Novak Raven (Harper's Mountains Book 4)

by T. S. Joyce

  Probably. He’d just watched the woman he cared about in a moment of torture. In a moment of breaking. He wasn’t okay at all. Heart banging against his chest, Weston ignored him and yanked the tackle box and one of the fishing poles from the side of his porch.

  “We’re fishing?” Ryder said, standing with hope in his eyes.

  But Weston couldn’t fish with Ryder this morning. He couldn’t stomach laughing at Ryder’s jokes when he’d seen Avery in The Box. Weston needed an hour, two hours, fuck, and entire day if he could manage it. He needed time to wrap his mind around the fact that he could now see the fucking past. Avery’s past. He wanted to puke just thinking about the empty hopelessness in her eyes.

  “Not today. I need some time alone,” he muttered as he strode down the porch stairs. Like a coward, he kept his gaze diverted away from Ryder because he couldn’t shoulder hurting yet another person he cared about. He’d unknowingly helped destroy Avery by leaving her alone with the shitstorm of her life, and now he was disappointing Ryder. It was all too much.

  His best friend didn’t say anything as Weston tossed his gear in the back of his truck. Thank God for small blessings because his head couldn’t handle anything extra right now. The fucking past! Like the sight wasn’t bad enough already!

  When Weston looked in the rearview mirror as he skidded out of his front yard, Ryder was standing there, looking pissed, with his arms across his chest. He felt bad for falling apart right now, he did, but Weston couldn’t deal with the amount of shit Ryder was going to give him. He couldn’t deal with apologizing and mending fences when he was reeling like this.

  He would make it up to Ryder, but right now, he needed to get as far away from here, and away from that vision, as possible.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Eh hem!”

  Avery scrunched up her face at the grating sound of someone clearing their throat loudly. When she eased her eyes open, Ryder was sitting in the chair he’d pulled up next to the bed. He was petting long strokes down the back of a tiny cream Chihuahua he had cradled across his arm. Ryder’s bright gold eyes were narrowed to pissed-off little slits as he glared at her. The Chihuahua’s glare at her matched.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked in a groggy voice.

  Ryder snorted an offended sound. “What am I doing here? What am I doing here? I live here. I’ll ask the questions, thank you very much.”

  “Ryder,” a small voice came across from a cell phone resting on the arm of Ryder’s chair. “Be nice.”

  Ryder gritted his teeth and petted the tiny dog in his arms again. “This is Sprinkles, my princess, my hairy snuggler, the warmer of my toes.” He jerked his head toward the phone. “This is Sexy Lexi, my mate, the stroker of my boner, the keeper of my seed—”

  “Ryder, she’d already met me,” Lexi said.

  “—the future mother of my dozen owl babies—”

  “Three max. Focus, Ryder.”

  “—the human of my heart, with the perfect toes, and the perfect ears, and the perfect nubbins—”

  “Wait, what are nubbins?” Avery asked, utterly confused.

  Ryder’s eyes went wide like she had the brain of a one-celled amoeba. “They’re nipples, Avery Foley. Nipples.”

  Lexi sighed so loudly into the phone, static blasted across the speaker.

  Ryder petted Sprinkles again with the flat of his palm. “Lexi is at work but insisted on being here for this, to curb my rage.”

  “Okay,” Avery said, sitting up in bed to better face him. “What can I do to make you less…enraged?”

  “I have interview questions.”

  “But I already work at Big Flight.”

  “You aren’t interviewing for a job, Avery, come on. You’re interviewing for my twelfth best friend.”

  “Twelfth?” It was the crack of dawn and Ryder was being really confusing.

  “Yes, twelfth. Weston, Alana, Lexi, Dark Kane, Sprinkles, Harper, Wyatt, Aaron, Sammy Scrotum, Maximus Red Balls, Bart, and then waaaay at the end, you.”

  Okay, she knew most of those people, and the name of the mouse that lived in 1010 had already been explained by Weston. “Who is Maximus Red Balls?”

  Lexi answered for him in a tired voice. “That’s what he named one of the tomato plants in my vegetable garden.”

  Great, Avery ranked lower than a tomato plant. “And Bart?”

  Ryder lifted his red-bearded chin primly. “A cat crapped on our porch last week, and in that pile of smelly poo wiggled a little white worm. I named him Bart.”

  Fantastic.

  “I apologize for anything that happens after this,” Lexi said. “He’s had a special morning.”

  “Damn straight, it’s been a special morning,” Ryder exclaimed. “Do you know what today is, Avery Foley?”

  “Weston’s birthday?” Avery squeaked out.

  “Yes, and do you know where he is instead of sitting across from me on our annual birthday bro-date eating a plateful of pancakes and taking selfies? Hmm?”

  “Not…on your bro-thing with the pancakes?”

  “He’s fishing without me! Fishing! Without me!”

  “Rein it in, Ryder,” Lexi said.

  Ryder composed his face, but his neck was still as red as his hair, and he stroked Sprinkles so vigorously she growled at him.

  “Interview question number one. How long have you known Weston?”

  “Um, our moms let us start writing to each other when we were ten years old.”

  Ryder arched a ruddy eyebrow. “Well, I saw him on the first day he changed, and his dad told me we were going to be best friends and blood brothers, and we are.”

  “Next question, Ryder,” Lexi urged.

  “Did you always plan on stealing him away from me?”

  “What?”

  Sprinkles growled again at the rough petting, but he told Avery it was because, “Sprinkles can sense evil.”

  Dear lord, she wanted to go back to sleep. “I don’t want to steal him away from anyone. I just really like him and want to be in his life.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you knew him when you interviewed for Big Flight?” Ryder asked, and now his face was going red again.

  “I didn’t mean to conceal anything from you, but I was scared of the Bloodrunners, including you, including Weston. Ravens aren’t the bravest shifters, and then Weston didn’t seem to recognize me, so it was awkward blurting out who I was. I didn’t mean to hurt you or anyone else. And I really don’t want to put a wedge between you and Weston. He used to write about you when we were growing up. I already felt like I kind of knew you, and then working with you over the past week has been really fun. Normal. I don’t really want to lose that.”

  Ryder lifted his chin higher and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Good answer, Avery Foley.” He stood to his full, imposing height and told Lexi, “I’m going to put you in my pocket now, right next to my pecker.”

  “I’m hanging up now,” Lexi said. “Sorry, Avery. I’ll see you later.” The line went dead before Ryder could finagle the cell phone into his front pocket.

  “Air Ryder approved,” he said magnanimously. “You have earned the coveted spot of twelfth best friend for a probationary period. I’ll make the announcement on my social media accounts today.”

  “Wait, I don’t really want to be on your social media…”

  Cradling Sprinkles, Ryder ignored her and walked out of the room. The front door banged closed, and Avery plopped back onto the mattress. Well, that was weird.

  And now she needed to make sure she didn’t cause tension between Weston and the Bloodrunner Crew. Maybe she should talk to Harper. Or all of them? Maybe she should just come clean and tell them everything so they didn’t think she was here for the wrong reasons. But the thought of talking to the notoriously badass Bloodrunners was intimidating and made her want to shrink into the mattress and hide.

  But she wanted to give Weston another relationship, not take other relationships away from him. He�
��d already given her so much, and she wanted him to feel as happy as he made her feel. She could be brave and talk to the Bloodrunners if it meant Weston would give more easy smiles.

  Weston was my first.

  The thought drew her up short. Avery squealed and kicked her legs, then covered her flushed cheeks with the blanket to hide her massive grin. It had felt so good! Better than she’d imagined. And they joked afterward. On television, sex was so serious and passionate, and there had been that, but after, it had been fun, and she’d laughed hard, for the first time since she could remember. The big belly laughs that made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

  She’d lost her virginity to the Novak Raven. It was finally done, and she didn’t have to worry about what it would be like anymore. Sure, she wasn’t a professional yet, but she would catch up. She would go back and pay more attention to the smutty scenes in her favorite romance novels, and maybe she would order one of those sex-position books with some of her first paycheck.

  He was the perfect first. He was the perfect always.

  Oh, she was losing her heart fast. She rolled out of bed and padded into the bathroom. The first tour for Big Flight wasn’t until noon today, and it was still early, but she needed to get ready and get moving. Why? Because it was Weston’s birthday, and she had a plan to make his life easier.

  Avery didn’t care how long it took, or how intimidated she felt.

  She was going to win over the Bloodrunners.

  ****

  Avery psyched herself out three times before she finally approached the women talking and laughing in the shade. Alana was standing on a picnic table in a gorgeous, sparkling white gown, while the dark-headed alpha of the Bloodrunners pinned the hem of her dress. Lexi had come back sometime while Avery was getting ready for the day, and now she sat on the edge of the table, reading from a list.

  “H-hi,” Avery stammered as she approached. She thought they would clam up and stop having fun, but Lexi and Alana waved and smiled brighter.

  “Hey, girl,” Alana greeted her. “What do you think? Honest opinions please. I bought two dresses, and this one has the fullest skirt. The other one is one of those mermaid dresses with no train, but it fits too damn tight.”

  Her dark skin practically glowed against the white princess dress. “It’s beautiful,” Avery murmured. “I’ve never seen a prettier dress than that one. Are you getting married?” Avery shook her head at her stupid question. “Of course you’re getting married.”

  “Two more weeks,” Alana said easily. “I’m already nervous.”

  “About getting married?” Harper asked around the row of pins hanging from between her lips.

  “No, I can’t wait to marry Aaron. I just get nervous about everything coming together. I always wanted a big wedding. I had no idea how many moving parts are involved in something like this though.”

  Avery stood there awkwardly, wringing her hands and shifting her weight from side-to-side. She needed to borrow someone’s car to run errands before work, but she hardly knew these women, and none of them had any reason to trust her with their rides. Stupid Civic for breaking down.

  Lexi patted the table next to her in invitation, and while Avery gingerly took a seat beside the dark-haired beauty, Lexi continued reading off the checklist.

  “Cake.”

  “I can pick that up the day of,” Harper volunteered. “I can grab the chairs and runner from that rental place while I’m in town, too.”

  “Good. Flowers.”

  “That’s on Weston and Ryder,” Harper murmured as she pinned the bottom of the gown. “They already said they would pick everything up from the florist that morning. Is Aaron’s fire crew coming?”

  “Yes, all of them have RSVP’d with plus ones,” Alana said a little breathily. “There’s so many people coming now.”

  “Stop panicking,” Harper said. “We’ve got this.”

  “You’ll do really good, and you will be beautiful,” Avery murmured. “And Aaron will be there waiting for you at the end of the aisle. It’ll be the best day.” The Bloodrunners had gone silent, and fire blazed across Avery’s cheeks. “What kind of flowers are you getting?”

  “Gerber daisies and roses,” Alana said, sounding more excited. “Bright colors, too, since we’re having it outside. Oranges and pinks.”

  “Oh, that sounds perfect,” Avery whispered. Why couldn’t she inhale? Sitting this close to Harper was doing bad things to her body. God, she was going to pass out soon.

  “Breathe, girl,” Harper said easily. She hadn’t even looked over at Avery, so how had she known the panic attack was coming?

  “You are all scary,” she blurted out. “Not as scary as you used to be, but you have a freaking grizzly bear in you.” She pointed at Alana and then Harper. “And you have a dragon. A dragon. Fire. You can eat people. Please don’t eat me.”

  Harper giggled—the dragon giggled!—and said, “I promise I won’t eat you. I don’t much like the taste of crow.” And when the alpha looked over at her and winked her blue dragon eye, Avery nearly fell off the edge of the table in shock.

  Alana and Lexi laughed, and a surprised, “Ha!” belted out of Avery, too. Talking about man-eating dragons should not be funny, it really shouldn’t, but this was a subject the crew was obviously comfortable with. If they even knew the terrifying stories the council told to Raven’s Hollow about predator shifters, dragons in particular, the Bloodrunners would probably laugh at her people, too. Little terrified wieners, all of them.

  “Um, I have a favor to ask.”

  “What’s up?” Alana adjusted her big boobs in the wedding dress distractedly.

  “I have an errand to run in town, but my car broke down last night.”

  “That one?” Harper asked, jamming her thumb over her shoulder.

  Sure enough, Avery’s beat-up old Civic sat on blocks in front of a double cabin up the hill.

  “Yeah, did Weston bring that up here?”

  “Yeah, he had it towed in this morning. He worked on it for a while, then said he had to clear some trails, whatever that means.”

  “Oh, it’s where the boys take chainsaws to the trails and clear out the branches that have fallen during the night or are hanging too low,” Avery explained. “It keeps the tourists safer if they can keep the lanes clear.”

  “Do you ride the trails, too?” Lexi asked.

  “No, but I want to really bad. I’ve never ridden an ATV.”

  “And you work for an ATV tour company?” Harper asked, her dark, delicate brows arched up high.

  Avery shrugged one shoulder and tried to smile. “Pretty crazy, huh?” Nope, she didn’t want to explain that Weston hadn’t trusted her for the first week and would’ve rather cut off his own nards than taken her up on a trail. Things were different now.

  “You can borrow my Jeep,” Lexi offered.

  “Are you sure?” Avery couldn’t help the hope in her voice.

  “Hell yeah, I owe you.”

  “For what?”

  “We’ll just call this an apology for what my mate pulled this morning.”

  “What did Ryder do?” Harper asked, the joking tone gone from her voice.

  “Uh, he interviewed me.”

  Lexi snickered and shook her head. “Avery’s being too nice. He’s mad about Weston keeping his pen pal a secret when they were kids. Ryder was a little monster to her first thing this morning.”

  “You mean Ryder was a big monster,” Avery murmured. “He’s got a lot of muscles. I shit you not, he had to walk sideways through the bedroom door.” More heat in her cheeks when the girls laughed. She wished she had a better filter. At least they didn’t seem to be laughing at her like the people from Raven’s Hollow had done, so there was that.

  Lexi handed her a set of keys with a little wooden owl dangling from them. Ryder’s animal. “Thanks, Lexi,” she said softly, then stood to leave.

  “Do you want to come to the wedding?” Alana blurted out. “I mean, you and Weston ar
e a thing…right?”

  Avery didn’t know how to answer. Yes? At least, they’d slept together last night. More heat in her cheeks, and she couldn’t meet their gazes. It was still too soon to put a label on them, but… “I hope we’re a thing. And yes, I would be honored to come to your wedding.” Determined not to ruin the moment with her running mouth, she turned to flee to the black Jeep Wrangler parked by her Civic.

  “Avery?” Harper asked.

  Avery hunched under the seriousness of her tone and turned slowly. “Yes?”

  “I have a crew to protect—one that means the entire world to me. Should I expect trouble from your people?”

  Avery mulled that over for a few moments. She understood Harper’s desire to keep her friends safe. This place, these mountains, were a paradise, and they housed important and good people. “I don’t think so. The ravens are scared of you.”

  Harper stood to her full height and locked her oddly-colored gaze on Avery. “Are you in trouble from your people?”

  “No.” Avery tried and failed to smile. “I don’t have any people.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ryder glared at her from the porch of Big Flight’s main building and slurped hard on a swirly straw hanging from his lemonade. Or margarita?

  “Please tell me you aren’t drinking an hour before a tour,” she said, shutting the door to Lexi’s Jeep.

  “Please tell me you didn’t steal my lover’s car.”

  Okay, they were starting off on the wrong foot again. “I got you a present.”

  He narrowed his bright blue eyes suspiciously. “Is it boudoir pictures of Lexi or beer?”

  Avery frowned. “No.”

  Ryder blinked slowly and slurped loudly on his straw, showing his absolute disinterest in her present.

  Weston came out of the front door looking like a tall drink of water in a Texas summer with his holey jeans and white T-shirt. He grinned when he saw her, but behind that smile, something was off. He looked…tired.

  He jogged over to her and shocked her silly when he picked her up and squeezed her. He kissed her lips hard enough to knock their teeth together. “Who am I?” he teased.