The pull of the storm was incredible. Like a living lightning rod, all the hair on her body stood on end. There was nowhere to go that it wouldn’t reach her. She resisted the wild urge to draw down all that beautiful power waiting for her and just wallow in it.
Even now, her skin felt alive. Energy danced in the air, current pulsed around her, urging her to come out and play. She turned the key, heard to the engine die, but she didn’t move as she battled to rein in her volatile mood.
London casted her a look, then left without a word, never once glancing back.
Smart man.
From the rearview mirror, she watched Jackson unfold himself from his black diesel.
For a fleeting moment, his shoulders relaxed.
Then it was gone.
Cold fury covered his expression, and she found herself faced with the imposing pack enforcer who would kill anyone that got in his way of doing his job.
She exited the car, her own anger burning bright. When he came closer, she gathered the agitated blue strands whipping around her core and wrapped them over her clenched fist. Without speaking, she swung as hard as she could.
Jackson didn’t just go down, he flew back a few feet and landed flat on his ass. He lifted his head to peer up at her, but didn’t do anything stupid, like try to get up. “Don’t you dare disappear on me like that again. Do you understand me?”
She stalked closer to stand over his body. “And if I find out that you put anyone in my pack in danger with what you told them, you’ll wish we’d never met.”
The air around her throbbed with her fury, and his eyes splintered yellow under the influence. But instead of shifting, he meekly offered his throat in supplication. She didn’t know what pissed her off more, that he just rolled over without a fight or that he didn’t deny her accusation.
Weariness dragged away her anger. She had to leave before she did something she would regret. “Take the kid and find a room. We’ll talk about our next course of action in the morning.” Without waiting for a response, she stalked toward the house.
“Wait.” Aaron loped to her side. “Jackson told my father very little about you and my mother even less. Only enough so as not to raise their suspicions. He risked his life to protect your secrets.”
Dying light hallowed him, illuminating the earnestness on his face as he trotted to her side. She saw a glimpse of the type of man he would become. “But he told you more.”
Though his expression didn’t change, the static hum around him increased. “He did what he could to protect you even knowing that you would never forgive him.”
Something about the way he phrased his words raised her bullshit antenna. “What do you mean?”
They stepped inside the house, the shadows half covering his face. “He never expected you to come for him. He doesn’t know how to react.”
Behind them, Jackson picked himself off the ground, not even bothering to dust himself off as he trudged toward the house.
“If you were any other alpha, the punishment for betrayal would be death.” Raven met Aaron’s pensive gaze. “Please tell me from everything I’ve heard that I haven’t misjudged you.”
His words were not quite a plea or demand. Raven turned away from Aaron, unwilling to have him see her reaction.
Though Jackson might have tried to protect her, he had violated her privacy knowing it would destroy her. She felt exposed down to her soul. She tried to rationalize that she would rather have him alive, but her hurt wouldn’t be forgotten so easily.
“I gave my word. You’re both safe here.”
Aaron didn’t seem pleased by her answer, but didn’t say anything more when Jackson stepped into the house. Jackson’s whiskey brown eyes had thawed, leaving behind a hesitant, hungry expression as his gaze roved over her body. But he never lifted his eyes to hers, as if afraid of what he would find.
“Grab an empty room upstairs and make yourselves comfortable.” She needed to get away from Jackson and the yearning to give him a hug.
She clutched her hurt in her chest, not ready to forgive.
Not sure if she could ever completely trust him again.
The situation threatened to break heart.
She took the stairs two at a time, eager to hide from their prying eyes and organize her scattered thoughts. By the time she hit the hallway, she was panting, having practically run to get away.
She was a coward.
But at least she knew it.
She entered her room and drew up short. Taggert sat on the bed with Digger holding a needle full of blood. Any pretense she had of control vanished. The shield around her fluctuated. Energy crackled, taking advantage of her hesitation, dumping into her core. Her control snapped. The strands of blue and white slashed through her insides.
Eager for escape.
Eager for the hunt.
Each lash of the whip left a singe mark scoring the underside of her skin, the pain an old friend that took over to protect her from the bad things that happened in the labs.
Taggert launched to his feet, standing between her and Digger, his head tipped to expose his throat in supplication. He shuffled closer, his hands open at his side. Concern darkened his face but no fear. “I asked him to take my blood. I wanted proof that you weren’t hurting me.”
She pushed away the horrors of the past, her instincts fighting her every step of the way. Memories, like flames, licked along her flesh, ready to consume her.
“Stand down.” Griffin came through the balcony doors behind Digger, aggression radiating from him as he faced off with her. Heat from his wolf crashed through the room, aggravating her tenuous battle for restraint. The urge to attack burned along her arms as her powers gained momentum.
A sound came from the doorway behind her. Raven whirled in time to see Jackson charge into the room. He took in the scene at a glance, picked up on her fear, but misunderstood the reason. He hurdled himself at Griffin, going after the biggest threat in the room.
To protect her.
The two men crashed through the glass doors. The doorframe quivered but held.
Not so the men.
They slammed against the balcony, nearly toppling over the railing. They weren’t just fighting, they were trying to kill each other.
She hesitated at the unexpectedness of the attack. The battle riveted her, their brutality equally matched despite Jackson being taller and heavier. Their savagery brought home just how much skill she lacked.
How lucky she’d been.
The storm overhead rumbled, a massive boom rattled the house. Neither of them even flinched.
Jackson virtually tossed Griffin in the middle of the room. But instead of cracking into the floor, Griffin rolled into a crouch, ready to launch himself back into the battle.
“Stop!” Neither man paused at her command.
The first hint of unease rose.
Something was wrong, like they were being pushed.
They had no intention of stopping until one of them was dead.
She had to stop them, but her animals were nowhere to be found, taking her alpha ability with them.
That only left her power.
Resignation settled in her gut.
The time for hiding had come to an end.
Raven allowed herself to be drawn to the window, the raw strength of the storm luring her onto the balcony. She planted herself by the railing and braced herself for what was to come.
Then she dropped her shields.
Power hummed low on the air, drowning out other sounds as it drew closer. Lightning slashed through the sky and struck feet outside the window. It crawled up the building, the wiring in the house guiding the wild electricity up to her.
Raven thrusted her hand over the railing, and the jagged bolt arched into her waiting palm. Pain and pleasure twisted inside her. Holding the massive charge ripped up her insides like someone had stuck her finger in a socket then tossed her out of a plane to add variety to her pain. Jaw clenched, she turned and waved her arms.
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Jackson and Griffin flew apart. Their bodies slammed into opposite walls.
Absolute silence filled in the room. No one moved, not even bothering to pick themselves up from where they’d landed.
Raven refused to flinch under their stares or read deeper into their expressions. She already knew what they were thinking. She, too, was horrified at what she’d become.
“My power is amplifying your aggression. Leave.” Even now, tiny particles circled in the clouds about the house, the current building for another strike.
And she had no way to stop it.
Wasn’t sure she wanted to.
The storm called to her.
It was uncontrollable.
Wild and addictive.
But she could only channel so much electricity. She could withstand another strike, maybe two before burnout began to creep over her and shut her down, then she was going to crash, and she didn’t want anyone to witness the aftereffects.
“Everyone leave the room.”
When no one moved, she couldn’t keep the roar from her voice. “Now!”
Digger didn’t argue. He collected his bag and strode toward the door, calmly going about his everyday business. Griffin rose, followed Digger, all without turning his back on her.
Fierce need darkened Jackson’s eyes as he stood. Despite his injuries, which were already healing, he closed the distance between him in the boneless, muscular way of his kind.
She held her ground, barely resisting the urge to run, the need to hide what she was becoming. When Jackson kept coming, panic caught her breath in her chest. She couldn’t bear to have him touch her and discover just how little of her remained human.
Power cracked into the floor between them, nearly tumbling Jackson to his knees. Electricity leaked from her in a steady stream that she couldn’t control, sending the charged air swirling in the room. The hair on his body stood on end. The next strike would go for him whether she wanted it or not. She could already feel it building.
She couldn’t allow that to happen. “You can’t stay. You have to protect Aaron. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
He pulled up short as if she’d struck him. His face hardened, and he left without bothering to look back at her.
What else did she expect? That he would stay and choose her?
“Raven—”
“No.” She cut off Taggert’s protest.
“You have to ground.” He was calm, no sense of fear or self-preservation in him.
The fool. It would get him killed.
Before she could stop him, he grabbed her arm.
Then it was too late.
Electricity arced between them, wrapping around him like an unbreakable band before it seeped into his skin.
His eyes didn’t just splinter with color, they turned solid yellow, his wolf staring boldly back at her. Raven quickly pulled as much energy away from his that she could manage, desperate to keep him safe.
There was just too much of it to reabsorb.
She grabbed the railing, forcing the electricity through the metal and back into the house. The railing heated, the metal grew soft, bowing under the current. The skin of her hand burned at the amount of current. She could feel her palms crack and blood slowly trickle out from the wounds.
Despite trying everything she could think to protect him, it still wasn’t enough. If she didn’t do something soon, he would die in her arms. She struggled to dislodge his grip. Taggert only tightened his hold. Every time he was exposed to her power, it changed him, made him bolder and brought out his baser instincts.
The changes scared the shit out of her.
Unsure if it was her fear of hurting him or the lure of all that power being so near, the shadowy figure around her core shifted in the darkness. It uncurled itself and gave a lazy stretch.
Ravenous hunger unfurled through her gut.
Then its talons sank into the flesh around her core, pressing down on her chest like a physical weight. Her shields cracked as if the creature was trying to gain access to the current so deliciously out of reach. When the creature couldn’t break through, she contented herself by wrapping around the vault, snuffing it out like it’d never been.
The lack of power nearly dropped her to her knees. A new terror took root. What would happen when the creature gained access? And it would only be a matter of time. It was growing bigger, feeding off her core, and she had no clue how to stop it.
She swayed with exhaustion. Without the heat of her core, frost crept through her chest until breathing hurt.
Taggert gasped, his eyes wide as he gaped at her. “What was that?”
She couldn’t speak.
At her lack of response, Taggert engulfed her in his arms, clamping down around her almost brutally as if afraid she would run. She didn’t resist, didn’t have the energy to spare, as she struggled for air.
Without her power, she was left vulnerable to the animals that inhabited her skin. They lifted their heads and roared in anger at the new intruder. The wolf emerged from the darkness. She dug its claws and teeth into her flesh, staking ownership.
She wouldn’t be dislodged.
Would not be denied.
Alpha.
Something inside her eased, and the stranglehold around her lungs lessoned. She gasped for breath, nearly lightheaded. She tentatively placed her hands on Taggert’s chest. His heart leapt at the contact, and he cuddled her closer as if needing the connection more than her. She imagined her hand running over his wolf’s fur, the action surprisingly soothing.
She didn’t need anyone to tell her she was in deep shit. But she did wish someone could hand her a shovel, so she at least had a way of digging herself out.
Chapter Nine
Taggert lay sprawled across her bed, the demands of keeping her wolf calm knocking him out cold. Tremors still rocked through her at how everything could’ve gone so horribly wrong.
Taggert had risked everything for her by staying. Raven was amazed that he didn’t suffer more for coming to her aid. Despite her worse fear, his touch had saved her.
At least bought her some time.
For everyone’s safety, she normally locked herself away in the basement. She marveled at being able to witness the awesome ferocity of the storm for the first time in years. She watched the sky lighten as the storm began to fade.
Even hours later, her core remained inaccessible. Though her shields had wavered, they remained steady. Not wanting to push her limited luck, she remained in her room, restricting her exposure to the others until the storm cleared. But that was only part of the truth. She just wasn’t ready to face the fall-out of tonight’s latest fiasco.
She brought up the video that Scotts had sent from the first crime scene. She pressed play for the hundredth time in hopes that she could pick up something she might have missed. She watched the man grab his head then turned into mist before the cameras fuzzed out.
She searched the background for any witnesses, for any shadow that moved, but there was nothing to be found. She hit the pause button and sat back from her laptop, restless eating away at her calm.
“You found something.”
Raven startled at the voice, swallowing hard when she spotted Griffin at her door. “Unfortunately not.”
He didn’t wait for an invitation, but sauntered in the room like a pesky brother intent on snooping, showing no hesitation approaching her. She concentrated solely on the frozen scene, not ready to face anyone’s judgment.
“Show me.”
His lack of fear shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. None of the shifters seemed leery of what she could do. They well understood the threat, but it was as if they recognized her as dominant and just accepted it.
Raven cleared away the tightness of her throat. “What did you find at the tree line? Any signs of an intruder?”
“Unfortunately not.” Griffin didn’t stiffen at her question, didn’t react in any way. It wasn’t lost on her he used her very wo
rds back at her. That’s how she knew he was lying. What didn’t he want her to know? He had been gone all night. He had no lover, so whom did he meet and why?
Raven blindly punched up the video again and studied Griffin as he watched it, unable to pinpoint his reason for being here. Unless he was there to see how big of threat she presented and determine if she needed to be eliminated.
None of the effects from the fight were visible on his body. His wolf roamed beneath the surface, but they both appeared to cohabitate in harmony with no animosity between the two.
“How?” She hadn’t realized she asked aloud until he turned to face her. A blush of heat filled her cheeks, but she refused to back down. “How do you keep such perfect control?”
At first he didn’t move, his dual gaze settling on hers like a weight. She thought he would avoid the question or just give a glib answer. Instead, he straightened and held out his hand as if he’d made some decision. “Let me show you.”
Her heart thundered against her ribcage. Caution warned her to watch her step, not trust him, but the need for answers won hands-down. If she could keep her people safe, did it really matter what price she had to pay?
She inhaled deeply, the scent of cedar immersing her, and slipped her hand into his. Fire immediately crackled at the contact, burrowing up her arm as his beast pushed at her. Then he dropped his hold and stepped back, unconsciously rubbing his palms on his pants as if stung by the contact.
She stood and rubbed her arms. “Is it always like that?”
Those broad shoulders of his shrugged in a kind of answer. “Children of the pack are raised to know what to expect. Some packs are loving, some stern, but children are always kept separate from the public as they learn about their beast. They are guarded until they reach maturity. With so few born, they are precious and trained early to know what life in the pack entails.
“At the age of eighteen, they pledge their loyalty.”
“The cresting.” That’s the word he and Aaron had brandied about.
Griffin smiled, quickly grasping she didn’t have a clue what it meant. “Cresting is a rite of passage into adulthood. It’s usually their first shift. If they are accepted, they pledge to the pack.”
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