28. Lexi

28

LEXI

M aybe it's a lifetime of training myself to sleep in new places, but somehow, I manage to drop into slumber the moment my head hits the pillow in my new home-sweet-prison. When I wake, the sun is high in the sky as it streams through the blinds in the small bedroom. At first, I think the daylight must be what woke me. Then, I hear the unmistakable thud of the front door closing.

I whip myself out of bed and over to the half-open bedroom door. With my hand on the knob and heart racing, I peer out into the living room. My injured arm rages with pain, but I ignore it as I search the space.

Dressed in a navy suit, Vincenzo stalks through the living room.

When he sees me, he stops—and smiles.

I shudder then steel myself for this visit. Stepping out into the living room, I cradle my arm and stand behind the couch, meeting his harsh gaze head-on. "I don't remember giving you permission to enter."

"I don't remember asking." He sits in the chair opposite where I stand then gestures to the empty couch. "Join me."

It's not a request.

My spine prickles with unease as I round the couch and sit on its edge. Now there's nothing between us but the coffee table. I try not to make my pain obvious because something tells me showing this man any weakness only makes it worse. But he zeroes in on it immediately.

"How's your arm feeling?" he asks.

"Broken," I say flatly.

"The doctor's on his way."

Liar. I don't bother to point out that Charlie promised me a doctor last night.

"If you're here for my grocery list, it's on the fridge," I say.

He tosses a file onto the coffee table. "I'm here to talk about this."

My breath catches at the sight of a manila folder with my name scrawled on the label. "What's that?"

"Don't play games. We both know this is what you were after last night."

I don't answer.

He leans back on the couch, draping his arm over the top. "Go ahead. Read it."

I hesitate, but curiosity wins out over fear. Easing forward, I reach for the file and slide it over to me. When he doesn't yank it away, I flip it open.

On top of the stack is some kind of lab test. I don't understand the list of what was tested, but my name's printed along the top. The date is one year ago. I think back, vaguely remembering an appointment I had for birth control at the free clinic in Lakeland. They took blood… Just routine, they said.

I move it aside and look at the next sheet. More lab tests. More dates that correlate with various doctor appointments in the life I had before coming to Indigo Hills. After flipping through a few, I see that all of them test something called LAG, though I have zero clue what the letters mean.

Anger, fear, suspicion—all the emotions that spin through me as I look at these tests overwhelm me.

"What is all this?" I ask, flipping faster now. Maybe there's something here that will make it all make sense.

Vincenzo just waits, more patient than I've ever seen him.

At the very bottom of the stack is another lab test. The name at the top is different this time. My breath catches. Monte Giovanni.

My dad.

Once again, the tests are all foreign to me, but LAG is at the very top. Beside it, the result reads Negative.

"What is LAG?" I ask, finally looking up at Vincenzo again.

"It's a gene. Discovered in a lab after decades of research on our kind. It stands for Lupin Alpha Gene."

"What does it do?"

"All alphas and their descendants have the gene. It determines how strong or dominant we are once we come into our power. Years ago, Franco decided to alter the gene for his own gain."

"Alter it how?"

"Successfully mutated, the gene would provide alpha power to a wolf far beyond what we're capable of on our own. Unparalleled physical strength, mental acuity including stronger compulsion and control over other wolves, even those not in our packs, and anti-aging benefits that border on immortality."

I blink, letting his words sink in. "Are you telling me Franco's immortal?"

He shakes his head. "Not quite. As far as he knows, his experiment failed."

My surprise turns to wariness. Dom used those same words to describe me just last night: a failed experiment. "What does this have to do with me?" I ask, my stomach tightening.

"A few years ago, I hired a hacker to dig up whatever dirt he could on Franco. I expected corruption, money laundering, fraud. What I found was a name—Lexi Ryall. And a huge medical record stored on a secure server at a place called Capo Research Institute, which he traced back to Franco's holdings. The hacker said he'd never seen a firewall like theirs. Took us some time to break in, but eventually we did."

I gesture to the file between us. "Let me guess: this is what you found?"

"Apparently, every time your name and information were run through a medical testing facility, Franco's private lab flagged it and used the sample to test your LAG gene. So, I started researching what the hell he was looking for, and I uncovered the experiments he did—first on your father and then on you."

"You think he mutated my alpha gene?"

"I don't think, I know. The proof's right there in those tests."

I can't help but feel a little frustrated. I'm finally getting answers only to be left with more questions. "But I don't even have a wolf. I can't shift. So, obviously it didn't work."

"You have a wolf," he says so firmly that I find myself wanting to believe him.

Trusting Vincenzo's word feels dangerous, but in this moment, I need him to be right so badly I can taste it. "How do you know?"

"My son senses you as his mate. That wouldn't be possible if you weren't a shifter."

I look away, emotion swirling. My eyes land on the twist-tie still wrapped loosely around my finger. My heart squeezes. I look up again, shoving aside the fact that Grey hid it from me. If I think about that, I'll have to think about the secret I kept from him. And how he reacted when he found out. "You make it sound like Franco's experiment didn't really fail."

"Franco assumed the drugs his doctors gave you killed your wolf just like it did with the others he experimented on, so he didn't bother to test for anything besides the LAG. Probably just wanted to further his future research. To try again. But I got curious." He reaches for the file and rifles through the papers. When he finds what he's looking for, he holds it out for me, pointing. "Here. The fever you had as a baby. After antibiotics and all other medicines failed to treat the problem, you received high doses of Aconitumex."

"What is that?"

"Pharmaceutical grade wolfsbane. To a human, it's poison. For a wolf, it suppresses the gene mutation. I think they gave you so much of it, it suppressed your wolf completely. Based on your medical records, Carina gave it to you right before Franco found and killed her and Monte."

My pulse quickens. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"I'm offering you a deal."

My hope is tempered by wariness. Vincenzo doesn't do anything out of kindness. There's always a catch—probably one that will hurt me in the end. "What deal?"

"I'll help you access your wolf. In exchange, you'll go through with the wedding then relinquish your title to me."

"You still want me to marry Grey?" I can't help but ask.

"I want the packs to see us united. To accept me when I take my place as high alpha." Of course he does. This was never about Grey or our happiness.

"Is that all?" I ask.

His expression tightens. "Lastly, you will submit blood samples so my researchers can access the gene code in your DNA."

"You want the gene for yourself," I realize.

Of course he does. If it's as powerful as he says, there's no way he would let that opportunity go. It's probably the only reason he hasn't killed me yet.

"Franco's time is over. I intend to rule this pack," he says, his expression hardening.

I hesitate. If he has this LAG gene and the power that goes with it, he'll be unstoppable. "What if I say no?"

"I can take it by force," he says, giving me a glimpse of what waits for me if I refuse him.

"Then why bother asking?"

"Why not?" He shrugs, completely confident. "For once, our interests align. You want to access your wolf. And you have no business trying to rule this city. You get everything you want, and no one gets hurt."

He has me right up until that last part. Of course people will get hurt. He can't possibly think I trust him to let me live once he has what he needs—not when I'd be the only other wolf with the LAG gene. But he's right. I can't exactly refuse him. He'll just take what he wants. He always does. At least this way, I'll be strong enough to fight back.

Especially now that I'm fighting alone.

"Do we have a deal?" Vincenzo asks.

I take a deep breath and nod. "Deal."

Triumph flashes in his gaze, so vicious it sends a shudder through me. But then he's rising, and the moment changes. The darkness clears. Still, I have the distinct impression I've just negotiated my life away to the devil.

Vincenzo walks over and opens the door. On the other side is a man I've never seen before. For a second, I think he called a doctor after all, but the man simply hands Vincenzo a case then walks away.

Vincenzo closes the door and returns to his seat. He shoves the file aside and sets the case down between us, flicking it open. Then he spins it so I can see what's inside.

A single syringe filled with what looks like blood is nestled in foam.

"What's this?" I ask, fear squeezing my throat so the words come out a little breathless.

"The antidote." When I meet his gaze, he explains, "It's a mixture containing wolf venom. Injecting it will be the same as being bitten except that it'll force the change slowly over the course of a few days rather than all at once."

Trepidation fills me. "You want me to inject this into my body?"

"This is less dangerous than a bite. It contains venom for the change, a gene booster to activate the LAG, and the antidote to the wolfsbane." When I don't respond, his eyes flash with impatience. "Do you want to walk down the aisle with a broken arm?"

Every cell of my body screams at me that this will end badly. If I do this, I can't take it back. Not even if Grey decides to forgive me.

Silence hangs between us for a long moment. Then two. My heartbeat thunders in my ears as I stare at the syringe. It could be a trap. Poison or some other lethal substance. But why go to all this trouble to kill me slowly when he could just shift and rip me apart in seconds?

What he's offering is insanity.

It's also the only thing standing between me and death. The only thing that will provide me protection against these predators. A way to become like Grey. No longer weak. No longer human. A true equal. A mate.

Assuming he still wants me.

With my heart racing, I pick up the syringe and empty its contents into my arm.