The Hunter's Warrior

by Bryce Evans

  “No... We can barely be in the same room together. I hate him and he hates me. We have a truce right now to work on this case together. Nothing like that.” Raven tried to assure them all, but from the looks on their faces, she wasn’t doing a good job. Plus, her big fat mouth told Quinn everything.

  “Sure, darlin’, you just keep thinking that up until he puts his tongue down your throat, again,” she whispered the last part.

  Jade’s mouth fell open. “Jeez, Quinn. Do you have to put it that way?”

  “Yes, because missy here would expect no less from me. She doesn’t like the beating around the bush type of girl. Ain't that right, Raven?”

  She knew her mouth was hanging open, but everyone had the wrong idea. “We really don’t like each other like that.” Glancing down at her watch, Raven noticed she had already spent an hour trying on clothes. They had a meeting with Calum. “I’ve got to go. We have a meeting.”

  “Don’t you worry, hun. I’ve got your sizes now and I will send the clothes to the pack house,” Quinn said.

  “Okay, but I only need some jeans and shirts.”

  Smiling, Quinn looked like she was up to something and that worried her. “Just go have your meeting and leave all this to me.”

  Nodding, Raven glanced back at Quinn. Never turn your back on a predator, and dear God in heaven, Quinn Dixon was a predator.

  “Really, Quinn. We had a moment there and you had to tell her that Caz was practically her mate,” Jade said.

  “Well, he is and she needs that thought in her head. Plus, didn’t you see the way he looked at her. The man looked like he was going to throw her over his shoulder and run away with her,” Quinn said, laughing.

  “You are killing me, Quinn.”

  Putting her hand around her best friend, Quinn muttered, “Now let’s go rack up a huge bill and send it to your mate. Now that’s fun.”

  Chapter Nine

  Caz never looked up at her when she sat beside him. Calum noticed the cold shoulder, too, but didn’t say anything. “Hello, angel, how are you today?”

  “I’m good. How are you?” Raven said.

  “If I were any better, then I would be you,” Calum said, rubbing his hands together. He leaned forward and pushed a brown envelope toward them. “After I spoke to all my uncles, they all said at different times that Boris has been acting a little different than usual. He drifts off in meetings and doesn’t give much feedback. Which, after you both meet him, you will see.”

  “Doubt we will ever meet him,” Caz said, smiling.

  Smiling back, Calum said, “Sure you will. He is coming to the masquerade ball I’m having.”

  “The what?” Raven asked.

  “Oh, my dear, I give the best balls and now that I’m adding a ballroom to the house, it will be the best one yet. Haven has dresses already made for her line and she is making more just for the masquerade ball. Of course, you both will come together. That way you can meet all the parties involved because I have invited them all. And trust me, they will attend.”

  “I don’t have a dress for a ball,” Raven insisted. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms.

  “But you will. I have already spoken to Haven and you will be her muse. What I haven’t told you is that you could be the identical twin to Wyatt’s deceased mate. That’s one way to get you his attention and any information out of him. What do you think?”

  Caz narrowed his eyes at the vampire. “Are you trying to get her killed?”

  “What are you talking about?” she said. “Hello, Death Hunter here. I can handle myself. I knew you would be like this. I can handle Wyatt Benjamin, and Calum is right, it’s the perfect plan to get me in the door.”

  Putting his hand on her shoulder, Caz looked like the cat who ate the canary. “I’m just saying that we are dealing with killers here. We still don’t know who is involved yet and who’s to say that he won’t try something. Especially, knowing now that you look like his beloved mate.”

  “Caz Milton, we have had this conversation already and I know how to handle myself.”

  “Everyone will be there. I have invited all the hunters. She will be completely safe. You will be there with her,” Calum insisted.

  “But--” Caz fumbled.

  “No buts, Caz. We’re doing this. And if you think you can’t deal with this, then bow out now so I can get Leo back,” Raven said, looking away from the chauvinistic tiger.

  Caz rolled his eyes. “Oh, I can deal with it, sweetheart. So when is this ball?”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Two weeks.” They both said in unison.

  “How do you expect to build a ballroom in a week?” Caz asked. Then he shook his head. “Your workers are here again?”

  “Yes, they are working around the clock. The ball will be to show off my beautiful mate to the rest of my family and to get your foot in the door. If Wyatt and Boris are guilty, then they should be punished. I’m still holding out that he’s innocent and not involved. But I’m a realist and only time will tell,” Calum said.

  Simone came up from the back. “Here you go, Calum. Your order is ready. I put in some extras to give the guys a little more sugar. More sugar means more work.” Simone handed boxes to him.

  “Hey, y’all, sorry I can’t talk. Got a big order to finish. Let the girls know if you want something.” Simone waved and headed to the back room.

  Getting up, Calum nodded at the papers he gave them. “That’s a little information I found out about Wyatt Benjamin. I think you will find it interesting. Now I’m off to keep the guys working. Gotta get that room completed before next week.”

  They watched as Calum left. Raven sat back in her chair and stared at the tiger. “What’s wrong with you? What have I done now?”

  “Nothing. I just don’t want to have to answer your brother if something happens to you. I like my skin attached to my body,” Caz said, grabbing the envelope off the table. “Are you ready? We can go over this at the house. I’ve got to run.”

  Raven watched as Caz didn’t wait for her, instead he walked out the door. Shaking her head, she wanted to go back and tell Quinn that she was so wrong. This boy didn’t like her one little bit.

  All week Caz had been acting funny. Every time she asked what the problem was, he would change the subject. And yes, that was starting to piss her off. As they sat at the kitchen table with other hunters, she caught him numerous times staring at her.

  Maybe she was staring at him too. And maybe she had been dreaming about the turd at night most of all. Having Caz Milton as a hunter was really messing her up. Inside and out. She wanted to punch him in the face one minute and kiss him the next. Why, why did this idiot have to be so appealing to her? He only made her mad. It was like he was intentionally trying to aggravate her.

  “So, I hear you got some new clothes and we can’t wait to see you in a dress, Raven,” Angelo teased.

  Before she could say something smart back to Angelo, Caz had both arms on the table standing above him. “And what does that mean? You want to see her without the dress on or what?” Caz’s whole body was bowed up. They all watched as his claws extended into the table. Even Angelo looked taken back.

  Leo had him by the arm, and out the door they went. It happened so fast, all she could do was stare at the door.

  “What was that all about?” Angelo and Dave said in unison.

  Raven’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him act like that.”

  Her two friends both looked at each other then back at her. “Sure.”

  “What are you, twins?” Raven sneered, getting up from the table and going to look out the window above the sink. She didn’t see them anywhere, but she didn’t want to make it look so obvious. What if her brother and Caz got into a fight because of her? Leo fought dirty like her and he would hurt Caz. She couldn’t let that happen.

  Quietly, she went to the front of the house and slipped out the front door. She crept around the house, but Leo and
Caz were nowhere to be found.

  “Huh…” Raven lifted her nose into the air and inhaled but still nothing. If they were fighting, she would hear it and smell the adrenaline, but still nothing was in the air.

  Leo pulled Caz farther down past the pond. “Stop, Leo,” Caz said, pulling his arm out of his grip. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “What’s wrong with me? I think you have that backward. What’s going on between you and my sister?” Leo narrowed his eyes at him.

  “Nothing.”

  “Hoss, that didn’t look like anything to me. You were about to tear Angelo apart for teasing Raven. Now she dishes it out as much as she gets it. So, I’ll ask again, what’s going on between you and my sister?”

  Caz swallowed hard. His tiger was pushing him hard. Tell the brother, Raven is ours. Tell him.

  Growling to himself, Caz turned, trying to get control of the beast inside him. Every time he was with Raven, he wanted to protect her, but Raven was a hunter and she would be in just as much danger as he was. He didn't realize that he was acting like that. Right now, he wanted to rake his claws down Angelo’s face for even thinking about her in a dress.

  “Man, you got it bad. Does she know how you feel about her?” Leo asked.

  Shaking his head, Caz lied. “No, I don’t like your sister like that. She’s a girl and tigers are very protective of women in our pride. It’s just hard to adjust to Raven being a hunter too. That’s all it is, man.”

  Leo busted out laughing. So much so, he had to hold onto the tree limb before he fell to the ground. “Caz, give me a break. We all see it. We all know it. The only ones who are acting like it’s not true are you and my sister.”

  Caz knew it and his tiger knew it. His tiger already considered Raven as his mate. But how could he do this? She was a hunter and he wouldn’t be able to think without trying to protect her all the time. It would get him or both of them killed if he didn’t get this under control.

  Turning toward Leo, he let out a deep breath. “All I want to do is protect her from everyone. That includes you. I don’t know how this is going to work with us together working on this case. Do you think she knows?”

  He could see the sympathy in his Leo’s face. There admitted it; she was his mate.

  “She’s fighting it. Just like you, but don’t worry. It’s going to hit her like a ton of bricks, and when it does, you, sir, better watch out. Look, I love my sister, but she’s a lot to handle. I’m going to tell you about her and help you out because I really think you care for her already.

  “First, my sister lacks self-esteem when it comes to friends. Growing up, she had none. Not one ever...ever. Are you hearing me? She beat the crap out of the ones that picked on her, and once she had that reputation, nobody went near her. Not even the guys.

  “I couldn’t leave her alone for a second because I was afraid she would rip the throats out of any of those humans that made fun of her or just plain looked at her wrong. Jade told me that she loosened up the day she bought all the clothes. I’m so glad too. I worry about her.”

  Leo sat on the side of the tree trunk. “She saved my life one day. Did anyone tell you about that?” Leo stood and turned his head to the side. “Raven is coming, just act like nothing's wrong.”

  Caz nodded. His eyes locked in on her as she came into the clearing. Her eyes feverishly looked him up and down. She probably thought they were fighting.

  “Everything okay?” she asked her brother.

  Shaking his head, Leo smiled back at her. “Nothing’s wrong, little sis. Just man talk. That’s all.”

  Looking away from her before he threw her over his shoulder and ran away with her, Caz took his phone out. “Riley wants to know if we can help set up for the ball. The workers are finishing up the outside walkway. They need help moving tables and chairs around. If you want to go help.”

  Raven nodded. “Of course. I’m ready if you are.”

  Caz glanced back at Leo. “You want to help?”

  “Sure, sounds like a plan. Plus, your sister makes great snacks,” Leo said.

  Chapter Ten

  Raven sat in the back seat of Leo’s truck. They all rode together which she didn’t mind, but nobody was talking. Not even Leo which was unusual. When she got her brother alone, she would find out what was really going on.

  He was keeping secrets from her and that was unacceptable. They didn’t keep secrets from each other. It was a promise they made a long time ago, and before Caz Milton showed up, everything was going great.

  “Goodness,” Raven mumbled as they got out of the truck and walked to the back of Calum and Riley’s house. There it was, a beautiful building off to the left. It looked like an extension of the home. Dark log beams highlighted the front of the ballroom, but the spectacular part was when walking into the room.

  “How on earth did they do this?” Leo asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  They watched as Riley spotted them from across the room and smiled. She ran over and started hugging everyone. Once she got to her, instead of hugging, she patted her on the shoulder. “Thank you for coming. We are definitely going to need some help.” She spread her arms out wide. “Tell me the truth, what do you think so far?”

  “It’s beautiful, sis.”

  Riley gave a dismissive wave of her hand, “Ahh...thank you. It’s going to be a masquerade ball. I thought it should have twinkling lights everywhere since it's supposed to be mysterious. I may have gone a little overboard. What do you think, Raven?”

  Slowly turning to face her, the hunter said, “I think you have achieved your goal. This place is spectacular, and like my brother, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “I’m so happy now. Some are saying it’s too much, but I think it’s magnificent and according to my mate, nothing is too much.” Riley glanced at her. “I tend to agree with him on this. The way it is built, we can decorate and have different events here. I can’t wait to have a mating ceremony. The back end opens to the backyard where we have all kinds of different fruit trees. Oh, I wanted to tell you that Wyatt Benjamin accepted Calum’s invitation and Boris did, of course.”

  Raven and Caz looked at each other, but this time it was different. Caz looked like he was worried. What was going on? One minute everything was cool. They even had a plan, but now he was acting like someone was going to die and he was the only one in on it.

  “Leo, I need someone as tall as you over here hanging lights on these trees.” Riley walked with Raven’s brother to the other side of the ballroom. As soon as they were away from anyone, she grabbed Caz’s arm and dragged him out of the room.

  “What is it?” Caz asked, pulling his arm out of her grip.

  “You tell me. What happened this morning at the house? You wanted to take Angelo’s head off for cutting up with me and now you act like someone’s going to die. Look, if you don’t want to work with me...well, spit it out.” Raven stood with her arms crossed. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath waiting for Caz to answer.

  He paused and propped his hand up on the beam and took in a deep breath. It was like he was actually thinking about whether or not he wanted to work with her.

  “That’s it. I’m done. I’m running back to the house and I’ll inform the alpha.” She took a step off the porch but her foot never touched the ground, instead, she was thrown over Caz’s shoulder and off he went into the woods behind Calum and Riley’s house.

  Pulling her off his shoulder, Raven stumbled back, but Caz caught her and set her upright. She couldn’t scream or yell. Instead she bawled her fist up and hit him square in the stomach.

  As the breath left him, he narrowed his eyes at her. “What the hell, Raven. What did you do that for?”

  “Why did you manhandle me? Carry me off like a lunatic?” Raven yelled, jutting her hip out.

  Shaking his head, he jerked her toward him. “So I can do this.” Grabbing the side of her face, Caz kissed her hard. Turning her head the way he wanted, he s
oftened the kiss holding her close to him.

  His tongue eased its way inside and, boy, this tiger knew how to kiss, but she was still mad at him and pulled away. She didn’t want to but, yeah, she was really angry. “Stop doing that.”

  “Felt like you enjoyed it as much as I did.”

  “No, I didn’t. You just caught me off guard.”

  “Liar.”

  “Fat head.”

  The growl rattled up his throat and set her body into flames and again the tiger jerked her back to him and started kissing her again. Every flick of his tongue drew her body closer to his.

  Pulling away, she had to stop this madness. He didn’t want to be her partner and now this. She put her hand to her lips. “Why do you keep doing that? Look, I understand. You don’t want to work with me. Fine. Someone else will.”

  “That’s not it,” Caz said, blocking her path.

  “Then what then? Everybody is acting crazy. You keep kissing me but you act like you don’t want to work with me. So what am I missing here?”

  “You’re my mate.”

  Raven didn’t even take a breath. She couldn’t. Shaking her head. Nah, that’s not what he said. Nope.

  “I said that you are my--” Raven held up her finger to him and walked around him.

  Her body was tensed when she heard Caz come up behind her. “You can’t ignore this, Raven. I can’t do it anymore. This is why I wanted to take Angelo’s head off. I know what he was thinking and I--”

  Stopping fast, she spun on him. “What was he thinking, Caz?”

  “He was imagining you with a dress on or off, just like I was. And if he touched you, then I would have to kill him. Simple as that. I can’t concentrate worrying about you getting hurt. I can’t function when you are around. All I want is you to be safe and with me.”

  Turning, she continued to walk back to the house. This time he didn’t stop her or say anything further. She didn’t know if she could take it anymore. He was confused. And now he was confusing her. Leo was standing in the yard with Riley and Calum. They all turned as they came out of the woods. Leo was smiling but when he saw her face, he dropped the lights and went to meet her.