Raven almost laughed. She kept her mouth shut as she loaded the pizzas onto the passenger seat of her car. Bastien retreated to his SUV and flashed his brights at her to tell her that he was ready to go. Finally alone, she laughed to herself.
The front door at Logan’s flew open and River spilled out onto the porch. River’s face contorted with confusion when Bastien pulled up beside Raven. Raven watched her sister cautiously descend the steps. Still inside the car, Raven heard her sister call back into the house.
More people appeared, filing out of the house one by one. Raven spared a glance toward Bastien, who still sat behind the wheel of his SUV. She watched his jaw flex before he opened his door and stepped out. Though the man was clearly outnumbered by people he knew wouldn’t like him, he apparently decided to make a stand anyway.
Raven shook her head. She got out while River gathered the boxes from the passenger seat.
“These look like they’ve seen better days,” River said as she took in the state of the boxes.
“I might have dropped them.” Raven fought to keep her attention from flicking to Bastien, who was very much responsible for the scuffed boxes.
Her sister didn’t miss a beat, though. She spun on Bastien and stopped him in his tracks. “Whoa, buddy. Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to make sure my fiancée doesn’t stick around too long. She and I have a lot to talk about tonight.”
River laughed in his face. Bastien seemed taken aback. Everyone in this town seemed ready to put him in his place even though he clearly saw them as beneath him. His jaw clenched again. The light of his beast filled his eyes as he glared at River.
For a moment, Raven faltered. She nearly threw herself between them and promised to leave with Bastien. Then, Logan appeared.
He stood alone and unmoving, his hands in his pockets like there was no greater threat than himself present. Raven wondered if that was true. Her ancestor had been brought back to life, awakened from his slumber and returned to them. His power had pulled shifters with no allegiance into a clan of his own.
Raven wanted to join them. She wanted to leave her mother and Uncle Quincy behind, but that wouldn’t help her escape the squabbles. If anything, the fighting would become more intense as Logan’s clan grew in size. Raven couldn’t escape the fighting. Not that way. Not even today.
This time, she’d anticipated a fight. She didn’t know if Bastien would throw the first punch or if he would back away, but she knew that coming here with him in tow would start something. When she looked back and found Bastien staring at Logan, she knew she’d won.
“Raven,” Bastien growled, gesturing to his side.
She took another step toward the house. Bastien’s growl grew louder. She heard the crunch of dead leaves underfoot and assumed he would try to drag her back to the SUV. Logan blurred in front of her then vanished.
She heard the soft impact of a fist in a stomach. Bastien grunted. Raven turned just in time to see Bastien’s knees buckle. Eyes wide, he bent over Logan’s fist.
Logan leaned in close, but everyone could hear what he said. “Don’t step on my territory and seek to threaten my family. That woman is my flesh and blood. I will not have you hurting her.”
Bastien staggered back. Raven expected to see anger and vengeance written across Bastien’s face. Instead, there was fear. It lasted only a moment, but she saw it, nonetheless. He straightened and slowly backed away.
Adrien’s truck pulled in behind Raven’s car. He caught sight of Bastien and leapt out of the driver’s seat. Bastien was surrounded on either side. Logan stood guard in front of his clan. Adrien approached from the other side.
Bastien ripped open the SUV’s door and threw himself inside. Raven knew there would be hell to pay for this later. He would wait until she had been bound to him for the rest of her life. Alone with him, she would be at his mercy—or his lack thereof.
Adrien rolled his shoulders back and gave a nod to Logan. Raven’s breath caught. She worried, for a heartbeat, that the two might use the unexpended tension in the air against one another. Then, Logan spun on his heel and marched back into the house.
“Well, that ended about as well as could be expected,” River announced.
Baylee cackled madly. “Where did your mom find that worm of a man?”
River shook her head with disappointment. “He’s from Dad’s clan, apparently. That makes me wonder if everyone in that clan is an asshole or if Bastien is a special case.”
“Let’s hope he’s the only one,” Adrien grumbled.
He touched Raven’s elbow and lifted his brows in a silent question. She hadn’t come here to find him, but here he was yet again. She stole a glance at her sister and wondered if River had called him again. Raven never should have told her about the old fling with Adrien.
Raven debated backtracking because she knew her sister would keep pushing her toward Adrien all night, but Raven didn’t have anywhere else to go. If she went home, there would be people waiting for her. Bastien’s retribution would find her ahead of schedule. She wanted to put that off for as long as possible.
Yet, she knew better than to let the space between her and Adrien close any further. He drew her into his orbit over and over when she should have held her ground. Raven had to follow the path set before her. She couldn’t afford to deviate again or else her future would hold nothing but pain.
She should have been winning Bastien’s affection rather than defying him at every turn. The way she’d been treating him wasn’t going to give her any chance at a happy marriage. She doubted she would have even an indifferent marriage at this point.
Everyone else went back inside, leaving Raven and Adrien alone as snow started to drift out of the sky. Raven could feel eyes on her. She caught glimpses of faces peering out from behind the curtains.
What did they think they were doing? Matchmaking? Of all the people, River should have understood how Raven felt. Then again, River had shrugged off their family’s expectations and become someone that Raven didn’t know anymore. It made sense that River thought her sister would do the same.
Raven wasn’t like her sister. She didn’t have that core of steel that had been turned sharp with time and determination. Raven’s true nature was soft and weak. She would bend until she broke.
“You brought Bastien here on purpose, didn’t you?” Adrien shook away the snow gathering on his hair.
Raven bit her lower lip. “I did.”
The grin that graced Adrien’s face made her heart skip three beats. Her lips parted at the sight of him and the light in his eyes. He ruffled her hair.
“Crafty little bird,” he said.
She ducked out from under his hand and narrowed her eyes. “Why is everyone calling me a bird tonight?”
Adrien’s smile faltered.
Raven realized her indignation was uncalled for. She exhaled and pushed aside her anger so she could apologize and mean it. Adrien nodded, but said nothing.
“Pizza?” she asked, gesturing to the house.
Adrien still didn’t answer. She knew where his mind had gone. He was charting the course of her future if she stayed on her current path. She tugged his sleeve in an attempt to pull him out of his thoughts because she didn’t want him to follow that course all the way to the end.
“Raven,” he said, softly.
Her heart threatened to shatter.
“You can’t take care of everyone. I know you think you’re trying to help but…” She forced a smile onto her face to cover the lie about to leave her lips. “I don’t need it.”
Adrien didn’t buy it. Perhaps he knew her so well he could hear every lie. She hated the thought if only because it reminded her of what she was losing. Once she left Nebraska and moved in with her father’s clan, she would never see Adrien again.
She wanted to bring up the box of memories that Adrien had kept by his bedside, but she knew where a conversation like that would lead them. It would end with his hands beneath her clot
hes again. As much as she wanted exactly that, Raven needed to learn restraint.
9
Adrien stood outside as it snowed. The cold gathered on his hair, on his shoulders, and in his heart. He tried to encase it in ice to keep it from shattering. Already, he could feel pieces of it falling away. Every time Raven returned to the path her mother had set before her, a part of Adrien crumbled.
He thought about turning around and hunting down Bastien. The shifter needed to learn a lesson, and Adrien wanted to teach it. He started cracking his knuckles then stopped himself.
The sounds of happiness echoed from inside Logan’s house. Adrien stared at the inconspicuous home and wondered what made it the vortex of joy for so many shifters in the area. The answer was easy.
Nearly everyone inside had found their forever mate. The laughter and shouts all came from a place of love. Mated pairs teased one another. Cousins found common ground with one another all over again. Bonds that had once been feeble were now stronger.
Once again, Adrien couldn’t help but feel on the outside of it all. He’d done his best to care for his family but had never felt as though he was welcome with them. They accepted all he had to give and thanked him profusely. They didn’t share the loving warmth that he craved, though. They let him go on his own way and went back to their own lives.
For a short while, he let himself believe that he could win Raven’s love. He believed he could show her everything she could be, and she could begin to grow into herself. That was the kind of future he yearned for. It pleased the restless beast inside him.
The dream fell apart when Adrien cast it aside. He couldn’t be the one to show Raven anything. She had to come to that conclusion on her own, same as River. Adrien wondered how Jensen had helped his mate. If Jensen could show him what it’d taken to help River become more confident, then maybe Adrien could do the same.
But Jensen was busy with his new family.
Adrien turned to leave. If he happened to run into Bastien along the way, then fate wanted them to duke it out. Adrien thought of all the ways he wanted to hurt the cruel shifter from another clan while he got into his truck.
He couldn’t bring himself to start the engine. He sat in the driver’s seat and stared at the house glowing with light and life. Someone had strung Christmas lights on the bushes outside. The sight drew him back in. He wanted to be a part of it.
How could he make room for himself in a place that was already full? If they could have made space for him, they would have done it long ago. Adrien wouldn’t have had to hurt all alone this whole time.
Right?
But this wasn’t his family. Though there were relatives inside, this house was home to a brand-new clan. Perhaps he could find his place among them, while they were still building the future they wanted to see.
His beast slithered under his skin. It had grown restless during his hesitation. It wanted him to let it loose so it could fly among the snowy clouds. He rolled his shoulders back and felt the press of wings against his back.
Two lights by the house blinked, drawing Adrien’s attention away from his beast. He stared at the corner of the house, where the lights had flickered. It took him far too long to realize that he was looking at a pair of dragon eyes and not Christmas lights. The dragon lifted its head. The glow from the nearby window illuminated the side of Raven’s dragon.
Her scales were a deep wine-red. She shook out her wings and a dusting of snow drifted from them to the ground. He marveled at how well she contained her heat for a dragon. Then again, Raven had always been gentle. She’d never been one to resort to violence. That just wasn’t her way.
She always tried her best to defuse a situation. She kept dragons from blowing up on one another. He hated to think about how she’d had to learn that ability while living between Alice and Quincy Montoya. Adrien had done what he could to bring some joy to her teenage years, but he couldn’t roll back time and give her the childhood she’d deserved.
The dragon ahead turned its back to him. She cast one last glance back at him before disappearing into the darkness. Adrien was out of the truck before he knew what he was doing. One foot hovered over pristine snow. If he chased after her, would she finally listen to him?
Or would this be like every other time where she brushed aside his efforts? Adrien loved her, deeply. She would always hold a piece of his heart, but he didn’t know how much more of this he could endure before the beast cracked. The dragon in him would keep pushing until it went mad.
Adrien took that step anyway. He followed Raven into the dark as his beast switched places with him. Claws touched the ground once he made it past the house. It seemed strange, shifting on Montoya territory, but Adrien had never been smart about recognizing the line between the two clans.
He doubted anyone inside cared if he and Raven frolicked in the snow. It was coming down harder now. The world took on a strange hue, turning grey. He searched for the glint of red among the white. Raven appeared like a stroke of blood.
She brushed against him, proving that she was real and not a figment of his imagination. He growled and nipped at her neck. She skittered away from him. Hunger pinched his gut, but it was not for food. He needed her. He needed to be closer to her.
Raven turned tail and ran again. This time, he quickly gave chase. Only her tail was visible in the haze. He reached for it so he could pull her back, but she whipped it out of reach at the last second. His snarl rippled in the air.
She made a sound that was like laughter, if dragons could laugh. Adrien rocked on his heels and scanned his surroundings in search of Raven. Fire flickered to one side. It danced on the other. The fires bloomed and died, appearing in all directions one by one. She was making it harder to find her.
Raven caught his scent a moment before he landed. The ground exploded in all directions around her. She ducked and dove away, but Bastien’s claws grabbed her before she could escape. He pinned her to the ground and pushed her down into the snow and mud.
Adrien burst out of the snowy haze and skidded to a halt. Eyes wide, he surveyed the situation before a growl escaped his muzzle. His lips curled in an open threat.
Bastien’s grip on her neck tightened. He held her right at the base of her skull. She didn’t know what would happen if she tried shifting back to human. Would he crush her? Or would she be able to wriggle free?
Raven wasn’t sure if she dared take the chance. Her heart raced too fast. While her beast bristled, Raven wanted to shrink. She wanted to turn back time and stay close to Logan’s house. There was no telling how far she and Adrien had strayed. The sound inside had been loud when she’d snuck out and shifted. She doubted anyone could hear them.
Adrien’s claws sank into the earth. She watched him tense, ready to leap. She let out a small sound of warning, and he faltered. While indecision gripped Adrien, Bastien used that time to strike. Claws raked across Adrien’s temple. Blood sprayed the white ground.
Regret slapped Raven across the face. Bastien had gotten the advantage because of her. Adrien staggered back, his head low as blood dripped from the horns along his jaw. The knowledge that she was responsible for his pain nearly tore her apart. If that didn’t, then Bastien would.
She’d likely offended him for the last time. Would he bear her as a wife? Was her legacy worth it? Bastien would try to break her. He wouldn’t kill her because her body was useful as long as it contained a womb. Instead, Bastien would do everything in his power to make her feel as small and powerless as possible.
Was that the direction she wanted to go? Was she going to let this man attempt such a thing when she could walk away and take her life into her own hands? She wasn’t sure. If she walked away, what would she do? She had no resources to call her own. She had no place to call her own.
Raven trembled on the ground, but Adrien stepped over her and covered her with his body. She stared up at him with awe. Even though she had gotten him hurt, he continued to protect her. She didn’t deserve the love
that Adrien had reserved for her. All those years ago, she’d broken his heart and yet he acted as though nothing had happened.
Bastien flapped his wings and buffeted them with air and snow. Were they in their human forms, the snow would have turned into ice. It would have destroyed their skin. However, it was useless against dragon scales.
That didn’t matter if Bastien was trying to escape. If he got away, he would vanish into the haze.
Raven wriggled out from under Adrien so he could make the leap. Adrien crouched low. His muscles bunched before launching him into the air. Wings outstretched, he zoomed after Bastien.
She hung back, confused. Why had Bastien come all this way just to run away? Had he expected to catch Raven off guard? If he didn’t want to kill her, then she didn’t understand why he would hunt her down in his dragon form. That seemed a bit excessive.
Her thoughts tumbled. She tried to fit them together, but couldn’t figure out what they were trying to say. All the pieces were right in front of her. Trapped in her mind, she froze. She didn’t take off until it was too late.
By the time things became clear, the men had disappeared. With shaky limbs, she jumped into the air. She struggled to get the wind beneath her wings. Her shaky start made her slow, but the adrenaline racing through her body gave her the boost she needed to fly into the storm.
10
Adrien could see the tip of Bastien’s tail. Claws outstretched, Adrien reached for it with the plan to drag the shifter out of the sky. Bastien wouldn’t get away this time. He’d revealed his cruel intentions to Adrien, and they would not be forgiven. Adrien would make sure that Bastien paid for the damage he’d done.
Not the damage to Adrien’s face. The gashes would heal, in time. Adrien was more upset that Bastien had come here to hunt Raven. That was the only reason he could think of that would bring Bastien out this way. Bastien had been insulted by the clan’s display earlier. Instead of facing the clan head-on, Bastien had waited until he thought Raven was alone.
A Star Crossed Fate (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 4) Page 8
