Page 45 of Broken Wolf Heart (Mafia Pack #3)

LEXI

T he second Grey and I give the signal, our wolves surge forward in synchronized motion, a blur of claws and muscle through the city streets.

The scent of fear already hangs in the air—ours isn’t the only force aware this battle has begun.

But this time, it doesn’t matter. We’re not hiding. We’re not sneaking in.

We’re walking through the front door.

As we cross the street, I register awareness through the mate bond. Grey’s attention draws my gaze up, too, and I see movement on the rooftop—guards. Three, maybe more. Likely with weapons.

I shift mid-run, body twisting, snapping into form, and the relief of my wolf surging forward is instant. She’s not fighting me anymore. We are connected now. One mind. One purpose.

Grey is beside me, black fur brushing mine as we tear through the final barricade. Behind us, the pack follows—our pack. United. Wolves we saved, wolves who defected, wolves who chose this fight.

And I feel them .

Not just their presence but their anger. Their fear. Their courage.

Then the door looms, and I drop the connection as we push inside and up the stairs to the second floor where our intel says Vincenzo’s lab begins. Levels two through seven, according to the recon Crow and Razor did last night. It’s a lot of ground to cover.

The stairwell is dark and crowded as dozens of wolves race upward. At the second-floor landing, one of our guards, still in human form, holds the door open. We race through to find all the lights out and the entire floor wreathed in shadows.

Unlike at Capo, there are no sterile white lights. No hum of machinery. Instead, red emergency lights pulse overhead like a heartbeat. Someone’s pulled the alarm. They know we’re inside.

Donahue and Camila and my other lieutenants give a snarl. Our eyes meet, and then we split up. Everyone knows their role.

Dutch and Mia take the upper level with Charlie and the rest of their team. Razor and Crow sweep floors in between. Camila and Donahue lead a search team with orders to find Andy and Davina and get them out.

Determined to find Vincenzo and end this, I race forward with Grey at my side, carving a path down the main corridor.

We encounter several armed guards. Most of them take one look at our numbers and try to run, but a couple raise their weapons or try to shift.

One drops his weapon and holds up his hands.

We let him live.

Another lunges for Grey’s throat.

I kill him before he can touch my mate.

By the time I’m ready to run again, there’s an ear-splitting boom, and the entire building shakes beneath our feet. Parts of the ceiling come loose and rain down on our heads. Grey’s teeth snag my shoulder as he drags me into an empty cubicle and shoves me underneath the desk.

Overhead, a siren wails. Glass explodes, and I realize the windows along the far wall have just blown out.

Smoke fills the air, and my wolf whines with the desperate urge to run.

Suddenly, Grey is human again. Naked and crouched beside me. Pure adrenaline coats the bond.

“Are you okay?”

It takes me only a few seconds more to find my human form too. “What was that?” I ask.

“He rigged the entire fucking place,” he says. “It was a trap.”

I blink, dazed to realize he’s right. And we walked right into it. Our entire fucking pack. All our soldiers. Our friends, the city block full of innocent civilians?—

“You have to go,” Grey insists. “Get back outside before this place collapses. Tell them to evacuate the area. My mom?—”

Around us, steel groans. Concrete cracks. More of the ceiling falls on the desk above our heads. I wince.

“What about you?” I ask, tears brimming, both from the smoke burning my eyes and the fear gripping me at leaving him.

“I have to find him,” Grey says, a snarl in those words. “He won’t be far.”

“You think he’s still here?”

“He’s here,” Grey says in a voice that brooks no more doubt from me.

“Then, I’m coming with you?—”

“No!” He grabs my face, kisses me hard, fast. “Get everyone to safety. Find my mom. Tell her—tell her I love her. ”

And then he’s gone.

My heart stutters. But I make myself move.

I shift back to my wolf, navigating by scent and instinct. The air is thick now, choked with smoke and ash and something acrid. Chemical.

The guard at the stairwell door motions for me to hurry, but I hesitate as a familiar scent hits me. It’s nearly lost to the other smells coating this place, but it’s there.

Andy.

Slipping past the guard, I follow it up to the third floor. There are no cubicles up here. Instead, there’s a narrow hallway that opens into a space lined with reinforced glass cells. All of them are empty except for one.

“Andy!” I shout, shifting back into my human form so I can reach the keypad mounted beside the door.

She’s slumped against the wall, blinking slowly at the sight of me. “Took you long enough.”

Relief punches through me so fast I almost drop to my knees. “Are you hurt?”

“Drugged,” she slurs. “Woozy.”

The keypad doesn’t respond to my thumbprint, and trying to crack the passcode would take time we don’t have.

I look around for another wolf or a guard with a weapon that can break this lock, but there’s no one else here.

Desperate, I call on my wolf. Half-shifted, I rip the panel off the wall and shove my claws into the wiring. Sparks fly. The lock disengages.

Andy stumbles out, and I catch her before she can hit the floor.

Already, the smoke is becoming too thick to see through. It clogs my nose, leaving us both coughing.

“Can you shift?” I wheeze.

“Not yet. But point me in the direction of that asshole Severin, and I’m sure my wolf will find her claws again.”

We start back toward the stairs .

And then he steps into view. Not Severin.

Vincenzo.

Except that he’s… wrong.

Taller. Broader. His skin looks too tight, like it’s trying to contain something boiling underneath. His eyes glow gold—not a natural color. More chemical.

“Going somewhere?” he growls.

I shove Andy behind me.

“Move,” I snarl.

He smiles. “Now-now, principessa . Is that any way to speak to your future king?”

Through the bond, I send a warning to Grey. A call for help. Because I know there’s only one way this can end. And something inside Vincenzo’s eyes tells me that serum has done its job. He’s powerful. More lethal than I’m equipped to take on.

Even my wolf knows she’s met her match. She can’t do this alone.

“Franco called himself a king too, and look how that turned out.”

He steps closer, and the scent of chemicals grows stronger.

“I heard about your little ritual,” he says. “Two alphas. One soul. How romantic. But unnecessary. All you needed was one last dose of my new serum—binding your genes to his. Kind of like I did with her. And then you would have been unstoppable.”

Andy growls behind me.

Shock ripples through me at what he’s saying, but I hold my ground.

“You’re still a mortal,” I say.

“Am I?” His eyes glitter with the promise of death. “Only one way to find out.”

He lunges.

And I let go .

My wolf rips free, faster than ever before. Cleaner. Sharper.

We meet him mid-air.

And I don’t think about what happens next.

I just fight.