“Stay back! Stay back!”
It was the only thing keeping Frankie upstairs.Logic. Strategy.The words had been burned into her since birth. It didn’t help anyone if she ran to the rescue and exposed herself and Kennedy before she had the proof she needed to take her brother down. Besides Hazel could handle this, right? She was a martial arts master.
Except the more Frankie watched, the more terrified she felt for the older woman. No matter how much Hazel struggled, Delphine just kept her jaws clamped tight. Blood and saliva flew as Hazel tried one attack after another. Not just her free hand, she kicked as well, but the wolf hung on. Who knew the bitch could take a beating like that?
Hazel had to stop. Delphine was ripping the shit out of her arm. It was only a matter of time before she tore something vital.
“Stay back! Stay ba—” The last word ended on a scream as Delphine must have bit down hard. Had she broken bone?
Frankie lunged forward, but was stopped by Kennedy. He gripped her arm and spoke in a low tone. “Can you take out both of them? Are they going to kill her? Or just talk to her?”
Both of them? What the hell—
He gestured to the open doorway where Frankie’s third cousin Wade was standing with a gun. He had it pointed casually down at Hazel and was obviously waiting for a pause in the action to shoot. The break came all too soon as Hazel froze, panting hard.
“Do I carry you, Hazel?” he asked. “She can snap your arm in half right now if you fight her. And she will.”
“Stay back,” Hazel said, and her words held strength for all that she was out of breath. “You can’t drag me out of my own home.” Oh God, the quiet defiance in those words broke Frankie’s heart. Because they obviously could.
“You want to walk on your own two feet?”
There was a long pause as Hazel obviously considered her option. “Stay back,” she repeated.
Damn it, the woman was fucking stubborn, warning Frankie to stay away, but she had a point. Even with all of Frankie’s new abilities, she didn’t think she could take on a werewolf and a gunman at once. Certainly not from all the way up the stairs. Wade would shoot her before she got three steps.
Then Delphine had to go and make it worse. She shook her head—teeth still deep in Hazel’s arm—making the older woman cry out in pain.
“Come on, now,” Wade said, his voice calm. “Please help us keep you safe.”
“This is safe?” Hazel asked, her voice bitter. The community center couldn’t be any worse than getting her arm torn up, but Hazel despised being told by anyone where to go or what to do. She created PLACE so women couldn’t be forced to do anything they didn’t want.
“You’re the one being stubborn,” Wade returned.
Eventually Hazel nodded. “I’ll go. Just…let me get my purse.”
“You won’t need it,” Wade said. Then he held out his hand as if he were a gentleman instead of a brute.
Hazel wouldn’t touch him, so he grabbed hold of her free arm without her consent. And then Delphine released her jaws. Hazel hissed in pain, but she glared at the wolf.
“Stay back,” and this time the message might have been for the wolf. Didn’t matter. Wade hauled her to her feet, then all three marched out the door before Wade pulled it shut behind them.
Damn it!
Frankie twisted out of Kennedy’s grip then rushed downstairs. She got to the door in time to see Hazel climb into the backseat of Delphine’s car, her expression pale but still defiant.
Damn, damn, damn!What the fuck did Raoul want with Hazel? She was still considering her options when she heard a heavy clatter upstairs. Oh hell.
She dashed back upstairs to find Kennedy toppled half on the cot, half on the floor. His strength had finally given out.
Chapter 7
Frankie dropped down next to Ryan and saw that he wasn’t just out cold. He looked like he was dying. His skin was gray, his breath shallow, and…she tried to feel for a pulse. Damn it, her own was racing so hard, she couldn’t figure out what was his and what was hers.
Hazel was the one with medical experience, and she’d just been taken for God only knew what reason. Probably to get leverage on Frankie. She was the only one who threatened Raoul’s control of the pack. Imagining the things Raoul might do to her had Frankie fighting panic, but she couldn’t help her best friend right now, and she could help Kennedy.
But how?
He was just exhausted, right? She’d seen shifters push themselves too far. Hell, it was practically routine among the teenagers in her pack. So what was the procedure there? It took three breaths before she could remember. Her mind kept skittering back to what her brother might be planning for Hazel.
