Page 6 of Broken Wolf Heart
“You killed Franco fucking Giovanni, and you let Lexi take the fall for it.”
I don’t flinch. I don’t break eye contact. Because she’s not wrong, even if she’s glaring at me like I’ve committed a cardinal sin. “Yes,” I tell her evenly as the others fan out around us.
Dutch and Razor remain close, more than willing to participate head-to-head. Crow hangs back by the windows that look out onto the rooftop patio, just watching.
“Why the hell would you do that?” Mia demands.
“Why do you think?” I ask her. “To save her.”
“Is that what you call it?” Mia shoots back.
“That’s what it is.”
When I don’t give her more than that, she opens her mouth, clearly ready to blast me again.
Dutch interrupts before she can. “She’s alive because of it, Mia.”
“She’sgonebecause of it,” she counters, arms crossed, fire in her eyes to match the fiery red of her hair.
Mia’s always been the mom of the group and sometimes even the boss, especially when we’re all being dickheads about something. But she’s not the alpha. And my wolf won’t let her act like she is. Not after what we did last night, binding ourselves together with that hex blade. Making me our alpha—officially.
I can feel it in my beast and in my very blood. Our pack dynamic is changing. Mia’s no longer going to be able to pull rank. Not unless I give her that rank as my second.
Shit.
I have to choose a second.
The thought hits me just as Dutch steps between us. “We don’t have time for this. We need a plan.”
“I have a plan.” I rake a hand through my hair, willing the headache away. “We let this play out.”
Razor barks out a laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Let this play out? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“She’s in their hands, Grey,” Mia says, her voice softer but no less furious. “A girl whose wolf is inaccessible. Whose namesake wouldn’t even recognize her as his heir. Whose veins supposedly run with the power of their high alpha. You think they’re just gonna keep her alive out of the goodness of their hearts?”
“No,” I admit. “But they need her. She’s their high alpha now, even if they don’t want to admit it.”
“And if they decidenotto recognize her as the alpha?” Mia asks.
“They won’t kill her—not yet,” Dutch adds grimly. “Not until some kind of hierarchy can be established for who gets to do it and take Franco’s alpha power along with hers.”
Mia gawks at him then at me. “That’syour plan? Hope they don’t kill heryetfor a power she doesn’t even possess?” She shakes her head, muttering to herself that we’re all idiots.
“Would you rather I let my father have her?” I snap.
“Your father—” she starts, but I don’t let her finish.
“—was going to kill her,” I roar.
She falls silent for a long moment, glaring at me as my words echo around the room. The power in my voice is unmistakable: alpha power. They all blink at me as if seeing me for the first time, and I know they’ve begun to realize what I have; our hierarchy has changed. And we have to change along with it.
If I’d been arguing with anyone else, I doubt they would have kept pushing after such a display. But Mia isn’t just anyone, so I’m not completely surprised when she says, albeit a little less forcefully, “We can protect her, but only if we get her back.”
“She can protect herself,” says a voice I’m not expecting.
We all turn to look at Crow.
He’s always so quiet, especially in arguments. The fact that he’s speaking up now is more proof of our dynamic shifting.
