by Lola Gabriel
After drying off from the shower, Scout walked into the kitchen, only to find that Rayven had made breakfast for the two of them. She had stepped out of the shower before him, saying she wanted to grab something to eat, but he hadn’t expected to be greeted with a cup of coffee and a plate full of mouthwatering pancakes.
“Rayven, you didn’t have to do all this,” Scout said with a smile.
“Oh, please,” Rayven replied with a nonchalant wave of her hand. She was leaning on the other side of the countertop, holding her own cup of coffee. “It was the least I could do.”
Scout noticed that her long dark hair was still damp from the shower. She was dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and a grey sweater of his—which was only normal, as his clothes were the only ones around—that somehow brought out her eyes, despite being at least a couple of sizes too big on her.
He couldn’t believe how incredibly breathtaking she looked.
“What?” Rayven asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No reason,” Scout lied, shrugging his shoulders. He could picture this becoming somewhat of a morning routine from now on. To his surprise, he found himself looking forward to it.
Rayven playfully narrowed her eyes at him. “No, no. I can see the gears turning in your head. What are you thinking about?”
Scout let out a scoff that turned into a chuckle midway. “Just… I was just thinking about how nice this is. Having you here has been great, and I…”
“What?” she prompted after he had paused for a moment.
“I don’t really want you to leave,” he admitted.
“Are you… asking me to move in with you?” Rayven asked a little hesitantly. Scout could see her considering the idea, and it was almost embarrassing, how much he wished she would stay. “I mean, I’m already kind of living here—”
“When this is all over,” Scout clarified. “After we’ve dealt with the Crescents and cleared your name.” He saw a soft smile starting to play at the corners of her mouth, but she bit down her lower lip before it could manifest entirely.
“Are you sure?” she asked, echoing his earlier question.
“I’m sure,” he said, reaching out to place his hand on top of hers.
Rayven walked over to him and kissed him, sending all his senses into what he could only describe as overdrive. Under any other circumstances, he might have been alarmed, but whenever he was around Rayven, it just felt right.
The front door burst open, and Scout could hear two voices arguing about something or other. He sighed to himself. He didn’t need to see them to know that Kala and Onyx had just entered through the front door, since their bickering was enough for him to recognize them.
Rayven leaned slightly out of the kitchen doorway, and she turned back to Scout with a smile. “Don’t they seem a bit like an old married couple?”
“Something like that,” Scout confirmed, “but don’t let them hear you say it.”
“Don’t let us hear you say what?” Kala’s voice asked. Scout glanced at the kitchen doorway just in time to see her and Onyx walking in. Rayven immediately went to her brother and pulled him into a hug.
“Hey, you,” Onyx greeted her.
“Hey,” she said, her smile widening.
“Seriously, what was it that you didn’t want us to hear?” Kala demanded.
“That you two bicker like an old married couple,” said Rayven, which made Scout throw his head back and groan playfully.
“You’ve gone and done it now,” he murmured.
“First of all,” Kala said. She approached Rayven and held out her hand. “I’m Kala! You must be Rayven.”
“Nice to meet you, Kala.” Rayven shook her hand.
Kala looked at Scout out of the corner of her eye. “You know, when I heard you say she was beautiful, I didn’t think you’d be so right.”
“Kala!” Scout nearly screeched as Rayven glanced at him, a confused expression on her face.
“Thank you, I guess?” she asked, though she was still staring at Scout.
“She’s a mind-reader,” Scout mumbled, blood rushing to his cheeks in embarrassment. Although Kala was slightly older than most members of the pack, sometimes she acted like she was one of the youngest.
Rayven’s jaw dropped, and she turned to Kala. “Really? That’s amazing!”
“I know, right?” Kala smiled proudly. “Anyway, second of all, Onyx and I just had a difference of opinions this morning.” Scout was about to mention that they always seemed to have a difference of opinions, but Kala held a finger up to stop him from talking. She had probably already heard what he thought of the matter. “Don’t make me tell Ray your dirty little secrets, Scout!”
She turned to Rayven. “You don’t mind if I call you Ray, do you?”
“Not at all,” Rayven answered, and she sounded way too excited about the prospect of having a nickname from someone else in the pack. Scout found it endearing. He caught sight of Kala smirking at him, and he glared at her in response.
“Any reason why you’re here so early?” he asked instead, wanting to change the subject to more important matters.
“Oh, right!” Kala elbowed Onyx in the ribs, receiving a pained yelp from him. “Tell them!”
“We found something,” Onyx said.
Scout immediately turned to look at Rayven, who was looking back at him. Their hands reached out for each other’s seemingly of their own volition, tightly gripping each other, preparing themselves for what they might hear next.
“So, I was out clubbing last night,” Kala began, “and I heard someone thinking about the Crescents and a ‘plan of action,’” she said, air-quoting the words plan of action.
“A plan of action?” Rayven asked. “To do what?”
“To kill you, it sounded like.”
Scout glared at Kala again. He really wished she was less straightforward sometimes, especially when it came to her saying other people’s thoughts out loud.
“Why do the Crescents want me dead?” Rayven questioned. She glanced briefly at her brother. “Why do they want us dead?”
“As far as I could tell, you both have something they want,” Kala explained. “They want both of your abilities, and to get them, they need to kill you.”
Rayven frowned. “The numbers thing?”
“What numbers thing?” Scout asked, turning to her.
“I can guess any kind of number,” she answered. “Phone number, address, social security number, credit cards...”
“And Onyx here can track,” Kala continued, and she crossed her arms. “Imagine what the Crescents would be able to do with a combination like that.”
“But then why go through the ordeal of having Rayven arrested?” Scout pointed out, his mind whirling to try to find the answer to every new question that arose. “If they wanted her dead, why not kill her in the alley, when they had the chance?”
Kala pushed her long blonde hair behind her shoulder, nervously scratching the back of her neck. “Because that’s not how the process works, if I understood correctly? See, the Crescents have these people called ‘extractors,’ and while they don’t actually kill you, they literally extract your ability out of your body, and that is what kills you. Really horrific death, by the way, like, it makes your abdomen explode and—”
“Kala!” Scout growled. “That’s enough!” His tone, for once, was apparently enough to make Kala realize there were some thoughts she didn’t need to say aloud. She lowered her gaze, again crossing her arms.
Next to him, Scout felt Rayven tense. He turned to look at her, and he instantly panicked at the sight of her eyes wide open, her gaze distant, like she wasn’t in the kitchen with them. “Rayven?”
“Mom,” she whispered.
Onyx inhaled sharply through his nose. It didn’t take Scout long to figure out that was how Rayven and Onyx’s mother had been killed: the Crescents had extracted her ability, whatever it might have been, and now they wa
nted to do the same to her children.
Rayven seemed to come back, because she screwed her eyes shut and then opened them again. “So what do we do now?”
“I personally suggest taking you to the Vault,” Kala replied.
“No,” Scout said immediately. “The Vault is too risky, especially if it means she has to leave the house.”
“What vault?” Rayven asked. “You guys have a vault?”
“Not a vault,” answered Kala. “The Vault. Capital ‘v.’ It’s our safehouse! The walls are lined with moon opals, and no one can get in or out without authorization.”
Rayven turned her attention to Scout. “And where is this Vault?”
“At the foot of the Buffalo Mountain,” Scout told her, running a hand through his hair. “But it’s too risky. It could end up putting you in danger rather than keep you safe.” The Vault did have more security than his home could offer, but it wasn’t as close to the house as Scout would like it to be, and he didn’t want to risk Rayven making the journey.
For a moment, no one in the room spoke. Rayven stared at each of them then let out a deep sigh.
“An extractor is coming for me and Onyx, right?” Kala nodded. “Do you know what he looks like? More importantly, do you know how we can stop him?”
“It’s… it’s not that simple, Ray,” Kala said, shaking her head.
“I don’t care about simple!” Rayven yelled, causing everyone in the room, even Scout, to jump slightly. “I can’t sit around waiting for someone to show up and kill me! I don’t want to end up like my parents, and I don’t want Onyx to end up like that, either!”
“Rayven—” Onyx started to say.
“No,” she interrupted him. “There must be a way to stop this extractor.”
If Kala’s silence was any indication, she had no idea of who the extractor was supposed to be. Without knowing his identity, they had no chance of stopping him.
“I’ll ask Creek to find out what he can about the Crescents’ extractors,” Scout finally offered, holding back a sigh.
“I’ll go get the Type Book from the basement,” Kala said. At the inquiring frown from Rayven, she went on, “Type Book, capital letters. It’s a bit of a guidebook, has records of all the types of abilities wolves can have—you’ll see.” Then she disappeared down the hallway.
Onyx looked at Rayven. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
“Absolutely.”
Scout crossed his arms and shook his head in disapproval. “I don’t like that you’re putting yourselves at risk Both of you.”
“What do you suggest we do, then?” Rayven asked him, approaching him. “I think it’s better that we’re prepared for whatever might come our way.”
“If anything were to happen to either of you—”
“Hey,” she interjected. She reached out to hold Scout’s other hand, his two palms tightly held in hers. “We’ll be fine.”
“We’re Starks,” Onyx added, smiling proudly at his sister. “And Starks are fearless—even more so when there’s more than one of them.”
“Besides,” Rayven continued. “If anything goes wrong, I know our alpha will back us up.”
Scout focused on the hope and trust in her eyes, on the fact that she believed they could do this. He might not have suggested this plan as his course of action, but he didn’t want to make Rayven’s decisions for her. He had been the one to assure Onyx only yesterday that she could take care of herself, after all. Rayven trusted him and his ability to keep them safe as their alpha.
And she was right.
Scout would always have their backs.
7
Rayven glanced hesitantly at her brother, who stood about ten feet away from her in the basement of Scout’s house, and shook her head. “No.” The word was clear and firm, and there was no way to sway it.
Onyx, knowing this all too well, sighed in disapproval.
For the last few days, Kala had shown Rayven and Onyx how to effectively incapacitate, as well as kill, the Crescents’ extractor. Kala had them practice on her to ensure they used the right force and method. Neither of the twins had a problem with this, but when Kala told Rayven to attack Onyx, Rayven showed defiance. A lot of it.
It wasn’t because she thought that Onyx couldn’t handle it, or that she was stronger than her brother. Rayven didn’t want to have to pin her brother down to the floor with her arm to his neck because she knew how Onyx felt about being held in place like that.
Once, when they were children, she had seen a group of slightly older boys picking on Onyx. Her brother hadn’t reacted, not wanting to encourage them, and one of the boys had grabbed him by the shirt, pushed him up against the wall, and pressed his arm against Onyx’s throat. It was the only time Rayven had ever seen her brother completely lose his composure, and she knew he had only done it because he had been terrified. Rayven hadn’t been able to protect him back then, and so she had vowed that she would never allow anyone to make Onyx feel that afraid again—not even herself.
Onyx placed his hands on his hips, staring expectantly at her. Then he held his arms out to his sides, as if he were taunting her. Rayven stood firmly in place.
When it was clear to him that she wouldn’t be the first one to attack, Onyx sprinted towards her, and Rayven backed away in surprise, but she wasn’t fast enough. Onyx grabbed her from behind and pummeled her down onto the concrete floor. Rayven grabbed him by the leg and flung him to the ground as well.
“Is that the best you can do?” Her brother crouched beside her and balled his fist, pretending to stab her in the chest. “Because if it is, you’re dead.”
Rayven pushed herself to her feet and dusted herself off.
Onyx exhaled. “What’s wrong, little sister?”
“I’m older than you by three minutes,” Rayven muttered. Then she turned to look at Kala. “I’m done.”
Kala’s shoulders dropped. “Ray—”
“Listen, I—I just can’t, okay? Tell me to fight anyone in the world. Anyone at all.” Her eyes shifted to Onyx. “Just not my brother.”
“It’s just to better prepare you—”
“I’m already more prepared than I can be,” Rayven replied, walking towards the basement steps leading upstairs. She entered the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She felt more than heard Scout walking into the kitchen,
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
Rayven turned to him and saw him leaning against the countertop, his brow furrowed in concern. “I’m fine.”
“She can’t fight me,” said Onyx as he entered the room, standing at the doorway. Kala followed behind him.
“I’m fine,” Rayven repeated, moving past them to go to the living room and sit next to Scout’s other beta, Creek, on the couch. She didn’t know what he and Scout had been discussing, but she was glad that at least Creek didn’t seem too interested in making pointless small talk with her. He simply smiled at her in greeting.
After a few minutes, in which Rayven assumed Kala, Scout, and Onyx discussed something or other in the kitchen, the three of them walked into the living room. Next to her, Rayven felt Creek tense, and she noticed the way his eyes focused on Kala, noticed the way his gaze hardened. She saw Kala try to ignore it.
I wonder what’s the story there, she thought. She had assumed that all of Scout’s pack members got along with each other, but maybe it was like in any other big family: sometimes you got along with some people more than with others.
“Kala,” Scout called. “How’s the search for the extractor going?”
Kala cleared her throat and began speaking. “So, the identity of the Crescents’ extractor, unfortunately, continues to remain unknown. However, there are a few things we’ve been able to find out, so be on the lookout for someone who dislikes water.”
“Water?” Creek repeated.
“Yes,” Kala clarified, and Rayven heard the way she intoned her answer, almost as if to say, Yes, Creek, that subs
tance that is vital for most living organisms. “They can’t do the extraction in or near a large body of water.”
“How large are we talking about?” Onyx asked.
“Anything larger than a hot tub. They’ll avoid it like the plague and stay on high ground. And most importantly, their eyes will go bright yellow when they’re provoked,” Kala said. “So bright yellow eyes mean danger.”
Rayven shifted in the couch. She didn’t like the fact that one of the signs had to be seen at such short distance.
“Anything else?” Scout asked.
Kala shook her head. “Sadly, no. That’s all I’ve got.”
“I’ll ask around some more,” Creek said, standing up from the couch. “There must be more information about these extractors somewhere. I mean, someone has to know something.”
“Thanks, Creek,” said Scout. Rayven didn’t know if he had noticed the way Kala and Creek had interacted with one another. Perhaps he always did, and he had decided not to let it bother him unless it became a problem?
Later that evening, Scout and Rayven lay in bed together, enjoying their seething body heat as their skin pressed against one another’s. Rayven felt as if she was going to explode into a million glowing embers, heating up the entire world from only one touch from Scout.
“You’re awfully quiet over there,” Scout murmured. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Just… a little worried, I guess.”
“Glad I’m not the only one,” he said. Rayven playfully slapped his chest.
“I was talking about Onyx,” she said.
“And I was talking about both of you,” Scout added. “I don’t like that you guys are being prepared to face someone who wants to kill you.”
“What do you suppose I do with the extractor? Invite him for lunch?”
Scout wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I just don’t want either of you to get hurt.”
Rayven nuzzled closer against his chest. “We’ll be fine. Kala’s been a huge help in our training. How long has she been a member of your pack?”