by Kathy Lyon
Not much of a plan as those things went, but it was all she had. Plus Ryan at her back and the Griz waiting nearby. The cops were aware in a general sense and on standby if things turned ugly. That was the best she could hope for as she turned the corner to head to the front door of the community center.
“Frankie—” Ryan said, his voice low.
“You can’t talk me out of this,” she interrupted. “Anyway, it’s too late to turn around now.” They’d been spotted by the wolf stretched across the front step.
“I was going to say that I’ve got your back. No matter what.”
Her step hitched and she winced at her own stupidity. Of course, he was going to say something supportive. That was who he was. He served and protected, and right now that meant he stood behind her when she knew he really wanted to be in front shielding her from her own kind. But this was a wolf matter and a bear could only make it worse. Unless, of course, he was quiet, smart, and waited for her signal to go all grizzly. “Um, yeah. Thanks.”
Talk about a lame response. That wasn’t even remotely what she wanted to say. She ought to be saying that she felt him deep inside. He was a calm presence that gave her hope for a future that—a day ago—had seemed impossible. That right now it was taking everything in her not to grab his hand and run away. It didn’t have to be far. Hell, they could get lost in Chicago and live happily ever after. That was only a short five-hour drive. And most of all, she wanted to say the words that she’d been holding back for a while now.
I love you.
She hadn’t said it and neither had he, but that’s what she felt for him. But how could she say that to him when she might very well die in the next few minutes? The odds of her winning in a straight fight against her brother were slim to none. Then again, how could she not say it? It might be her very last chance.
And then she ran out of time. That’s what happened when she dithered. The wolf guarding the front door raised its hackles and growled menacingly.
“Get out of the way, Stark,” she snapped. That wasn’t the wolf’s real name, but he’d started styling himself after the brilliant superhero when he’d gotten a B in high school chemistry. “I’m here to put an end to this nonsense.”
The wolf didn’t move, just bared his teeth. To his credit, the threat wasn’t aimed at her but at Ryan. Didn’t matter. She lost her temper with the kid.
“Your mom knows you’re having unprotected sex. She said if you get an STD, you’re enlisting so the government pays for your health care. And if one of the girls gets pregnant, then your ass is getting a job. In fact, she asked me to write down a list of the ugliest, dirtiest jobs I could think of.” Frankie grinned. “I told her the government is always looking for more sewage grunts. Gave her a few names to call.”
Wolves don’t get pale, at least not that can be seen. They show fear in the tremors along their fur and stiffness in the tail. Right now, Stark’s tail stood out rigid as stone. The kid was terrified, probably because he knew his mother didn’t make idle threats.
He jumped off the steps with gratifying speed.
She moved past him and put her hand on the center’s door, but she didn’t push through. Instead, she took a moment to find that place inside her where Ryan held strong. She found it quickly, but just to make sure, she glanced behind her to where he stood with quiet power. His blue eyes were clear, and his blond hair was a soft yellow under the streetlights. He smiled at her with a slow, sweet curve of his mouth.
Right there was the image she wanted of him. One to hold on to in her mind for as long as she lived. Even if it was for only a few more minutes. She returned his smile, wishing she could put all the words she’d never said into her one expression. Then she opened the doors.
The place was unsettled. Given that it was barely four a.m., it should have been quiet. But most of her brother’s men had come back and were milling around disturbing kids and parents alike. Raoul was in a back room, and his angry voice beat the air of even this huge space. She couldn’t make out the words, but the growling tone was obvious enough.
But first things first. She looked to the “quarantined” section of the room to check on her friends. Sure enough, Noelle was there, giving her a grinning thumbs-up. Even Hazel was awake, waving her bandaged arm then clenching her hands in a get-fierce gesture. Frankie headed there, hoping to get a word in before the trouble started.
She was at the edge of the quarantined area when her brother came storming out of the back room. One of the sentries must have told him she was here. His face was flushed, and his men flanked him on either side. And then there was Delphine, back in her wolf form and spandex pants. She bared her sharp white teeth the moment she came into view, and even Frankie had a moment of envy for her rich brown fur. If nothing else, the woman had good hair.
Thinking of the hypodermic in her pocket, Frankie extended her arms out to hug her brother. He’d never been a touchy-feely kind of kid, but maybe things had changed. He had a girlfriend now, after all.
No such luck. He drew back from her with an appalled look on his face. “You are not welcome here, Frankie,” he said darkly. Then he glanced at Ryan. “And his presence is a declaration of war.”
Frankie let her arms drop to her sides. “I thought one of your demands was that they turn me over to you.”
He acknowledged the point with a dip of his chin. “Is that what you’re doing?” he asked as he turned to Ryan. “Are you turning her in to me?”
Frankie tensed. If Ryan responded to the jibe, it would make her look weak. He had to keep silent and let her be the power. She opened her mouth to forestall any of his comments, but she needn’t have worried. Instead of responding, Ryan simply turned to smile at a nearby child who was whimpering in his mother’s arms.
It was perfect. Not only had he shown himself to be friendly, but he’d completely dismissed her brother as unimportant. And if there was anything her brother hated, it was being ignored.
She watched Raoul’s neck flush, but she didn’t give him a chance to speak. “What makes you think you have the right to make any demands or speak for the pack?” she asked. She held up her hands. “Our alpha isn’t dead. You aren’t the beta. And yet you stand there and declare war as if you think our lives are your toy soldiers. We aren’t. And we certainly aren’t going to war on your say-so.”
“We don’t have a beta because they killed him!” Raoul snarled.
“Derek was killed when he attacked an innocent CDC doctor in front of her mate. If you ask me, he got what he deserved for being so stupid.”
Raoul shook his head. “Why are you spreading lies?”
“Why did you poison the city? Why do you want war?” She made an expansive gesture. “Are their lives nothing to you?”
His lip curled as he looked around. “You have no voice here. You can’t even shift.”
She watched his words impact the people around them. As one, the onlookers winced. It wasn’t fair or right, but full shifters had a stronger voice.
“I can shift,” she said loudly. “And I speak to the pack with an alpha voice.”
“Alpha voice!” he scoffed loudly. “That was disgusting. How dare you share your filthy relations with a bear over our link?”
She hated that her skin heated at his words. What she’d done—and shared—was neither filthy nor intentional. “I stopped the pack from following your stupid orders. Do you think the bears were defenseless? And the National Guard was on the way. Our people would have been slaughtered.”
“You have no faith in us. You’ve abandoned everything that makes you a wolf.”
She held her tongue, biting back an angry curse. This kind of back-and-forth spat helped no one. Worse, the antagonism keyed everyone up, and not in a good way. She had to end this now, which meant it was time for desperate action. She fingered the hypodermic in her pocket and judged the distance. She needed to slam it into his neck, but she’d have to get past his guards first.
She knew Ryan was ready
to leap into action, but would that be enough? Didn’t matter. She’d have to risk it. So she said the cruelest thing she could think of. She felt sick to her stomach as she spoke, but it was the only way to push Raoul into attacking her.
“No, Raoul, I have no faith in you. You’ve backstabbed your friends, poisoned those who love you, and betrayed the pack at every turn. Everyone knows it. And for those who don’t, I have pr—” She was going to say proof, but she didn’t get the chance.
He leapt for her as he screamed, “Lies!”
She was ready for the attack, so it was easy to flow with his lunge. A smooth move to twist into his leap so he fell past her. At the same time, she hauled the hypodermic out of her pocket, popped the cap, and slammed it down on his neck. He roared as the plunger sank home, but she had her knee in his back to keep him down.
Done. Now she just had to wait until he simmered down.
It was only then that she realized things were happening all around them. She’d been completely focused on Raoul, but suddenly she noticed that she was not being dragged off him by his henchmen. That’s because Ryan had stepped into the breach. While she’d been injecting Raoul, he’d blocked or punched out four others.
Pretty impressive for a guy who hadn’t even gone grizzly.
And then there was Hazel. She’d apparently leapt the quarantine barrier at just the right time. As Delphine lunged to attack, Hazel had landed feetfirst on the wolf’s hard snout. Wolf and woman had gone down in a tumble with Hazel coming out on top. Frankie caught enough of the fight to see Hazel deliver three blows to Delphine’s face, hard impacts from her good hand.
“That’s for my arm,” Hazel said as she punched. “That’s for your ugly clothes. And that’s because you’re a bitch.”
Delphine’s wolf eyes rolled back into her head. Unconscious.
Great, but that was only the nearest of her brother’s allies. Raoul had a lot more men around, and they’d been spoiling for a fight. As Frankie quickly scanned the crowd, she counted a half dozen moving forward. Most of them had been patrolling on the edge of the room, but now they stalked her. Hazel adjusted her stance, preparing to fend them off. Ryan flanked her on the opposite side. But then rescue came from an unexpected place.
“Stay back!” Raoul called out as he dug the needle from his neck. “There’s no point in fighting within the pack.”
Frankie exhaled, the relief in her body making her weak. Her little brother was back. There was no other explanation for his sudden change in heart. “Raoul,” she breathed, and there was joy in her voice. Except he didn’t look at her with kindness. What she saw on his face was pity, and that knocked the wind straight out of her sails.
“What was in this?” he asked, as he held the hypodermic.
“It’s from the CDC. It counteracts the aggression that comes from taking your serum.”
He rolled sideways, dislodging her knee. She didn’t fight him. He appeared completely rational. And as he sat up, he tossed the needle onto a nearby table. “I haven’t taken any of that. Don’t need it.” He pushed up to stand before her. “I’m a full wolf-shifter with a big brain and an implacable will. Why would I need anything to push me to fight for the wolves every way I know how?”
She stared at him. She saw no lessening of the darkness inside him. He stared at her with hate, and when he looked at the pack around them, he spoke calmly, clearly, and with enough alpha power in his voice to resonate through the pack link.
“I fight for the wolves against the bears who killed our beta. I fight for the wolves who are low in number and need new blood. I fight for the wolves who have been hiding in the shadows but now need to come out into the light of day. Did I give you vitamin serum? Yes. And you feel better for it! Did I declare war on the bears? Yes! We will not let them stop us! And when my own sister turns on us, I will deal mercifully with her out of the love we share for our father.”
Oh God. Oh no. He sounded completely rational, and her entire plan had hinged on the fact that he was addicted to his own serum. But if that wasn’t so, then his madness was completely his own. The horror of that squeezed her chest. And yet, she couldn’t give in to that pain. She had to fight for sanity.
“You attacked our father,” she cried. “We have the proof.”
“Lies!”
“You poisoned an entire city!” She looked around. “How many of you had friends who got sick? Businesses who suffered because the city shut down?”
“A temporary setback,” Raoul said loudly. “When werewolves take their rightful place—”
“The normals will hunt us, capture us, and kill us. Bad enough that he incites a war with bears, how will he protect your children when billions of frightened normal people come? He terrorized an entire city.” She looked around, her heart in her throat. These were people she’d known all her life. How could they not see what he was doing? In the end, she held up her hands. “The pack has to choose. He incites war. I give you love. He sits in a lab and tinkers with chemicals. I help with your children, give support in times of need, and created a safe community center in which to gather. The pack has to choose. Hatred or a happily ever after?”
She thought the answer would be obvious. Who wouldn’t want a happily ever after? But as she studied their faces, she realized most of the pack didn’t think the way she did. Which meant she was doomed.
Chapter 24
Ryan looked around the room and felt his breath freeze. This wasn’t going well, and he’d worked with enough teenagers to know why. No one was listening to the words. They’d long since made up their minds. Some wanted Raoul and his promises to make werewolves the most powerful people around. Others wanted Frankie and to live their lives without all this conflict. And everyone was getting angry, which was like piling dynamite on top of smoldering coals.
“You have to show them,” he said. He stepped into Frankie’s line of sight and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “They have to feel the difference.”
“I did that,” she said.
He nodded. “And you have to do it again. Now.”
He saw the panic enter her gaze. He knew what she was thinking. That she’d done it in a moment of orgasmic bliss, which was a far cry from broadcasting as an alpha on command. But she wanted to take control of her pack and this was the only way. She had to do it or her brother would win. And if that happened, then they would likely have to fight their way out of here. Or die trying.
“Ryan—” she began, fear echoing in his name.
He smiled at her and held out his hand. “I’m here. Let me help you. This doesn’t have to be done alone.”
She looked at his hand and then at the people around them. He saw the tension in her body, the twitch in her hand, and the way her eyes looked everywhere but at him.
Refused.
His heart sunk and his body froze. She wasn’t going to do it. She wasn’t going to claim him or their relationship to her pack. She’d said he was her pack, and he’d told her she was his home. But just like every other time he’d thought he’d found home, it turned out to be a lie.
The reasons for her betrayal piled up in his head. She was a wolf, he was a bear. This was pack politics, not love. They’d just met and while he was falling in love, she was just having great sex.
God, the pain of it made him feel as if he were cut in half and left bleeding right there in front of everyone. His hand dropped to his side and he drew back from her. But he couldn’t go far because then she wouldn’t have anyone to watch her back.
But who would watch his? Where could he go where he was safe and loved? Obviously not—
“We got you,” Hazel said loudly as she stepped across Delphine’s unconscious wolf body to stand in front of Frankie.
Noelle crossed to protect Frankie’s back. “Do what you need to do. Nobody will touch you.”
And then two more women stepped up to circle Frankie…
No, actually they were surrounding both Frankie and Ryan. He was in the safe ce
nter. And as soon as Frankie felt like they wouldn’t be attacked, she nodded her thanks to her friends and reached out for Ryan.
It threw him, this sudden openness on Frankie’s face as she looked at him. He was still deep in the litany of betrayal in his head. She was just like Nanook and his so-called friends on the police force. Turning their backs when things got rough. She didn’t really love him. How could she when even his parents weren’t so sure about him?
And yet she stood there with her eyes wide and her hand stretched out to him. He couldn’t quite process it.
“I need to be open to do this,” she said. “And I can’t watch for attacks at the same time.”
There it was. The verbal proof that she hadn’t been rejecting him at all. And yet, his body couldn’t catch up.
“Ryan?” she said, confusion flitting across her expression, and no wonder. He’d just offered himself to her and now was contracted away.
“What do you need?” he asked without touching her. She’d know if he touched her. She’d realize he was afraid to open himself to her again. Even though he’d been wrong, the pain of betrayal still ate at him. God, it hurt, and she hadn’t even done it. And now she needed him, and he was holding back because he was afraid. Damn it—
“I love you,” she said. “I should have said it before, but I’m saying it now. Whatever happens, I love you.”
He felt the resonance in her words. Even if that was just the vibration of her alpha voice, his heart responded. Warmth pulsed through his body, melting his panic. His mind stopped its litany of betrayal and was shocked into seeing something completely different. It saw a wolf declaring her love to a bear right in the middle of her pack. And she was doing it during a dominance fight. She was declaring to all around her that this was who she was, and then letting them choose.
It was the bravest thing he’d ever seen. And if she could do that, then he could face down his own demon. She hadn’t betrayed him, and he needed to trust her.