“Without them, who would run the pack?”
Frankie held her friend’s gaze, letting her intention sink in. Noelle got it in the time it took her to adjust Jaxon on her hip.
“You can’t lead the pack!” she friend cried, then her voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “You’d never win the dominance fight. You’ve never even shifted.”
“I’ve been winning since I was a kid.”
“That’s because you’re the alpha’s daughter. No one would dare hurt you.”
Maybe. It was also because she was smart and had trained hard thanks to Hazel. “Plus, I do shift.”
Noelle’s eyes widened, and her expression abruptly turned joyous. “Really? When? Oh my God, you never told me. That’s fantastic!”
Yeah. Well, it might not be once she saw the truth. But rather than explain, Frankie squared her shoulders and made the mental shift to her hybrid form. She looked her friend in the eye and changed. She’d had weeks to practice this, so she knew she had the smell under control, but she’d never done it in front of a true member of her pack. Someone who was a regular wolf-shifter and had no reason to respect a hybrid.
She felt her face elongate, her ears sprout fur, and her hands turn to claws. She tried to do it as slowly as possible, to give Noelle time to adjust, but the whole change was done between one breath and the next. And there she stood holding Harley while Noelle gasped and stumbled backward.
Kennedy came tearing in a second later, his fists up, and his gaze scanning everything. Frankie turned and held up a hand—er, a claw—telling him silently to stay back. He stopped and nodded, his sharp eyes landing on Noelle’s horrified expression.
“She’s not one of the crazy ones,” he said.
“Are you sure? She’s got Harley,” Noelle whispered, and that hurt. Itreallyhurt because even with Harley happily sipping juice in her arms, one of her closest friends didn’t know her as safe. That she’d never hurt her or her child.
“I’m fine,” Frankie said. “It’s me.” And just for emphasis, she snuggled close to Harley who hadn’t reacted at all. Well, not at first. He hadn’t cared that Frankie had shifted, but he was eyeing his mother closely. And in Noelle’s arms, Jaxon was picking up on his mother’s terror and looked ready to wail.
It was a tense situation, especially with the kids hovering on the edge of meltdown, but Kennedy ended the problem with two words. “She’s safe.” Then he went back into the bedroom and came out a moment later carrying another full garbage bag. “I’ll take these down. Unless you want me to stay?” He was looking at Frankie as he spoke, and his steady support slid inside her heart. She didn’t want it to. He was a bear, for God’s sake. But it felt so good.
“No, we’re fine. Right?” she asked Noelle.
Noelle’s gaze hopped between the two of them. Then it landed on Harley who had finished his juice and was now getting restless. He wanted to be put down, so Frankie set him gently on the floor where he toddled off to play at parking cars in a bright toy garage.
Everyone watched the boy go, the child completely obvious to the undercurrents in the room. And just to ease the tension a bit more, Frankie shifted back to human.
“See? It’s still me.” She waved at Kennedy. “Thanks for helping with the garbage.”
“No problem,” he said as he hauled up the two large bags. His muscles bulged, and his back rippled with strength. Frankie watched as he moved, all animal grace in a hot human body. Damn the man was sizzling, and her heart—and some more intimate places—fluttered at the sight.
But then he was gone, and she turned back to Noelle who—apparently—had been watching Kennedy, too.
“I miss my husband,” the woman breathed, as she fanned herself with a hand. “If nothing else, you do know how to pick the hot ones. How long have you two been dating?”
Frankie flushed. “Um, we’re not…I mean, we just met. I knew him before, obviously, but—”
“Now he’s looking back at you.”
Frankie shrugged. “Yeah.”
“And you’re a hybrid.”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re going to take over the pack?”
“Yes.”
Noelle sighed as she set down Jaxon, who toddled off to play with his brother. “The pack won’t accept a hybrid, Frankie. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
And now it was time to state her case. “Who else should run the pack? Do you want Raoul?”
