey steps up beside me, pressing his hand to the small of my back. Unlike before, he’s now calm. As if he anticipated the answer already.

Dammit.

He already knew there was no cure.

“We came here for answers,” I say bleakly. “You’re telling me nothing can be done.”

“I’m telling you nothing can reverse it,” she says, glancing between Grey and me. “Whatever you can do to harness the power of your wolf… I don’t know. I’m not a shifter.”

“We’ll look through the files,” Grey says, but I can’t summon much hope in that. Not when Davina’s looking at me like she already knows it won’t yield what I’m looking for.

“Did you infuse magic into the drugs they gave us?” I ask.

Silence follows, so heavy that I immediately know the answer is yes. I realize belatedly the others already knew it too.

Rather than give me a confirmation, Davina says, “Franco didn’t just see you as an heir, you know. He saw you as a weapon. You’re the evolution of the alpha line. The first of a new kind.”

She glances from me to Grey, but I don’t look at him. I can’t. My stomach roils with the thought of what Franco intended to use me for. What I’m capable of. Suddenly, injecting myself with the serum Vincenzo gave me feels like a terrible idea.

“Let me guess, there’s no way to remove the magic either,” I snap.

Davina doesn’t answer.

“I want it shut down,” I rasp, not looking at anyone in particular. “Everything.”

Severin makes a noise of alarm.

His nostrils flare. “You don’t have the authority.”

“She has all the authority,” Grey says.

“I spent my life on this work,” Severin hisses. “Stopping now would be a waste.”

“No,” I say, stepping forward. “It would be justice.”

Severin’s mouth opens, but I’m already turning away.

“You know, if you really wanted to secure your position as the strongest wolf pack in the world, this lab could give you the tools to build a superpack,” Davina says carefully. “It’s what Franco was going to do.”

“The LAG gene isn’t what makes us strong,” I tell her. “And I don’t want a superpack; I want a pack who takes care of each other. Who uses kindness rather than fear to inspire loyalty. And we will not be testing or experimenting on anyone ever again.”

Severin scoffs. “Idealism is a poor substitute for power.”

“Sounds like something Franco would say,” Mia mutters darkly.

“How do I shut down the power in this place?” I ask Davina.

Her brows furrow. “I’m not sure,” she says. “But I think I would have to disengage the spell I wrote.”

“That’s it?” I ask.

“Davina, don’t you fucking dare,” Severin warns .

“And then you activate the shutdown command,” Davina says, ignoring the warning.

“You little bitch,” Severin hisses from where he hovers against the far wall.

Davina glares at him, the first sign of temper she’s shown. “Did you expect anything else after the way you treated me here?”

She stalks over to the main computer and hits a few keystrokes. There’s an audible click from somewhere in the room. Davina strides over to the wall beside the door we came through and yanks open what looks like a normal electrical box.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Severin warns.

Ignoring him, she presses her palm to the breakers and whispers a few words in a language I don’t understand.

There’s a strange pressure in the air again, like earlier. Then, nothing.

She steps back. “It’s done.”

“Useless fucking witch,” Severin spits.

Crow, who’s been moving steadily closer to where Severin hovers against the wall, sends his fist into the doctor’s face. Severin crumples, unmoving.

“Fuck, I couldn’t take any more of that,” Crow says.

With my wolf hearing, I note Severin’s heartbeat still going at a steady rhythm. Just knocked out, not dead then.

“When he comes to, let him know he’s under house arrest until further notice,” I tell Crow.

He nods. “With pleasure.”

I exchange a look with Grey.

He nods at me to keep going.

“Um, does that whole house arrest thing include me?” Davina asks.

I wince, feeling bad for everything she’s been through. “It’s just until everything is sorted out. ”

She swallows. “I guess it’s better than whatever Franco would have done to me in the end.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her and mean it.

She looks back at the screen. “Now, the shutdown command. You’ll need your thumbprint. It won’t take mine. Not for this.”

I step to the center console. My thumb unlocks some kind of access panel with several options. One of them is labeled Emergency Shutdown.

I take a deep breath and press the button.

Around us, the hum of machines begins to die. Then, the lights go too, along with the holographic image of the DNA flickering out like a bad dream.

But even in the dark stillness, the nightmare doesn’t end. It lingers. Burrows deep.

I thought shutting this place down would give me peace. Or clarity.

All I feel is the weight of what we didn’t find… and the creeping sense that we’re already too late.