“I needed Raven to react. Hurting you was the catalyst, threatening your bond was motivation. Once he was in transition, I was able to amplify the message I’d implanted.” She turned to Raven. “You feel strong, powerful, right?”
Raven heaved a few deep breaths, snarling something that might have been a yes.
“He’s in his rightful form. You should be proud of him for finally accepting what he was always meant to be.”
“But I told you he didn’t want to be a beast! I told you that! He said there’s too much darkness in there!” Darcy felt hysterical. Was she ever going to get Raven back? Would he be able to fight the evil he said was in his beast?
Raven turned on her, glaring as he gripped her upper arm, hoisting her to her tiptoes with his brute strength. “Huntress will obey.”
Obey? She was staring into the eyes of something wild, something unhinged. Raven as she knew him was nowhere to be found.
He squeezed her arm tighter and she yelped, trying to maneuver away. “Raven, let go! You’re hurting me!” Her body reacted with little control, a flash of magic pooling and then releasing from her like a snap.
Raven jolted back, let her arm go and then came at her again, snarling this time. “Huntress, obey!” He grabbed her by the throat this time and lifted her into the air. All of her breath whooshed out and nothing could get back in. As she stared down in the eyes of her mate, she knew she’d lost him. Raven was no more.
“Master,” Saska cooed from below, her hand on Raven’s arm. “We need that one. Don’t end her life just yet. She will serve us.”
Raven held her still, his eyes flicking to Darcy, then away. He let her go. She hit the ground with a thud, her ankle twisting as she crumbled down.
Saska came to loom over her as Darcy struggled to reclaim her breath. “I suggest you obey, Huntress. I don’t think Raven is going to take too kindly to any form of rebellion. Having spent centuries with the beasts, it’s better you learn that lesson sooner than later. If you don’t serve him, you die. That’s the way of the werewolves.”
Darcy glared up at her. “You ruined him. You manipulated him. You fucking bitch.”
Saska laughed. “Ouch, Darc, that hurts. And you’re wrong. I didn’t ruin him, I made him better, stronger, more important. And I didn’t change him either. His beast was clawing at the surface, desperate for a way out. I gave it to him. It’s always better not to fight instinct.”
“Wolves,” Raven grunted.
Saska turned to him. “Yes, if you call to them, they’ll come to challenge you. And you will triumph. Build our pack.”
Darcy looked on with horror as Raven took in Saska’s words and then raised his head and gave a long, eerie howl.
“Come with me, Darcy. You don’t want to see the battles. It’ll be brutal and we need to find those Huntresses.”
Darcy shook her head. “I’m not going any—”
A beast came barreling out of the tree line, taking Raven at the side and knocking them both to the ground. Darcy screamed and raised her hands to help him with a spell only to get caught up in the crossfire. A furry arm slammed into her chin, sending her head snapping back as she went flying. She landed on her back, all the air coming out of her, and she struggled to breathe again. Saska appeared over top of her, her lips moving but no sound coming out.
Darcy fought to suck in air, her ears ringing.
“You need…” Saska’s voice came through in waves, punctuated by the sound of roaring. There was a battle waging around her, the cries of war floating in, past the ringing in her head.
When Darcy finally filled her lungs, the ringing stopped, and she could concentrate on the words.
“I told you, you didn’t want to be here. You need to come with me now before you get yourself killed.” Saska held out her hand. “Come, sister, we’ll go and support our alpha in other ways.”
“But Raven!” She tried to look past Saska to see what was happening.
“Raven is going to be fine. He’s an alpha, he will triumph.”
“You don’t know that!”
Saska looked her dead in the eye. “I do know. He has the mark of Lazarus. The only one who can truly dominate him will be the king of the beasts.”
“Mayhem—”
“You might as well forget about Mayhem and your old pack. Raven will never tolerate that relationship again. He was made to be a leader, not led by some peace-chasing, submissive joke of an alpha. I guarantee that if those two meet up, it will be Mayhem on his knees vowing fidelity. And if he doesn’t, he will be on his knees preparing for death, and it will be one of us delivering the killing blow. You will be Raven’s right hand if you play things right, with power of your own. You, me, and Raven, a holy trinity of power, one that will please Lazarus once he returns. Trust me, sister, I value you; your power is impressive. Now get up and I’ll fix that injury of yours before we leave.”
Darcy closed her eyes, fighting defeat. Saska was wrong about Mayhem. She was stupid to think that he wasn’t a dominating force or effective leader.
And she was ignoring something vitally important. Raven loved Mayhem. Loved him and respected him and there was no way he’d hurt his alpha on purpose.
When she opened her eyes again, she had a plan. She grasped Saska’s hand and took her help, knowing how to play the game too. Saska might be all powerful but she wasn’t all knowing. Darcy knew how to open a portal as well. And she knew what Raven needed. As soon as she could, she was going to get her ass back to the mansion and get Raven some help.
Mayhem could fix this. He was the alpha, for fuck’s sake.
Chapter Thirteen
Part Two: Aubrey and Jaylon
Aubrey couldn’t help fiddling with her knives. She wore them in a sheath, three on either hip. Pulling one out, staring at the steel, sliding it back in, then on to the next. It wasn’t a compulsive need, just nerves. She couldn’t sit still.
“Mayhem trusts your instinct, Bree.” Jay was driving. Well, speeding actually—he was a rock star after all, perpetual bad boy.
“I know, that’s what I’m afraid of.” She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. “What if this goes wrong?”
Jay squeezed her arm briefly before returning his hand to the wheel. He might be a speed freak but he wasn’t reckless.
“You’ve got this under control. You trust Ariana and Lance. I don’t think they’re all that bad either.”
Ariana, commanding leader of Amazon North, and her mate, Lance, had been sent as delegates by their Queen to bring unity, or attempt to, between the Order and the Amazon tribe. Ariana had detoured to Aubrey’s parents’ place when she started receiving messages from Greer. Some kind of telepathic thing going on between the two Huntresses. As much as Ariana was all about peace, she was certainly agitated when all she’d heard was that Greer was tied up and being starved by a rogue pack of wolves. Aubrey had tried to calm the situation down as best she could.
It hadn’t been until Ariana got word from Kelly, a clairvoyant back at Amazon North, that things started to tone down a bit. Kelly had insisted that Ariana make a connection with Mayhem in order to foster a working relationship. But Ariana was still on a mission to see to her friend and ensure Greer wasn’t being mistreated.
Aubrey hadn’t told Mayhem any of that on the phone. That there had been any hostility would have ended the idea of a meet up on the spot. As it was now, Mayhem was game for some discussion. Aubrey was right in the center of it. So if the shit hit the fan, it would land squarely on her shoulders. Not a pleasant thought.
“Your sister and her mate will come later and things will be okay. Mayhem will be able to see through any politics and do what’s right for the pack.”
Aubrey snorted lightly. Her sister, Corra, had stayed behind, partly to keep a protective watch over their parents and partly because Aubrey didn’t want to stir up anyt
hing unnecessarily with Mayhem just warming up to the idea of a treaty with the Order. It had been Corra’s mate, Eric, who had tried to kill Mayhem when they’d been searching for Aubrey. Corra had almost dropped Jay that day too and Aubrey lost her Hunter—a man she’d never met who had been killed in battle by one of the boys.
She’d never learned which of the wolves took her Hunter out, nor did she ever want to know. It meant bad blood on both sides and a lot of wounds still gaping. Reconciliation was going to take much work on all sides.
“It just feels dangerous. Not that I don’t trust Ariana and Lance, it’s just…ugh, complicated.” Aubrey’s stomach didn’t feel too hot all of a sudden. There were too many unknowns and a whole lot of blind trust needed for things to start moving in the direction of unity. It was a good idea, one that Aubrey liked a lot, but the execution would be slow and potentially wrought with unseen minefields.
“Seriously, Bree, do you think I’d have agreed to this if I didn’t feel like it was safe?” Jay sighed. “I believe them about wanting to bring everyone together on one side. There might be some tension but I don’t think there will be blood. It’ll take some getting used to, sure, but no one wants a war. Not really.”
Aubrey gave him a hesitant smile even though he’d never take his eyes off the road. “I believe them too.” And she did. It hadn’t been just propaganda coming out of Ariana’s mouth when she’d proposed a treaty between the wolves and the Order. She’d meant it. Strength in numbers. Time to unite against a common enemy.
Jay reached over and squeezed her leg briefly. “You’ve got this and I’ve got you.”
Aubrey’s smile widened and her heart did that flip-flop thing whenever Jay muttered anything sentimental. He’d been great through it all. Sure, at first it had been awkward, bringing Jay to her family, everyone getting to know one another.
Aubrey felt like the black sheep who had just brought her rock star boyfriend home…which was exactly what she had done. But her mom and dad had been welcoming and so gracious about it all. Aubrey had broken down when her parents embraced both her and Jay. She’d missed them so much. And then her twin, Corra had come with her Hunter, Eric, and Aubrey had braced for the worst. But that was silly because it was her sister who had insisted on the reunion. It was her sister who had vowed that no harm would come to Jay. And she’d been true to her word. Even her Hunter, Eric, had done his best to quell any instinctual hatred toward Jay. The family part of the reunion had been great.
And then Ariana had shown up and things had taken a turn. She’d proposed a meeting with Mayhem and then they’d done a video call with the clairvoyant named Kelly, who insisted that they all needed to work together. It was chaotic, all of the information coming in. And Aubrey was apprehensive, knowing just how resistant Mayhem was to outsiders, let alone Order supporters.
“That Kelly girl is a bit weird, eh?” Jay said, as if reading her thoughts. “I mean, it’s strange how accurate she is about stuff.”
“Accurate and vague.” Aubrey snorted. Her predictions weren’t solid and straightforward, that was for damn sure. It was like listening to a word puzzle, with metaphors and not a whole lot of concrete information.
“She was pretty damn good with some things.” Jay chuckled. “Like knowing about Saska and Greer being at the mansion.”
“Yeah, saved our asses on that one for sure.” Aubrey chuckled bitterly.
Kelly had clarified some details that Greer had spun in a negative way. Like that Mayhem wasn’t starving her and she had been bound because she was a threat to the pack. Ariana had taken Kelly’s word as truth. Greer was only in as much trouble as she caused for herself. Mayhem was not an enemy.
“Most of the tension has been caused by confusion and has not been intentional. This meeting is a good idea and a positive first step. We’ll ease Mayhem into it. It’s not like you’re bringing an entire continent of Hunters and Huntresses. Just two.” Jay turned down the long driveway before glancing over at her. “Everything is going to be fine, promise.”
Aubrey snorted. “Yeah, I totally believe that.”
* * * * *
They could hear the screaming from outside. Aubrey pulled two of her knives, ready to launch if she needed to. Mayhem’s roar had the hair on the back of her neck rising.
“What the fuck?”
Jay wolfed out, his body transforming because of Mayhem’s reaction, working against the natural order of things when instinct ruled the change. Aubrey had only seen him do it in stressful situations. Now, with the training, it might start happening more, his wolf stronger than the natural cycle. He went charging toward his alpha’s voice and Aubrey followed close behind.
They rounded the corner into Mayhem’s spacious office and halted at the door. Mayhem wasn’t alone.
The Huntress named Greer was unbound and looking like she was ready to kill someone. She turned to see them at the doorway, her gaze flickering to Jay. “Motherfucker, don’t tell me there are two of them with yellow eyes!”
Mayhem turned, not looking all that surprised to see Jay and Aubrey standing there. “We have a serious problem.”
Aubrey laid her hand on Jay’s head for a moment, trying to dispel his panic at thinking his alpha was in trouble. “They got away, didn’t they?”
Mayhem nodded. “With the sword.”
“Fuck!” Greer cursed, slamming her hand into the back of a nearby chair. “That sword is mine.”
“Kelly’s prophecy wasn’t too specific,” Aubrey said.
Aubrey had called to give Mayhem a heads up. Kelly had made a prediction. Saska was going to attempt to get her sword and take Darcy and Raven out of the mansion. That was what Aubrey had meant about the vagueness. Kelly hadn’t been able to tell how it would go down, just that Mayhem had an opportunity to stop it. She’d called ahead to warn him but obviously it had been too late.
“Ya think?” Mayhem fumed as he stormed out of the room.
“She opened a portal to get the sword and then another one to escape with your two pack- mates.” Greer’s tone was hard. “I warned you all that she was powerful and dangerous.”
Aubrey narrowed her gaze on Greer. “You can’t possibly think this is our fault.”
Greer shrugged. “I was tied up until a few minutes ago.”
Jay growled, somehow following the conversation, or at least the tension between the two women.
Greer sneered at him. “He’s got the bite of Lazarus too. He’s just as dangerous as that other one is.”
“He’s not a threat,” Aubrey barked back, not liking this hardass Huntress in the least. Jay wouldn’t be able to decipher her words while in his wolf form but he felt the tension and growled all the same. Aubrey could play the game just as well as the rest of them but that didn’t mean she needed to be friends with them all.
“If he comes into his beast, he sure as hell is,” Greer said before walking out of the room.
Aubrey followed her out, ready to blast her about being wrong. Jay wasn’t capable of being evil. There wasn’t an ounce of badness in him. Well, other than his attitude problem, but that came with the rock star job. As for turning beast, Jay hadn’t had much success with that. Whether that was because of his lack of motivation or inability, Aubrey didn’t know.
Jay jolted her from her thoughts by cutting between the women, knocking both Greer and Aubrey out of the way to get ahead of them.
Mayhem was outside, pacing, his breaths coming in hard and fast. He was fighting the change, Aubrey had seen him do it before. Hannah was out there with him, no doubt using her powers to manipulate emotion to keep him calm.
“He’s going wolf too?” Greer said with a note of disgust. “You all are so undertrained it’s not funny.”
“You don’t have a sword right now, Huntress. I suggest you shut the fuck up before I pull fang on you,” Mayhem growled through clenched teeth.
> Greer snorted a laugh and raised her hands. “Stand down, alpha. I’ll behave.” She looked past him, her smile widening. “And there’s my girl.”
Aubrey followed her gaze. The guests had arrived. Mayhem snapped his attention to the approaching vehicle and muttered a curse. Hannah came up next to him, her hand curling into his as she whispered to him. He nodded several times, his eyes never leaving the truck.
The door opened before the truck stopped moving and Ariana came bounding out, straight to Greer for a warm embrace. Aubrey did a bit of a double take. She’d only experienced a hard side to Greer and was taken aback by how much love she saw in the hug, in the whispered words they shared. Aubrey turned away, giving them some privacy as she watched Lance approach. He wasn’t visibly armed but Aubrey wasn’t foolish enough to think a seasoned Hunter wasn’t carrying something within easy reach.
“You must be Mayhem,” Lance said, his hand outstretched.
Mayhem narrowed his eyes and cocked his head a bit. “I am.” He didn’t extend his hand.
Lance chuckled and dropped his hand to the side. “We’ll take things slow.”
Mayhem gave a hard nod then turned his attention to Ariana. “Who are you?”
Ariana pulled back from Greer, her smile slipping a little when she saw Mayhem’s expression. “My name is Ariana, I’m a commanding officer of Amazon North. I’ve come to negotiate the release of Greer but I see you’ve already unbound her.”
Mayhem snorted. “Yeah, thought she might be of use when it came to Saska. Turns out I was wrong.”
“Well, if—” Greer started but Ariana held up her hand and spoke instead.
“I understand that this situation is not ideal. But it does point to the need for us to work together. If we had been allied before this, you would have known not to trust Saska. You would have had our full support to terminate her or to incarcerate and ship her to us so we could take care of it.” Ariana held out her hand. “I’ve come here to negotiate a treaty between the tribe and your pack. It’s vital that we form an alliance.”
Beast Rising: The Order of the Wolf, Book 7 Page 11