Chapter 18
Frankie slipped inside the community center doing her best to be inconspicuous. It wasn’t going to work. Her brother had spies everywhere and someone would spot her soon, but she had to find her father. He was the only one who could end this without bloodshed.
She’d spent the better part of the day visiting each of her supporters inside the pack.
Every single one of them—Noelle included—had been rounded up and taken to the community center “for their own protection.” A few had gotten off a message to her via social media, but most of them simply weren’t home.
But she saw them now, isolated into a small group near the nurses’ office.
Hazel was there, unconscious on a cot. Noelle played with her boys nearby, her expression haunted. They were guarded by one of her brother’s thugs who wore a pistol on his hip and looked menacing next to the barrier sign, which read “Infected Area. Stay Back.”
That was total bullshit. The only thing they were infected with was common sense and her friendship.
But at least they weren’t being hurt, just turned into pariahs.
She sighed as she looked around and wondered how to find her father.
He never missed an opportunity to glad-hand, so he ought to be obvious as he worked the room, telling everyone how he was making sure they were safe during this crisis.
She’d intended to talk to him in the middle of the pack, lay out her case, and pray that her father and the rest of the pack saw what was happening.
But she couldn’t do that if her father wasn’t here.
Which made her wonder exactly what had happened to the man.
Had Raoul locked him up? Did her brother have so much power that he could imprison the alpha without consequences?
If so, then she’d waited too long to make her move.
He was in control, which meant she’d have to directly challenge him in a dominance fight.
And there was little hope that she could survive that.
She slipped along the side of the room, moving casually through the chaos as she studied those present.
Most of the pack was here in small clusters sharing food, watching kids, or sleeping on cots.
A couple wolves prowled the edges of the building, both loyal to her brother.
How Raoul was keeping everyone here was a mystery.
The citywide quarantine was lifted. Detroit was returning to normal. She needed more information—
“There you are! I was so worried!”
She turned at the sound of her brother’s voice. She heard the false sincerity in his words and wondered if it had always been there or if she’d just now started noticing it. Either way, she lifted her chin and steeled herself for a confrontation.
“Raoul, you look very dapper.” Wavy dark hair, heavy horn-rimmed glasses, and a silver pinstriped suit all combined to cut an almost regal figure.
Her brother had always gone for the geeky look—mostly because he was a geek—but Delphine’s influence had him tripped out in the latest GQ fashions.
And speaking of the bitch, she paced beside her man as a full wolf in spandex leggings.
She looked ridiculous, but anyone who sneered would get an up close look at her sharp canines.
Frankie didn’t sneer, but she also didn’t give the woman any attention. That was the best way to annoy her.
He brushed her compliment aside. “Where have you been? It’s childish of you to disappear like that with everything that’s going on. We’ve been worried sick.”
“I’ve been checking on our people, Raoul. It’s what a true leader does.”
He reared back, his brows arched. “A true leader protects the pack, Frankie. That’s what I’ve been doing, and you made it harder by running around and hiding from us. This isn’t a game.”
She bit back her hard retort. It wouldn’t help anyone if she got into a childish spat with her brother. Instead, she focused on the business of the pack. “Why have you trapped our people here? What threat are you protecting them from?”
He gaped at her. “From the bears, you fool. They’ve declared war.”
“No, they haven’t. You have.”
He rolled his eyes. “If you would check in regularly instead of pursuing your own amusement, then you’d know that they have.”
“How—”
“They poisoned the city! If that’s not an attack, then I don’t know what is!”
His words were loud and all around them, pack members nodded in agreement. “The bears didn’t do that. You’re the one who—”
“The police found the proof today!” he cried, his voice booming across the space. “They raided a storage area filled with the poison. It was in the back of a Chinese restaurant deep in grizzly territory.”
Hell. He was up to date. And he was pulling the pack around to his point of view.
She needed to contradict his lies right now or everyone would blithely go along with her brother.
“They didn’t do this,” she said, trying to keep her voice even and calm.
“They’re the ones who told us not to drink the water. ”
“I told everyone to avoid the tap! And Father.”
She shook her head, stunned that people were still nodding at such obvious lies. “You created the serum, Raoul. You had Brady and our pack dump it in the water.”
He huffed out a frustrated breath. “Why do you say such things? I created a vitamin for our people.” He turned to the room at large. “Didn’t it make you feel strong? Didn’t you like how it made you healthy and vibrant?”
“It’s an addictive drug—”
“Because of the bears’ tainted water. But that was their plan all along. Weaken us so that they can take over.”
Oh God, he was twisting everything to make it the Griz’s fault, and the pack was buying it. They just couldn’t accept that one of their own would knowingly poison them. And who could blame them? He’d injected the shit straight into her veins and she still struggled to believe he’d done it.
“The Griz don’t want to take over. You’re the one pushing for war.”
“They are trying to exterminate us! But thanks to my vitamins, we’re stronger than ever.
We’ll punish them for hurting us and the city we love.
” All around them, people were clapping as they got caught up in Raoul’s enthusiasm.
He turned to her. “So sister, are you with us or against us? Are you one of the pack, Frankie? Or a bear lover?”
She winced at his phrasing since it was true. She was well on her way to being a bear-lover and that would not play well with the pack. “I have spent my whole life supporting the pack, and everyone knows it. I built this center for us.”
“Yes,” Raoul said gently. “You helped Father a lot with that. A pretty face always gooses the fund-raising.”
She was a hell of a lot more than a pretty face, but his supporters took their cue from him.
They looked like they wanted to pat her on the head and send her off to play with dolls.
So she looked away from the men to see the women.
Surely, they knew her worth. They remembered the times she’d babysat their kids, fought for improvements in the neighborhood, made sure the walk to and from school was safe.
But when she looked to the women, they weren’t saying anything to help her.
Some flashed her a brief smile, but most were occupied with their children who were getting stir crazy in this confined place.
Some were taking care of food, others helped with diaper changes, toddler fights, or reading to sick kids.
And wasn’t that the problem in a nutshell?
Even in this day and age, the men still had time for politics while the women—many of them working professionals—spent all their spare time managing food or the kids.
They might remember when she lent a hand, but they certainly didn’t have time to support her in the middle of pack politics.
They just wanted to get home and get back to a normal routine.
“Where is Father?” she said. She was losing the public opinion battle, so she had to focus now on their father.
He certainly saw some of Raoul’s faults, assuming he wasn’t too addicted to the serum to hear reason.
If she could convince her father to publicly throw his support to her, then she’d have enough power to end the madness.
“He’s trying to get the bears to see reason.” He rolled his eyes. “Personally, I think it’s a waste of time. They’re stupid and aggressive.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. “The bears are as logical and sane as—”
“Your pal Detective Kennedy?” he interrupted. “The one who didn’t give a shit about our wolves getting robbed? It wasn’t until I got involved that the crimes stopped.”
She stiffened. “You didn’t do a thing!” She’d been the one who followed the case, who reported…Oh hell. Raoul had been there when she reported all the details to her father. He would know everything about the case and be able to twist it.
“While you were strutting around fund-raising, I was working with Detective Bell. I helped him find the thieves—”
“He never once mentioned you,” she interrupted. “He said that Detective Kennedy did all the work in solving the case.”
Raoul snorted. “If he did, then why didn’t Kennedy arrest the thieves? That didn’t happen until he was off the case.”
Damn it, when did he get this good at twisting words around? She gritted her teeth and headed for the exit. “I’ll take this up with Father. You go ahead and strut around making yourself look important while I—”
“I’ll tell you one thing the bears did,” he interrupted, his voice loud. “They helped bring shifters out into the sunlight.”
Frankie spun around. Here it was. The main purpose of everything Raoul had done. “People are dying, Raoul. And shifters need to stay in the shadows.”
“Why?” he challenged. “Look, I’m not saying what the Griz did was right—”
“They didn’t do it!”
“But have you seen the YouTube videos? People are recording the shifts. We’re getting video. It won’t be long now—”