Fur and Feathers [A Raven Saga Book 2]

by Crymsyn R. Hart

  Sitting here, she wondered if everything was beginning to come together or come apart. She wasn't sure. Now her past seemed to be finally catching up to her.

  The fire behind her warmed her back. The fire crackled and popped since the logs were damp. The small blaze was enough to heat the small space along with the elevated temperatures of the shifters. Even her mother, who smelled the same, had a higher body temperature than what she remembered. Marija sat by the door, Darius leaned against the now-righted bookcase, and then Jamie and Ben each took a place on the floor on a braided rug and turned to her mother waiting.

  "I know you all want answers, you especially, Alena. And I have the answers, well, at least some of them."

  "Good,” Darius replied gruffly. With a movement of his hand, he held his dagger. Alena felt his irritation coming from him like the heat from the fireplace. She sent a tendril of feeling to him and caught his attention. The look in his green eyes that met her was cold, his face impassive, but he returned the gesture with a bolt of love so strong, the emotion jolted her heart. She turned her face to the floor to keep the others from seeing her blush.

  "Charlene, will you please get on with it and tell us what's going on here?” Jamie asked.

  "Jamie, you're just like your father. Stubborn and impatient."

  Her cousin growled. “I have every right to be the way I am. One of my babies is dead because of something hunting this pack. And if you know anything about it, I swear I'll come over there and kill you myself."

  Charlene answered the growl with one of her own. The base instinct to fight and shred moved through Alena's mind. Her mother's hand gripped her shoulder, and her nails dug into her skin. Feeling something so animalistic in her mother was unusual, but Alena figured she would get used to the wolf in her.

  "Ladies, enough!” Marija told her. “We have things to discuss and if you want to figure out what's going on, I assume you let her finish and shut up. We are all concerned for the pack and about the events which are unfolding. Now please."

  Her mother's grip lessened. The wolf retreated and the woman she knew returned. Alena felt the walls go up around her mother's mind like bricks being laid around her.

  "Twenty years ago, my husband and I were going to our mountain cabin. We left Alena with your mother and father and told them we would be back. The moon was full that night, and it was going to be my first change."

  Alena turned around at the surprise. “You were bitten? By who?"

  Her mother smiled at her softly. “Your father bit me. He got a little frisky one night and drew blood. I was furious at first. We had been together for years and never before had he bitten me. He had always wanted me to join the pack and slip my skin with him, telling me it would make things a whole lot easier. There were times I would have agreed with him since when he would go away with the pack and then come back he seemed like another person because the wolf was still in him. That was why he had the cabin. He would go there to hunt. It was owned by the family, by his father, and had passed on to him. His brother never really liked him. They hated one another really. Alena, your father had actually beaten him for pack leader ages ago after their father died, but at the last minute, your uncle slipped a silver dagger into his side."

  "My father would never do that!” Jamie stood up and hissed.

  Jamie began to change and lunged at her mother. She didn't think her cousin could change without the sway of the moon. She had thought her transformation was something to do with what Vincent and Marija were doing. However, she seemed to be wrong. Her cousin, and maybe her mother, could change without the sway of the moon. Alena knew from experience only the elder wolves could slip their skins without being near the full moon. Her mother was powerful, and Alena could sense the power coming off of her in waves. That her mother was the very same and very much different all at once was strange.

  "Enough!” Marija once again stood between Jamie and her mother. Ben reached out, took the shoulder of his wife, and held her back. Alena shook her head. The intensity in the room was battering against her walls, and she wasn't sure she could take the overheated emotions. Her walls hadn't been this flimsy for a long time. Darius caught her eye. For a second, she felt his strength pour into her, and then the walls around her emotions were as strong as they had ever been. He was bolstering her and that brought tears to her eyes.

  "Thank you," she thought.

  "You're welcome."

  "I said enough. This has gotten out of hand. We want answers, and I'm tired of this. I'm tired of all of it!” Marija shouted. Alena felt Marija's frustration bounce off her shields like a rubber ball.

  "As I said, your father wounded my husband, his own brother, so he was able to claim leadership. He had the scar for the rest of his life, and the wound almost killed him. We didn't have a vedma then to help heal him. Your pack is lucky to have Marija as is my pack to have me."

  "You're a witch? Like Marija?” Darius asked.

  "Yes. I found after I changed I was able to do things no other wolf could. But I'll get to that in a minute. We hadn't told anyone I was bitten and we played off I was sick. Your father, Alena, wanted to introduce me to the pack slowly because he knew his brother would not accept me. He never liked the fact I was human or that I had a child. We dropped you off and we started to leave and made it half way up the mountain. A deer came out of nowhere, and when your father stepped on the brakes, they failed. We had just had them replaced. The car swerved, and we went down an embankment. I was thrown from the car, and your father was knocked unconscious. The car caught fire. I was knocked out until the burn of my first transformation woke me. I screamed through it all, and I didn't really know what had happened. I hunted and understood why it was your father loved being in the pack, but I went a little insane and spent the next few years mostly as a wolf. Somehow, I wasn't able to turn back into a human. Maybe because I didn't want to face your father's death. That was why you couldn't find me.

  "For the first few months, I roamed and was taken in by another pack over the border in Canada. Their vedma was able to communicate with me and help me back to human form. When I did, I remembered everything. It was strange it came back as a wave, and I remembered you. However, I had lost years. I had lost eight years to be precise. She brought me back to the crash site, and I remembered even more. I went back to find you, but you had already run away. The police had a record of picking you up, but from there, you got lost in the system. I didn't know where you were. I tried to find you. I swear I did, sweetie. And when I got back, the pack was having problems with your father, Jamie."

  "Alena killed my father. How could you have had trouble?” Jamie sighed.

  Alena saw a shadow pass across Marija's face, and whatever it was went through her mother's mind as well. “It's not that your father was resurrected, but it was what he did to Vincent that started the trouble. Tell us the truth, Jamie, he didn't die right after Alena injured him, did he?"

  Alena twisted in her chair and stared at her mother. “What are you talking about? I felt him die. I saw him keel over."

  Charlene came around the chair, knelt, and stared at Jamie. Her compassion and her love washed over Alena's mind. She felt Darius's power recede, and she was able to meet her mother head on. When she did, Alena felt her mother's abilities surging through her mind. Her mother was meeting her power with her own and trying to influence her. After a moment, Alena got control and pushed back, preventing her mother invading her mind. Her eyes flicked to Darius who was clutching the dagger. He was monitoring what was going on and was going to pounce if he felt anything he didn't like, but Alena was not going to let her mother rule her.

  "Get out of my mind!” With all her might, Alena head butted her mother out of her emotions. She never expected her mom to do that. Charlene stumbled and landed on her ass on the hard wood floor. When she looked up, her eyes glinted and there was a trail of blood running from her nose.

  "I knew you were powerful, Alena. I had to see for myself. It's
true you could have killed me if you really wanted, if I didn't know how to control my emotions, but when you were thirteen, your abilities were only starting to solidify. When you hit your uncle with that blast after he was beating you, you didn't kill him. Well, not all of him."

  "What are you saying?” Alena whispered wiping the sweat from her brow.

  "What I'm saying, honey, is that somehow your power killed the human in your uncle and released the wolf. He went crazy."

  "That's impossible. I was at the burial. My father is not alive. He's dead."

  Alena watched Charlene turn to Jamie. “Yes, he is dead, but not before he attacked your brother."

  "Oh God, what did I do?” Alena sat stunned on the floor. “I created a monster. He's the one who's been attacking the children, isn't he? He's the one, but why now?"

  Alena shook. Marija crossed the room and sat next to Alena wrapping a hand around her shoulder. “No, honey, it's not your uncle. He really is dead."

  "Then who is it?” Darius asked.

  "We don't know. Marija and I have scoured every spell, every resource we have. Nothing is coming up. We know it's another wolf.” Charlene stood and faced the Raven Warrior.

  "That's the reason we are stumped, we don't know who it is. We know it's someone in the pack."

  "I forgot about Dad. I guess I blocked it out. You're right.” Jamie looked up and stared at Alena with disbelief on her face. “We kept him in the cave where Darius found the bracelet. It was a secret. Things were okay for a while. Mom became acting pack leader. Dad was docile until we started finding ripped up animal carcasses. At first, Mom thought it was a bear, until Vincent went out there to check on him and found Dad in wolf form. It wasn't the full moon. Dad attacked Vincent and nearly killed him. Something was wrong with him. We all wanted to know how he could change without the moon, but we never did."

  "That was why you never came after me, wasn't it?"

  Jamie turned to her. “Mom thought it would be better to let you think he was dead. That way you would never come back. We didn't know about Charlene until she showed up six months later."

  Everyone turned toward her. Charlene spoke up. “And when I came here it was with the other vedma. Your pack tried to keep us away from your father, but since I was married to the second-in-command, your father still had clout within the pack, even though he was dead within the pack, the others listened to me. The other vedma was trying to help me find you Alena. When she realized the damage done to your uncle, she tried to help him. Claire, your aunt, told me what had happened. You had begun to change, but he started to beat you! I was ecstatic you had inherited the wolf, and the other vedma told me you should be able to change. The leader of their pack was only half, so it gave me hope if I could find you. Anyway, we tried to heal Vincent the best we could, and the other vedma put your uncle out of his misery.” Charlene turned to Jamie. “And I bet after the bite of your father Vincent became able to slip his skin too. Then he bit you. Didn't he?"

  Alena got up and started between her mother and her cousin. “Jamie, if Vincent bit you, what happened? Is that the reason why some of the pack can slip their skins when the moon isn't full? Is that the power he gave you?"

  Ben had backed away from Jamie who was crying. She nodded. “Vincent showed me one day he could change. Dad hurt him so bad, and then the surprise of seeing you. We didn't know the effect it would have on Vincent. He's my twin. We've never kept secrets from one another. He asked me if I wanted the same. I told him of course. Why wouldn't I want to slip my skin instead of waiting centuries? He bit me, and it was like turning for the first time all over again. The power. It's wonderful. But then he wanted to share it with others. I told him to keep it between us. He wanted to create a new generation of werewolf, and he didn't act on it until the day he came back with you.” Jamie gestured to Marija. “You were the one who poisoned his mind on making the pack bigger. You were the one who took him away from me. You were the one who told him it was okay for him to spread his gift to others. Why did you have to do that?"

  Marjia stepped back. “I never told anything like that to Vincent. I never poisoned his thoughts or took him away from you. You were the one who alienated yourself from the pack. You left and went to college, and when you came back, you had your husband and your child. He loved you and the girl with all his heart. Vincent still does. Just like he loves our daughter!"

  There was stunned silence in the room. All eyes turned to the gypsy, including Darius's. Alena sensed the surprise. “The girl you brought back is Vincent's?” Jamie whispered.

  "Yes."

  "As wonderful as all this great back story is, how and what does this have to do with what is hunting the pack? What chased Alena? Why was I summoned here? If I don't figure that out, then I'm screwed. Do any of you have an answer for that?” Darius asked.

  All those in the room turned toward the Raven Warrior as well as Alena.

  "I am sorry, Darius. I have no idea who killed the two children or the other humans. I only know something is stalking the pack."

  Alena got up to stretch her legs. “Okay, well we have cleared up some stuff, but there are still other questions, and honestly, I really don't want to deal with them right now."

  "Honey, there is still a lot we need to discuss,” her mother said and came over and kissed her on the cheek.

  "Mom, yeah, that's great, but you know what, I've nearly died these past three days, so you know what I really don't care. I want some time to be alone. Is that something so hard to ask?"

  "I'm not going to say anything against that.” Ben ushered Jamie out. Charlene gave a longing look to Alena, and she felt her mother caress her thoughts, letting her know she loved her. She didn't bother to respond. Marija left too. Darius turned to go, too.

  "Please stay,” Alena whispered.

  He turned slowly. She felt his stiffness, as if he was not sure she really wanted him to remain when everything in her really did. She had craved him since she had awoken. When she awoke and stared into the eyes of her mother, the sudden sense of loss and hollowness that encompassed her heart made her wonder if what she had experienced when she was asleep had been real. Had Darius really been there? Had she seen the Angel of Death, a real goddess? Everything was clear in her mind, yet a blur. Alena needed to feel him in her arms, to know he was real flesh and blood. She had to know the truth and be sure some hallucination or dream had not brought it on.

  The Raven Warrior closed the door and turned to her. Alena jumped when a log in the fireplace popped and nearly fell out of the hearth. Her hand went to her heart. She swallowed. Everything had her spooked. This was not her typical day. Everyone was on edge, Darius especially. The tension crackled around him and between the two of them like an electrical storm. Alena moved a step closer. His green eyes took in her form when she moved across the room, and he never moved a step or looked away. If he had been a wolf, staring her down would have meant he was challenging her authority, saying he was more alpha than she. But he wasn't a wolf.

  Standing next to him now, she wanted to jump him. The lust stirring in her heart leaked wetness between her thighs. Every fiber of her being wanted this man. He ignited a passion so deep inside of her the lust stirred her blood in every way. Alena let her gaze travel the lines of his face like the surface of a map, studying every direction before she made her decision of which way to turn. Whatever way she went, she knew the ride would be bumpy.

  "Darius,” she breathed his name. She felt the tight walls around his mind beginning to crumble. The Warrior façade was not as strong as when she first saw him outside. All because she had whispered his name. She liked how the syllables formed on her lips. She wondered how he liked her saying his name. If he would let her into his mind, she could share her feelings with him so he could see how much he had already wrapped himself around her heart. Her hand shook when she placed his palm gently on his chest. He took in a quaking breath. She felt like a school girl going out on her first date with a long time c
rush. Slowly, she stood on tiptoe and brushed her mouth against his, using her tongue to lick his top lip. Meanwhile, she never closed her eyes, but kept her gaze focused on his eyes, waiting to see what he would do, silently wishing he would scoop her up, but everything about him was on edge. If he was wound any tighter he would break apart or find himself falling over the precipice he had put himself on. Alena understood he did not want to take the chance of turning into a raven in front of her, but she just knew that he wouldn't. Not this time. They had come to an understanding when they were at the feet of a goddess. They were linked to one another, and she was not going anywhere. They were both one another's support systems.

  "Alena, please. I—"

  Feeling the eternal struggle within him, she placed a finger to his lips. “Hush. You won't. Not this time. Remember what Morrigain said. If we accept everything we are, then there is no need to worry. I'm still wrapping my mind around everything, but I know when I woke up without you, I felt like part of me was lost, and when Vincent said you were dead, I thought my world had crashed around me. Please don't push me away."

  Finally, something in his resolve shattered. He smiled a little. His hand pushed a strand of hair, which had carelessly fallen, out of her eyes. “I know. I was there, remember? But having you here is like having a dream I've never been able to hang onto. I don't want to wake up and find my dream has vanished along with the coming dawn."

  Alena smiled and sensed the truth in his words. He didn't want her to be a carrot dangled in front of him just to give him false hopes. “I promise I won't shatter or turn into a pumpkin when the sun comes up.” She turned her cheek into his hand and let out a small sigh. Being in his arms felt so right. All she wanted to do was stay there forever. He made her feel so safe and she hadn't had that feeling in so long. If anything got between her or endangered her he would be the first one to lead the war party and kill whatever it was that hurt her.