“Yes,” came the quiet response.
“Well, Amber means the same to Bane.”
Raven froze, then raised her head slowly to look at him. “Bane’s her mate?”
“Yeah. He scented both Ebony and Amber when we rescued you in D.C., and knew one of them was his, he just didn’t know which one. He figured it out on this last trip to California.”
“Thank God it’s not Ebony,” Raven said with a shudder.
Jaxson silently agreed, but wondered if it was any better that it was Amber. They had no idea if the girl was dead or alive, and heaven help them all if she had already gone on into the next world. Bane was a quiet man, one who seemed to hold everything inside. A dangerous man with a shitload of power locked down tight. Once he let it loose, Jaxson had an idea that everything in his path would be destroyed.
21
Chase stared at the woman in the chair across from him, letting her feel the full force of his alpha power. He saw her stiffen, but she didn’t move. Part of that was probably because she was in handcuffs and bound to the chair she was sitting in, with a chain through each cuff and wrapped around the metal legs of the chair. He would guess a lot of it had to do with her training, though. She was an assassin, who had been taught to bide her time, wait for an opening, and then strike. He was about to give her that opening and see if she took it. Several people had advised him against it, but he trusted Jinx, and Jinx seemed to think there was good in Vixen. They were about to find out.
“Your name?”
Cocking an eyebrow, she stayed silent.
“You can cooperate, or I can throw you in a cell for a while. Up to you.”
For the past two weeks, she’d been chained to a hospital bed. When Doc Josie finally informed him that it was okay to move her, he had sent Sable, Silver, and Charlotte to get her with orders that she be dressed in the clothes she’d shown up in and then brought to the room they were in now. One he used for questioning. He had sent Dax, Steele, and Storm as backup. She hadn’t given them any trouble… yet.
She was quiet for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. “Vixen.”
“I know what the General calls you. I want to know your real name.”
Her eyes seemed to cloud over, and her jaw tightened as she replied, “That is my real name.” When he stared at her in silence, an eyebrow raised, she shrugged. “I’ve been with the General since I was three years old. I don’t remember my life before him.”
“Yes, you do,” he said, when he saw a flicker of something in her gaze. “Tell me what you remember.”
She shrugged, her eyes never leaving his. “I remember cold. Hunger. Fear.”
“Was that before or after the General found you?”
“Both.”
“How long have you been with the General?”
“Long enough.”
He couldn’t refute that.
Chase nodded, leaning forward to place his forearms on the table. “Look, Vixen, I’m going to be straight with you because my son seems to think you are worth it.”
“Your son?” He saw the confusion in her eyes before it was quickly masked.
“Jinx.”
Her eyes went to Steele. “I thought Jinx was his son?”
“I am Jinx’s biological father,” Steele told her. “Chase is mated to Jinx’s mother, Angel.”
Vixen’s gaze went to where Angel stood behind Chase, following his lead this time. “Am I the only one who finds this odd?”
“The General is dead, Vixen.”
He saw the shock when what he said hit her, but she recovered quickly. “Bullshit.”
“He is,” Angel said, stepping forward. “Shot by Ebony twice, and then one of my wolves tore his throat out.”
Vixen seemed to be weighing Angel’s words, and then she asked, “What about Ebony?”
“Sounds like she’s taking over for her father.”
“Shit.”
“Our sentiments exactly,” Chase said, tapping his fingers on the table. “Vixen, you are free to go,” he said, motioning to Dax.
“What?”
“As far as we know, Ebony thinks you are dead,” Angel told her. “Jinx told the General you failed in your mission, which to them would have meant death. We know you are in a position you have no desire to be in, just as my son is, and we are letting you go. I would suggest you hide yourself, though, unless you want to end up on Ebony’s hit list.”
“I hide from no one.”
“Then, there is every chance you will die.”
The door to the room opened and Silver walked in, Vixen’s weapons in her hands. Setting them on the table, she moved back to stand next to Steele and Storm.
Vixen stood once the chains were removed, her gaze moving slowly around the room. “I don’t understand,” she confessed. “You know who I am, the things I’ve done. Why would you let me go?”
“Because Jinx asked it of me,” Chase said, taking a step away from her so she didn’t feel caged in. Dax moved back over to his corner, leaving the path to the door wide open.
Vixen seemed to hesitate, and then she reached for her weapons slowly. “Where’s Jinx?” she asked, as she slid one sai into her boot.
“With Ebony,” Angel said through gritted teeth. “She gave him an ultimatum.”
“He works for her or she kills the ones he cares about?” Vixen guessed, sliding the other sai into her other boot.
“Yes.”
“I’ve always hated that bitch.”
“She’s going to kill my son, isn’t she?” Angel whispered, reaching out to grasp Chase’s arm. He drew her close, knowing she needed his touch right now.
Vixen stared at them for a long moment, then slowly shook her head. “No, she won’t kill him. She needs him for now.”
“For now.” Angel latched onto those words, and Chase felt the pain slam through her.
“For now is enough,” Vixen said, strapping a gun to her hip. “It will keep him alive until we can get him out of there.”
“We?”
Vixen raised her head, her gaze clashing with his. “I don’t run, Alpha. I fight. Now that I’m not tied to that son of a bitch, it means I can fight against all that he stood for out in the open. I need to make sure the children are safe, but I will be back soon.”
“How soon?” Angel demanded, her hand tightening on Chase’s arm.
“As soon as I can,” Vixen promised, slipping the rest of her knives into various spots on her leather pants. With one last look at them, she turned and walked from the room.
“She’s coming back,” Angel said, her nails digging into Chase’s skin. “She’s going to help us.”
“Yes.” Chase had heard the truth in the woman’s words and scented no lie. She would be back, but this time, she would be on their side.
22
Raven stood in front of the large cottage-style house she’d grown up in, now painted a light green with white trim and large brick around the bottom. She had been happy there, with her sister and brother, and although she wasn’t particularly close with her parents, she’d loved them.
“You don’t have to do this, Raven.”
Dax’s voice was a low growl, and she knew he was angry at her decision to face the people who had ruined her life. If he’d had his way, she and Rubi would never be within five states of them again. But she was having a hard time moving on, and she was beginning to suspect she had a really good reason to do that now. One she still needed to tell Jaxson about. Her hand slowly came up to rest on her stomach and she leaned into her mate. “Yes, I do.”
“I hate them,” Rubi snapped, slamming the car door and walking over to stand by her. “I don’t understand how they can get away with what they did.”
“They won’t,” Dax promised. Raven glanced back to see her brother’s arm encircle Sable’s waist, pulling her near. Her gaze went to where Silver and Charlotte were exiting Sable’s vehicle. And then to another SUV that had just pulled to a stop near theirs. Angel emerged
, Chase at her side. Then came Trace and Jade, along with Nico and Sapphire.
“You all didn’t have to come,” she whispered, still in shock that they had.
“Of course, we did,” Angel said, smiling gently at her. “You are one of us now, Raven, and we love you. We will always be here for you.”
Raven’s eyes filled with tears, and she moved closer to Jaxson. She was so glad she wasn’t alone anymore. Not only did she have her brother and sister again, but she had more family than she’d ever dreamed of. “Thank you.”
“What the hell is going on out here?” Raven caught her breath, a small shudder running through her. She’d know that voice anywhere. Straightening her spine, she turned to look at the man who now stood in front of them. Tall, stocky, and in a rage.
“Hello, Father.”
He stiffened, his eyes widening when they saw her, and then he cursed loudly. “What are you doing here, Raven? Dammit! You’ve just sentenced our entire family to death.”
Raven felt the low growl deep in Jaxson’s chest before she actually heard it. “You will watch how you speak to my mate,” he snarled.
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Oh, the Fates! Raven?” Her mother flew out of the house running toward her, but then seemed to catch herself. Her gaze went to her husband, and then back to Raven. “Oh no! How are you here? You can’t be here, Raven! He will kill us all!”
“You are more worried about your own death than that of your child?” Chase growled, coming to stand right behind her.
“I’m worried about all of my family,” her mother argued.
“You sold your daughter to save yourselves,” Chase growled. “Is that correct?”
“Well,” her mother looked over at her, her eyes wide and scared. “We didn’t have a choice!”
“There is always a choice, Mother,” Rubi said, walking over to Raven and linking their arms together. “You chose wrong.”
“Dammit, who are all of these people?” her father demanded.
Raven’s bottom lip trembled, and then she took a deep breath. That, she could answer. “They are the people who care about me. The ones who saved me from the hell you threw me into. They put their own lives on the line for me, because to them, I am worth it. They are my family.”
“They are our family,” Dax said, walking over to stand beside Jaxson, his mate’s hand in his.
“Dax…”
“No,” he cut in, his voice hard and unyielding. “You sold our sister to someone, who in turn sold her to one of the meanest, most vile men out there. She was starved, sliced into, tortured.”
“She looks fine now,” her father stated, as if what she’d gone through that past year meant nothing to him, and she could tell that it didn’t. As long as he was all right, he didn’t seem to care what had happened to her. “She needs to go back. If he comes looking for her…”
“No!” a voice thundered, and Raven gasped when she saw the man who appeared, stalking around the corner of her parents’ house.
She dropped to her knees, head to the ground, Rubi quickly doing the same beside her. Her body trembled at the rage in the air, and she fought to catch her breath. Sweat beaded up on her forehead and she fought the urge to cry.
“Raven, what’s going on?” Jaxson asked, trying to tug her back to her feet.
“Jaxson, get down here,” she hissed. “Please, hurry.”
He knelt beside her, but refused to touch his head to the ground. Instead, he stared in confusion at what was taking place before him.
“Jaxson, please.”
“He is fine, little dragoness.”
The deep, rich tenor had her entire body shaking as she whispered, “I apologize for my mate, King Bartholomew. He does not know our ways.”
She felt her king stop in front of her, and then he reached down and gently took her arm in his large hand. “Rise, little one. Stand so that I can see you.”
Raven struggled to her feet with Jaxson’s help, and said shakily, “Thank you, your highness.” Slowly, she let herself raise her head and look at the man. She’d never actually met him in person before, but everyone knew what the king looked like, and there was no mistaking the fact that he was royalty by the way he was dressed. The king was huge, with long blond hair flowing down his back and snapping dark eyes that were lit with anger. Dark green and blue robes lined with gold covered him, chains of gold around his neck and gold rings on his fingers.
“Daxton Dreher,” he said, inclining his head toward her brother where he was rising to his feet. “I’ve heard there has been a disturbance connected with your family. I sent soldiers to check several times, but they could find nothing, so I’ve been having the house monitored. Care to tell me what this is all about?”
“I am the head of this household,” Raven’s father said, taking a step toward the king, stopping abruptly when two of the king’s guards stepped forward. “Everything should go through me,” he protested.
“Are you questioning me?” the king growled, turning to look at her father, baring impressive fangs.
It looked as if her father would argue, but then he slowly shook his head. “No, your excellency.”
When the king turned back to Dax and raised an eyebrow, Dax stepped forward, bowing his head in acknowledgment before saying, “When I came home after serving you, my king, I found out my parents had sold my sister, Raven, after being threatened with death. My other sister, Rubi, and I managed to track her to a Colombian drug lord, Philip Perez, where we found out she was then sold to the General.”
“The General?”
“It’s a long story.”
“One I need to hear?”
“Not the whole thing, unless you would like to. Right now, what you need to know is that for the past year Raven has been through hell.”
“Raven?” the king said, turning kind eyes toward her. “Are you okay now, child? Are you safe?”
Raven nodded, moving closer to Jaxson, slipping an arm around his waist. “Yes, your highness. The General was trying to figure out what kind of shifter I was, but I didn’t break. No matter what they did, I didn’t tell them, and I never shifted.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she promised. “I made a promise to myself that I would protect our kind, and you. I didn’t break.”
A gentle smile crossed the king’s lips, and he reached out to place a hand on her head. “Very good, my child. And this is your mate?”
“Yes. Jaxson.”
“And they are?” he asked, sweeping his arm out in a wide gesture to all of the people surrounding them.
“They are my family,” she said, a tremulous smile crossing her face. “They came for me, King. Saved me.” Turning, she motioned toward Chase and Angel. “Chase Montgomery is the alpha of the White River Wolves in Colorado, and Angel is his mate. They have accepted my brother and sister as part of their pack, and me, too.”
“And that is what you want?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling again. “They’ve made me whole again, sir. Happy.”
“And you, Daxton?” his eyes going to where Dax held tightly to Sable’s hand. “You have found your mate among the wolves, as well?”
“Yes, my king.”
The king nodded, his gaze sweeping the area again, before landing on Chase. “Chase Montgomery, take care of my dragons.”
“You have my word,” Chase vowed, bowing his head to the king.
Running his hand gently down her head, the king turned to smile at Rubi. “I’ve been watching you practice, Rubi Dreher. You are a fierce warrior. If I could, I would call you to serve as part of my guard.”
“Maybe you should anyway,” Rubi shot back, making him throw his head back and laugh.
Then, he turned to Raven’s parents. “Grady and Dora Dreher, you will come with us for sentencing.”
A soft gasp left Raven’s lips as she realized her parents were going to stand trial for what they did to her.
“Sentencin
g?” Jaxson asked softly.
“They will have to stand before a jury of five,” Raven explained quietly. “They will decide my parents’ fate.”
“For what?” her father snarled, struggling against the guard who slapped a large, thick gold cuff on his wrist.
“How about for fucking with one of my dragons?” the king roared, his blond hair flying out behind him as the wind kicked up around them. “You will stand trial, and you better pray to the Gods above that they are more merciful than I would be. Because I just want to snap your neck right now, you poor excuse of a dragon!”
“No! Please, have mercy!” her mother wailed, clinging to her mate. “We just did what we thought was best.”
“You thought it was best to sell your child?” the king said incredulously. “What you should have done was come to me. Instead, you sentenced your child to a year in hell. You will receive more than that.”
Gold cuffs were slapped on her mother’s wrists, the king nodded in their direction, and then they were around the back of the house and gone. As if they’d never been there.
“Did that just happen?” Sable breathed. “Did we really just meet the king of the freaking dragons?”
“Did you see how fast he put the smack down?” Silver whispered. “That is one man you do not want to mess with.”
Raven listened to her friends talk, but she couldn’t take her eyes from where her parents had just disappeared. “They’re gone.”
Jaxson bent to kiss her gently on the lips, and asked, “You okay, sweet mate?”
“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. Turning into his arms, she slipped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. “But I know I will be.”
23
Raven’s heart filled with pure joy as she smiled at the woman across from her. “You’re sure?”
Doc Josie nodded, her eyes alight with excitement. “I’m positive, Raven. I am so happy for you and Jaxson.”
“He doesn’t know, yet,” Raven admitted. “I wanted to see you before I said anything.”
The doctor placed a gentle hand on her arm and said, “I think he is going to be thrilled, as will the rest of the pack. We can all use a little happiness in our lives right now.”
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