Page 53 of Broken Wolf Heart
Capo Research Instituteis carved into the side of a mountain an hour outside city limits and less than a mile from the ward line that encases Indigo Hills in hexerei magic. According to Franco’s records, which Elena delivered to me this morning literally ten minutes after I made my request—damn, she’s scary—it’s shielded by ancient wards and enough glamours to hide a small army. It’s not on any map, and if Crow hadn’t already done the legwork to find out about the place, I wouldn’t have been sure it even existed.
Now I’m not sure we should’ve found it at all.
“This looks like something out of a James Bond villain’sfever dream,” Mia mutters from the passenger seat. “Ten bucks says there’s a dungeon inside full of the bones of children. Or a cryo-chamber. Or a portal to another world.”
“Twenty says it’s booby trapped,” Crow says from the driver’s seat where he’s scanning the opposing tree line with sharp eyes. The gun my security team issued to him is holstered but within reach.
Andy found us before we could slip out this morning and requested that I meet the grounds security team to decide whether they can all be trusted. No one challenged me like Cliff did last night, so I greenlit them all and then requested weapons for Grey’s pack so they could act as our personal guard on today’s outing.
Guarding the grounds is one thing. Watching our backs out in the field is another. And even though my wolf offers an added layer of protection, I’m still not sure I want to give in to her after yesterday.
Now, Grey sits next to me in the backseat, silent but steady. I can feel the hum of tension in him, the way his alpha power coils just beneath the surface. It’s still new. Not just that Franco’s power is now his, but the fact that I can feel it through our bond. It pulses out of him like a living, breathing entity.
I shake off how menacing that sounds.
We pull onto the narrow drive, the SUV crunching over gravel and pine cones until the trees give way to a steel door barring entry inside the place. Before we’re fully out of the car, two armed guards step forward, rifles slung over their shoulders, their movements sharp and precise.
The man on the left is lean, late thirties, eyes sharp. The other is bulkier, younger, but both of them wear matching uniforms—navy blue with silver trim and a silver emblem on the left breast that looks like a strand of DNA. Definitely not the tactical all-black clothing I’ve seen Franco’s security teams use.
They eye us with outright hostility.
“Stop right there,” says the older one.
“And show us your credentials,” the other adds.
“You know who we are. Open the door,” Grey orders.
“You’re not cleared for entry,” the first one says. “Only authorized personnel beyond this point.”
“We’re not tourists,” Grey snaps, already moving to step between me and the barrels of their rifles. “She’s Lexi Giovanni. Franco’s granddaughter. Your new alpha as of yesterday. Let us through.”
The second guard flicks a nervous glance at me then checks something on a data pad. “I know you who are, ma’am. But as of the last registry update, no other names are on the access list except Franco and his generals.” He gives me a pointed look.
Right. The generals I just murdered.
“Then update it,” Grey growls.
The first guard squares up, eyes narrowing. “Can’t. Only the high alpha can issue access approvals.”
I blink. “Iamthe high alpha.”
“Thumbprints must be registered from the secure workstation inside.”
Grey glares. “Let me get this straight. We have to go inside in order to register our thumbprint so we can be let inside. Do you know how stupid that sounds?”
The guard starts to answer, and from the look on his face, it’s not going to be the response Grey wants.
Before the man can get a word out, Grey closes the distance between them and wraps his hand around the guard’s throat. The man struggles, but he’s no match for Grey, even with both hands free.
The second guard starts to intervene, but Mia cuts him off. A wicked-looking blade glints in her hand before she buries it in the man’s thigh. He makes a sound of pain as she shoves him against the steel door.
“I don’t think you want to fuck with us.” Mia lowers her voice, eyes flashing. “Or maybe you do. Try me. Please. It’s been a really boring month. I’ve barely been able to kill anyone.”
The first guard, whose face is now purple, claws at Grey’s arm, but he might as well be clawing at a wall.
Grey doesn’t flinch or break his grip as he leans close to the guard’s face and snarls, “You will obey a direct order from your alpha, or you won’t like what happens next.”
Both men sputter, struggling to break free, but there’s zero chance of that happening for either one. The one Mia stabbed flicks a glance at me and then, when I don’t move to help him, he glances past me to where Crow lounges lazily against the hood of the car.
