Yet it wasn’t until he’d moved into his position as head of the New York-New Jersey Ravens when his mentor and leader died suddenly that everything had changed. Because it was around that time that Neecy Lawrence went from the occasional wet dream to full-on sex goddess.
Receiving the mantle of Raven leader meant receiving Odin’s rune branded to the back of his neck in front of an audience filled with Ravens from all over the world, as well as Valkyries and Crows. The branding wasn’t pleasant, but Yager showed no signs of pain. He didn’t even flinch. If he were to lead the Ravens, he needed to show them and Odin he could take pain. That he, in fact, welcomed it. It was the typical Viking bullshit, and it hadn’t changed over the last thousand years.
Once they completed his branding, one of the Original Seven—the original immortal Valkyries who called Odin “Dad”—presented Yager to the audience as the new leader of the Tri-State Ravens.
He’d been standing before the warrior representatives of all three Tri-State Clans, giving a speech that had taken him hours to craft and even more hours to rehearse, when he saw her.
Leaning against a wall, staring out over the crowd and bored beyond tears, Neecy wore a little black dress with three-inch-heel sandals. In the middle of his speech about the changing face of the Odin warrior, Yager stopped talking. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. It became so bad Mike had to slam him with his wing to get Yager to focus on the rest of his speech.
He couldn’t help himself, though. A vision came to him. As clear as anything he’d seen before. A vision of Neecy Lawrence naked and tangled up in the white sheets on his bed. Well-fucked and beautiful, she sighed his name in her sleep.
That simple vision was, by far, the most erotic thing he’d ever seen in his life and he was determined to make it his reality as well as hers. The only problem? Neecy treated him like some rich white trash she couldn’t get away from fast enough. It drove him crazy. She drove him crazy.
Those small, pale hands returned to now rub his shoulders. Yager gently removed them. “Thanks, uh, Shawna.” Or whatever…
“Anytime.” She gave an alluring smile and walked out of the room.
Mike shook his head. “And what’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing. She’s perfect. Exquisite.” Not surprising. Odin, known for his lusty ways, never picked ugly mortal Valkyries. He liked his women beautiful and big-chested. But since that bad night a bunch of them took Odin to a local strip club, Mountain Creek—the Ravens’ tristate safe house—had turned into the set of a Russ Meyer film.
Still, Yager could care less about Shawna’s big tits. Not when he could still feel Neecy’s adorable breasts in the palms of his hands. An accidental grab he’d fully enjoyed.
He stood, allowing his wings to once again unfurl. He stretched them out, shook them and pulled them back into his body. For now they’d sit hidden behind flesh and muscle. The only telltale sign his wings were there at all were two long scars racing down his back, next to his spine.
“I’m going home.”
Mike watched him pull on a fresh T-shirt. “Look, if you’re trying to slum it a little, I can hook you up with some very accommodating girls from my old neighborhood.”
Yager sighed. “It’s like you want me to hurt you.”
“No. But I’m the only one who will be honest with you. You’ve got Valkyries falling over themselves to get to you. And you’re concentrating on a Crow. The same bird used in the Omen movies.”
“Actually those were ravens, you idiot.”
Before Yager could leave, or twist Mike into a pretzel, his second-in-command walked into the room. “Just got an interesting call.”
Tye Ulrich was his best friend and a man of few words, which was why he was Yager’s best friend. Yager got enough chatter from Mike.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. We’ve been invited to a party downtown.”
Yager shrugged on his leather jacket. “Not in the mood… What the fuck are these?”
He pulled the condoms from his jacket pocket, then looked at Mike.
“What? I’m being a good friend and hoping you get laid before the end of the next millennium.”
Sighing, Yager shoved the condoms back in his pocket. Tye raised an eyebrow. “If I toss them away, he’ll just put more back in.”
Mike nodded. “He’s right.”
“Whatever.” Tye crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Anyway, seems the ‘Bama Crows are in town and our girls are throwing them a party at some Shifter club.”
Yager’s head snapped up as Mike let out a moan of annoyance.
“And I was thinking,” Tye continued, “that we really shouldn’t let our country cousins come to town and not give them a nice Raven greeting.”
Shrugging, a huge grin on his face, Yager quickly agreed. “It would be downright rude.”
“Exactly.”
Neecy sat at the bar and looked out over her girls. One thing would always be true… Crows could throw a mean party.
Glancing to her left, Neecy spotted two seventeen-year-old Crows ordering a beer. The stupid Shifter bastard didn’t even card them. She slammed her fist down on the bar, causing the two girls to jump. “Don’t even think about it, ladies.”
Rolling their eyes and groaning, they headed back to the dance floor. She motioned to one of the older Crows heading out for the night. “Take them home.”
Chuckling, “You got it.”
The few young ones that came to The Gathering soon learned Neecy kept a tight leash on them until they turned eighteen. But no drinking until twenty-one. And no drugs ever. Since there was no leaving the Crows except by death, the other alternative when the young ones got out of hand was one of those brutal Raven Elder-type beatings. Since the Crows hated even the thought of something like that happening, they followed orders or hid their antics real well.
“Okay, Neece. Talk to me.” Neecy turned around to find Janelle sitting next to her. “Arri Chang.”
“What about her?”
“Explain to me again why I’m wasting my time trying to train that pipsqueak?”
“Because I told you to.”
If Janelle was lucky, she may become second-in-command one day. But she’d never lead the Crows. Not because she asked questions, but because she asked them like she already knew the right answer. Skuld hated that.
“Give me a break, Neece. She’s terrified of me and she couldn’t fight her way out of a paper bag.”
“She’s not terrified of you.”
“She hides from me. When I do finally track her down and take her to the training room, she cowers.” Janelle sighed, her blonde curls falling in her face. “It’s starting to give me a complex. I feel like this giant ogre.”
Janelle wasn’t quite as tall as Neecy, but she was bigger and stronger. She was a lot of woman and Neecy knew it made her self-conscious.
“You’re not a giant ogre. She’s just new.”
“She’s been with us for two years now.”
Neecy winced. Janelle was right, and she didn’t even know the whole story yet. Things were about to get much stranger because of Arri. That, however, was not a discussion to have during a Crow party.
“Look, I’m not talking about this tonight. Now you can sit here and freak out…” Neecy slid off her stool. “Or you can try and live in that fantasy world of yours where you out-dance me.”
Janelle stood up slowly. “I know you didn’t just issue a direct challenge… to me.”
“Bring it on, baby.” Neecy could always hold her own on a dance floor, but Janelle used to street dance for money before Skuld took her. In fact, in some old rap and reggae videos, you could see Janelle in the background. Sometimes she was the only white girl in the entire video. Still, it was fun to fuck with her about it.
“Oh, that’s it, Lawrence. Your ass is mine.”
Katie sauntered up, a drink with an umbrella in it gripped in her hand. “What’s going on?”
“Neece just challenged m
e.”
“What?” Katie suddenly scrambled up onto the bar.
“Hey!” Her loud voice reached the DJ across the room. The music immediately cut out. “We have a challenge, ladies!”
Neecy shook her head as the Crows cheered and opened up a space on the dance floor for her and Janelle.
Stepping away from her, Janelle turned and walked backward to the dance floor. She gestured for Neecy to follow with both her hands.
“Come on, bitch. You’re talking shit. Let’s see what you really got.”
Rolling her eyes, Neecy followed. Honestly, the shit she endured in order to distract her team from the potential nightmare of Arri Chang.
Derrick hated working Crow parties. These bitches creeped him out. They creeped out all the Shifters. These women died and some goddess brought them back. And she brought them back… altered.
Shifters, and even the freaky Ravens, were born the way they were. Although the Ravens couldn’t shift into shit, they did have those stupid wings.
The Crows, however, weren’t born with their wings. Instead they woke up from dying and suddenly had them. They weren’t immortal or the undead or anything. They were just a bunch of broads with wings, enhanced strength and immune systems, and a really unhealthy bloodlust. Like Shifters, the Crows were still human… sort of. They could breed, get old, and die. But none of that made them right.
Still, the tips were good and some of them weren’t too bad to look at.
One of the cuter ones waved a twenty in his face. “Another one of these.” She held up the bottle of pricey imported beer. Derrick went to grab one from the fridge behind the bar, but found it empty. Less than five minutes ago, he’d had at least thirty bottles in there because the Crows really liked it.
He sniffed the air, but all he smelled were humans. Another reason Shifters didn’t like the Crows and the Ravens—they didn’t smell any different from normal humans. They simply smelled like humans who slept on down pillows.
He looked out over the dance floor, but the Crows were still grooving to another disco favorite. Then his eyes caught movement and Derrick’s head snapped up. That’s when he spotted them, on the balcony that ringed the dance floor. The Ravens, their purple-black wings shimmering in the club’s strobe lights, silently watched the Crows, each male holding one of the missing beers. How the Ravens got past Derrick to get the damn beers, he’d never know.
And, to be honest, he never wanted to know.
“I do love watching women dance.” In surprise, Yager and Tye looked at Mike who stood between them. It was such a nice, clean thing for him to say. Until he added, “It makes their tits shake.”
Rolling their eyes, Yager and Tye looked back at the dancing females.
Yup. Yager liked watching Neecy dance. He also liked how she acted when alone with The Gathering. She actually smiled and laughed. She let herself go with her sisters. He wanted to see that side of her. He wanted her to smile at him the way she smiled at her friends.
“So are we going to go down there and dance with ‘em? Or just sit here and watch like a bunch of stalkers?” Mike asked.
Tye shrugged. “I like watching.”
“Yeah. He’s got a thing for that big girl,” Mike offered.
Yager raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Which girl?”
Mike answered for Tye. “My fellow hoodrat, Janelle.” As long as it wasn’t Neecy, Yager really didn’t give a shit.
“I find her… interesting.” Tye didn’t say much, and often what he did say sounded innocuous. But Yager had known the man long enough to know “interesting” was simply another way to say “a piece of ass I can’t wait to hit”.
“I understand that. Especially after seeing her dance. She’s amazing.”
“Yeah. Dancing. Whatever.”
Mike sighed. “I don’t get you two. There are much better-looking women out there. And if not better looking, then definitely less mean. I saw Janelle rip out a man’s heart once… and that didn’t seem to bother her.”
Mike put his arms around both men. “Gentlemen, you guys should hang with me some night. I’d get you hooked up with some very hot and extremely accommodating supermodels.”
Even though Mike was about six-two, both Yager and Tye still towered over him as they towered over pretty much everybody. They looked at each other, smiled, and slammed the man with their wings, flipping him over the balcony. The Crows, like the birds whose wings they possessed, sensed the kid and quickly moved out of the way as Mike hit the floor. The women looked down at him and then their gazes drifted up.
For several long seconds, they merely stared at the Ravens who merely stared back. After they got bored with that, the Crows went back to dancing.
Except Neecy. She glared up at Yager, her hands on her hips. He smiled down at her and winked.
Snarling, she strode off the dance floor.
“All right. Which one of you dumb bitches invited the Ravens tonight?”
Janelle, Connie, and Katie looked at each other and shrugged.
“I asked you a question.”
“We didn’t invite anybody.”
“Did you tell someone to invite them?” Their responding smirks said it all. “And this is why you bitches piss me off.”
Katie held up her hands in mock fear. “Geez, Neece. Control the rage!”
Connie laughed and Janelle shrugged, adding, “So the Ravens are here. It’s always a good idea to keep them on our side.”
“Which isn’t easy when you keep trying to kill their leader,” Connie muttered.
Katie giggled. “I couldn’t believe you called those goddamn birds of yours.”
Neecy walked away from the three women before she really did lose her temper. She’d already put in a couple of hours at the party and had kept her drinking down to two beers and a tequila shot, so clearly it was time to go.
Plus, she needed to check in with Didi and let her know they’d lost the rune to the Idiot Brigade.
Coming around the corner, she slammed into a solid slab of concrete. Also known as Yager’s chest.
“Hey, Neecy.”
Neecy looked up at Yager. And kept looking up. There were very few men on the planet that made her feel small, but Yager was definitely one of them.
And he was “looking” at her again.
Not like people always looked at her, including her past boyfriends. With that little bit of fear mixed in with awe. No. He looked at her like he’d never seen anything so beautiful or amazing before.
She hated that look. It completely confused her and made her all sweaty.
And Neecy Lawrence didn’t sweat.
“Yager.”
She moved to step around him, but he stepped, too. A small one, but the man was so huge, he easily blocked her.
“So what are you up to tonight?”
Sometimes the man asked her the dumbest questions. “Nothing.”
Christ, Yager was gorgeous. Really. Just plain gorgeous. His light brown hair reached past his shoulders and looked as if he never combed it. Ever. His searing grey eyes made her seriously uncomfortable and horny. Those stark Nordic features blended well with his chiseled cheekbones and painfully hard jaw, as her fists could attest to. His shoulders completely dwarfed her, but he needed them that size to support his long, thick neck. His entire body was one sheet of pure rippling muscle, and he had to be at least six-seven. For once, a man actually taller than her.
“Wanna drink?”
Neecy sucked in a breath, about to tell him no she didn’t want a drink—and get those goddamn gorgeous eyes off me—when she heard giggling behind her. She knew it was her team. In battle they followed her every command without question. But during their off hours they truly were her family… and she realized now she never wanted siblings. Mostly because they were a pain in the ass.
She raised her knee, giving her access to the weapons she kept holstered to her calf, turned, and threw one of the deadly blades. The women dived out of the way, the sharp stee
l planting itself in the wall behind where they’d all been standing.
Clearing his throat, Yager slowly walked around her. He pulled the blade from the wall and handed it back to Neecy.
“A little tense, Lawrence?” he teasingly asked.
“Quiet, Yager.” She slid the blade back in its holster, keeping her head down to hide her smile, but unable to stop her chuckle.
“Do you really have to go?” That voice! She’d had wet dreams about that voice alone. Especially when it got all husky and yearninglike.
“Yeah. I gotta tell Didi you got what Skuld sent us out for. Then Skuld can duke it out with Odin.” She looked up at him. “Unless you want to give it back to me.”
He grinned and her toes curled inside her boots. “Dammit. If only I were the kind of guy who would use that request to my advantage.”
Yeah, but Yager was too nice. A true nice person—probably one of the last on the planet. A big, dumb, gorgeous nice guy.
Whereas Neecy was too smart for her own good and used to deal drugs before she took six bullets to the chest. She was once one of those scumbags she now went about eradicating from the universe. She wasn’t nice. She wasn’t good. And she’d gotten exactly what she deserved when she’d died.
Yet she thanked Skuld every day for giving her a second chance to make it right. And she would make it right, if it took her the rest of her second-life.
“Well, you’re not. Might as well get used to it. And stop staring at me like that.”
Frowning in confusion, “Like what?”
Neecy shook her head. “Forget it.”
She walked around him and headed to the roof and home.
Chapter Three
Many people were lucky enough to find themselves gently awakened on Sunday mornings by a sweet kiss on the cheek or a soft pat on the shoulder.
Neecy, however, got her ass rolled out of bed by the leader of The Jersey Gathering.
“Wakey, wakey, sunshine.”
Neecy knew she should have returned to her own apartment last night instead of the Bird House. But, stupidly, she’d hoped to catch Didi before she went to bed—she didn’t—and she wanted one of those wonderful brunches The Gathering had every Sunday afternoon.
Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1) Page 3