Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1)

by Shelly Laurenston

Connie, or as he liked to call her “The Lesbian”, because that was definitely one of his favorite words, walked by again with more equipment in her hand. For the last twenty minutes he’d watched her bring in all her DJ equipment. He could have helped her unload her stuff, but then he wouldn’t have been able to watch her tight ass walk back and forth.

  He really liked lesbians.

  More Crows walked into the room to grab beer out of the fridge and chips out of the pantry. They all wore their white tank tops and jeans, except Didi who wore black. He’d never seen so many wings in one place. He loved it.

  Mike had to admit, he was really enjoying himself. The Crows were different but fun. They weren’t uptight and they didn’t seem to have much of an ulterior motive. They all loved to laugh and were pretty brazen in their “fight or fight” response—there never seemed to be any kind of “flight” with them. Unless they were actually flying.

  The only one he didn’t get was the little Asian one. Annie? Ashley? Whatever her name was. She glared at him like he’d fucked her mother. Little rich Long Island bitch. Probably thought she was better than him. That’s why he liked Neecy and even hard-ass Janelle. Fellow hoodrats, they understood him. The Princess, as he now called her annoying ass, would never understand him. She’d never deign to involve herself with someone like him. And knowing that made him want to fuck her so bad his teeth ached. Christ. What was wrong with him? Why did he insist on going after the mean ones? Even Neecy was only occasionally mean. Other times, he’d discovered, she was a very cool woman with a will of iron. He admired that.

  And, to his surprise, Neecy knew how to enjoy herself. That little one wouldn’t know how to enjoy herself if she were dressed in a clown suit.

  “Are you just going to sit there feeling sorry for yourself?” he finally asked his mentor.

  Not even looking up from his laptop, Yager snapped, “Mike, I haven’t gotten laid in nine days… do you really want to fuck with me right now?”

  Hell, Yager had gone for longer periods without sex. Really, the sentence should be “I haven’t fucked Neecy Lawrence in nine days…” That would be much more accurate.

  “Not trying to get you all pissed or anything. Just trying to get you to relax. The place is crawling with women. You should partake.”

  “You should shut up.”

  The kitchen door swung open and Neecy walked into the room. She barely glanced at Mike, instead walking over to where Yager sat and leaned against the table.

  “See anything different?”

  Yager glanced up at her, then went back to his computer. “No.”

  Sighing, she held up both her hands and waved them around. “See anything different now?”

  Yager stared at her for a moment, raised his hands, and did the same goofy move back to her. “No, I don’t see anything different.”

  Muttering words she really should be sent to confession for, Neecy walked to the fridge and took out a beer.

  She leaned against the counter next to Mike. “You see something different, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. But what did you expect from him? The man forgets to comb his own hair.”

  Chuckling, “Good point.”

  “Hello,” Yager growled from the table. “I’m right here.”

  Morgan leaned into the kitchen. “Okay. I’m out of here.” She looked at Neecy. “You call me if you have any problems.”

  “I will.”

  “Good.” She turned her light blue eyes to Yager. “Walk with me.”

  Rolling his eyes, he slammed his laptop down on the kitchen table. “Anyone have any more orders for me?”

  Then he followed Morgan out of the kitchen.

  “See what you do to the man?”

  She had it down, he’d give her that. Neecy had that “leader move”. The one where they didn’t waste time looking surprised by something he said.

  Instead, Neecy slowly turned to look at him and said, “I’m sorry, what was that?”

  Mike may be reckless, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew enough hoodrat girls to know when they were settin’ him up for a beat down. “I’m sorry, what was that?” was just another way of saying, “Exactly how many ways do you want me to kick your ass?”

  Grinning, Mike shook his head. “Nothin’.”

  “Oh, that’s what she was talking about.”

  Morgan shook her head. Like all Ravens, Will was brilliant, but he could still be a major bonehead at times.

  “Yeah. I took the bandages off. Everything looks fine, but until she unfurls her wings, I’ll never know for sure.”

  “Why can’t she?”

  “I don’t know really. Could be she’s simply scared.” Actually, Morgan knew the girl was afraid. Afraid she’d never be able to fly again. That she was vulnerable. And that was a woman who didn’t like being vulnerable.

  Holding up her big coat so she could put it on, Will asked, “What should I do?”

  “Wait it out, or…” She stopped as Will helped her on with her coat.

  “Or?”

  She grinned. “Get her all worked up.”

  Frowning, “Get her all…” Yager blinked. “Oh.” He shook his head and gently shoved her toward the door. “You need to leave now.”

  “Get her all worked up and maybe her wings will unfurl.”

  “Stop it.”

  “Oh, come on. We’ve known each other long enough to—”

  “We’ll never know each other long enough for this conversation, Morgan. And we both know it.”

  She laughed as Will pushed her out the door and closed it behind her.

  Yager cut through his living room. Neecy was right. The Crows had taken over his house. But that’s what Crows did. They made themselves at home and expected a body to deal with it. The fact that it bothered Neecy warmed his heart. Without even realizing it, she was getting protective of him.

  He passed Connie and saw that she’d set up her equipment. He felt kind of honored. Connie was an extremely well-known DJ. She worked at some of the hottest clubs in the City when she wasn’t out killing someone stupid. The fact that she was gearing up to do what she did best in his house was kind of cool.

  Walking through the kitchen door, Yager froze on the threshold. Why the hell was Neecy surrounded by six Ravens? He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one goddamn bit.

  Moving slowly, he walked over to them as they leaned against the island in the middle of his kitchen. Neecy glanced at him and frowned. Well, what the hell did that mean?

  “Yager, are you sure about this?”

  “About what?”

  “About Connie breaking out the music? I mean… she starts playing and there will be a party here. Whether you want one or not.”

  Tye smiled. “You Crows do love a good party, don’t ya?”

  Mike stretched and ran his hands through his hair. “I’ve gone to a few raves Connie DJ’d at. She’s not bad.”

  “Wow, Mike. Is that like… a compliment?”

  Mike smiled as he bumped Neecy with his hip. “I have my moments, ya know.”

  “Yeah. Sure you do.” Neecy took a sip of her beer as Tye passed her a bowl of pretzels.

  The first beats of the music started and Yager heard all the Crows in the living room give a cheer.

  Neecy shook her head. “My girls.”

  “How long has she been DJ-ing?” Mike asked as he grabbed another beer from the fridge.

  “Since she was seventeen, I think.”

  “Was it tough for her to get in?”

  “Surprisingly, no. What’s really funny is that she really didn’t give a shit. She only did it ‘cause she loves to watch her girlfriend dance.”

  All the Ravens froze; beers halfway to their lips, pretzels clenched in big fists and hovering near open mouths.

  Mike cleared his throat. “That’s Fran, right? With the long legs?”

  “Yeah. They’ve been together since they were fifteen or sixteen. They’re the sweetest couple.”

  Tye glanced at N
eecy from the corner of his eye. “Does she still dance when Connie DJs?”

  “Oh, yeah. If Connie’s DJ-ing, Fran’s dancing.”

  Yager reached over and yanked Neecy out of the way as the six men dived over the island and slammed out of the room heading for the living room and the party.

  Neecy laughed as she held onto Yager’s arm. “What the fuck was that?”

  “You tell six horny guys there are hot lesbians dancing in my living room… what did you expect?”

  “God, you guys are pathetic.”

  “Your point being?” Neecy shook her head as she stepped away, but Yager grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his body. “Where are you going?”

  Instead of pulling away as she usually did, she wrapped her arms around his hips, slipping her hands under the waistband of his loose-fitting jeans.

  “Got something in mind, Yager?” she asked as she grabbed his ass and squeezed.

  “Maybe the question is what do you have in mind?”

  “You. Me. Your bedroom. And a locked freakin’ door.”

  Smiling, as he pulled her closer, “I like that idea, Lawrence.” She tilted her face up, wanting him to kiss her. And now that Morgan had given her a clean bill of health, Neecy and her amazing body were all his.

  Yager leaned down, his eyes locked on her lips, when she suddenly jerked up.

  “Uh-oh.”

  “Uh-oh what?”

  “Shit. We gotta get out of here.”

  He didn’t need to hear that twice, but for once he was too slow. He’d just grabbed her hand to drag her out of the house and fly her up to his window if necessary when the kitchen door banged open. C’mon N’ Ride It, one of his favorite party songs from the nineties, blasted in from the other room accompanied by a line of dancing and singing Crows. Apparently they wanted everyone to ride that goddamn train, so they grabbed Neecy and yanked her away from him.

  They were so happy to see Neecy healthy they were completely unaware of what they just interrupted. Or they could care less. With the Crows, you just never know.

  Neecy tried to pull away from Patty, one of the younger Crows, but the girl had a grip on her like a rodeo rider on a steer. They danced through the house until they got back to the living room. By then Connie changed out the music to some much harder tech, which meant Fran and Janelle would take over the dance floor.

  Again Neecy tried to sneak away, but several older Crows she hadn’t seen in some time grabbed her. They hugged her and told her how happy they were to see her doing well. That’s when Neecy realized this party wasn’t just to blow off some steam. It was for her. To celebrate her being well. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t walk away from the party just yet.

  With a small sigh of resignation, Neecy took the beer Arri handed her and counted the minutes until she could get away and back to Yager.

  Chapter Eighteen

  That was exactly the fifth time they’d done it. Every time Yager tried to make his way over to Neecy, one or more of the goddamn Crows jumped in front of him to “chat”.

  In the last two hours he’d discussed the world economy, the future of rain forests, whether natural gas was truly necessary to the nation’s survival, and the differences between narcissists and sociopaths. A conversation he just found disturbing.

  Now little Arri stood in front of him, an uncharacteristically sunny grin on her pretty face.

  “I was wondering Yager, what’s your opinion on the national debt and its impact on the United States’ dominance among the other world powers?”

  Yager glared down at her. “Et tu, Arri?”

  Her impossible grin grew impossibly wider. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Tye watched Janelle’s ass move on the makeshift dance floor. It wasn’t a small ass and he liked that. A lot. Add in that the girl could dance that ass off and Tye was feeling pretty good about things. He’d stopped watching the dancing lesbian as soon as Janelle stomped past him. She wasn’t angry, it just seemed like she stomped everywhere. She was not exactly light of foot.

  Still, seeing her dance couldn’t quite beat seeing that gorgeous ass naked. True, he’d literally kicked the hell out of Mike to remind him that Crows were not his little sisters to torment. Yet, as much as he hated admitting it, he loved the man for giving him a good look at Janelle. A really, really good look.

  Connie put on an old sixties song. He loved when she played the weirder, eclectic stuff. Inevitably, Janelle and Neecy did some hilarious dance move, like when they got everyone to do The Bump. Now they were all singing to Rockin’ Robin.

  He could see where this was going. The song mentioned Crows and Ravens… there’d be much yelling at key points. But Tye loved it. He hated how they got here—Neecy getting hurt—but he loved where they ended up. The Crows and Ravens working together as one team. One family of annoying siblings. Loud, competitive, demanding Vikings always looking for a good fight or a good fuck.

  And right there, right in front of him—Janelle McKenna. Daughter of a former Westie who left the life and ended up getting gunned down for it.

  It no longer mattered, though. Because she’d become one of the Skuld Daughters. And, next to Neecy, one of the goddess’ best warriors. Funny, he often forgot Janelle was his age. She looked more like a girl in her twenties. But she knew the words to every Depeche Mode and Adam and the Ants song Connie played, and the sexy Latin lesbian played a lot of those.

  Janelle and Neecy were now back to back, singing or, more like screaming, the words to Rockin’ Robin. The whole time the girls were laughing, especially when the rest of the Crows joined in. That’s what the Crows seemed to do a lot of. Laugh. They found more reasons to explode into peals of laughter, and Tye with his big science brain couldn’t help but find them all fascinating. They didn’t seem to need much to amuse them. Anything was fair game.

  Yager moved out of the crowd and walked over to Tye. He thought he came over to talk, but then Tye realized he was in front of the liquor cabinet and Yager wanted in. He pushed Tye out of the way, grabbed a forty-year-old bottle of scotch, poured himself some in a glass, and shot it back like he was at a drinking contest in Mexico.

  “Everything okay, bro?”

  Yager winced as the scotch went down his throat and shook his head. “Not really. Just trying to stay in some control here.”

  He poured himself a little more and put the scotch back in the cabinet.

  “Just make sure none of the guys do anything stupid.” Ah, Yagerspeak for “Keep Mike the fuck away from me.”

  “The mood I’m in,” Yager continued, “I will make them cry.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll keep my eye on him.” When Janelle wasn’t in his line of sight, of course. “Although he seems much more interested in getting laid tonight.”

  Yager shook his head, finally forced to smile. “He might as well forget it. Every Crow seems to have his number. They’re all calling him Liar-Mike. Like it’s his name.”

  Tye laughed. “Good. About time the little fucker learned he can’t get over on everything with a pussy.”

  Tye watched as Yager studied Neecy. She’d grabbed hold of little Arri and pulled her onto the dance floor as the music shifted to some old disco hit. His gaze was so heated, Tye was shocked Neecy hadn’t burst into flame.

  “You know, Yager, if you want to get away for a bit, I can watch things here. Just take her upstairs.”

  “Forget it.” He took another drink of the scotch. “They won’t let me.”

  “Who won’t let you?”

  “The Crows. They’re keeping us apart.”

  “What?” Tye glanced around the room. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Nope. Every time I try and get near her, they find a way to get between us. It’s been going on for two hours. And I’m starting to get goddamn desperate. At some point I’m going to start doing that thing again… ya know… when I get frustrated.”

  “You mean when you start speaking in two-word sentences. Most
ly curses?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  “Why would they get between you two?” The Crows loved Yager. They especially loved him for Neecy.

  Yager gave a short, painful laugh. “I think they think it’s funny.”

  He was probably right. The Crows loved torturing each other and anyone else they considered family. Apparently that included Yager. Unfortunately, Yager was too horny to realize the implication.

  “You need a distraction.”

  “Like what?”

  Tye put one hand on Yager’s shoulder while using the other to dig his cell phone out of his jeans. “Trust me, bro. I’ve got it covered.”

  Neecy didn’t even know the Valkyries had shown up until Cassie pushed her from behind.

  “Oh, sorry, Lawrence. I didn’t see you there.”

  Cranky, horny, a little tipsy, and still wingless, Neecy was the last person Cassie My-knees-have-permanent-rug-burn Bennet should be fucking with.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I heard there was a party. And I do love a party.”

  Janelle stepped up beside Neecy. “Yeah, but we don’t have the pole yet. How will you entertain without it?”

  Cassie’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, look, girls. The mountain speaks.”

  Neecy felt Janelle tense and knew she’d been hurt. No one hurt her girls. No one.

  Neecy slammed both her hands, palms flat, against Cassie’s upper chest. The bitch went flying into the group of Valkyries she’d brought with her.

  They righted her quickly and Cassie immediately got in Neecy’s face.

  “Come on, bitch! Ya wanna fight me?”

  Neecy would say this much about Cassie Blue… for a girly-girl, she didn’t back down from a fight. Although, she really should when it came to the Crows.

  Immediately, Neecy stepped up to Cassie. Her girls behind her.

  “Wait.”

  Yager stepped between them. She rolled her eyes. He had to know better than to get between her and her prey… especially a Valkyrie prey.

  He grabbed Neecy’s upper arm. “I’m really sorry to interrupt. But we’ve gotta fuck. So I’m taking her. Fight somebody else.”

  With that, he started to walk away, dragging Neecy behind him. Cassie stared after them, astonishment and jealousy written all over her pretty face.