“Dominic.” Raven said his name in warning and backed up. She raised her finger in warning and an eyebrow, too. Dominic approached Raven as though he approached a spooked and cornered animal that they had to capture. “Raven Miller. This is going to happen. It’s fate. If I touch you now, I know you’ll feel it everywhere. It’s just how it is. We’re wolves. I need you as much as you need me. You can’t tell me that you haven’t felt it all these years. That’s why you’ve stayed away, but you couldn’t quite leave. Not fully, could you?” Dominic leaned down then and claimed Raven’s lips in a kiss that demanded everything from her. She knew what he’d said was true. She couldn’t deny it. He pursued her for years with tireless determination, chasing her around the room. Raven could feel her heartbeat rise as he approached ever closer. With every step, she expected the outcome. Her mind and heart continued to battle. Fate and experience polar opposites in her mi
Raven didn’t know if she wanted to run, kill, or stand tall. She felt so conflicted after this. She’d experienced nothing like this ever. Raven didn’t have words for it. She never heard about the annoying pain of the healing bite wound. No one had ever bitten her before. She wasn’t a fighter and Raven was skilled at avoiding bar brawls. So, it never came up. At this moment, Raven confronted a prowling male. Otherwise known as her mate, Alpha Dominic Jones. She was so screwed when this became public. No one would feel happy about this. For an hour, he had planned how to address the Pack and remove troublemakers. In her view, he could remove half of the Pack. It made little sense to her. He removed her from the Pack. Reject her and he’d please the Pack. This made no sense to her. “Can you please explain to me why you are trying to please some disembodied mythical creature? Who may or may not exist? While pissing off your Pack and risking y
Raven’s expectations were very wrong. Right now, nothing was going according to plan, she’d say. Raven saw no plan. Dominic wasn’t acting as she expected him to act. Again, when did Dominic act like she expected him to? Now she pondered if a mental institution for shifters existed. She required time away from everything. Her hands were shaking. She was sure everyone saw it. Dominic had called another Pack meeting. This time, Raven sat on the stool by his feet. When everyone settled in their seats, he had their attention. The room went silent, and the air grew heavy with anticipation. Without speaking, Dominic lifted Raven from the stool and placed her on the seat beside him. Then put a clawed finger in front of her nose and said, “Stay there.” With that, he tore the bandage off her shoulder as the pack looked wide-eyed and revealed his bite imprint. He looked out over his pack with a narrowed glare. “Yeah, mine. It’s done and over. She had the same
“Hey, hey. Alright, there. We’ll take a break. I thought you knew some of this. At least suspect some historical details. I didn’t know you knew nothing about it. It happened when we were all tiny pups. It’s okay.” Dominic said. His voice was low and soothing to Raven. He’d not realized how this would affect her. He felt like he’d done this to her. Why did everyone let this go? How did they allow Kelsey to escape without consequences? Who allowed such injustice to spread and persist? The rotten wolves didn’t suffer, in any actual sense. They had others they could hurt. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember ever hearing anything like that. Nobody ever mentioned that about my mother to me. Raven said. “No, that’s not quite true. They’ve inferred it, but stated no facts. I can’t identify any specific incident or time. “It’s okay because it’s not true and they didn’t know what they were doing. It was them spreading vicious lies.” “Lies that got her
Raven thought he’d spend a moment with her. Perhaps he would have amused himself by testing the limits of his influence over her. Then he’d destroy her and return to his mission of destruction of his Pack as he seemed bound and determined to do. Raven saw no logic behind this. She knew her imagination went crazy, and it went too far. Dominic had no intention of destroying his Pack. But where did she fit in this? He’d done another change in personality. How should she interpret it? He sat with her, wrapped around her. He’d comforted her and spoken about what little he’d learned. Dominic didn’t have many details, and he seemed angered by this. Actual anger. They weren’t platitudes said to silence others. He wanted answers. Dominic informed her he and Paul had difficulty finding any because of the fire at the old Pack house. We’d been pups back then. Dominic had lived through it. He could have died in the fire. Everyone claimed my mother ha
Paul watched his Alpha take his former Pet, now Luna, out of the Grand Hall, leaving him to deal with the Pack’s confusion. Forty wolves stood before him, uncertain of their purpose here- to testify or to protect themselves. Until Alpha Jones spoke, no one knew what he’d called the meeting about. When he deciphered the jumble of facts, confusion gave way to the horrifying truth that everyone was aware of. Paul stood there. His own understanding had changed in the last weeks. Raven was not what he expected. The Pack was still very confused. “Beta Grouse. What is going on? What had he been telling us?” “That is your Luna, and you will treat her with respect. How can you say that? Did you see her response when she heard the report? The Luna just learned that information. She was a pup when it happened. People forget she could barely speak back then. Yet you treat her as though she were a collaborator. You’re here because we’ve
Raven pondered if Dom kept changing his approach and treatment of her to control her. Keep her off center. Or was it to amuse himself? She wasn’t sure. Did he care about any of this? How foolish a risk would it be to ask if he cared? Raven doubted his sincerity before all of this. But now at least she could see him wanting to know who killed his mother if he didn’t believe hers killed his. But to find out how killed his mother, he’d have to prove her mother didn’t kill his mother. Raven had found the gritty the reason behind the purpose for his mission. It didn’t matter if she died. Or that someone murdered her mother. It mattered that he found his mother’s murderer. How does anyone believe this? Once he learned for sure her mother killed his mother, that would end his investigation. He’d hate her again and that would end all of this between them. Raven had herself convinced of that. He’d accuse her of convincing him that someone would try to kill h
Dom turned the laptop around toward Raven and Paul. His question echoed in everyone’s minds as they read the file and looked at the photo. Raven sat there and frowned. “I would say it looks like my mother. But I thought my mother wasn’t seen in Pack territory two days before the fire? That’s not her name either. Wait. Klyne? As in the Klyne Pack? Are you saying my mom lost control of the Klyne Pack when my dad forced my mom to mate with him? But that means Alpha Klyne’s was my first cousin. Okay. It makes sense why he left me in the basement when he took me prisoner and wanted a mate. Did you lie to me? If so, the whole idea sickens me. I hope he thought about it sight unseen and didn’t know about the blood relation. Otherwise, he’s sick. That’s just wrong.” “Yes, it’s your mother’s sister and litter mate. They’re twins. Oh, I didn’t lie about that one-bit love. It happened just like that. You’re correct about Alpha Klyne being your first cousin. Bu