The Raven Queen

by Emma Jayne Mills

  “And do you agree with him? Do you think I tricked you into hiring my boyfriend as your beta, so we can take over your pack from the inside?”

  “Caspian is no longer your boyfriend and it’s clear you don’t trust him enough to be working alongside him.” He chose his words carefully, concentrating on his food as he spoke.

  “I don’t trust him at all.”

  “Axel still has influence among a handful of pack members. Given the opportunity, he could be a danger to both you and Caspian.” Lykos set his cutlery down and sat back in his chair to look at her.

  “Axel doesn’t scare me if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “I’m not sure anything scares you, Aurora.”

  “Plenty of things scare me.”

  “Like?”

  “Clowns.”

  “Clowns?”

  “Yep. Freaky things, hiding all their evil behind that happy make up. It’s the perfect cover. They lull you into a false sense of security with all their funny antics, then bam, slaughter you while you’re still laughing at their last joke.”

  “Clowns.” He nodded as he picked his cutlery back up and they continued to eat in silence, until Lykos ventured, “I wondered if you might like to train with me today?”

  “You sure you can take it, old man? You saw what I did to Caspian.”

  “That is exactly why I would like to see what you can do. I feel I may have underestimated you,” he admitted with a smile.

  “I’m game,” she said. “What’s Caspian doing today?”

  “We will meet with him in the gym later. Then afterwards, you and I will introduce him formally to the pack. This morning, I think it is time you learned of the business side of things for your pack.”

  “Business?”

  Although many ran legitimate businesses of their own and some individuals sought employment in the human world, most shifter communities were financially independent. For the more senior members their duties within the pack served as their jobs. Their payment for such duties coming from hundreds of years-worth of funds, passed down from alpha to alpha. Old money, so to speak, its intended use to ensure the pack’s basic needs were met. The Stratitiori pack, being new, would not have that resource to fall back on.

  “We are a relatively new pack and although I do have the funds to support us at present, they will not last forever. We have a future to think of. Eventually, mated pairs will begin to have pups, we need to make money to facilitate this. While many of the pack have jobs in the human world, we do have our own way of keeping a roof over our heads. Caspian will need to know these details too, but I want you to be aware first. That way. you may have authority over him in these matters,” Lykos explained, sparking her curiosity.

  What was this pack doing that was kept so secret?

  As they descended deeper into the castle, Lykos talked constantly. He told her about the history of the castle and spoke more of his Grandmother, who had always wanted to travel to Ireland, which was how he had ended up there. He explained that there were memorials, for his Mother and Grandmother, in an area of the gardens that had once been specifically for him. It would now be their private gardens. He suggested they have lunch there, since it was such a beautiful sunny day.

  “Is it an armoury?” Aurora frowned, taking in the masses of weapons lining the walls of the room he had shown her into.

  There was row upon row of swords, spears, daggers, not to mention the guns. She knew she was staring, wide eyed and mouth agape, but she couldn’t fathom what she was seeing. She could see they weren’t the kind of weapons a gun runner would have, but what other reason was there for a collection like this. It was a work of art.

  “No, our armoury is in one of the outbuildings, remind me to show you.” Lykos led her through the room and she began to notice that these were all incredibly old weapons.

  “A museum then?” She failed to see how a museum would bring in enough funds to run a castle.

  “Of sorts, I suppose. We deal in antiques. Specialising in weapons, collector’s items. We have other items, such as books, furniture, and art, but the weapons supply our biggest income. We offer a unique service, in that our clients request a specific item, often one told of in legends. We then locate and deliver that item. For a fee, of course,” Lykos explained.

  “Okay…” Aurora wasn’t sure what she had been expecting. Drugs, people trafficking, underground fighting? Something shady. Not this, that was for sure.

  “You were expecting something illegal?” he smirked and she shrugged apologetically. “I like that I can surprise you, Koraki. I am slowly hacking away at your preconceived notions of me, but I am still somewhat of a mystery to you. You will know me. I want you to have all of me.”

  Lykos continued to explain the ins and outs of his business, introducing her to yet more pack members who worked in this part of the castle. They, in turn, told her about their work, and within the space of a morning, she was fully up to date on the basics of antiques dealing. Who would have thought?

  “You may become involved as much or as little as you please with the business. It is yours, as my mate, as much as it is mine. As is everything I own,” Lykos told her as he led her back through the castle, towards the gym.

  “Lykos, what if I decide not to become your mate? You’re giving me all of this information and you have no idea if I’ll stay.” She wasn’t sure what had she done to earn his trust so quickly, but it made her uncomfortable. She had barely been there two days.

  “You accepted my pack. You willingly gave up your own freedom for Mel. Today, you have engaged with every pack member you have seen, you have made the effort to know them, you have told them to come to you for help with anything they need. You have recognised faces and made a point to acknowledge them by name. Aurora, you are already their queen.”

  “That isn’t a guarantee I’ll accept your mate claim,” she argued. She’d done all those things without thinking; the alpha in her couldn’t deny the pack. It was in her genes to want to take care of them and he was using that against her. Sneaky bastard!

  “I believe I can persuade you, in time, that I am the mate for you. Why else would I have agreed to your deal? I never intended for you to be my prisoner, Aurora. I was unaware of the bond you share with Caspian’s brother until the day we met. I’m not sure why you would have a bond with two different alphas, but I aim to find out. I believed that when we met you would feel our bond and accept me as your mate. Things didn’t go according to plan and I regret that. I cannot regret that you are here with me now though.” He spoke openly, knowing the woman beside him could only be brought around to his way of thinking with his truths. Aurora’s heart could not be won with the usual romantic gestures, she required more than that.

  “Lykos, I feel my bond with Jax. It’s intense and it hurts to not be with him, constantly. He’s the other half of my soul, there can never be any doubt of that. I don’t feel that with you.” Sadness washed over her with the confession. Yes, she felt connected to Lykos, but it was nothing compared to her bond with Jax. Nothing could ever come close to that and despite the fact she still mostly hated him, she knew she could never love anyone else the way she loved Jax.

  “And yet you aren’t with him. He walked away before your bond could be sealed. Why is that, I wonder? There is more of my scent on you than his, Aurora.” Lykos leaned towards her and inhaled deeply.

  “You’re doing the creepy thing again.” She cringed and stepped away from him. He merely smiled and opened the door to the gym, ushering her inside.

  “Ah, Caspian, you are already here,” Lykos called, loudly. His long legs carried him quickly towards a shirtless Caspian, who was busy beating the hell out of a punch bag in the far corner of the room.

  “I like to get my work out in early,” Caspian told Lykos, immediately looking beyond him to Aurora. She nodded once to acknowledge him, but neither of them spoke.

  Not to be outdone, Lykos yanked off his shirt to reveal nothing
but hard muscle. Aurora averted her eyes. Shifters naturally had great bodies without having to work too hard to maintain them and Lykos was well above average. The last thing she wanted to do was give him the satisfaction of catching her checking him out again. She smirked, spotting Caspian rolling his eyes at Lykos.

  “The old man thinks he can take me, Cas.” Without thinking, she dropped the cold front towards him and slipped into their old friendship.

  Caspian laughed easily. “That, I’d like to see. Did you know she dislocated a man’s arm in training recently?”

  “I did not know that. I’m glad my queen is such a badass,” Lykos joined in the joking.

  “You shouldn’t say words like badass, Lykos. It’s like you’re trying to be a cool dad and that’s never actually a cool thing to do.” Aurora fell into step with Caspian, crossing the gym to the boxing ring.

  “Is a cool dad better than a creepy old man?” Lykos queried, he held out a hand to help her into the ring. She ignored his hand, grabbed the ropes, and climbed in by herself. Lykos didn’t take the show of independence personally, merely shared a smile with himself.

  “You called him a creepy old man?” Caspian asked.

  “He was sniffing me.”

  “You smell good, I’m sure Caspian would agree.” Lykos looked to him seriously and Caspian stammered over his reply. “It’s fine, Caspian, we are all aware of your past relationship. I feel it is something we should acknowledge. To pretend it never happened would cause awkwardness between us. I want us to be completely open with one another. The relationship between the three of us is an example to the rest of the pack, we must present a solid unit. We need to portray three leaders who have respect for one another and a genuine friendship, as well as an ability to work together and support each other.”

  “I understand,” Caspian nodded.

  “Now, tell me, Caspian, do you agree that our queen smells good?” Lykos pushed. Aurora could see he was joking by the twinkle in his eye.

  “She smells amazing,” Caspian affirmed, with a look at her. Was there a hint of regret in that look? She didn’t want to think about it.

  “Gentlemen, while I’m flattered and definitely don’t object to all this attention from two handsome men, I came here to fight. Shall we?” She moved the conversation along and raised an eyebrow at Lykos.

  “Indeed,” Lykos moved to his corner. “Will you officiate, Caspian?”

  “It would be my pleasure,” Caspian smarmed, climbing up into the ring.

  “Do you favour a particular martial art? Or do you prefer straight forward boxing?” Lykos wanted to know. In training they used an MMA technique if practising hand to hand combat, but she wanted to see what he would do.

  “Give me whatever you’ve got, old man,” she teased, as yet undecided as to whether she was going to reveal to Lykos the full extent of her abilities. She was torn between lulling him into a false sense of security, by letting him beat her or kicking him into next week. If she didn’t give her all, would Caspian rat her out? She winged it as usual.

  After thirty minutes, neither was giving as much as they could. Hit for hit, they were coming out evenly matched. Lykos watched her graceful movements as they circled each other around the edge of the ring. His crotch stirred in appreciation of her graceful fluidity and he stifled a growl at the sight before him. Her clothes were soaked with sweat and formed a second skin on her body, accentuating every feminine curve. From her toned arms, the rounding of her breasts beneath the black vest that clung to them and those temptingly long legs, he devoured every inch of her with his eyes.

  “Come on, old man, don’t hold back on me just because I’m a girl,” she baited.

  “You may regret that, mate of mine. It’s time I proved to you that I am far from this old man you speak of,” he replied, with a wink. Then he really came at her.

  She blocked his first two hits and stuck in a couple of her own, upping her game slightly. Realising she could take more punishment, the next punch he delivered to her ribs was harder, faster. She attempted to swerve but wasn’t quite quick enough to avoid the hit completely. He made contact. Recovering quickly, she spun on her heel, lifted her leg, and kicked him in the side, sending him back a step.

  “You’re holding back, gorgeous,” Caspian murmured, as she delivered a second kick to Lykos’s left side. “You can take him!”

  “Shut up, Cas,” Aurora growled, moving in to throw several blows at Lykos, each of which he blocked successfully.

  Lykos grabbed her by the arm at her next attempt to make contact, intending to turn her and drag her to the mat. She flung her body into a backwards somersault, forcing him to let go. He stopped, momentarily stunned by the move. Then he grinned.

  “She doesn’t need wings to fly, boss,” Caspian told him, proudly.

  “It would appear so.” Lykos stalked her around the ring, a predator hunting its prey. Seconds later, in a sequence of moves that were too fast to follow with the human eye, he floored her. Her body slammed to the canvas, landing hard on her back and he straddled her triumphantly. He held both her arms above her head, her back flat to the mat and leaned forward to look into her eyes.

  “What... the fuck... was that?” she gasped, breathlessly.

  “Pankration, an ancient Greek martial art.” He was breathing heavily too.

  “Teach me,” Aurora demanded.

  Lykos’s eyes wandered over her heaving chest and lingered on the cleavage that showed just above the neckline of her vest. He switched both her hands into one of his own and drew a finger along her chest, skimming the tops of her breasts and causing the skin to pebble. He didn’t need to hear her intake of breath, or see the flush that covered her skin, to know she was as affected by their sparring as he was, the darkening of her eyes spoke volumes.

  “All in good time, Koraki,” he smiled, pleased with the reaction his touch had commanded. Standing, he reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I’m not convinced you weren’t holding out on me.”

  “Oh, she was. She definitely was,” Caspian laughed and threw a towel to Aurora. She caught it and wiped her face without responding.

  After Lykos instructed Caspian to shower and meet them in the common room, where they would formally introduce him to the pack, he led Aurora back to the tower. Entering the bedroom, she whipped off her top, revealing her bra and made her way to the bathroom, but stopped short upon hearing the growl behind her. Holding her breath, she turned to find Lykos staring at her hungrily. She hadn’t realised he’d followed her and once again found herself stalked by the domineering alpha. She exhaled heavily as he backed her up against the closed bathroom door.

  “You are impossible to resist,” he growled, laying one hand on her waist.

  Lykos stretched his other arm out above her head, his hand resting on the door, fingers splayed. He bent his head to inhale her scent and growled again. That bulge, the one with the mind of its own, dug into her stomach when he moved closer and his still shirtless chest pushed up against hers. Her harsh intake of breath and the puckering of her skin acted as a green light for him. The arm came down from the door and he cupped his hand around her throat. He shoved her chin up with his thumb and brought his mouth down to hover above hers. Slowly, he leaned in, his breath skating across her cheek and with the tip of his tongue, he traced the outline of her lips.

  “I desire you, Aurora, but I will not take you unless you ask me to,” he groaned. “If I kiss you, I fear I won’t be able to stop there.”

  “Then don’t kiss me. I need to breathe and asphyxiation isn’t my thing.” Coming to her senses, she reached behind her and twisted the doorknob, pushed the door away from her back and took a step backwards into the bathroom. Lykos relinquished his hold on her but did not release her from his gaze. Turning his words back on him, she blew him a kiss. “All in good time.”

  The pack sat on an array of leather sofas and soft armchairs arranged around the large room. A bar, at one end, was lined with more peop
le sitting on stools. It was loud and rowdy and reminded Aurora of a night in the pack house at Shadow Fen. She missed her pack. She missed the impromptu nights in the bar with everyone laughing together. This might have been the Stratitori pack’s version of that, but it wasn’t home.

  “A step up from the pack house, hey?” Caspian leaned down and spoke in her ear. They made their way towards the front of the room, where Lykos was waiting.

  “It’s different,” she replied.

  “We need to talk later, figure out our moves for tonight. I spoke to Jax, we go at two.” The closer they got to Lykos; the quicker Caspian spoke.

  Aurora nodded, not wanting to say anything out loud. Shifter hearing was good and she knew Lykos was withholding the full extent of his abilities in the same way she was. She had yet to see his wolf in action but was certain it would be impressive. He stood, proudly, at the top end of the room, awaiting his queen’s arrival. His eyes were unrelenting in their vigil over her, marking her every move and that of the pack surrounding her. One wrong move, one impulsive sniff of what belonged to him and that wolf would be put down. They knew it. She knew it.

  “What are you looking for, Koraki?” He smiled down at her and put an arm around her waist, securing her to his side, when she reached him.

  “Your wolf,” she told him.

  “You have seen my wolf,” he quirked an eyebrow and tipped his head to the side.

  “I haven’t looked for him within your human,” she supplied, unconcerned about his awareness of that talent.

  “I love that you are revealing yourself to me, piece by piece. Perhaps, it is time I saw your animal.” Without further conversation, he pulled her tightly to him and looked up to address his pack, silencing them with a whistle. “Thank you. As some of you may already know, we have appointed a new beta. I will not be going into details about the reasoning behind Axel’s removal, except to remind you that my queen and I make no decision that is not of benefit to the pack. Your safety and well-being are our priority.” A murmur went through the crowd when Lykos paused. He waited for them to quiet before speaking again. “You will welcome Caspian O’Conner as beta of the Stratitori pack.”