Page 17 of Broken Wolf Heart
No wonder I can’t sense him.
“I left your stupid imitation of a pack,” he corrects. “Which you should be thanking me for. If I hadn’t, Rocco would have sensed it on me the moment that fucker got the drop on me. And then your old man would already know you’ve defected.”
“You went back to my father?”
Even after everything Ramsey’s done to me, I can’t quite believe he’d run back to his previous alpha either.
“Of course not. Vincenzo can go fuck himself.” His words fill with venom before lightening again as he says, “And I’m notcalling to say thanks for unlocking my cage if that’s what you’re fishing for. We both know you did it for your own interests.”
So, he knows we freed him. Thinks I gave the order.
I clench my jaw, not bothering to correct him. His lack of gratitude irritates me, and I can’t keep that from my voice as I say, “You didn’t tell my father about Lexi. Why?”
“Because, despite what you think of me, I’m not a snitch. Yet.”
“Agree to disagree,” I snarl.
“Be that as it may, I can change my mind at any time and spill what I know.”
“That supposed to scare me?”
“No, Grey. It’s supposed to warn you. I didn’t say anything this time. But don’t think I won’t if it gives me an edge.”
“An edge for what? What exactly do you want, Ramsey?”
“From you? Nothing.”
A pang of regret hits me in the chest then. Ramsey and I grew up as brothers. His betrayal is a loss I’ll feel for the rest of my life.
“How could you do this, Ram? You know Razor and Crow?—”
“What? Thought, by unlocking that door, I’d come running back to you?” He scoffs. “Sorry to disappoint, Grey, but your little wannabe pack officially has one less lapdog.”
“Good to know that’s what you think of them,” I say, the quiet in my voice rippling with fury on their behalf.
“It’s what we are,” he spits. “What I was.”
“Is that why you betrayed us? You got tired of feeling like you weren’t the center of attention?”
“I refuse to keep following a guy who can’t claim what’s his. I waited, Grey. I waited for you to be who you were always meant to be. Even after you left, I held out hope for years that you would come back and lead us to independence. But younever did. Even when you found Lexi, you never saw the big picture. Never took what you were owed.”
“That’s bullshit. You don’t get to rewrite history just because you’re bitter.”
“I’m so far past fucking bitter,” Ramsey says, voice sharp. “My dad followed yours and got killed for it. I’m done following—you or anyone else.”
I remember the moment his dad got shot. Something changed in Ramsey that day. I didn’t realize then how bad it was. Maybe if I had, I could have prevented this irreparable break between us. Then again, he’d already been informing against us by then, so maybe the damage had already been done.
The silence stretches between us.
I don’t fill it.
Then he adds, almost as an afterthought, “Besides, sounds like your mate’s got her own mess going on. That wolf of hers? Can’t say I didn’t see that coming.”
My pulse spikes. “If you touch her?—”
“Relax. I didn’t have to. Looks like your father beat me to it as usual. But you might be less concerned about me and more concerned about whether your pretty alpha wife can keep from snapping someone’s neck mid-negotiation. Just a thought.”
“What are you?—”
