It unravels us from the inside out.
Our insides become our outsides rather violently.
Yet I’m able to smell her creature beneath her silken skin and see the proof of it in her shimmering golden eyes, which means…Frankie can work magic.
If anyone discovers the truth, she will be hunted down. While some might want to slaughter her, others will capture her and study her in hopes of duplicating her abilities. They’ll breed her, forcing her to bend to their will and do their bidding.
My beast growls at the thought of anyone touching what is ours.
Because of us, the local alpha knows the truth. He will stop at nothing to gain access to her powers, uncaring if he has to mate her against her will, if that’s what it takes to put him on top. The greedy fucker demands absolute obedience. Any defiance is quickly eradicated. Small skirmishes have been occurring around the borders, where he’s testing the defenses of neighboring territories, stopping just short of declaring outright war against other alphas.
He won’t risk challenging them, not until victory is guaranteed.
If he’s able to access Frankie’s powers, he would be unstoppable.
Cheating, stealing, killing—none of that matters to him in his quest to rule over the whole country. The fucker is corrupt as hell. If he takes over another territory, I fear no one will be able to stand in his way.
And we just gave him the fucking key to do it.
I lean forward, reaching over the seat to cup Frankie’s face, ignoring the way my heart squeezes painfully when she flinches at the contact. “Are you okay to drive? We need to put as much distance between us and the wolves following as possible.”
She blinks in surprise, possibly thinking I was going to demand answers that she’s not ready to give, but that can wait.
She needs to be alive to be able to answer those questions.
With a jerky nod, she pulls away from my touch and starts the car with shaky fingers. The vehicle sputters for a few seconds before the engine roughly catches, then she stomps on the gas hard enough that we’re thrown back against our seats. We grunt as we land in a tangled mess, the car fishtailing slightly on the gravel road before we race off into the middle of the night.
When Tyler opens his mouth to question Frankie, I glare at him in warning and shake my head. He relents with a sigh, unhappy about the decision. The stubborn glint in his eyes warns me that the subject isn’t over, just tabled for now.
Out of all of us, he’s the most stubborn.
If he wants something, he won’t stop until he gets it.
I just hope that we’re prepared for the answers.
Something tells me that whatever secrets Frankie holds are going to shake the foundation of our already troubled existence. I shouldn’t be excited about the prospect, but it feels like I’ve been biding my time, waiting for her to bring me to life.
No matter what happens, I refuse to let her slip through my claws.
I can’t go back to that mindless existence, just waiting to die. I touch the silver bullet in my pocket, the tips of my fingers burning, then I toss it out the window.
Though she might not admit it, Frankie needs us too.
She won’t be able to survive without us.
We need to prove that we can be an asset, tie her to us in a way that she can’t ever leave.
When my wolf remains ominously silent, the hairs on my scruff lift. He’s up to something. At one time, we used to function as a team. Now, it feels like I have a monster living under my skin, waiting for the chance to take over.
I’ve done everything to restrain him, but he won’t be denied forever. He will break free eventually—it’s as inevitable as the tide. For the first time in decades, a tiny kernel of hope blooms in my chest at the thought that he might not be a rabid killing machine…because of her.
Frankie.
No fucking way am I going to allow her to leave and take that hope with her, not without a fight. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. If I die in the process, then at least my life was worth something in the end.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FRANKIE
