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Never one to beat around the bush, Alejandro joined her side then. “You know I’m not one to question your judgment, packmaster, but as your friend...” She felt him hesitate, though whether out of respect for her position or the repercussions of her anger, she wasn’t certain. “...whatever deal you think you’re making with that hunter in there, Frankie, this wasn’t the plan.”
Frankie folded her arms over her chest, an attempt to keep herself warm. “You’re not the first alpha male to have told me that tonight.” She stepped further out onto the street, staring up at the apartment. To the unknowing eye, it appeared empty. Abandoned. In some ways, she supposed it was, and would continue to be. “You were watching us? At the diner?” she asked.
Alejandro stiffened at the implied intrusion. “It’s my job to protect you, in whatever way I can.” It was the safe answer, the practiced one. Meant to show deference to her position.
But it didn’t accomplish what he’d intended.
“And would you have said the same to my father? If I were a man?” She glanced toward him, and Alejandro lowered his eyes in submission. “I respect your opinion, Alejandro, but I have this situation well in hand. Leave this to me.” She blew out a slow breath, watching the heat of it swirl in the early morning light. “And there’s more at play here than meets the eye.”
Alejandro lifted a brow.
“He’s a shifter,” she answered. “A half-breed, or something like it.”
Alejandro’s eyes grew wide, like he couldn’t believe it, though he didn’t dare defy her or say it was impossible. Though it still certainly felt that way. Even to her.
“Shit,” he swore. Though that familiar concern in his expression returned quickly. “And you think you can use this to our advantage? To get out of the deal with the white wolves?”
Frankie’s lip curled at him. A flash of canine teeth. “Are you suggesting—”
“—That you’re doing this for your own advantage? No. Never,” Alejandro finished quickly. He shook his head. “I know you’d sacrifice everything for this pack.”
She punched at his arm playfully, but didn’t grin. “Now you’re ass kissing.”
Alejandro smiled a little. “Don’t look so offended, packmaster. All of us wish you didn’t have to go through this.”
“Not all of you,” she corrected. “Some are far too eager for it.”
She stepped away from him, placing one slender hand flat against the studio’s glass. The warmth of her hand left a foggy imprint. “No, I’m not trying to get out of the arrangement with Rock.” She shook her head. “I’m not that foolish.”
“What then?”
Frankie lifted a shoulder and shrugged. “He saved me. I owe him. I got hauled into division headquarters and he got me out.”
Alejandro’s expression turned grim. “You mean that man...”
“Is a wolf hunter? Yes.” She removed her hand from the glass. “Jace McCannon.”
Alejandro swore. She’d known he’d recognize the name. Her second was good at his position, highly trained and aware of every threat against them. Plus Jace’s reputation preceded him.
Alejandro shook his head. “Whatever it is you're planning, Frankie. I don’t like this.”
“I don’t remember asking your opinion,” she said, perhaps a little too defensively. He rarely, if ever, used her name anymore. She softened her tone then. “He saved my life.”
Though he held his human form, Alejandro’s brown eyes seemed to glitter in the fading dark. “You don’t know that man.”
“And neither do you,” she said. “But hedidsave me. I owe him.”
Alejandro swore again. “I’m begging you, Frankie. As your friend. Leave this now. Before it ruins everything we’ve planned.”
“You mean everythingI’veplanned,” she corrected him. “It’s my sacrifice to make, and make no mistake, Alejandro, you may be my friend, but first and foremost, I am your packmaster and you are my second. You will defer to my judgment on this and on all things. Do I make myself clear?”
Alejandro dropped his gaze. “Yes, packmaster.”
“Good.” She turned to head into the studio again.
“Can I...at least know your plan, packmaster?” He tacked her title on at the end with a small grin. Like he respected her, but also wouldn’t let her forget he was her friend.
She smiled at him. “I already told you. I owe him.” She turned the studio doorknob. “I plan to help him, that’s all.” Alejandro didn’t appear to be pleased by the answer, so she said, “I’d do the same for you, or any wolf who laid their life on the line for me.”
