Page 51 of Frank's Felon
“We’re blood-bonded. It’s hard being away from one another.”
She understood the feeling. Well, not the blood-bonding part, but she had already smelled that clean scent of spring water and cedar before she entered the house. Her entire body felt tingly all over just from scenting Frank.
He rose from the sofa, his muscles rippling with power from the small action. The way his eyes bore into her, she could feel herself getting wet right there, in front of everyone. Hopefully Damien and Tess were too distracted by each other to notice.
Frank didn’t move toward her. She considered being as bold as Tess, walking straight up to Frank and kissing him in a way he’d never forget. The thought of having him wrap those strong arms around her warmed her in more than one way too.
The mere mention of a blood-bond, however, dampened her spirits. She’d never know what it felt like to merge her soul with Frank’s. They’d been lovers and she hoped they’d continue to be friends, but blood-bonding wasn’t in her future.
Frank’s body stiffened, putting Delilah’s wolf on alert. Delilah scanned the room, only now noticing Blade, Pryce, and Mason sitting around the cocktail table. She and Tess had interrupted a meeting, but not just any meeting. The way they were all looking at Delilah—the way Mason suddenly lookedawayfrom her. . .
They knew. . .they all knew about her past. Instinctively, she backed toward the door
“Don’t,” Damien warned, to which Frank growled at Damien.
Mason took up a position halfway between Damien and Frank, as if he anticipated trouble.
“What’s going on, Damien?” Tess asked, looking as shocked as Delilah felt.
“Perhaps you shouldn’t be here for this,” Damien said, cupping Tess’s cheek.
Tess looked at Delilah. “What have you done now?”
That hurt, more than she thought it would.
“Leave her alone,” Frank said, moving to Delilah’s side and sliding his arm around her waist.
“Someone, tell me what the hell is going on here,” Tess said, her voice betraying her worry.
“Everyone sit,” Damien ordered.
Delilah didn’t want to sit or stand. She wanted to run, as fast and as far as she could.
“Damien, you’re scaring her for no reason. I told you she was justified in what she did,” Frank said.
He was defending her. . . but why did he need to defend her. Had Frank broken his promise and told them about her time in prison?
“Agent Gallagher is trying to stir up trouble, nothing more. Even the bear shifter said to watch our backs with him, to deal directly with Agent Sloan.”
“Let’s put it all out there, so everyone’s on the same page, then,” Damien said as he pulled papers out of his back pocket. “The DSA says Delilah is a fugitive and if we don’t hand her over, there will be no treaty.”
Bile churned in Delilah’s stomach. It was worse than she’d expected. Forget having a felon in their midst, they knew the truth now. That they’d been harboring a criminal.
Her eyes traveled to Tess, her baby sister who used to think the world of her. Horror replaced the shock on Tess’s face. Absolute horror.
“She can’t be––” Tess started to say before Damien held up his hand.
That blasted fear born behind prison walls grabbed hold of Delilah from the inside, and spread through her muscles like death, killing her ability to speak and defend herself. Even if she could speak in that moment, Tess’s expression, the one that said she knew Damien was telling the truth, tore at Delilah.
“Tell Tess, Delilah, why it’s take you this long to find her.”
Delilah shook her head. She couldn’t tell Tess any of this. It was simply too hard to explain, and Tess would never understand.
Frank sprang to his feet. “We’ve killed our share of humans rescuing our people,rescuing Tess in fact, Damien, in our fight against the WSSO. What Delilah did is no different. They killed her pack, and she got her revenge. No different than any of us would have done in her shoes. You can’t turn her over to the DSA for executing murderers.”
“You killed those who killed our pack, Lily?”
She nodded.
