Chapter 07

NARRATIVE POV (4yrs ago)

Frankie lay in the hospital bed. She’d received nine stitches in total, but blood loss was the concern. After the doctors tested her, they discovered some rare anomalies in her blood type. It left them confused and without options from the reserves.

Oliver did not hesitate to offer his arm for them to take hold of. He had the universal blood type that could be given to her.

After the transfusion, all that was left was to wait for Frankie to wake up again.

Alpha Tom watched Frankie sleeping from the observation window by the door into her room. He felt guilty over what had happened. He failed to see what Troy Presley had done and only witnessed what he presumed was Frankie’s loss of control in the match. If he had known what really transpired leading up to that moment, the ruling would have been announced differently, and Frankie wouldn’t have felt the need to bleed out in the woods alone. The problem was that when Frankie openly challenged him, he lost focus on staying level-headed. Sometimes Frankie exhibited Alpha female traits, which was unusual as her father is from a long line of Gamma blood and her mother, although wolfless, assured us when she joined that pack that she was from an omega background and her wolf, before losing her after being rejected by her true mate, was also an omega wolf. Frankie's dominance at times never made sense to him.

Speaking of her parents, Tom was stunned by how cavalier they were about it all. It was clear that Frankie could have died out there if not for being found by his Luna and pups. Instead of trying to smooth things over with him and saving their image within the pack, the Gamma pair should have been searching for their injured daughter. Tom knew there was a disconnect between them, but he felt like this neglect was crossing a line. The Gamma pair hadn’t visited Frankie once since being brought into the hospital unconscious. Alpha Tom knew that his Gamma, Mike, cared for his daughter, but it was easier for him to connect with Ryner as they were both males. In Tom's opinion, Mike was scared because Frankie was a girl. Mike's always been rough around the edges and work-focused. Raising a daughter was not something someone like Mike could compute. Unfortunately, both his Gamma and Frankie were suffering because of this invisible unease between the two. Anytime Tom brought up Frankie, Mike's eyes would light up with pride, but he could never break the barrier and figure out how to express it constructively, the way a daughter needs. It was different with sons, and Tom was afraid that, as of now, it might be too late for his long-time friend. Frankie was pulling away, even he could sense it, not just from her family, but from the pack. It was his pups and mate that held her here now. That bothered him more than he cared to admit.

“It’s not your fault, my love!” Luna Margie wrapped her arms around Alpha Tom’s waist, pulling him into her warmth.

“I am the Alpha. I should have sensed something was wrong. Frankie isn’t a violent person; that behaviour we all witnessed was out of character for her, but I failed to question why it happened. Instead, I publicly reprimanded her for defending herself.” Alpha Tom shakes his head in frustration and tightens his hold on his Luna for emotional comfort and support.

“What are you going to do about the boy?” She didn’t need to mention his name; it was clear that she was referring to Troy Presley, the disgraceful cheater.

“I have arranged a proper meeting with his family for tomorrow. They want Frankie publicly punished and then banished as an example.”

“What? She is still a minor, not to mention, she wasn’t in the wrong!” Luna Margie pulled away in disbelief. Frankie was like one of her pups, and this set both her and her wolf, Fawn, on edge with the need to protect.

“None of what they have been demanding will happen. Have no fear, my Luna.” Alpha Tom cupped his mate's face and smiled. “He will need surgery to reconstruct a large portion of his face, but he was notably the aggressor. Since his wounds are the most severe, that is his punishment, alongside a demotion in the warrior class ranking. Frankie will not receive any form of punishment, as she was forced to protect herself against a partially shifted male attacker. She will apologize for her temper and disrespect, but nothing more.”

With his words, Luna Margie audibly sighed in relief.

“Tom,” she whispered, nestling back into his warm chest. “Have you noticed how Oliver is towards Frankie? I think there is something there between them, but it is still in the raw, undeveloped stages.”

This caused Tom to pause and pull back slightly. “Really?”

Luna Margie smiled and nodded before nestling back into his welcoming embrace. “Or at how eager he was to donate her his blood. There is definitely something there.”

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