by Kathy Lyon
“There’s no need to fear.” He took a deep breath. “Where’s the body? Let me see it.”
Frankie’s head snapped up. Wade had said “they got him” not that their father was dead. But obviously her brother was following a different script. When she turned her horrified gaze on him, she saw him flush. He knew he’d made a mistake. But then his eyes narrowed, and he advanced on Wade.
“Who has him?”
“The bears,” Wade said with a gulp. “They took him.”
“You abandoned your alpha?” Raoul bellowed. “You left him there to die—”
“I had to! I had to get back here to report!” Wade babbled. “You had to know what happened and there were bears everywhere. Everywhere!”
Raoul reacted with a speed that shocked even her. Worse, he was precise as he swiped across Wade’s throat. He didn’t use claws. Years ago, he’d made brass knuckles with sharp claws attached so that it looked like he killed as a werewolf when it was actually a man with a very human tool. He’d told her then that it impressed weak minds, making them think he could hold a shift partway. If they didn’t know he had the brass claws, it would look like he swiped across someone’s throat with his wolf claws while the rest of his body remained human.
It did its job quickly now. One swipe of his hand and Wade’s throat erupted with blood. He grabbed his neck, trying to staunch the flow. Frankie leapt forward, too, instinctively trying to stop a pack mate from dying. But also because they needed him to tell the truth. No matter what he’d said, Frankie knew that the bears hadn’t attacked her father. She’d met Simon. He was not a man to start a war casually.
She covered Wade’s hands with her own, but it was too late. Blood was spurting faster than anyone could stop, and he quickly collapsed.
“No,” she moaned as she saw the life drain out of his face. Wade was a prick, to be sure, but he didn’t deserve to die like this, and certainly not by his own pack mate’s hand. Her gaze shot up to her brother’s. “How could you?” she breathed. She invested all her shock and horror in those three words. Not just because he’d killed their cousin, but because he’d orchestrated all of this. The attack on her father—probably by his own men—and blaming it on the Griz while he took control. She saw it all so clearly, and when she looked in her brother’s eyes, she saw confirmation. His expression went from a wide-eyed shock at what he’d just done, to regret and a flash of panic.
But then his expression locked down. She could only read it because she’d spent her life caring for her brother, protecting him when he was picked on by the other boys, even playing with him when no one else could abide his tantrums. She’d made a study of his expressions growing up, and now she saw absolute confirmation of her fears. And a dogged determination to follow his plan.
“Any man who betrays the alpha deserves to die,” he said coldly.
“No,” she said. “That’s not how it works. The pack protects each other.”
He curled his lips. “We’re wolves, silly girl. The weakest one among us is cut from the pack.”
“We’re humans, too,” she said loudly. “Evolved humans who don’t kill out of pique or fear.” She stood, her hands dripping with Wade’s blood. Her brother didn’t realize it yet, but he’d erred badly in killing Wade in front of the pack. All around them men and women recoiled, never having seen violent death before. Parents were clutching their kids and everyone was backing up, their hands over their mouths to cover the smell. She was shaking from the horror of it, but she was the daughter of an alpha, and she would not give in to weakness when the pack most needed her clarity. “Raoul, look around you. This is not the way to power.”
She watched his eyes dart around and she could tell he saw the same thing she did. The pack had turned against him, at least for the moment. And so, she pressed her advantage.
“I’ve been with you since you were a baby. I’ve held your hand, changed your diapers, and cheered the loudest when you excelled at school. I understand that you’re trying to make us stronger. You want us so powerful that no one can touch us.” In truth, he wanted himself to be so powerful no barbs could touch him, no insult could wound him. More than anything, her brother wanted to feel safe, and so she tried to give him that safety in a different way. “I understood when you injected me with your serum. I was angry, but I knew you were trying to make me and the pack stronger. But Raoul, this is not the way. Violence only makes people more afraid, more likely to lash out.” She held up her hands. “Think about it. You’re stronger than you’ve ever been before, but are you less afraid? Or more?”
She knew the answer to that. In his heart, her brother was a chemist. He’d pursued the serum as a way to make him and everyone else in the pack stronger. She didn’t know how he’d gone from injecting it straight into people’s veins to dumping it lock, stock, and barrel in the water supply, but she would bet he hadn’t intended a citywide disaster. She smiled reassuringly at him.
“We can figure this out, Raoul. You and me, together. Just like when I tried to help you with your chemistry homework and was awful at it. But we always found a way through, remember? We just had to work together.”
He wavered. She could tell by the way his expression shifted to a younger look. Suddenly, he was more like the confused and angry teen she remembered. The one who often turned to her when the world got to be too much for him. She held out her hand and he started to reach back, just like he had when they were kids.
Success…almost.
She hadn’t counted on the other female in his life. Delphine had never given up anything in her life, not once she considered it hers. And she had a nearly psychic ability to sense when things were not going her way.
She’d been standing beside Raoul in her wolf form, clearly following the shifting currents in the room. Just as Raoul began to reach for Frankie’s hand, she shifted back to human. She surged forward, stumbling slightly as she found her human feet right between Frankie and her brother. And there she stood, panting and flushed, wearing only her spandex leggings while her magnificent breasts swung free. And suddenly all eyes were on her.
“Don’t do it!” she gasped as she turned to Raoul. “Frankie’s been lying to you. She’s been lying to us all!”
“I’m the only one who hasn’t been lying!” Frankie snapped, anger getting the better of her tongue. But no one was listening to her. Not with Delphine’s breasts bobbing in full view.
“I was waiting to bring this up with the alpha. I didn’t want to air the shame right in front of everyone.” She rounded on Frankie. “But you leave me no choice. I know you’ve been consorting with the bears. How could you betray your own sire to them? It’s disgusting.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We all know about your fascination with Detective Kennedy.” Her voice took on a singsong quality. “He’s the best shifter among us. We should all be more like Detective Kennedy.” Her voice dropped to an accusing register. “The grizzly Kennedy.”
“He’s a cop. He helps—”
“He helps himself.” She curled her lip. “And you apparently. Go ahead. Tell them all who you were sleeping with last night.”
“What?”
“Did you set Emory up? Did your pillow talk with the bear ensure your own sire’s death?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” The question was all bluster. Somehow Delphine knew that she’d spent the night with Ryan. Maybe she smelled the man on her or maybe she had spies watching Noelle’s apartment. Either way, just about anyone in the pack could go to Noelle’s apartment and smell them both there. Even if Frankie talked her way out of this, the attention would then shift to Noelle who was completely innocent.
“You’re sleeping with a bear,” Delphine pressed. When Frankie didn’t immediately deny it, she turned to the pack at large. “The Griz have declared war on us. They’ve attacked our alpha and poisoned our city. And now we find out how. Francesca Wolf has been a mole inside our own pack. She’s betrayed us to the bears!”
/> “That’s not true!” Frankie cried. “You all know me! I’ve been spent my entire life helping you, working for the pack.” She scanned their faces. Maybe at a different time they would have believed her. Maybe if they hadn’t just seen a man murdered before their eyes, they would have had room to put aside their fear and think clearly. But that wasn’t what was going on. And right now, every single pair of eyes looked at her with doubt. They didn’t know who to believe. Which meant she had to get her brother back on her side. So she appealed to him. “Raoul, why would I do that?”
She looked into his eyes and pleaded with him silently to remember all the things she’d done for him, all the ways she’d nurtured not just him, but the entire pack. Yet two seconds later, she saw that Raoul remembered something else entirely.
“Because you’ve always wanted to lead the pack. You told father that I wasn’t good enough. That I would be a disaster in charge.”
A sick dismay flooded her system. Raoul knew what she’d said to their father. The conversation had happened in private, but she’d guessed that Raoul would learn of it. He was smart, and he’d spent a good deal of his childhood learning about interesting electronic devices like bugs for eavesdropping. He probably had listening devices all over wolf territory. Hell, he might even have been surveilling Noelle’s apartment. Who knew what paranoia Delphine had fostered in him?
“Raoul,” Frankie said softly. “I would never hurt you.”
“But you did,” Delphine said, her words cold. “You cut him out. Your own brother. You never saw his worth.” She sidled up to Raoul, making sure her breasts bounced in his view. “But I see what he’s worth. I love him.”
Frankie didn’t think her brother was dumb enough to be taken in by a pair of magnificent boobs, but apparently she was wrong. He looked down at Delphine’s face and his eyes softened. Was he in love? With a shallow, social-climbing bitch just because she flashed her tits? Apparently so, because without even lifting his gaze from Delphine, he called out to the pack at large.
“Restrain my sister. We’ll lock her up downstairs while we make the Griz pay for what they’ve done to our alpha.”
“Raoul, no!” Frankie cried. “The Griz didn’t do this.”
He turned to her and smiled. It wasn’t the look of a man besotted by a conniving woman. And it certainly wasn’t the lost little boy she remembered from her childhood. This was all Raoul, supremely confident in his choices and gleeful even. “Didn’t they?” he mocked. “I think they did. And I think you were in cahoots with them.” He arched a brow. “And I think I’m the only wolf who can lead us out of this mess you’ve created.”
She’d seen it before. She’d even told herself that her brother was not the little boy she remembered, but she’d never really believed it. Not in her heart of hearts. Not until this very moment when she realized just how much she’d been holding on to a boy who maybe never was. Raoul’s expression told her everything she’d suspected but was afraid to believe. That he had orchestrated everything. That he had cold-bloodedly planned their father’s attack and to oust her from the pack in shame. Maybe he’d planned this from back when Hunter had died.
But the gloves were off now. He’d just shown her his true self, and she had to look to her own survival. No more trying to reach him. It had been a long shot anyway. Which meant she couldn’t allow herself to be grabbed or put in the restraining cells in the basement. She had to get to her father.
Emory was the only one who could stop Raoul and save the pack. And so she turned to run. She knew it made her look guilty as hell. She knew that she was abandoning Noelle and Hazel and all her friends, but she couldn’t help them if she was locked up or worse. She spun on her heel and took off.
Except Raoul had more friends than she thought. Aggressive ones hopped up on the serum.
She dodged the first, put an elbow to the face of the next and spun around him. But it wasn’t going to be enough. Not with the werewolves leaping toward her, all with murder in their eyes. The only way to survive this was to go full out, and that meant full monster.
God, she didn’t want to do it this way, but she’d run out of options. She had to fight free. She waited until just the right moment. They were coming at her from all sides. Fortunately, the families and the kids had already scrambled out of the way. She wouldn’t hurt any innocents. Still it ached to attack her own pack mates like this.
They were almost on her, the wolves leaping at her from left and right. So she let fly with the monster change complete with killer BO. It was a defensive mechanism unique to hybrids like her who were neither fully human nor fully wolf, but something in between. When a human caught a whiff of the stench, they started to gag. But wolves with their much more sensitive noses immediately spun away. It was instinct, pure and simple. Anything that smelled this bad had to be poisonous and no creature wanted to bite down on that.
With the wolves out of the way, she just had to dodge the gagging humans. A couple hardy souls made a stab at blocking the doors. She was impressed that they had kept focused on their task despite the urge to retch, but she couldn’t let them stop her. Thanks to Hazel’s training, they were no match for her, and soon she was out the door.
But once free of the community center where was she to go? Only one place. She had to find Ryan. She’d been a fool to think she could manage this alone. This problem had grown bigger than one person inside a pack could fix. Which meant she needed him and all the help he could bring.
But how was she going to find him? She had to call the Griz and pray that they still trusted her enough to talk.
Chapter 19
Pain swamped Ryan’s consciousness with every breath. At first, he hadn’t even realized the connection, only the steady ebb and flow of agony. But with awareness came patterns. A knife blade at his ribs, sawing at his concentration.
He also isolated a sound and a warm grip on his hand. He focused on that small heat, absorbing the comfort it brought him.
“It was my brother Raoul,” she was saying, her voice choked with tears. “No one else makes brass knuckles like that. He’s trying to make it look like a bear attack.”
Frankie.
“Yeah, we got that.” Simon’s voice was hard. “Why the fuck would he attack your father?”
“To become alpha. And he wants a war with you.”
“And why haven’t you stopped this? That’s what you promised, isn’t it? You begged me to delay so you could take care of things internally. Does this look like it’s been taken care of?”
“I didn’t think he’d attack our father!” Frankie said. “I didn’t think it was possible. Wolves can’t go against their alpha.”
“Apparently, wolves can,” Simon growled.
“It’s the serum. I should have seen it before. Brady defied a direct order in the sewers. Everyone’s more aggressive while on it.” She sighed. “Even I never contemplated taking over the pack until I became a hybrid.”
“Not your fault,” Ryan said, his voice rusty as pain burned through every word. But he didn’t stop. “Everyone waits too long to get help.”
“Ryan!” she cried out, and she gripped his hand tighter.
“You’re awake,” Simon said, and there was relief in his tone. “Can you shift?”
He couldn’t even open his eyes. But he did have the strength to squeeze Frankie’s hand. And damn, the pain from speaking was burying him.
“Ryan? It’s Frankie.”
Yes, he knew.
“You’re hurt pretty bad, but it’ll heal if you shift. Can you do it?”
Of course, he could. He reached for the energy state. He pictured himself as a grizzly and tried to slide into it. But the pain burned through him, fracturing his focus. Worse, his mind kept replaying everything that had happened the last two times he’d shifted. Torn apart by Nanook’s hybrids. Shot in the sewer. Didn’t matter, he told himself firmly. But the moment he reached for the energy state, pain shredded his intention.
Then another voi
ce intruded. A female’s voice with the authority of a doctor. Must be Hank’s woman, Dr. Lu from the CDC. “I’ve got to give him some painkillers. He’s in so much pain, there’s no way he can concentrate.”
“If you drug him, he can’t focus enough to shift.” Simon spoke logically, as usual.
“He needs rest. Look at him. Do you really think he has the energy? Even without the pain, he’s exhausted.”
“Doctor—” Simon began, but Frankie interrupted them both.
“Just ask him what he wants.”
Smart woman. It was one of the reasons he liked her so much. But it was hard to think, even harder to speak. Still, he forced it out because Frankie believed he could. “No drugs.”
“Detective Kennedy,” the doctor was saying. “There is no point in macho heroics. You’ve done your job—”
Had he?
“—now you need to recover.”
“Emory…Wolf?”
“Alive, thanks to you.” Simon again. “Do you remember what happened?”
Ah hell. He didn’t want to remember. In truth, he was trying hard to not remember getting gutted. Again. But he knew his duty, so he forced himself to report what he could. Scoping out the warehouse. Emory attacked. The fight. He used short sentences. Clear words. He nearly passed out before he was done, but he made it. And once he’d finished, Simon took up the tale.
“We got there at the end. Alyssa shot the ones on you.”
Alyssa could shoot the wings off a gnat. Thank God she was on their side.
“Then we carried you both here for the doc to patch you up.” His voice dropped to a deeper register. “You’d feel a lot better if you just shift.”
He knew that. He wanted that. But he couldn’t grab hold of the process. What was wrong with him?
Then there was a commotion nearby and another voice, this one deep and familiar. Hank. The quiet Zen master who could kick major ass when needed. He spoke to Simon, but everyone heard. “Raoul sent a message. Did it old school on parchment, written in blood, wrapped around a rock, and thrown at our door.”