by Bryce Evans
“Of course, I do. They are still my family. The members of the Dixon pack will always be in my heart. I still have best friends I grew up with in that pack. I will never leave them. Why? Do you have a problem with that too?” Jade asked, walking past her.
“Jade.” When she stopped and turned back, Raven said, “I just thought it was really nice of you to help the girl out. She obviously didn’t want to disappoint her alpha and you helped smooth that over.” Raven snorted. “Nobody gave a flying flip when Leo and I left our clan. I think they didn’t want the responsibility of caring for us or remembering our parents. But anyway, I just wanted to tell you that.”
Raven walked out with an open-mouth Jade standing there blinking wondering what the heck just happened. When Raven came back into the living room, Caz and Leo were waiting. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Dixon said to come to his land and the elders would help us look through the scribes for anything that could help us. He won’t let us leave the property with them,” Leo said.
“Most packs won’t allow it. If it leaves, there is a chance that it could get damaged or stolen. Some of the books are so fragile, we will have to wear gloves to read them. Quinn said she would help, so might as well get on it,” Caz said.
Before she closed the door, Raven saw Lennox standing over his mate who had a big smile on her face. Caz nudged her shoulder. “That was nice of you to do that.”
“Are you eavesdropping now?”
“Nope.” Caz pointed at his ears. “Great hearing. Plus, I was standing right next to the door.”
Raven rolled her eyes and pushed her mate off the porch. Of course, he landed on his feet. Dang cat.
Chapter Fifteen
“Look,” Leo showed Raven and Caz the book. “They have chapters on Jade and even Greer. It talks about how much power is inside each of them.” He leaned up and said, “Nobody knows what they can do. They learn more and more each day.”
“My grandmother says that they are very unique. Only one in five hundred years is granted that kind of power. And for the rest of their lives, they will probably get more and more power.” Raven glanced up at Quinn, who was leaning against the side of the door. “That’s why it’s probably a good idea to keep them both calm and liking you.”
When nobody said anything, Quinn asked, “Can I get you something to drink and snack on while we go through all those books?”
Caz reached under the table and squeezed Raven’s leg. “That would be great, Quinn. Can I help you carry it?”
“Thanks, Caz. I would appreciate that.”
It was silent for only a second before Leo asked, “So, sister of mine, you seem to be getting along better with everyone lately. I think it’s because you met your mate.”
“I knew you couldn’t just let it be. Just stay out of it.”
“Can’t. You’re my sister and you deserve the best. I like Caz and I see how he looks at you when you’re not looking. He’s observing every move you make. He is very proud of what you have done with your life. Just saying.”
“Okay, but stop rubbing it in my face. I can’t wait until you find your mate. It’s going to be great.”
“Raven, come on. You are my sister and my only family. If I didn’t bug you about this, what fun would it be for me? You would deprive me of that?” Reaching over, Raven slapped him across the head.
“Yes, I would. Unless,” Raven sat back crossing her arms over her chest. “When you meet your mate. I will go overboard.” Smiling, she added, “I mean overboard times a thousand.”
Before pulling out another book, Raven slipped on a set of gloves. “This one is old.” When she opened it, the manuscript was dated in the fourteen hundreds. Nothing else there, until she turned the page. The Eagles have arrived were the only words on the sheet. The bottom of the page had been ripped out. Along with the next pages. That was it.
Quinn, Arden, and Caz walked in with a pot full of something that made her stomach growl. He set it on the table. “How about a break to eat and then you can get back at it.”
They all nodded and put the books on another table. Quinn and Arden sat with them. “Did you find anything interesting?” Quinn asked. “I’ve read some of the books, but I would probably never get through them. Too many years to even read and some of the books don’t make a bit of sense.”
“Alpha, is there a reason why some of the pages have been torn out?” Raven asked.
Shaking his head, Arden thought about it. “Not unless they wanted the person wiped from their history. “What was it?”
Raven got up and put the gloves on. She carefully turned to the end of the book. “This was written in fourteen hundred and has one line, The Eagles have arrived. The rest of the pages have been torn out.”
Arden smiled and put his spoon down. He picked up his cell phone and called a number. He put the phone on speaker. “Yep,” Lennox answered.
Raven looked at Leo and smiled. Her alpha could be such a cretin sometimes, but it didn’t seem to faze Dixon. “How much do you know about eagle shifters?” The phone went silent.
“Is that what you think they are? How can we be sure?” Lennox asked.
“We need the Old Ones. Scarlett should be back before the ball. That should give her time to find out or help us come up with an idea.”
“But I thought they were extinct. How could they have stayed off our radar for so long?”
Raven sat at the table after setting the tome on the other table. “Easy,” she mumbled. “By having a billionaire hide you every few years. Changing your names and then staying away from shifters. Only shifting in places where nobody will see you. Which is probably getting harder for them.” When Lennox didn’t say anything, everyone just stared at her. “That’s just a guess, jeez.”
“They have to be shifting in their area. Hence the reason for such tall walls,” Lennox answered.
“How many people did you see?” Arden asked.
“Maybe thirty or more. I wasn’t counting. But something tells me there were more, just not wanting to be seen. They looked angelic like Greer.”
“Tall too,” Caz answered.
Lennox exhaled loudly. “I’ll let Ben know and ask him if he has any information on eagle shifters. Caz go ask Calum. He would know something for sure. No telling how long your brother-in-law has been on this earth. He won’t tell anyone.”
Arden and Lennox never said good-bye. They just hung up. Rude, but that’s how they ruled the world.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to finish this before we see Calum. Because this,” Leo pointed at his bowl, “is wonderful. Tell the cook I would love to have the recipe.”
“I’m the cook. Glad you like it. And no, you cannot have the recipe. Old family secret,” Arden said, taking a bite of his soup.
When he looked down, Quinn made the universal sign to call her. Then mouthed that she would give it to him. Rolling her eyes at the end made them all laugh. Arden glanced up glaring at each of them.
After four bowls later, they were pulling up at Calum and Riley’s house. Opening the door, Riley smiled. “Just in time for dinner.”
“Great. I’m starved,” Leo said, pushing his way past her.
“You just ate four bowls of beef stew,” Raven snarled between clenched teeth. “The man is a bottomless pit.”
Waving them in, Riley closed the door. “I’m glad you’re all here. I miss my big brother.” Riley reached up and hugged Caz then proceeded to rub her face over his chest.
She had read up on tigers and that was how they greeted each other. “Hey, Raven, glad you’re here too. I have chocolate ice cream.” Raven smiled and pushed past her mate, headed to the kitchen.
“I thought you were full,” Caz shouted.
“Don’t be silly, Caz. Chocolate ice cream is desert and I haven’t had mine yet.”
She could hear them both laughing as she walked past them. “Ahh, hello, Raven. Come sit and tell me what you have found out so far.”
Raven smiled and sat across from Calum. Of course, Leo was already fixing another plate of food. “Have you ever heard of eagle shifters?”
It was like a light bulb moment with Calum. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it, but why would my uncle not tell us. He has to know if he is in business with him.”
“Probably because Wyatt doesn’t want to be known. But why?” Raven asked, staring up at him. By this time, Caz and Riley had sat with them. Caz set a big bowl of ice cream in front of her.
“Thank you.”
“A long time ago, there were all sorts of shifters and Fae. But the world wasn’t ready for them and a war broke out between shifters, Fae, and human hunters. There were eagle shifters and they were magnificent creatures. When I say large, I mean like dragons. It was hard for them not to be seen in the open.
“The king of the eagles was killed, and they just disappeared. But the Fae made a deal with the human hunters that the Fae would be left alone if they helped to destroy the eagles. The eagles could swoop down and get you before you even knew it. Very keen hunters. Of course, the Fae wanted this world all to themselves, but the humans double crossed them as well. It was then that the Fae left to their own world that no shifter has ever seen.”
“Why would the Fae do that? We are all different and they should have marveled at it,” Leo asked.
“It took a long time, Leo, before shifters and vampires could come together and work with each other. Each shifter race wanted to be dominant, the one to rule the earth. The Fae wanted to control the shifters and make them servants. Someone they could control. But the shifters and vampires wouldn’t be controlled. Finally, after years and years of fighting, the leaders came together and formed an alliance.
“So far it has been working. Nobody wanted to alert the humans again that we existed. That’s why we all go to such lengths to work together and mingle with the humans. We are right under their noses and that’s how we want to keep it. But we just thought the eagles died out. When nobody reported that they had been seen, we figured the humans had killed them all.”
Calum took a drink of his wine. “I should have suspected something, but it never crossed my mind. But it makes sense. Even now, they are cautious and don’t want to let even other shifters know they exist. They have taken great pains to stay hidden, and with Wyatt’s money, they could live anywhere. Especially in places with hardly any population.”
“Then why move to a shifter community where the Death Hunters live?” Caz asked.
Tapping the side of his nose, Calum said, “That’s the million-dollar question that we have to find out.”
“It has to have something to do with all the disappearances and the shifters and vampires that have been taken,” Raven suggested. “Boris has to know something, Calum. This can’t be a coincidence.”
“I believe you are right, Raven, but I think there is more to this. Something we are still missing,” Calum said.
“Maybe they are trying to fit back into our society,” Riley said.
“Maybe.” Calum propped his head up with his hand. “I’m sure we could sit here all night and try to come up with a reason. We need to continue to watch them and solve the mystery of who has been kidnapping shifters and vampires.”
They all turned to stare at Leo who was now pilling more food on his plate. “How on earth do you eat so much? I’m not lying when I say he ate four bowls of stew at Arden and Quinn’s house. Now you are on your third plate.” Raven shook her head and looked away.
“I’m a growing boy and I need to eat to keep my strength up.”
“I guess it takes a lot to hold that fat head up,” Raven said, smiling.
Her brother never even looked up, just paused between bites. “From one fat head to another, yes, it does.”
Riley, Calum, and Caz laughed together.
Raven lay in bed and thought about Caz. They worked well together as long as nobody looked at her. And if she was being honest with herself, she didn’t like when other girls looked at Caz. Which was often. Because Caz Milton was gorgeous.
And he could kiss, and he made her feel good about herself. She had never met anyone so attentive to her needs. Just like the bowl of soup, the ice cream, and always touching her. It all felt good to be loved.
Covering her mouth, she thought, did she love Caz? Could she love him so soon? Raven got out of bed and went in search of the one person who probably would spit in her face. At night, her alphas liked to run together and then sit on the swing.
Creaking the door open to the pack house, she looked toward the alpha’s home, but Jade was the only one there. Taking a deep breath, she walked outside and carefully approached her alpha’s mate. “I thought Lennox would be out here with you.”
“He’s running. I decided to stay here. Do you want me to tell him you’re looking for him?” Jade asked.
“It was you I wanted to talk to if you had a moment.” The look of shock was kinda funny on Jade’s face. It was as if she was trying to figure out if this was a prank or if she was telling the truth. “This isn’t a joke. I just wanted to ask you some questions.”
Closing her mouth, Jade narrowed her eyes at her. “Questions? What kind of questions?”
“I was wondering did you fight how you felt about Lennox when he told you he was your mate. Did he do things for you all the time? Simple stuff like bring you food and ice cream without you asking him to. Did he touch you all the time and stare at you—”
“First, let me stop you there and start at the beginning. Yes, I fought it tooth and nail. I mean it was Lennox Bartley, the Alpha of the Death Hunters. What did he want with me? I was nobody and I sure wasn’t a hunter. I wasn’t much of anything.”
Raven sat beside Jade. “Come on, you run a multi-million-dollar company and you have magic in you that could probably destroy the world or at least this state. You’re a shifter too. Double trouble.”
“Then why do you look at me like I’m weak and not a fit for Lennox?”
Raven bowed her head. “Just being a totally bad person. A bitch, I guess you could say. I’m sorry. I have no excuse. I just didn’t at the time think you were strong enough to be with the alpha. It shouldn’t matter but it does to shifters. If we were human, then it wouldn’t even be an issue. I’m sorry, Jade. I have always looked up to the alpha as a father figure and I wanted someone who would make him happy. Someone who could help him lead. And, yes, you have done that. It’s just me being me.”
Jade nodded and then answered, “Yes, I fought the mating at first. Like you, I thought I wasn’t good enough for him, but then I figured out…well, that I am, and I could be so much more. I just had to believe in myself because Lennox believed in me.
“Yes, he did everything for me. If someone looked at me wrong, he wanted to pop their head off. He brought me food, snacks, and tried to do everything for me. I’m telling you, if I told him I was tired of walking the man would have carried me. He touched me all the time and still does. But, of course, I want to touch him too. The mating frenzy will start for you soon enough and it changes all of us. Just keep getting to know each other and it will get better and then you will wonder how you ever made it without him,” Jade said, smiling. She stared out into the trees.
“The alpha is near.”
“Yep, he knows someone is with me and he is making sure I’m safe. It will be like that for you too. But you need to allow him to behave like that, Raven. It’s embedded into their DNA and they can’t help it. Just overlook it and continue on. If not, it will drive you crazy. It did me, but Quinn and Simone helped me and now I hardly notice it.”
Raven took in a deep breath. “But I’m a hunter and he acts like he has to protect me even from my job.”
“Find a way to compromise. Both of you figure it out but do it together. I think if you did that then you would be able to handle his over-obsessive ways.”
“Why are you being so nice to me? Especially, after I acted like a spoiled brat.”
Smiling, Raven could see the scar that stretched across Jade’s face. “Because you are letting me and because you are part of the Death Hunters. My clan now and my responsibility.”
Jade Cross Bartley was still beautiful inside and out. She could see that now, and she knew that no matter how bad she had been to her, Jade would forgive her and try to help her.
“Thanks. It helps to have a girl to talk to. I never had friends.”
Picking up her hand, Jade asked, “If you will let me, I would like to be your friend. No more trial basis. Real friends.”
“I think I would like that. But, Jade…I’m always moody and a bitch. So, just overlook it,” Raven said.
“Well, I’m always happy, Raven. Most of the time. So, just overlook it, okay?”
They both laughed and sat enjoying the night.
Chapter Sixteen
Caz rushed through the house in search of his mate. She was arguing with Angelo on whose turn it was to have the remote to the TV. “Raven, the call came through.” He watched as his mate chunked the remote at Angelo, hitting him in the head. Grabbing his hand, Raven rushed out of the room in search of her brother.
“When did he call? What did he say?”
“I don’t know. Leo was still on the phone with him when I came to look for you. I’m always hunting you down. You think you could look for me…you know…just once.”
“Uh…no.” Raven went back to staring at her brother. Getting closer, she grabbed the phone and put it on speaker. He could see the strain in her face. This whole deal made her nervous, which now made him more nervous. Something made Raven feel this way and he knew she wouldn’t tell him, but he was going to try to get it out of her.
Archie said the buyer wanted a tiger, a female bear, and a silver wolf. “Who does that?” Caz mumbled.
They only had three days to get the product and then the buyer would call back to tell him where to meet. “What if he can’t get them what he wants?”
“They will probably kill him or beat him enough until he gets them what they want,” Leo said.