Page 62 of Broken Wolf Heart
“You okay?” Dutch asks him.
“That’s the thing, I already know who the subject is. Was.” He swallows hard.
“Who?” Dutch asks, leaning closer.
When Crow finally lifts his gaze, pain shines stark and raw in his eyes, like a wound torn wide open. He swallows hard, fighting for composure.
“My mother.” He reaches for the binder, setting it between Dutch and me. “Her name’s here. Sofia.”
I stare at the name, the revelation hitting me like ice water. Crow doesn’t talk about his mother, but I know for a fact he’s always blamed Alvaro for her having a mental break that ultimately led to her ending her own life. “Are you sure?”
He shoves the page toward me, jaw clenched so tight the veins in his neck bulge. There, typed neatly at the top of the lab note: Sofia Solano.
Crow’s mother.
Beside her name, a line of text stands out: Consent for treatment given by Alvaro Martinez.
Crow’s father.
Dutch lets out a low whistle, disbelief coloring his expression. Crow’s eyes glitter with fury and grief. I know exactly what he’s feeling—the betrayal from someone meant to protect you. The helplessness that claws at your sanity. It reminds me of the helplessness I felt over my mother’s abuse. The way I tried and failed to protect her for years before I did the only thing I could: tried to kill him myself.
I still feel the guilt over failing at it. Failing her.
Something tells me Crow feels that way now.
“The date is two years before you were born,” Dutch says quietly.
Crow’s fists tremble.
“There’s no end date listed, so…” Dutch trails off, opting to shut up.
Probably a good idea.
Crow’s not processing anything right now from the lost look on his face.
“You want to talk about it?” I ask quietly.
Crow shakes his head sharply, his voice strained. “About the fact that he took it upon himself to sign her life away? To commit her as nothing more than a lab rat in between using her for?—”
He doesn’t finish, but he doesn’t have to.
Alvaro’s a fucking monster.
Dutch rubs his jaw, staring at Crow sympathetically. “Uh, I don’t mean to… I mean, shit, I don’t want to make it worse, but… If they experimented on your mom during her pregnancy... does that mean you have the LAG gene too?”
I send him a look, trying to convey SHUT UP.
Crow’s fists curl tighter, his voice a deadly rasp. “I don’t know. Some of the files are missing.” He looks at me, his eyes shining with violence. Urgent, desperate violence. “He needs to answer for what he did.”
The raw agony in his voice sends a stab through my heart. “Those answers won’t bring her back,” I warn.
He shakes his head, the movements jerky, unsettled. “He let them experiment on her, and it killed her in the end. I need to know why. I need to hear him admit what he’s done.”
I can smell his wolf on him from here. Crow’s rarely out of control, but right now, the rage simmering beneath his skin is a tangible thing, threatening to consume him.
“Listen to me,” I say, pushing to my feet and leveling him with a steady gaze. “We will confront him, I promise you. But we can’t afford rash moves. My father will come for us the moment we move on your father. It would be war.”
Crow’s breathing is uneven, nostrils flaring as he fights forcontrol. “You can’t expect me to do nothing, Grey. Not after this.”
