Pack mentality. Ugh.
“What’s going on?” Mayhem’s hair was disheveled, his clothes a mess, as if he’d scrambled to dress. Hannah trailed after him looking a little more put together.
Raven held up the fang. “The girls have been out hunting.”
“You make it sound like it’s a crime.” Darcy snatched the tooth from his fingers, feeling like a disobedient child when Mayhem turned his frowning face in her direction.
“Out hunting?” Mayhem glanced at Hannah, who was now at his side. “You too?”
Hannah’s eyes were wide, with fear or shock, Darcy couldn’t say. She opened her mouth, sputtered something unintelligible.
“She didn’t know what we were doing,” Aubrey said from the doorway of her room. With arms crossed, she was leaning against the frame and almost pulled off the perfect fuck you stance. Her eyes gave her away though, shifting from Mayhem to Jay, who came in the living room from the small kitchen area, beer bottle in hand. “We decided to take our training to the next level. It was all my idea. I take full responsibility.”
“Oh, give me a break, Bree,” Raven scoffed. “I know how you two work. You may have cooked up the idea but Darcy wasn’t some passive follower.”
“Did you know about this?” Dy asked Summer, a look of hurt flashing on his face.
Summer shrugged. “Not exactly. I mean, I suspected, but didn’t want to know, so I didn’t ask.”
“Let me get this straight.” Mayhem’s voice held a low timbre of authority. The entire room stilled, eyes on him. “You and you”—his finger landed on Darcy, making her flinch hard—“decided to take your training to the next level”—he air quoted those words—“and went out hunting for beasts.” He glared Darcy. “Do I have that right?”
Darcy gulped, her stomach a mess of gurgling discomfort. She nodded, not trusting her voice to actually work.
Mayhem crossed his arms and seemed to be grinding his teeth as he shifted his eyes from Darcy to Aubrey.
“No one got hurt,” Aubrey lied, her voice steady. “We’re capable of defending ourselves. It’s not like I haven’t been training my whole fucking life for this.”
“Darcy hasn’t been!” Raven spat. “She can barely—”
“Enough!” Darcy yelled. “I’m not some incompetent idiot. I killed a beast!” She held up the fang. “Me, I did! I took one of those bad motherfuckers out!”
“Did it ever occur to you…” Mayhem started, his voice eerily calm. “That it’s a conflict of interest to hunt the very beast you’re mated to? That it might be a little more than fucked up to take a fang as a trophy?”
Darcy flinched, glanced at Aubrey who seemed a shade or two paler.
“You aren’t the same kind of beast, Mayhem.” Aubrey’s voice was almost a whisper. “The beasts we cut down were feral evil predators.”
“You don’t know that! They might have had Huntresses as mates, children at home.”
“No, May, you’re wrong.” Hannah touched his arm as he looked down at her. “I know what they mean. There’s a difference between you guys and those beasts. They’re monsters. They feel like monsters in here.” She touched her chest.
“Yes, that’s it exactly.” Aubrey pushed herself from the door. “Those beasts we cut down were oozing a toxic vibe. They were no good. Tainted. Evil.”
Mayhem scoffed. “What is it you’re trying to prove?”
“Come on, May, you don’t respect us,” Summer said matter-of-factly. “You don’t think we’re capable despite our Huntress genes. I have no interest in taking down a beast, but I can see the allure. You incapacitated us back at the mansion. You undermined our confidence. For a warrior, that’s a blow that just isn’t acceptable.”
“You want to keep us as pets. Safe in our hotel rooms,” Darcy added. “Hunting beasts is what I’m meant to do. I can feel it.”
“You’re meant to be my mate! You’re meant to protect the pack, to be by my side. Use your powers for that!” Raven’s voice was edged with annoyance. “You didn’t choose that life! You didn’t want to be an Order Huntress!”
“I feel like this is something I need to do,” Darcy said, her tone softer as she glanced at Raven.
“Well, I hope you girls got it out of your system because it’s the last time you’re going out on a hunt,” Mayhem said, no doubt believing his words were law.
“You can’t tell us what to do!” Aubrey yelled, finally losing her cool. “You aren’t my governor, my warden! You don’t dictate what I do with my life.”
“I’m your alpha!” Mayhem roared.
Hannah turned into him, as if she was trying to shield the rest of the pack from his misplaced wrath. A vibe of calm emanated from her direction, her powers at work, attempting to defuse the situation.
Jay stepped forward, his hand on Aubrey’s arm, pulling her back a few steps. “We don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want to lose you.”
Aubrey’s anger seemed to slide away as she turned toward her mate. “You need to give me a little more credit, Jay.” She laid her palm on his cheek. “This is what I was born to do. I can’t just turn it off.”
“And if you kill a beast with a pack? What then? You could bring a war to us,” Mayhem said, his tone still gruff but with noticeably less edge. “You endanger the entire pack with your need to prove your mettle.”
Aubrey flashed a determined look in his direction. “Don’t worry, Mayhem, we’ll protect you.”
* * * * *
The ride to the airport was frosty. Ice cold in fact. Once they’d boarded the private jet, things didn’t improve. Everyone stalked off in different directions, trying their best to get some distance despite the cramped space.
Darcy stared out the window, attempting not to listen to the hushed and angry whispers coming from behind her where Aubrey and Jaylon were still hashing things out. Lucky for her, Raven was ignoring her completely. Not even looking in her direction.
The seatbelt sign turned off and she quickly unlatched herself, determined to down a few shots of something before the pinging of her nerves totally unhinged her. She and Raven had only had minor squabbles here and there until the incident at Wolves’ Bane. That had been a deal breaker. He’d abused her trust and she’d frozen him out for months because of it. Now she was feeling the burn of his frosty silence. He hadn’t uttered a word to her since the argument at the hotel. Although it hurt, she was too angry to feel sad about it.
“So you’re just going to walk by me, not even attempt to talk about this?” Raven was sitting in one of the recliners next to the bar area. Darcy was so caught up in her thoughts, she hadn’t even seen him.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” A jolt of turbulence rocked her and she steadied herself against the bar. “You don’t approve of something I’m doing. I’ve considered your viewpoint and I disagree. I’m not your property. You can’t tell me what I can or can’t do.”
And that was the crux of it. She might not be the most capable warrior—yet—but the potential was there and neither he nor Mayhem seemed to want to accept that.
Raven stood abruptly, crowding her at the bar as if his size would intimidate her or something. She glanced up at him, curled her lip, and shook her head. “You don’t own me, Raven. And you don’t scare me either.”
Hurt flashed in his eyes and she almost, almost regretted her words. “I’m not trying to scare you, D.” He took a step back. “I thought you might need me to…” He trailed off and he took a step back. “I don’t want to lose you.”
She frowned. “I’m not incapable of—”
“I don’t want to lose you to your Hunter.” He snapped his eyes to hers, vulnerability staring at her.
She gasped, gulped down a lump. “My Hunter?” She could feel the burn of her cheeks, blood racing as her thoughts immediately went to that familiar idea. They both knew her Hunter
could give her control over her powers, could give her knowledge like Hannah’s had.
When she didn’t say anything, Raven nodded, then took his seat again. “You’ve thought about it, haven’t you?”
Darcy gulped again, thought about lying. “I have.” She nodded. “But not the way you think.”
Raven lowered his head, looking more dejected than she was prepared to handle. She moved toward him, crouching so she could hook her finger under his chin and force his gaze up again.
“I would never leave you for my Hunter.” She spoke with conviction, needing him to understand that she wouldn’t betray him. That she wouldn’t seek out the one person who theoretically could tear their relationship apart. “But I’m not going to lie and say that I haven’t thought about what he could offer me. What Hannah has. That kind of power, knowledge, control.” She met his eyes. “My spells aren’t working properly. I don’t know how to use them. It’s tempting as a thought, but there’s no way I’d ever act on it. I know what that bond can do and I’m not willing to lose you. Hannah was lucky that she got away from the Order.”
Raven reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re a powerful spell caster. Can’t you just be satisfied with that? Can’t you just be happy with me?”
“Raven, I don’t understand everything that’s happening here.” She touched her chest. “I feel like I’m denying myself something important. Like I’m meant to do something and I’m not doing it…wasting the gift I have. When I killed that beast last night…” She sucked in a breath, blew it out again. “It was the best fucking experience of my life. Comparable to when I’m in your arms, when you’re lovin’ me.”
Raven frowned. “Comparable?”
Darcy chuckled. “Okay, fine, slightly less fulfilling.” She winked. “But yes, I felt like finally I was doing what I’m meant to do. There’s an evil out there that’s out of control and I feel like I’m finally in play. I’m stepping into the game. Just because I love you, just because I’m mated to you, doesn’t mean the danger goes away. And it doesn’t change the fact that I’m destined to hunt those beasts. I feel like if I tried to stop, if I forced myself to, I’d die.”
Raven shook his head. “We need to learn more about the Huntresses. About the beasts.”
Darcy nodded. “Ignorance is going to get us killed, not action.” She leaned in and kissed him. Nothing raunchy, nothing suggestive, just a tender kiss with all of her love. She pulled back with a smile. “I’d like your support. I want you by my side helping me.”
Raven touched her jaw, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. “If you want to do this, D, then you’re going to need to step up the training.”
Darcy beamed. “I know.”
“And you’re going to need to convince the boss.” Raven nodded toward the back bedroom where Mayhem and Hannah were holed up.
Darcy’s smile faded. “Yeah, I know.”
Raven pulled her into his lap and nuzzled her neck. “But I’ll help ya, and so will the others.”
“Ya think?”
“Hell yeah. There’s no way Jay is gonna pull rank on Bree. She’s got that man by the balls.” He chucked against Darcy’s throat.
“Speaking of balls…” Darcy pointed toward the restroom. “I believe we have some clubs to join.”
Chapter Four
Raven sat on the floor of the gym waiting for everyone to show up. He was nursing a bottle of water, watching Mayhem pace a short circuit. The alpha had called a meeting. A private, no females allowed kind of meeting. The tension was palpable.
Raven rolled his shoulders back, stretching out his well-used muscles. It was dusk; they’d spent the afternoon running the property. Home for two days and it still wasn’t getting old. All the guys felt the same—after months on the road with little forest to explore, hunt, or play in, home felt like the best place in the fucking world.
“You hungry?” Mayhem blurted, finger pointed at Raven.
“Nah.” Raven shrugged. “Caught a couple of rabbits today.”
“Good.” Mayhem moved to the door and thrust it open just as Jay and Dy came down the hall. “’Bout fucking time, you two.”
“Sorry, May, got detained,” Jay said with a smirk.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mayhem grumbled. “Get in here.”
Dy slid in next to Raven and gave him a nudge. Jay took up a post leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
“We have a situation to deal with,” Mayhem said as he turned to face them all. “The girls and their fucking need to hunt.”
“It’s in their genes,” Raven said, giving a gesture of helplessness. “I don’t think we can stop it from happening, May.”
Mayhem frowned. “So what? We just let them go?
He’d made it clear that he didn’t support the girls when it came to putting their lives at risk. He’d always been the epitome of overprotective alpha. But this was something that Raven knew Mayhem wouldn’t be able to control. If he forbade the girls from following their instincts, he was going to be in a shit-storm of pushback that could call his leadership into question.
“You’re not suggesting we encourage it, are you?” His tone was menacing, like he was daring any of the guys to argue.
“Encourage it, support it, accept it,” Jaylon said. “No way can I keep Bree from doing what she was born to do. You’ve seen her in action. You know she’s capable.”
“She almost killed Dy!” Mayhem roared.
“Water under the bridge,” Dy said with a shrug.
Mayhem looked at him like he wasn’t hearing right. “You saying it’s worth the risk that one of us might get hurt? That one of them might get hurt?”
“The danger is always there, May. The girls can kill us whether intentionally or not. They’ve had that ability since birth.” Dy rubbed the scar of his wound, stifling a shudder. He’d been poisoned by Aubrey and knew exactly what it felt like to be eaten alive by the shit. “Wouldn’t it be preferable if they had some kind of expertise? Honed their natural abilities? Sounds better than ignorance and accidents, if you ask me.”
“If we amp up our training, if we figure out how to come into our beasts, then we can offer them something more than just overprotective asshole behavior,” Raven said. “If we try to block them, we could lose them forever.”
“Hannah and Summer don’t seem to be as affected by this impulse.” Mayhem frowned.
“That may only be a matter of time. Hannah had a traumatizing experience with the Order and the beasts. She could be dealing with PTSD.” Dy nodded toward the weapons cabinet. “She has the skills and knowledge though. Instinct could kick in at any time. Summer too. We’ve seen her when her back is against the wall. She will fight.”
“I know you don’t like it, May.” Jay pushed himself away from the wall and walked toward their alpha. “But we’re in this world of Hunter and beast. We’ve seen both sides and they know we exist. You can’t argue that it’s a bad idea to be prepared.”
“This is more than preparing, Jay.” Mayhem motioned toward the upstairs. “This is hunting. This is inviting a battle. This is fighting on the same side as the enemy.”
He was talking about the Order and Raven felt the same way. From what they’d learned about the ancient collective known as the Order of the Wolf, its sole purpose was to exterminate all beasts. And yet at the same time, it wasn’t like Raven and the guys were operating under cloak and dagger. They were a rock band and the Order knew of their existence. No one had come for them over the years when their own ignorance would have made them easy targets.
“I don’t think it’s as simple as that,” Raven said. “I think the girls are telling us something important. They said that the beasts they killed were evil. Remember when we went into that bar with Talia and we saw those monsters? Huge, walking on hind legs, ready to attack at any moment? There was aggression steaming off of each and every one. I f
elt it.” Raven nodded at Jay. “Toxic, just like the girls said.”
“Yeah, I felt it too,” Jay answered. “We all did.”
“So those beasts are evil and causing us a lot of trouble when it comes to the Order.” Raven ran his hand through his Mohawk. “Maybe it’s not as simple as us versus them. Maybe there are gray areas. We just don’t know enough to say for sure.”
Mayhem was quiet for a long moment, his eyes shifting to each of them in turn. “The Order knows we exist. Has known for a long time. Hannah said that her Hunter was monitoring us for years. They never attacked though, not until the girls started showing up.”
Raven snapped his eyes to Mayhem’s, taking his words as confirmation of what he’d been thinking. The situation wasn’t a simple us versus them.
“We have something they want,” Dy said.
“And yet they still haven’t come for us,” Mayhem added.
“Not yet anyway,” Jay said. “Bree’s Hunter is dead. Summer and Hannah’s too.” He glanced to Raven.
Raven feigned nonchalance while his thoughts immediately went to Darcy’s confession that she wanted what her Hunter had to offer. Power. “We don’t know enough about the Order to say anything is certain. For all we know when one Hunter dies, another one could take his place and come for the girls.”
Jay growled. “Fuck, you’re right. We don’t know enough.”
“And we haven’t exactly been encouraging the girls to share info either,” Raven said as he pushed himself into a crouch. “Aubrey was raised as an Order supporter. She has inside information that we haven’t bothered to tap into.”
Mayhem sighed. “Hannah too. Her bond to her Hunter gave her vast amounts of information. I just haven’t been particularly interested in listening to her talk about that guy and what he gave her.”
“We need to be prepared to defend the pack and we need the girls to do what they were born to do,” Raven said. “Enough of this defensive shit. We’re in the game now. We need to arm ourselves with skills and knowledge.”
Beast Rising: The Order of the Wolf, Book 7 Page 3
