13. Grey

13

GREY

L exi's arms are draped over my shoulders, her forehead resting against mine. This moment feels like the closest thing to peace I've had in weeks. It's not just the orgasm or the fact that my wolf had some freedom tonight. It's knowing Lexi felt the mate bond. Her scent was full of untamed jealousy earlier. A possessiveness that could only come from the mate call.

Her wolf is in there, I'm sure of it. And as soon as its freed, I'm going to claim her as mine.

I pull my forehead away from hers and study her in the darkness. "How are you feeling?"

Her cheeks flush. "Better. I don't know what came over me."

I could tell her, but I don't. Not yet. Not until I can bite her without possibly killing her.

"Your wolf," I say distractedly, leaning in to inhale the smell of her throat—which is really just another form of torture at this point.

"What about it?" she asks, breathless all over again.

I straighten, an idea forming. "Can I try something?"

"What?" she asks warily.

"Do you remember when my father suppressed my wolf?"

She winces. "At the lake house. Yes. It looked painful."

"It was. But it makes me wonder… Maybe that's what happened to you?"

"You think someone suppressed my wolf? How would that work?"

"Someone—an alpha—would've commanded your wolf to recede into the background. With an order."

"Wouldn't I feel it though? You seemed pretty upset over not being able to access your wolf. Like you were still aware of it inside you."

"Yes," I admit. "It's why I haven't tried it before now. But there are signs that your wolf is in there."

"Is that what I felt tonight?" she asks.

"Yes." It's not the whole truth, but it's a start.

She bites her lip. "How can the order be undone?"

"Only by another alpha." Or a mate. "Can I try it?"

She swallows hard. "Okay."

I brace myself, hoping like hell this works. After tonight, my alpha power is stronger than it's ever been. If this is what happened to her wolf, I'm strong enough to undo it now.

" Liberum lupus."

A moment passes.

Then two.

Nothing.

I sigh.

Lexi smiles, but it's strained. "It's okay. That would've felt way too easy, honestly."

I shake my head, frustrated. "We're running out of time. My father's digging for answers, too, and if he gets them first, it could be dangerous."

"You think there's more to his plan than just forcing us to get married?"

"I think the marriage was just another way to take something from me," I say quietly. "It was more about cruelty than strategy."

"What do you mean?"

"If we're married, as your husband, even if you relinquish your title, I'd be next in line for alpha. That means he has to take your title from us both."

She shakes her head, the disgust in her expression plain. "Why? I mean, I know he's an asshole, but you make it sound like he has a vendetta against you."

I hesitate but only to find the right words to tell her this story—one she should know before things get any crazier. "Five years ago, Franco came to me. He knew how I felt about my old man, and he offered a solution. He asked me to spy on my father. To feed him information about Vincenzo's plans for a takeover."

She stares at me like she's seen a ghost, so I look away from her and concentrate on the words. On getting them out without getting sucked into the agony of reliving that time—and everything it cost me—all over again.

"By then, I'd come to know my father for the monster he truly is. It wasn't just the way he ran his pack or his businesses. I'd seen that and somehow found a way to look past it. But my mother…he hurt her. Many times. I'd always suspected, but when I finally saw it for myself…"

Finishing that sentence would mean letting those images play out in my memory, and I can't. So, I push past them to what came next.

"If my wolf had been stronger, I could've challenged him outright. But I knew I couldn't win a fight against an alpha. Franco offered another way. But it backfired."

"How?" She's riveted on me now. Hanging on every word.

I wish the story ended better for her sake. For all of ours.

"Franco ordered me to lace my father's drink with some chemical. Said it would weaken him enough for whatever he had planned. Said I would know when to do it. Two nights later, Dom's older brother Tio challenged my father for the role of alpha of our pack. My father was smug as hell about it. His ego blinded him to the idea that he might lose, but I knew this was the moment Franco had meant.

"The day of the fight, I made my father a drink with the drug in it. He never suspected me. Drank it all without hesitation. By that night, he was too weak to do more than stand. I braced myself for his death. Prepared for it as much as one can, I guess. Told myself the city would be better, safer. My mom would be safer."

"Then what happened?"

"Right before the fight began, my father announced that he was nominating a champion to fight in his place." The bleakness closes in around me as I remember it all over again. The shock. The horrible realization that I would have to face Tio for him. That he would survive this, and I might not.

"Was that allowed?" Lexi asks.

"According to some old, forgotten pack law. No one remembered it existed until my father cited it. Almost as if he knew ahead of time."

"Who did he name as his champion?"

"Me."

"Oh." Her eyes widen as she realizes where this is going. How it all must've ended. "You fought Tio?"

"Yes."

"And you won."

"Yes."

"Did he…? Did you…?"

"I killed him. It's the code. An alpha challenge is a fight to the death."

"But…if you won, you should be alpha."

"I fought on behalf of my father. My victory belonged to him, ensuring he remains in his role." I can't help the self-loathing that leaks into my voice. "What a fucking double agent I made, huh? I sabotaged my own efforts. It was all a fucking waste."

She stares at me.

I can see the wheels turning but damned if I can tell in which direction they're going. Maybe she hates me now. Maybe seeing me as a killer—or worse, a traitor—has changed her view of me. Have I finally scared her off with the fucked-up reality of what it's like to be me?

"That's why he called you back here?" Her voice is full of outrage. "Why he's making you marry me then taking everything from us both? It's all about his sick revenge."

Her disgust is for him—my father.

Not for me.

Relief washes over me.

"He considers it justice," I say.

"He's a fucking monster."

She's angry, and I love her for it.

"We have to find out what happened to your wolf before he does," I tell her.

She looks up at me, her expression reflecting the determination I feel. "We're going to find a way. And then we're going to stop him and Franco from ever hurting anyone again."

She's naively hopeful, and I don't have the heart to tell her it's a long shot. The way she's looking at me now… No one's ever looked at me like that before. But it only matters that Lexi does.

"Hopefully, you're right, but if we fail, we'll come here," I tell her, framing her face with my hands. "To these wards. So we can get the hell out of this city."

"I thought you can't get out unless an alpha allows it?"

"Yes, well, that's the difference between this fight and the one five years ago. I'm an alpha now. Soon, I'll be strong enough to save us both."