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Alejandro nodded his agreement. “I know.”
“I’ll need you there for this meeting.” She nodded to the door, to indicate where Rock had exited, only moments ago. “For moral support.”
“And this situation with the hunter?”
Frankie stared down at her desk, at the pile of paper’s that had accumulated there. “I’m handling it.”
“You reek of him,” Alejandro commented.
“That better be observation, not judgment, Alejandro,” she snapped.
Alejandro shook his head. “Never.”
Frankie breathed out a long sigh. “He needs help shifting, and I’ve offered to give it to him.”
Alejandro’s eyes widened. “And his division? How do we deal with them?”
She’d anticipated this question, but still, the lack of trust in her decision grated. “There’s a rift within their organization. His division is with him. I’ll fill you in on the rest of the details later this evening.”
“You mean to tell me that this...hunter, and his team are on our side?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “For now.” She shuffled the papers together into one organized pile. “The killer targeted my apartment.”
Alejandro’s expression tightened. Eyes flashing to his wolf in protective rage. “And you didn’t think totellme?” he hissed.
“It’s been less than forty-eight hours, Alejandro.” She pegged him with a sharp stare. “Whatexactlycould you have done about it?”
The harsh question seemed to leash him and his frustration with her, at least for the moment.
“The killer isn’t a wolf,” she continued. “Not a regular one anyway. We already knew that, but now he’s made himself known, shown us his face. He knows I’ve been working with Jace.”
“Jace.” Alejandro rolled the wolf hunter’s name around on his tongue. “You speak of this hunter as if you know him.”
“Idoknow him. Intimately.” Frankie didn’t dare glance away. She wasn’t ashamed. Why should she? Her body was her own, to do with as she pleased. Even if her hand in marriage wasn’t. “As you’ve already pointed out tonight.”
Alejandro glanced away to hide his embarrassment, his shame.
“We’ve had this discussion already, Alejandro. You’ll defer to my judgment on this.” Frankie glared. “Don’t make me keep asking.”
“Of course, packmaster.” Alejandro nodded, dropping his gaze again. “But at least, tell me he treats you well. This...Jace.” He said Jace’s name almost as if it was a strain for him.
She smiled a little. Though he was her second-in-command first and foremost, Alejandro was ever her friend, her trustworthy confidante.
“He treats me better than any other man I’ve ever been with,” she said, softly. “He’s rough around the edges, but underneath it.” Her friend met her eyes then. “He’s tender, Alejandro, truly. A wolf befitting of our species if there ever was one.” Her features softened. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Alejandro nodded his approval. “Just be careful, considering...”
He didn’t need to finish his sentence for Frankie to understand his meaning.
Considering the white wolf packmaster waited for her below stairs.
“You know I will be.” She plucked a pen from her desk and opened her laptop, pointedly. A clear dismissal. “I always am.”
Alejandro left her office then, leaving her in peace as he no doubt disseminated updates to the rest of the pack’s leadership on her behalf, minus the intimate details of what was happening between her and Jace, of course. She still wasn’t certain what she planned to do on that front, especially now that Jace had laid all his cards on the table, admitted he wanted more than a single night with her, a chance at a relationship.
She wanted that too, if she was honest with herself, but she was stuck between her own needs and her commitment, her leadership.
She couldn’t walk away from her deal with Rock so easily. Their intent to combine packs was a strategic move, meant to prevent them from being swallowed up by the massive operation that was the Grey Wolves. Her parents, her ancestors, who’d run this city, their territory which expanded from the downtown of Rochester all the way to the Adirondack foothills, would turn over in their graves at the mere thought of bowing down to other leadership.
