Page 65 of Frank's Felon
“Not really. Just laughing at how easy you have it, and you don’t even realize it yet. You don’t need the girl. All you need is me. The DSA has already threatened to break the treaty if Damien doesn’t turn me over to them. As long as you keep me from reaching the DSA, the treaty breaks. Let the girl go. You don’t need her.”
“That’s very interesting, but not an incentive to let her go, especially if you’re lying.”
“You’re right; I can’t prove it, so consider this. Damien will send shifters after you, for the girl, for trespassing onto his territory. He’ll hunt you down, unless she returns, safe.”
“He’ll try to rescue you the same as he would the girl,” Nickels said.
“I’m not from his pack. He’ll assume I ran off again, like I did yesterday. Did you see or smell anyone else with me, asshole? No, Damien doesn’t know I’m here. I followed you on my own.”
Nickels pointed to Frankie. “All for her? What’s she to you?”
“Let’s just say I have a soft spot for kids. There’s a reason the DSA wants me, the same reason I’d rather go with you than chance Damien turning me over to them. Know what it is?”
Delilah’s color had returned, and she had gained a confidence Frank hadn’t seen in her in some time. A confidence that Nickels now recognized as well as his back straightened. The shifter was paying attention to what she was saying. She’d hooked him, but could she reel him in, even distract him for Frank to find an opening?
“I was sent to prison for killing several WSSO scumbags. Higher ups in the organization. They killed my pack two years ago. That means the WSSO will probably give you a bonus for handing me over, so it’s in both of our interests that you keep me in good health. And did I fail to mention that I killed the warden of the prison I was in? Go to an internet cafe, look it up. It’s the reason the DSA wants me so badly, the reason they’re threatening to end this treaty if Damien doesn’t hand me over.”
Nickels glanced from his shifter holding Frankie back to Delilah.
“Go ahead, asshole. Think it through. Let the girl go, and get my cooperation along with a shitload of money. If that’s not incentive enough, think about what will happen if you don’t release the child, unharmed. Damien’s pack will hunt you into extinction. . . if I don’t get to you first.”
“You’d rather we hand you over to the WSSO? They’ll kill you.”
“They might try, but I’ll take more of them out on my way down. Might even escape. They’re security isn’t all that good. Win-win, asshole. You get your money. I get a shot at revenge and freedom.”
Nickels moved back to Frankie and yanked her from the other shifter. “Go, kid,” he pointed southwest, the direction of Damien’s pack.
With tears in her eyes, Frankie looked up at Delilah who flashed her the best smile she could. “I know you’re scared, Frankie, but you have to go. Just keep walking in that direction. Damien’s guards will find you soon. I promise, you’ll be fine.”
“Come with me, Delilah,” Frankie cried.
“I can’t, baby. But I promise, we’ll both be fine, okay?” Delilah nodded her head in the same direction Nickels had pointed Frankie. “Go, baby. Give Frank a kiss for me, okay?”
Frankie ran, not far past where Frank was hiding. She didn’t see him. A few more minutes, and Frankie would be completely clear. Then, Frank would attack the remaining white wolves.
“You can release my shifter now,” Nickels said.
“Not quite ready. Need to give her a chance to get clear.”
“As if I couldn’t catch her? How stupid do you think I am, tiger?”
“Stupid enough not to realize there are two bears standing behind you.”
Chapter Fourteen
DELILAH
Delilah’s entire body was shaking from the strain of holding the partial shift. Shifters weren’t designed to straddle two forms. If she didn’t give in now, she could cause considerable damage, too much for her wolf to heal. Frankie had gotten clear, and that’s all that mattered.
Her claws retracted, leaving behind the bloody, torn hands of before. The shifter she had been holding swung his fist back into her face, and she went down hard.
The physical toll of the partial shift kept her from rising. The shifter never had another chance to touch her as a tan wolf leapt through the air and tore him to shreds. Screams and horrific sounds of flesh tearing filled the area as the bear shifters killed the leader and the third white wolf without any trouble. One bear shifter would have been enough to kill three wolves, but she had been fortunate enough to find two.
Overcome by pain ripping through her body, Delilah closed her eyes. All the wounds her wolf had not had a chance to heal pulsed with raw heat, but even that was nothing in comparison to the waves of fire traveling through her blood to every part of her body.
That scent of cedar planks and spring water reached her. She struggled to open one eye, to see Frank standing over her. While she didn’t mind the fine view of his ass, the stance was all wrong. He was guarding her. The white wolves were dead, weren’t they?
* * *
