Page 42 of Broken Wolf Heart (Mafia Pack #3)

“Shit.” My chest hurts as the hope I’d begun to feel is stamped out.

“But you can stop containing it in just one wolf,” Mac adds.

My head snaps up. “What are you talking about?”

“Alpha power is meant to be shared.” Mac looks at Levi, love shining in her eyes as bright as the fucking moon. “Two alphas—fated mates—stabilizing each other.”

I stare at her. No, I stare past her. My head spins. My hope reignites.

“You’ve closed yourself off from the bond with your mate,” Mac says, “But the key to stopping the madness is to let her in.”

“Franco never would have done that,” I say.

“Maybe it’s the missing piece in the research. The reason why he could never make it work properly,” Levi says quietly.

“Because he didn’t understand how loving someone can make you stronger,” I say, laughing, but there’s no humor in it.

Mac grins, a wicked glint in her eye. “When are these idiot alphas ever going to realize fated mates are the key to everything?”

“How do I let her in?” I ask, impatience and frustration sending me pacing back and forth along the boundary line. “We claimed each other. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”

Another exchanged look, and I have to bite back curses at the way they seem so in sync with one another. They’re right, though. Lexi and I aren’t this connected. Not yet.

“According to Chloe, magic helped create the problem, so magic should be able to fix it.”

“And if I don’t have a witch lying around?”

He frowns. “The only other thing I can think of is a hex blade, but they’re impossible to?—”

“I have one.”

They both blink at me.

Mac just shakes her head.

Levi snorts. “Of course you do.” He looks at Mac. “He’s still the most mysteriously resourceful person I know. And that’s saying something, considering Tripp.”

“There’s nothing mysterious about Tripp,” Mac retorts, but the shared joke is lost on me.

I can’t think about anything except the hex blade.

About using it to remove whatever magic is allowing my wolf to be held hostage by this creature it’s borne inside me.

To be free of that, to deepen my bond with Lexi, and feel the kind of connection with her that Levi and Mac have—I’d risk my own life for that. But not hers.

I swallow hard, stomach clenching as reality crashes in around me. “Lexi’s wolf is already unstable. Isn’t it a risk—giving her more power?”

“I don’t think so,” Mac says. “You and Lexi—you’re mates. Your true bond, without hex magic clouding it, could stabilize both of you. Nature intended alpha pairs to share the load, offer strength to the other when necessary. It’s why our very lives are tied together. She can handle this, Grey.”

Can she? My heart races. Lexi’s fierce, strong, but her wolf… it’s barely under her control as it is.

“Look, Grey,” Levi says, “we can’t make this choice for you. And even though I haven’t met your mate yet, I’m willing to bet that, if your wolf chose her, she’s not just any wolf. She’s special. And strong as hell. Trust that. Trust her. Hell, trust yourself.”

“I do,” I whisper, emotion thickening my throat. “I trust Lexi with my life, but I’m terrified of hurting her.”

“You're not going to hurt her. You’ll protect her. Just like you protected us.” Mac sounds so sure.

A lump rises in my throat, memories flooding back—the battle we fought together, the rebellion they endured. How I’d guarded their backs, watching them find each other, becoming stronger together. And now, they’re doing the same for me.

“Thanks.” For one fleeting moment, I allow vulnerability to show. “Both of you. I missed you.”

“Missed you too, brother,” Levi says quietly. “You deserve to be happy, Grey. You’ve spent your life fighting, protecting everyone else. It’s time someone had your back. Your wolf picked Lexi for a reason. Don’t be afraid of that.”

Their words sink deep, calming the storm inside me. I stand, grateful we’ve had this time together. It grounds me, reminding me of who I am—who I could be without my father’s constant threats and violence.

When we part, Levi gives me a knowing look. “You need any backup, just say the fucking word.”

“I appreciate that. But I think I have to face this on my own.”

Mac smiles, eyes fierce. “If he’s anything like Crigger was, he underestimates you. Let that be his downfall.”

Their confidence bolsters my own, and as they turn to leave, the ache in my chest eases slightly. I glance toward the sky, breathing deeply as I note the blue hues of dawn lightening the horizon. My heart speeds as I think about everything that awaits us today.

The hex blade’s location pulses in my mind, calling to me like a siren.

This has to work. If it doesn’t… I don’t let myself think ab out what will happen to our mate bond if that creature takes me over for good.

The sun’s just beginning to rise when I return to the estate. Lexi’s in the kitchen, pacing between the sink and the stove, a mug clutched in both hands. Her eyes snap to mine the second I enter, and relief softens her features.

“You’re back,” she says, like she’s been holding that sentence in for hours. Dark circles line her eyes, and I feel a stab of guilt for being responsible.

“I am.”

I wrap my arms around her and breathe her in. Steady and warm and mine.

“Where were you? You never came to bed,” she says.

I let her go, knowing we’re running out of time. “I met a friend of mine out near the wards.”

“Who?”

“Levi and Mac. They’re the co-alphas of the Black Moon Pack. The ones I told you about.”

“I remember,” she says, wary now. “But if you’re going to try to make me stay with them while you?—”

“Nothing like that, I promise,” I say quickly.

“Then what?”

Before I can answer, footsteps sound—heavy boots moving fast.

A second later, Razor and Crow appear.

They’re both flushed and out of breath, dust and blood on their clothes.

“Vincenzo’s already dosing himself,” Razor says without preamble. “We got a guard to talk.”

Crow jumps in. “He’s using something Dr. Severin made. Something that enhances alpha power. Like, way beyond normal.”

“Where is he now?” Lexi asks.

“At his lab,” Crow says. “Charlie was right about the location, by the way.”

“We have to go,” Lexi says, pulling away from me, but I hold her tight.

“What’s my father doing?” I ask.

“He’s passed out from the first injection,” Crow says.

“But who knows how long that’ll last?” Razor puts in.

Crow doesn’t disagree. “The guard thinks he’ll wake up stronger than ever. That Vincenzo claims he’ll be invincible.”

Lexi looks horrified.

Dutch and Mia enter next as if the scent of bad news pulled everyone in. Crow repeats the information for them.

“What about Andy?” Lexi asks, worry etched into her expression.

“The guard didn’t know details,” Razor says. “Only that she’s being held.” He casts Dutch an apologetic look.

“We have to move soon,” Mia says.

“It’s going to be a hell of a fight,” Razor warns. “Guard says they have two dozen posted up with full pack back up waiting the moment the alarm goes off. He knows we’ll come.”

Lexi looks at Dutch, jaw tight. “Do we have the numbers?”

He shrugs. “Enough. If everyone who pledged to us actually shows.”

“We’ll need them all,” Mia says. “Giovanni loyalists, Vincenzo’s defectors, new pack, old pack—every able wolf.”

It’s not the worst news. But Lexi’s wolf is pacing under her skin. I can feel it even from here. The tension rolling off her. She’s losing control again.

She grips the edge of the counter until her knuckles go white. “I can’t do this if I keep fracturing every time I shift. ”

That’s when I know. This is the moment. Levi and Mac were right. It’s time to trust my mate and our wolves.

I step forward. “I might have found a way to fix that—for both of us.”

Everyone goes still.

“That’s why Levi was here?” Lexi asks, searching my gaze as if she’ll be able to read the answers there. It reminds me of Levi and Mac—their connection. And now I see how much of our bond never really took.

“Uh, not to interrupt a good thing, but who the fuck is Levi?” Razor asks.

“Levi and Mac are co-alphas of the Black Moon Pack in Virginia,” I say quietly. “They’re friends of mine.”

Crow’s gaze on mine is intense and knowing. “That’s where you were,” he says. “All the years you were gone.” I nod. “You fought with them in their rebellion, didn’t you?” Crow asks, but his tone suggests he already knows the answer.

“Seriously? That story is already legendary,” Razor says, eyes wide as he looks me over like he’s seeing me for the first time.

“Levi and I trained together for a year. And then fought together for several more,” I say. “Outside of you all, he’s the only wolf I trust to help us.”

“What did he say?” Lexi asks.

“They sent the research to a hex wolf in Forest Hills. She doesn’t think this is about genetic modifications or poisoned power. She thinks the problem is that we’re not bonded deeply enough.”

Lexi only stares at me, and I remember the last time she looked at me like that. When she found out I’d become an alpha of a pack that technically didn’t include her. She’d felt like an outsider in my world all over again.

I’d hurt her that night.

And I’m hurting her now .

It’s the last piece I need to know this is the right thing. Even if it’s dangerous to use a hex blade without a witch to do the spell. Lexi’s only ever wanted to belong. Hell, she’s fighting for her place here as much as I’m fighting for my home.

This is what I can do for her. To show her she belongs to me. Body and soul—and wolf.

“You think we’re not really bonded?” she asks, and the pain in her voice stabs me right through the heart.

“We are,” I assure her. “But true mates…that bond is deeper. It’s more powerful than what we’re sharing now. If we can open it, we’ll share more than just our emotions or even our thoughts. We’ll share my alpha power. And yours.”

“Share our alpha power?” Lexi echoes, brows knitting.

“Mac says it’s what packs were always meant to do. Two alphas. Balanced. Bonded. Leading together.”

“Now that you mention it, the Lone Wolf Pack did the same thing,” Dutch says.

I nod because I heard the same story. Kai and Ash, leading together. It’s one of the reasons I think Mac is right about this being the answer.

“My mother used to talk about this,” Mia says softly.

Her eyes fill with unshed tears, which is a rare sight and shuts us all up.

“She says our shifter ancestors believed in this kind of balance, too, but it was lost when the human world’s patriarchy bled into our own hierarchy.

” She smirks, blinking back her tears. “The Black Moon Pack is the perfect example of what happens when an egotistical, power-hungry alpha tries to rewrite how we were meant to live and lead.”

“Didn’t he try to outlaw fated mates at one point?” Razor asks.

“He tried,” I say quietly. “And it got him killed.”

“Well, I for one want to meet this Levi and his mate, Mac, someday,” Mia says. “She sounds like a badass.”

“When we get through this, I’ll make it happen,” I tell her .

She gawks at me. “Seriously? You’ll let all your compartments overlap? Who are you?”

Dutch snorts.

I shake my head and turn back to Lexi.

She blinks at me. “But I’m still unstable. What if my power isn’t safe to share?”

I soften at the hope and fear that shines in her eyes. “Maybe that’s because you’ve been carrying it alone.”

Mia crosses her arms. “What about the hex witch from the lab? Davina. Why didn’t she say anything about this?”

“That’s a good question,” I say. “One I’d like to ask her myself.”

“We sent Broderick and a few others to retrieve her,” Crow says. “But the house was empty when they got there.”

“What about the guards?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Also missing. No sign of any of them.”

“She must be with Vincenzo,” Razor says.

Lexi exhales slowly. “So, we can’t wait.”

“No,” I say. “We do the ritual. Now.”

“Wait. Ritual?” Mia echoes. “Like with magic?”

“The magic used in the gene serum is likely what’s clouding our bond,” I say.

“Don’t we need a witch to break a hex spell?” she asks pointedly.

“Not if we have a hex blade,” I tell her.

“Fuck,” Razor mutters, and I can’t blame him. The hex blade packs a punch none of us have likely forgotten.

“You’re seriously going to do this,” Mia says, and I don’t miss the way Lexi takes in Mia’s reluctance.

“If I don’t,” I say slowly, “Whatever darkness this is inside me—killing my father will only feed it. And if that happens, I’m not sure I can find my way back to myself again.”

No one says anything for a moment.

Lexi looks at me, really looks. “You’re sure this will work? ”

“I’m not sure of anything,” I admit. “Except that you have been the only steadying force since the moment that creature took hold of me. If we can strengthen our bond, I think I can shut him out for good. If we don’t…” I can’t bring myself to finish.

Lexi pulls my face to hers and rests her forehead against mine. “Okay,” she breathes. “Then we do it.”

I kiss her hard and fast. From here on, we give each other everything.