Fur and Feathers [A Raven Saga Book 2]

by Crymsyn R. Hart

  "Actually, you're probably the best thing for her right now. You're all she's talked about for months. She's been trying to get Vincent to lay off you. Stop being a bully to get you back to the pack. I don't know what's with him, but once he gets something in his head, he won't stop for anything. I should know. It was how he found me and convinced me to come back with him. Right now you're on his brain."

  Alena laughed. “He's been after me for a long time. I don't think that's a problem considering I can't change. I'm sure you're doing everything you can for the pack. So how did you end up here?"

  Marija stared at Alena and the fireplace. “My story is not one you need to know now. I can tell you that what you think is your life is not what you think it is. There are many changes coming. You have to watch out, the life you knew is not as cut and dry as what you have made it."

  Alena listened to what she had to say and wondered, but she did not discredit the vedma's words. She believed in psychics. “Well, I can only wait and see what happens. Do you think staying here will be good for Jamie? Really?"

  "Like I said, she needs all the support she can get, and Trina is close to changing. If you wanted, so could you. The wolf is not as dead in you as you make it out to be."

  Alena shook her head. “Once upon a time I thought maybe I could slip my skin, but it's been years since I've felt the burn. I don't think it's in me anymore."

  The witch crossed the room and caressed Alena's cheek. Alena felt the warmth of her hand against her flesh. For a moment, something ignited deep inside of her. Just like seeing Vincent had. Once the vedma removed her hand, Alena realized being around the rest of the pack that was making her feel this way. “It's in you more than you realize. You just need some passion to reignite it. You lost the change to pain, but you can regain it if you want it bad enough. You can slip your skin once again, but something has to ignite your heart. You've hidden your passion away behind the wall you've erected around your mind. Because you block out others, you block out yourself. Being here will not just help you heal the wounds gouged into your soul years ago, it will help heal others as well."

  Alena only nodded. “We'll see. Not meaning to be rude, but I really have to hit the sack.” A yawn escaped her lips, and she stretched. Sleep weighed on her lids.

  The werewolf smiled and opened the other door by the fireplace into a hallway. The place was bigger than she thought. Down the hall was another room with a door closed. The bathroom was behind the fireplace and there were two other rooms on the side. The witch led her into one of the small guest rooms. She noticed the other looked to be a child's room. A girl's.

  "You have a daughter?” Alena asked.

  Marija stared at the empty room. “I have a daughter. She's away learning with another pack. I sent her away when I sensed the danger. I tried to tell the others, but they wouldn't listen. I sometimes wonder if it is punishment..."

  "Punishment for what?” Alena wondered what the witch was getting at.

  "Nothing. I'm just babbling. Please make yourself comfortable. It's nice to have company in the house again. Good night, Alena."

  Alena closed the door to the guestroom and sat on the bed. The events of the past hour washed over her. Never in a million years would she have thought she would be back with the pack. Now she was, and there were some interesting characters, especially the tall, dark, red-haired stranger. She wondered who he was and why she was so intrigued in him. Something about him was so familiar. Alena shook her head and plucked her shoes off. She let her mind wander to the killings. Two pups already, humans, and animals before that. Who or what was killing them? From what Ben said on the phone, she assumed it was a wolf. But what wolf would kill its own kind? None, unless the creature was insane, but even then, the wolf would never go after its young. Alena didn't know. There should have been a trace, but the pack had found nothing. She knew that was unusual, too.

  I'll think about it in the morning when I have a level head. Right now, I'm too tired to think. She rubbed her temples. A slight headache had started to form between her eyes from the long drive and from being up so long. No matter what, she would help find the killer. But even when her head hit the pillow, Marija's words filtered into her mind.

  "All you need is passion to reignite it." Did she want to rejoin the pack that much? Could she even change? Before she could grasp onto an answer, she slipped under the covers of sleep, not noticing the pair of glinting yellow eyes watching her through the window.

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  Chapter Seven

  During the meeting, Darius had tried to stay focused on the task at hand. Find the killer of the young wolves and then he could leave. He knew the pack would not be receptive to any outside help. They were an insular group. Most packs were, but he had not expected to feel such hatred toward him. The only ones who seemed to welcome him were Marija, Vincent, and his sister, the one who had most recently lost a child.

  Darius had listened and kept silent, knowing it was better for him to keep his mouth shut than to say anything. Plus, observing had given him time to think about what Marija had told him before the meeting. They had had a daughter. He had been a father. Part of him was furious at her for not informing him, but he understood. Marija had been wronged. While sitting with her before the meeting, there were a few precious moments of an uneasy peace between them. His hatred for her had eased. He felt her pain as they shared the silence. She had shown him her memories of their daughter and how she had been dragged off and killed. The Raven Warrior only wished he had known. Maybe he could have saved the little girl, Lilan. His heart tightened when he thought about Jonathan. He had searched the link between them and found the boy sleeping soundly. Through the link, he sensed another watchful presence taking care of the boy. Examining the connection, he realized the other was Tremain.

  He might not like his Raven brother very much, but he respected him and knew he would care for the boy as if he were his own charge. Tremain was no longer ruled by the moon, so he was a good choice. With that, he had withdrawn and settled back into the meeting. A stranger walking in surprised him. He felt her power like an arrow hit the man who opposed her coming forward. Her arrow had been strong enough to get the man's attention, yet dull enough not to kill. Darius had the feeling her ability was a lot stronger than she let on. She stood up to the wolf, and when the rest of the pack had started berating her, he gave her credit for her iron will, but she seemed vaguely familiar.

  The pack had called her a half-breed, a mix of human and werewolf. He hadn't realized such things existed. Then again, why wouldn't they, considering a human and a banshee mixed though their progeny ended up going insane. Maybe human DNA was a possible match with other species. The Warrior realized most of the wolves in the room had been born wolves and looked down on the ones that had been bitten. He didn't know the intricacies about werewolf packs. He should and learning about them while he hunted for the killer would prove educational.

  His task was to investigate the death of the little boy. He had only been eight, and Darius understood now why Marija had asked the goddess to send his kind to investigate, because her magick and the pack had come up empty-handed. They couldn't call in the local sheriff and tell them what had happened. From what had been said at the meeting, the local cops were getting involved because of the mutilated bodies they were finding. He doubted there were any wild wolves in the forest, maybe coyotes or bears, but no wolves. How do you explain two deaths in less than a month? Vincent had shown him where the bodies were dumped, but he suspected the killings had taken place somewhere else since there was no trace. Darius couldn't think of what kind of a creature that would do something so horrible to a child and slash it beyond recognition. Humans had unstable elements among their own kind. What would happen if a murderer or a serial killer from the human world mixed with the werewolf community? It would be unthinkable. They would use their power and do unspeakable things. Then again, what would happen if the dregs of society got into the Ra
ven Warriors? He knew his brethren were cursed because they had either committed some unspeakable sin or, like him, had spurned women.

  No matter what the cause, the Warriors had to atone for their sins, and if they did not clean the stain from their soul, they were condemned to an even worse hell to spend eternity in true raven form and forget about their humanity. He prayed this would never happen to him. If he failed his mission, Betha would be on his case. He had to succeed.

  "You seem lost in the night. Is there anything I can do to accommodate your stay?"

  Darius looked up to see Vincent staring at him. “No, thank you. I'll be quite fine. The sun will be rising soon, and I'll be confined to my feathers again. From there, I'll be able to get a better look, a bird's-eye view, to see if I can spot anything."

  Vincent nodded. “I understand what it's like to be trapped in one form, but I did not realize your curse was so binding. Aren't you allowed to be human at all during the day? Isn't there a loophole?"

  Darius chuckled. “I only wish there was. Normally, I can only be human during the three days of the full moon, but my curse has been rescinded some. To help you, I can be a man by night and a bird by day while the moon is not full. I'm sorry for your loss. I'll do all I can to find the one who is killing the children of your pack."

  The werewolf clapped him on the back. “Good. I am glad. When Marija told me she had brought in some outside help, I was a little leery, and to hear you have a past it made me even more suspicious, but I think you will be true to your word. If you do need anything, please help yourself to food or a room in the lodge. There are many free ones. Most of the strays, the single wolves, live in town or on the land. Good night, Raven Warrior."

  Darius didn't say anything but watched the pack leader stroll into the darkness, seeming to melt into the shadows like Darius did becoming one with them. The Raven Warrior was sure it was a trick of the light. Something about Vincent didn't set right with him. He couldn't put his finger on the exact thing, so he decided he would keep an eye on him. Darius checked the sky. With a few hours until dawn, he didn't have to be in raven form yet, but he decided it would be the easiest way to keep an eye on the leader. Quietly, he wrapped the darkness around himself and let his wings carry him into the sky. Locating Vincent took him a couple of minutes. At first, he had been looking for a man when the pack leader had transformed into a wolf.

  I thought only the old ones weren't bound to the moon cycles. This one may be leader and powerful, but he is not old. He is still young in wolf terms. Not even a century old. Something has given him the power to overcome the sway of the moon. Darius settled on a high branch that gave him a good view of the silver wolf below him. The Raven Warrior realized Vincent was listening to a conversation in Marija's house where she had taken the newcomer, Alena. Darius heard some, but not the whole thing. He picked up on something about her still being able to change if she wanted to badly enough. Then their voices fell to a whisper. He might have been a magickal creature, but his senses weren't that enhanced when he was twenty feet up in a tree. However, Vincent was perched outside of a dark window that soon grew light, and Darius saw Alena sitting on the bed. Vincent had an uncanny interest in the woman. He had said at the meeting they were family, and by her reaction, she did not return his affection. Darius wondered what was between them.

  The wolf stood perfectly still, not wanting to alert the woman in the cabin. He sat there fascinated with her. Darius tried to peer into his mind and read the wolf's thoughts, but he encountered an impenetrable barrier. Finally, he gave up and watched the wolf until he felt the first warm tickles of dawn on his feathers. Being stuck in this form for the next few hours saddened him. No matter, he knew he had to ask Marija about the history between Vincent and Alena. When the first rays of dawn touched the silver back of the wolf, the Scotsman watched Vincent stretch and slowly, painfully, revert to human form. He was naked, and Darius saw some of his battle scars riddled across his back from claw marks and one on the front of his chest. He was as silent as any proficient hunter leaving the cabin. Vincent wandered into the woods. Darius hopped to a lower branch and watched the sun illuminate the red hair on the sleeping woman inside. He realized where he had seen her before.

  Six months earlier, she had been the one calling for help in the alley. She was being chased by a werewolf and he had done nothing to help her. He remembered thinking how she had been at fault from the wolf chasing after her. Now he wondered if he had been wrong. He shivered in his feathers.

  Women! No matter what they look like. I still don't need them. All they do is get you into trouble, Darius thought and stared at her more intently. No matter what his thoughts were, something about her made him wonder why their paths had crossed again. Fate was a cruel mistress, and he would have to find out how his path involved this woman. Darius sighed and took his eyes away from her when she began tossing and turning and mumbling something. He had other work to do, and he could not stay and watch a woman who was going to be nothing but trouble for him. He already felt it in his feathers.

  After hours of soaring over the woods and the pack's territory, Darius was not sure he was going to find anything. He had scoured the woods from a bird's-eye view, covering miles in the air faster than a wolf could on all fours. Finally sitting down to rest, he saw something he had missed earlier in the day. From his vantage point and the position of the sun, he saw something glinting in the light. The trees had obscured his view from up high, but now as he flew lower to investigate, he saw a cave covered with plants. No one would have thought to look in the cave because so much brush covered it. He hopped in among the brambles until he came to a place where he could see inside the opening. The place was at least thirty miles from the compound and way up in the mountains. Almost in the nosebleed altitude, where he doubted any of the wolves ventured. From the light, he could see something had inhabited the cave. There were no tracks around the stone opening, so he was not sure what kind of animal it was. Maybe it was a ghost. He was open to all ideas. Darius was hopping along the stone archway, trying to act like a normal bird, when something metallic caught his eyes.

  Darius hopped over to the metal object and saw it was a bracelet. The bracelet was silver, with bands of gold mixed in with the metal. In the center was a silver wolf's head. He hopped into the cave a little farther. His senses didn't tell him there was life in the cave even though there were signs, but he could have been wrong or there could have been something blocking him. He was not worried about getting hurt, but there was no point in going into the cave any farther when he wasn't able to see. No matter. He picked up the bracelet, a heavy trinket made with obvious care, in one foot and then took off.

  The wind was blustery in the mountains with the hint of snow. It might have been only the beginnings of fall, but the dotted white peaks said otherwise. The white against the grey rock mixed with the green of the trees made for a beautiful landscape, and the additional ribbons of reds, pinks, and purples on the horizon made the scene even more spectacular. The only thing he enjoyed about his curse was flying. Flight gave him freedom. When watching over Jonathan and knowing he was safe, Darius would take off and ride the wind currents for hours, letting the thermals take him high or low. It didn't matter where he went just as long as his mind was free and his body was light. If there was any trouble, he would quickly fold the darkness around him and slip back to Jonathan, but nothing like that had happened.

  The Raven Warrior winged back to pack ground realizing they owned land around the compound in a ten-mile radius and then blended with the state forest. Darius made out the zigzagging barriers from the air, which radiated a faint blue in his unnatural sight. They had marked their territory, and if anyone crossed the borders, he assumed they would know. He wondered if Marija had been the one to enchant the boundary magickally so other beings could tell they were going into werewolf territory, but he also noticed the barriers were thin in some points, allowing things to slip in. He wondered if these weak spots were the
way the hunter was getting into pack territory. He would have to address his question with Vincent.

  He flew next to the compound, feeling his feathers retreat when the sun had fully set and twilight settled over the forest. The chirping of crickets and night birds started as if on cue and kept him company while he sensed the darkness. Few wolves were around, only the ones keeping to themselves. He walked into the compound, admiring the good craftsmanship of the place. The lodge had been built with care. The Raven Warrior could hardly see where the new editions started and the old ones ended, although that the lodge had been built onto was clear. As a mortal, he had loved working with his hands. He had been good at carving. Darius had liked seeing the shape the wood would take. The inner design spoke to him while he moved his knife over his creation. That art seemed to be lost to him the same time he dawned his wings.

  Darius ran his hand over a wooden column. There was life still in the pine. Whoever built this place knew what they were doing. His stomach grumbled. The last time he had eaten anything was when the moon was last full. The need to eat when he was in raven form didn't plague him. Hunger only hit him when he was a man. He found his way to the kitchen down one of the long hallways. Inside, he found a layout any chef would love. Everything was stainless steel. There were two stoves and two large refrigerators along with a freezer. Off to the side, he saw what could have been a pantry. Along the back of the stoves was a long countertop with stools underneath, and next to that was a table he hadn't seen since his days in the great hall of a castle. Fifty people could easily have fit, with room for more if the benches were pushed together. Looking around in awe at the pots and pans hanging on a rack above the stoves, he caught the smell of something cooking. The aroma brought him back to reality.