AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The blowback from the Execution Underground would be a massacre.
The other hunters had their own weapons drawn now. That familiar Mateba from Jace and what appeared to be a Desert Eagle in the vampire hunter’s hand.
Aimed at the human threatening her. A wolf shifter.
She hadn’t seen that one coming.
Jace stepped forward, gun at the ready. “Let her go, Chet.”
“Take another step and I blow her head off,” Chet threatened. “Headquarters won’t even blink.” Chet’s hot breath smothered her ear, and she cringed.
But the hunters obeyed, remaining still. Guns at the ready.
For her sake.
“Go ahead. Fire first.” Chet smiled. “Whose it gonna be? Brock?” he taunted. “McCannon?” His malicious grin broadened. “Who do you think HQ is going to believe? Either of you pull the trigger and I own you,andyour job. And you both know it.”
Jace’s lip curled.
“Now, we’re going to try this my way.” Chet shoved the barrel of his semi-auto a little higher, forcing her onto her toes. She wasn’t short by any means, but he had several inches on her. “What were you doing in that alleyway?”
Frankie gaped.Thiswas his plan? He thought he couldcoercea confession out of her?
She’d sooner die than claim she’d committed those crimes. Doing so would cause irreparable damage to her pack, her species. Chet had greatly underestimated how willing she was to put her life in danger. To die for them.
So long as it protects them.
“I already told you,” she spit. “I was doing my duty.” She spoke each word through gritted teeth. “That’s all.”
The gun pushed higher. “Try again.”
“I won’t admit to something I didn’t do.” She didn’t know why, but she looked toward Jace then, and the mixture of fury and fear in his eyes told her what her wolf instincts already knew.
Chetwouldkill her. He wouldn’t hesitate.
She meant nothing to him.
Her heart raced.
And even if Jace or Damon dared to risk their jobs, their lives for her, she wasn’t certain there would be any justice. No punishment or repercussions. As if sheandher kind meant nothing. A chill shot down Frankie’s spine.
For the first time in her life, she was just a woman then. Not a wolf or a packmaster more than capable of defending herself. Not even a looked-down-upon endangered species.
Just a defenseless creature in the hands of a powerful man.
The thought chilled her. Would her pack even know what happened to her? Mourn her? Or would they think she’d abandoned them, because she was their first female packmaster, and they thought she couldn’t take the heat?
True fear took over, though she didn’t dare show it.
Would anyone even miss her?
She felt more than saw Chet’s finger move toward the trigger.
Her powers were useless in the face of human steel, of a bullet to the head.
“Wait,” she suddenly heard herself say. The fear she held inside felt strange, foreign, but she held strong, refusing to show it. Among her pack, those who were eager to see her fail would have cut her down for it. “Please,” she said, her voice remaining steady, powerful as she allowed herself this brief request for mercy, away from even harsher eyes that would judge her, scrutinize her every move. “I’ll tell you everything I know, just...don’t hurt me.”
The look of pained remorse in Jace’s gaze gutted her.
