Page 11 of Frank's Felon
“No one. No one ever says anything I do is wrong.”
“That’s because––”
“It’s because they feel guilty that I spent all that time in prison. Except Damien. He doesn’t feel guilty. He never says anything.”
Tess inhaled a sharp breath. “He doesn’t like to talk about it. No one does really. When I ask him about it, he says they couldn’t get you out. And then he changes the subject.”
Frank leaned against the truck. He wasn’t sure what was bothering him and what had stirred up these emotions he couldn’t even identify. Tess had a similar shape face to his Delilah. God, he was starting to see Delilah every time he looked at another female. He hoped she had made it into Devil’s Peak okay, or wherever she was going. He was kicking himself for not following her, at least to the highway. He wasn’t too concerned about her being picked up by an unsavory human. She had proven she could take care of herself against most shifters, so she’d be fine with any human. Even so, he felt like he had let her down. Like he had let down a lot of people lately.
“Listen, Frank, whatever it is that’s bothering you, just know that I’m here to help. Whenever you need me. I owe you a lot, but even if I didn’t, I’d still be here for you.”
“Is that what life has come to around here, Tess? Everyone owing one another?”
“That’s not what I––”
“I know,” he said, heading back up the trail. “Just forget it. We’re good, Tess. See you later.” Frank walked away without looking back. He had said too much, dumping his uncertainties on Tess, which had been uncalled for.
Damien was waiting for Frank on the path to his new cabin. There was no way the alpha had talked to Tess already, was there? Now Frank was being paranoid. This wasn’t prison. It was home, his pack. He needed to get his head straight. Except he couldn’t. He had let Delilah go. What if one of Drake’s patrols had found her? Frank had been a fool to lick her neck and think it would help. Why the hell he had listened to her and let her leave alone was beyond him.
“What do you want, Damien?”
“Who punched you?”
“Lone wolf at the border. My fault though. We were on Drake’s territory, near the covered footbridge, and I jumped the gun, attacking first.”
“Is he dead?’
She.But that would cause more questions than he felt like dealing with. “It’s taken care of.”
Damien nodded. His Alpha always had good instincts about when to press a point and when to drop it. Maybe Damien had had that same sense when it came to getting him out of prison. It was done. In the past.
“I’m heading into Boulder,” Damien said, looking none too pleased about it.
“Local DSA office?” Frank asked, which explained Damien’s less-than-pleased look. The Department of Shifter Affairs hadn’t been the most straightforward group to deal with, or perhaps that was simply Agent Sloan. Damien had briefed his top shifters on the status of the treaty he and Liam were trying to hammer out with the federal agent. The regions three wolf shifter alphas didn’t fully trust Agent Sloan, and Sloan certainly hadn’t shown any trust in Damien or Liam, not given the hostage situation that had just ended.
“Not their office, but a neutral location nearby,” Damien replied.
“Neutral?” Frank laughed, his derision clear. “It’s in the city. How is anywhere there neutral?”
“Someone has to show some trust here, Frank. We can’t continue the way we’ve been. Openly hunted by the WSSO and any other anti-shifter group that’s going to pop up over time. We need the government’s support.”
“And in exchange, you and Liam are going to expect shifters to lay down their lives fighting alongside the DSA in covert ops against domestic terrorism?”
“It’s only one idea. I don’t know what’s going to come from this meeting, but we can’t continue as is. You know better than anyone how vulnerable we are. The WSSO has proven that. Last count at least two thousand shifters are dead from the WSSO’s use of SEV-2. That doesn’t include the shifters they’ve hunted down in towns and cities and killed without anyone even trying to stop them. It’s open season on us, has been for a long time, except now humans have the advantage of modern technology that we’re not equipped to fight. There aren’t enough Kates to hack every system, every satellite, to hide us from our enemies.”
Damien was right, but Frank hated the idea of seeing shifters fighting alongside humans, being used like trained dogs to sniff out and attack whatever the government deemed a threat. There was no respect in that, no future in being used like a bloodhound. “If we’re going to risk our lives for them, then we deserve the same rights and protections as their citizens. Hell, Damien, we were born here. We shouldn’t have to make a deal to get citizenship.”
“Right now, I’d be happy with simply some protection against the anti-shifter groups. Making it illegal to kill shifters would be a huge boon. And if we can start to uncover the corrupt officials who support these organizations then maybe. . .”
Damien didn’t need to finish his thought. Maybe some of the injustices like what had happened to Frank could be avoided. He had never had a trial, confessed to any crimes, or given any chance to appeal his sentence. The lawyer Damien had hired had hit every legal roadblock, namely because of the corrupt judge and administrators involved.
“Liam’s got something going on in his pack that he won’t tell me about so I’m taking point on this.”
“You can’t go in alone.”
“Liam’s providing security. This is still a joint effort, I’m simply taking the lead at the moment. Maybe in time we can include Drake.”
Frank’s wolf growled as the image of five white wolves attacking Delilah popped into his head. “Drake shouldn’t be involved.”
