Page 36 of Frank's Felon
Delilah couldn’t stop her tears. One letter a week for four years. That should have been over two hundred letters. Where were the rest? Had they burned up in the fire? She had a sinking feeling. She had seen how guards used the mail to torment prisoners. Here Delilah had suffered through only a year, never looking forward to the mail because she knew there was no one left of her family, her pack on the outside, to write to her. The WSSO had killed them. The guards didn’t dash her hopes from day to day, week to week, by withholding orlosingher mail. She had no connection to the outside, and somehow that was better than what Frank had been through. They’d emotionally tortured him, the bastards.
As carefully as she could, Delilah refolded the letters, placed them back in the box, and set it on top of the mantel. She had made a horrible mistake with Frank.
Chapter Nine
FRANK
Frank was standing by the lake, looking out on the water when he scented his Delilah’s delicate scent in the air. Her arms circled his waist from behind as she rested her head against his back. Frank closed his eyes and simply breathed her in. He had never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her, and the fact that she hadn’t run from him when she had learned the truth warmed him. Except she could still run, his scared little bird. She didn’t trust him, not fully, and he wasn’t sure she ever would.
“Four years, Frank. How did you survive it?”
“Five,” he corrected. “The letters. The book. The knowledge that my pack would never abandon me. That precious baby who was named for me, but whom I didn’t meet until last February when I was finally released. Frankie was four and a half when I met her for the first time. She was worth the five years in prison.”
“I don’t understand.”
Frank turned to her. “I made a choice so Takara could get away. She was pregnant at the time.”
“What crime did you commit?”
“Stupidity.”
“I’m serious.”
He let his head drop forward. He had never told anyone this before. “I screwed up. I had led the WSSO guards away from Takara, Mason, and Robbie, and then I did something I train my guards not to do. I let my anger get to me. I’d seen what they’d done to Takara, and I stayed longer than I should have to exact some revenge. I ended up endangering the entire group.”
“You sacrificed yourself for your packmates?”
He shrugged. “The official crime was grand larceny, and I never had a trial or the chance to plead before a judge. The WSSO had too many ties to the local judge. Seems they screw everyone over, don’t they?”
Delilah shivered.
Immediately, Frank ran his hands up and down her arms over the light sweatshirt she was wearing. “Why are you cold?” he asked, immediate thoughts of the SEV-2 virus went through his head. “Have you had the vaccine yet?”
“No.”
He grabbed her by her hand and started running toward the main part of camp. She yanked her hand free. “I’m not sick, Frank.”
“How do you know?”
“It was what you said. It. . .it got to me, that’s all.”
He turned on her. Fully assessing her eyes, her color, every aspect of her health to assure himself that she truly was okay. The thought of losing her terrified him. As soon as they finished this conversation, he was going to make sure Anna gave Delilah the vaccine for the virus. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten to get her vaccinated. Every new shifter that entered their pack received a vaccination or they were turned away. Except Delilah hadn’t entered through conventional means. She had snuck in past his highly-trained guards. That was two screwups to his name of late. He really was losing his touch.
Was Anna back at work yet? He might have to track down Bethany since she had been vaccinating new shifters when Anna wasn’t available. He wished Mila were here, to run a test on Delilah, to ensure she wasn’t infected. But then his words repeated in his head.
“What got to you?” he asked, suddenly not so eager to get her down to the lab. The fact that she had been in prison hadn’t surprised him. Sooner or later, most thieves were caught. Her trust issues made sense now.
“Can we sit? I think it’s time I told you why I can’t stay,” she said.
For the first time in years, Frank felt a fear like no other. He could tell from her solemn expression that she wasn’t being overly dramatic like Tess had accused, and he didn’t think she was avoiding getting close to him because he was a guard. She simply didn’t wanthim. Instead of proving that he’d protect her and any family they’d have, he had shown her a shifter who had lost his cool at a critical moment, hadn’t been swift enough to escape capture, and who’d let himself rot in prison for five years.
Yeah, he was a real winner.
Frank led her to a rock outcropping near the lake and pulled her between his legs, her back to his chest. With his arms wrapped around her, he let his forehead drop against the back of her head and simply breathed in her scent. He wasn’t ready to lose her, but he didn’t know how to keep her.
She turned into him, and graceful hands lifted his head. Her lips met his. She took her time, letting her tongue dance over his lips as if tasting him for the first time. That’s when he realized it was the first time she had ever kissed him. He had kissed her several times, but she had never kissed him. A sense of hope bloomed inside his chest.
“I hope. . . .” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
