She stopped her thoughts from that thought. It’s part of what made herlikehim so much.
“When?” she pressed. “When have you killed in cold blood?”
He arched a brow. “You want me to confess my sins to you?”
“Yeah. You got a problem with that?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I do. You’re not my priest.”
“You Catholic?”
He waved that question away. “You know what I mean.”
“I do, and I don’t believe you. I don’t believe that you would just go out and assassinate someone. Certainly not on my say-so, but probably not even if you’d been ordered to by your captain.” She blew out a heavy breath. “You just want me to hand over the problem to you. But I can’t do that. I need to take care of the pack myself.”
He narrowed his eyes as he studied her face. “You’re too damn smart for your own good.” He took a breath. “I’ve killed before. And people have died because of my actions. My first gang negotiation was a clusterfuck and children died.” She could hear the pain in his voice and knew that his mistakes haunted him. “I’ve broken into crack houses and burglary rings, knowing I would kill.” He trapped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, gently holding her steady as he tried to impress his next words on her. “If your brother is responsible for the Detroit Flu, I will bring him in. And if he doesn’t go willingly, I will force him. And if I have to, I’ll kill him.”
She heard the honesty in his words, but also the restraint. He’d saidIf your brother is responsible. He wasn’t just going to take her word for it. And then he continued.
“I’ve killed, Frankie. You haven’t. Let me take this burden from you. I’ll carry it responsibly.”
Oh hell. So much for holding back from the word “love.” Her heart squeezed tight in her chest and then fell straight into hearts and rainbows, white picket fences and babies. So many babies, all with his fierce integrity and bear-sized heart.
But even while she was reeling from her plummet into Valentine’s Day, she knew this wasn’t real. Good sex and a promise to take away her problems wasn’t love. It might feel like it, but it wasn’t. Especially since her problems were hers alone.
“You can’t win a dominance fight for me. You can’t take control of a werewolf pack.”
“I know. But I can take out your biggest threat.” He flashed her a playful smile. “If I arrest Emory and Raoul—”
“I’ll handle Emory,” she interrupted. “You take Raoul and let the law do what it does. Grind him up, spit him out, I don’t care. But I handle the pack.”
“You don’t get to pick who I target. Whoever is guilty gets arrested.”
“Raoul is guilty. My pack members are victims. When I’m in charge, I’ll see the right people punished.”
He shook his head. “You want to run the world by pack law. Drop us backward into strongmen and warlords. We have a legal system for a reason. Your pack was supposed to police its own long before the city got poisoned. It didn’t. So now it’s time for—”
“You? For Detective Ryan Kennedy to right the wrongs of the world?”
He straightened up. “If I can.”
“I can.Let me fix my pack.”
“It’s too late. The problem is too big and has gone too far.” He gripped her fingers. “The Detroit police force is sixteen hundred officers strong. Let us do our job.”
Her jaw tightened in frustration. Why couldn’t he just help her? “This is a shifter problem.”
“I’m a shifter and a cop. And I’m trained—”
“You’re a bear, Ryan. This is a wolf problem.”
His fists planted in the mattress on either side of her thighs. He leaned in, his expression tight and his eyes bright with anger. “Pack problem, wolf problem, family problem. What’s next? What else are you going to dredge up so that you have to face this whole thing alone? So that it’s your responsibility and not your father’s or Mrs. Merriman’s problem? They’re the alpha male and female. Just why is it that you have to walk alone, fight alone, do everything alone?” He spread his arms. “I’m right here, Frankie. I’m strong and I’m trained. Plus, I’m a cop. Why the hell won’t you let me help you?”
She didn’t answer. She sat there, facing him square on, and listened to his words. He had logic on his side, but she couldn’t do it. He wanted her to let him control what happened to her family, to her pack, to everything she held dear. Just hand him all the evidence and let him and the justice system decide everyone’s fate.
She couldn’t do that. She was the daughter of the alpha wolf, and she would control what happened to whom in her pack. His job was to help her eliminate Raoul. She would deal with the rest. If that meant selecting what evidence he received, she would do it in a heartbeat.
So she gave the only answer she could. “I’m going to take over the pack and get you the evidence you need. I just need you to get Raoul out of the way while I make my move. You’ll get everything you need, but I have to lead the pack first.”
