Page 13 of Broken Wolf Heart
My heart sinks, and the wild animal inside me thrashes harder in its disappointment.
I’ve never felt more alone.
“Guess the word is out,” Toros says with a menacing frown.
Andy appears at my elbow. “Just breathe,” she says so only I can hear.
Toros takes the lead, and Andy nudges me to follow.
We climb the steps to the high-rise office building. Someone opens the door for us, and I hurry through behind Toros, exhaling as the volume of the crowd lessens through the glass.
GV Industries is exactly as I remember. The same pristine marble floors, the same cool sterility with all its white, shiny surfaces. And the same auditorium with its stadium seating and sunken center stage. The last time I was here, I witnessed my first execution. Now, I’m the one in the crosshairs.
As if to prove what I’m up against, the first face I see inside the crowded auditorium is Vincenzo Diavolo. Grey’s father and Alpha of the Diavolo pack. Right now, he’s the most powerful man in the room. And the way he watches me reminds me I’m only alive as long as he finds me useful.
Still, there’s not so much murder in his eyes that I worry about Ramsey’s confession just yet. Instead, I think of the deal I made with him in exchange for my wolf. So much has happened since then, but the way he looks at me says he hasn’t forgotten what I promised him.
He gave me back my beast, and for that, I swore to give him the entire kingdom. It was a title I never thought I’d own, much less be able to pass it to him. But now, it may very well have just fallen into my lap. And the gleam in his eye makes it clear he expects me to toss it right into his.
“Hello, Lexi,” he says, managing to make the simple greeting sound like a death threat.
He sits in the front row with his generals beside him. Alvaro—Razor and Crow’s father—glares at me. Rocco, Dutch’s dad, simply lifts a brow as if he’s measured me and found me lacking. Charlie, Mia’s dad, won’t meet my eyes.
I’m not sure what that means. While Vincenzo held me hostage at his house, Charlie warned me that I should find another way that didn’t involve trusting Grey’s father with my fate. It had been a little too late for that, but I haven’t forgotten that he tried to help me in his own way.
I don’t look at him either as I pass by them all without a word. My gaze sweeps upward into the stadium seats, and I suck in a breath when I see a head of flowing red hair halfway up.
Mia winks at me.
Beside her, Dutch and Razor lean over the seat in front of them, their attention focused intently on me. The sight of them bolsters my courage, and I think for just a second that maybe I’ll make it out of this room alive after all. But then my chest squeezes as I realize Grey is missing. Why isn’t he here? Especially when everyone else clearly is. Even Serena, his mother, is seated a couple of rows behind Vincenzo, next to Sonesta, Rocco’s wife. She offers me a kind but fleeting smile before I turn away from her.
“Everyone, listen up,” Santiago calls from the center of the sunken stage. The murmurs in the room ignore him, so he tries again. “Sit the fuck down and shut your mouths. We’re going to begin the vote.”
Andy motions for me to sit beside her on the far end of the front row. Before I can sink into my chair, Conrad steps forward, blocking my path and forcing me to face him.
“Here’s how this is going to work,” Santiago says from the podium behind me. But Conrad ignores him.
His sneer is a sharp blade meant to cut, and his voice carries the venom of a man who thinks he should be king. “You don’t deserve a fucking vote, much less an alpha title,” he says, his voice ringing loud enough to silence the low murmur of the assembled packs. “Can you even shift?” He snorts. “Of course not.” He leans in, close enough to me that I can scent his stale breath. “You’re just some orphaned street rat who got lucky.”
Lucky. Right. Because getting kidnapped just screams good fortune.
I force myself to stand tall, ignoring the way my muscles coil like I’ve been backed into a corner. Or the way the beast inside me wants to come out of that corner, claws swinging.
“That’s funny,” I say, my voice calm even as my pulse hammers. “Coming from Franco’s fourth in line…out of four.”
Conrad’s expression flashes with rage. “What the fuck did you just say to me, bitch?”
“Oh. Did I misunderstand the hierarchy?” I ask, watching a vein bulge in his neck at my taunting.
“You don’t know shit,” he spits out.
“I know Dom was first in line,” I say, vaguely aware of the crowd now hanging on our exchange. “And then Toros, Santiago, and then you. Oh wait. Dom’s dead, so I guess that makes you third.”
Conrad’s gaze flicks over my shoulder to where I know Toros stands watching, but the elder general remains silent.
“What the fuck do you mean Dom’s dead?” Conrad asks in a voice laced with deadly calm.
Right. No one knows this yet.
