Page 90 of Deadly Wolf Bite

“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.

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