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

“—was going to kill her,” I roar.

She falls silent for a long moment, glaring at me as my words echo around the room.

The power in my voice is unmistakable: alpha power.

They all blink at me as if seeing me for the first time, and I know they’ve begun to realize what I have; our hierarchy has changed. And we have to change along with it.

If I’d been arguing with anyone else, I doubt they would have kept pushing after such a display. But Mia isn’t just anyone, so I’m not completely surprised when she says, albeit a little less forcefully, “We can protect her, but only if we get her back.”

“She can protect herself,” says a voice I’m not expecting.

We all turn to look at Crow.

He’s always so quiet, especially in arguments. The fact that he’s speaking up now is more proof of our dynamic shifting.

“She smelled like a wolf,” he says to me. It’s a question and a statement.

The others turn to look at me again, questions brimming in their expressions.

“I think my father gave her something to trigger her wolf,” I say.

“Wait. She’s going to shift?” Dutch asks. “When? ”

“Probably today,” Crow says quietly. “If her scent was any indication.”

I nod, hating that Lexi’s going through her first shift alone. “If not today, then soon.”

“And you let them take her,” Mia says, eyes wide as she looks angry all over again.

“Mia,” I warn.

She shakes her head, muttering things to herself.

“She shouldn’t be alone for it,” Razor says. There’s no accusation in his voice. Not for me anyway. “Your dad’s a bastard for doing it this way.”

“He’s a bastard for a lot of things,” I say wearily.

“But they’ll sense her wolf on her,” Dutch adds. He looks at me. “When they gather to decide, they’ll know she’s a wolf. That’s something at least. Besides, she’s safer as a leader of her own pack than she is as one of us.”

“Dutch is right,” Crow says, and then to me, “You know your old man’s going to come for us when they realize you’re an alpha now.”

“Not just yours,” Dutch mutters.

“Shit,” Razor says. “I didn’t even think of that.” He exchanges a worried look with his half-brother. “Maybe we should have waited.”

Crow looks away guiltily, and that’s the thing that has my worry spiking.

“Waited for what?” Mia demands, clearly reading the same look I did.

“What did you do?” Dutch asks.

“We, uh, might have done something stupid last night too,” Razor admits.

“The list of possibilities is endless. Can you be more specific?” Mia prompts.

Razor straightens like he’s bracing for her wrath, but it’s me he looks at as he says, “We freed Ramsey last night. ”

There’s a full beat of silence while we all absorb those words.

Mia breaks it by screeching, “You what?”

Dutch snorts at that.

Razor’s jaw tightens.

Crow is categorically silent.

Razor says, “Ramsey knew things, things about Lexi and her involvement with Franco. Her deal to spy for him.” He glances at me stoically. “I didn’t think you’d want that kind of information being shared with your old man.”

I sigh. He’s not wrong. And even though I want to bust his balls for doing it on his own rather than asking us to back him up, I can’t say shit. I did the same thing.

Then again, our first night as a pack doesn’t exactly scream “unity.”

“Where did you take him?” Mia asks, her voice low and contained—like she hasn’t yet decided how pissed to be over this.

“We didn’t take him anywhere,” Razor says, his forehead crinkling. “We just unlocked the door to the cell where Vincenzo was keeping him and distracted the guards.”

Mia stares at him wide-eyed. “How the hell did you make it on and off Vincenzo’s estate grounds undetected?” she asks, but that’s not the question I want answered right now.

“Did you speak to him?” I cut in, “Let him know you were the ones who helped him escape?”

“No.” Razor shrugs. “We weren’t trying to bring him home or anything. Just keep him away from Vincenzo.”

“So, he doesn’t think he’s coming back to us?” Dutch presses.

“Of course not,” Razor says. He looks at me. “We’d never offer that without full agreement from everyone.”

But part of him wants to .

Something inside me twinges. Ramsey pledged his loyalty to me. For better or worse, that makes him pack.

“Can you feel him?” Dutch asks me. “Through the pack bond? Because I can’t.”

I shake my head, frowning. “No. But he didn’t do the blood ritual, so it might be a weaker connection.”

“I don’t believe this,” Mia mutters. “Everyone was out doing gangster shit last night but me.”

“It’s not a bad thing to get a good night’s sleep in this town,” Dutch tells her.

“Who said I was sleeping?” Mia counters. “I was booking a honeymoon for you,” she says, jabbing a finger at me. “One that has gone to complete waste.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her.

“You owe me,” she fires back.

“Add it to my tab.”

She rolls her eyes but remains silent.

“It’s fine,” I tell Razor, who simply grunts.

I look at Crow. “Do you think Ramsey told them anything about Lexi’s betrayal before you released him?” I ask.

“No,” he tells me in an eerily calm voice, given everything we’re discussing.

“How do you know?” I ask.

He shrugs. “If he had, your old man would have brought it up today and tried using it against you. Or her.”

“He’s right, man,” Dutch says.

I don’t say anything. My dad is straightforward in his hatred and manipulation, so they’re probably not wrong, but I refuse to let my guard down without being sure. And even then…

I can’t rest until Lexi’s truly safe.

“But either way, now that you have Franco’s alpha power, now that we’re a pack not to be fucked with, we have a bigger target on us than Lexi has being in her own pack,” Dutch says, nodding grimly.

“Do we have a plan for what we’re doing about that target?” Mia asks.

“First, we make sure Lexi is accepted as alpha,” I say.

“How long do you think it’ll take them to decide?” Mia asks.

My phone dings before I can answer. I pull it out, tension radiating through me as I read the text.

“It’s time,” I say, heading for the elevator.

“Where?” Razor asks, already following.

All of them are. It reminds me that the kind of pack I’ve made here with them is so different from the one my father has. Even when they’re pissed or confused, they have my back without question or hesitation.

“The generals have called a vote on recognizing Lexi as the new high alpha of Indigo Hills,” I say.

“How do you know?” Mia asks. “Lexi didn’t exactly take her phone with her.”

The elevator dings, and the doors open. We all climb back inside. “I have a source,” I tell them.

“Who?” Razor asks.

“You’ll see.”

I only hold back so they don’t give it away when they do, in fact, see who I’ve managed to bring over to our side. The last thing I want to do is expose someone willing to risk their own neck to help us.

“Are they going to let us into this meeting?” Mia asks, frowning as we ride the elevator back to the garage.

“Since the outcome affects all of us, the meeting is open to all pack members.”

“All?” Razor echoes. “Even your dad?”

“Who do you think called the meeting?” I tell him .

“Whoa.” Razor grabs my arm before I can step off the elevator into the parking garage. “You can’t go in there.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If Lexi’s threatened?—”

“Shit, your wolf will rip throats,” Dutch says.

They all pull up short.

“I can control my wolf,” I tell them.

“Maybe. But what if someone tries to hurt one of us?” Mia demands. I scowl, but she answers for me. “Your control won’t mean shit if one of your pack is threatened.”

Dutch sighs and shakes his head. “Fuck.”

I don’t argue, but only because there’s no time for it. The meeting will start without us if we don’t hurry up. “Fine. New plan,” I say, filling them in as we go.