"It's only been Dad and me since I was a baby," she adds in a sad voice.
I look at her again to see her staring somberly straight ahead. I want to ask what happened to her mother, but not at the expense of her good mood, so I don't. I want her to associate me with good things tonight, not dredge up bad memories for her.
"My oldest brother and sister are Wyatt and Harmony. They're fraternal twins," I explain. "Then there's my brother Beckett, then me, and finally my little sister Lyric."
"Well, that explains all the cars in your parent's driveway this morning." She glances at me again. "Why didn't I see any of them?"
"Mom didn't want to overwhelm you with our family's insanity, so she banished them all outside."
She snorts out a soft laugh that's absolutely adorable. "What's with all the similar names?" she asks curiously.
"Mom's name is Cadence, hence the musical theme for the girls," I say as I pull to a stop at a traffic light. "And dad's name is Everett, or Rett like everyone calls him, so that's why all his sons have similar names."
"I was named for my hair," Raven says as she runs her fingers through her sleek black bob. "It's my best feature."
"One of many," I reply in a husky voice I didn't intend as my eyes slide appreciatively down her body.
She smiles as a brief blush of pink tinges her cheeks. A long moment passes as I drink in her luscious body in a pair of skinny jeans, a black off-the-shoulder slouchy sweatshirt with a huge hot pink lip print emblazoned across the front, and black Chuck Taylors. I jerk myself out of it when she clears her throat and points toward the windshield with a smirk. I yank my gaze from hers to see the light has already turned green.
Fuck, I need to get my shit together. Tonight is about us getting to know each other, not getting into her pants, but apparently the wolf in me has other ideas. He's got her heavenly scent in his nose and screams for me to claim my mate right now. I shove him down with a low growl. Raven's smile widens and her eyes dance with smug amusement. It just makes me want to grab her, pull her into my lap, and kiss her senseless before I bury my cock deep inside her.
I've never been this obsessed with a woman before. Hell, technically I've never even been on a real date before either. The girls I was with in the past were only to slack my body's need for sex, certainly not to get to know them. The wolf in me never gave a shit who I was with until now, and that fact changes everything. There's more at stake here than a quick fuck. This is my future right here, and I don't want to mess it up. So instead of mauling her like the beast in me insists I do, I get a grip and return her smile before I drive through the green light.
"Where are we going?" Raven asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
I tilt my head toward her. "Right up here on the right."
Raven sits up straighter in her seat and looks out the passenger window just as we approach our destination. The Harrisville Fairgrounds. She stills as she takes in the tents, fair rides, and food stands spread across the huge fairgrounds next to us. Everything is already dazzlingly lit up for the night, and crowds of people mill around everywhere eating junk food, smiling, and laughing.
She turns a questioning look in my direction with furrowed brows. "You brought me to a fair?"
I nod, worrying that I'd made a mistake by bringing her here. "It's the Harrisville Fall Fair," I answer her. The annual event is a huge draw from every nearby town in the area, Wolcott included.
Raven looks back at the fairgrounds, and adds in a quiet awed tone, "I've never been to one."
She turns to me with a brilliant smile as her eyes light up in giddy excitement. I sigh in relief, knowing I managed to choose well for tonight, and return her smile with a broad one of my own.
A whine sounds from behind us, and Luna, who's been snoozing in my back seat, suddenly pokes her head between the bucket seats with her feet on the center console. She looks just as excited as her master, shuffling on her feet and wiggling her body as she continues whining with a happy canine grin. She starts licking my ear and neck enthusiastically. Damn dog. I halfheartedly try to brush the dog off of me since I'm actually happy she's feeling better since getting injured last night.
"I think Luna is in love with you," Raven says with a laugh.
I catch myself before I say that I'd rather it be Raven who felt that way about me. Fear skitters through me. I know these mushy feelings are a normal part of the bond forming between us, since I talked to Mom and Dad about it at length this afternoon. But it's no less disconcerting and terrifying since I barely know Raven.
"I think she's more obsessed than anything," I say as I block Luna from crawling into my lap with an arm across her chest since I'm still driving.
"I wonder if you can get a restraining order against a dog," Raven says as she grins at Luna.
"I wouldn't want it," I reply without thinking. "Because you'd have to stay away from me too."
Shit. That was laying it on thick. At this rate, she'd need one against me. To my surprise, instead of looking uncomfortable or freaking out like I half expected, Raven's smile grew warm and soft.
"Well, I guess you'll just have to learn to live with her unwanted advances then."
I return her smile as I reach over to take her small soft hand in mine. I lace my fingers with hers, and it feels like the most natural thing in the world.
"I can deal with that," I tell her in a husky voice as I smother another urge to pull her close and kiss her.
"Good," she says then turns back to the passenger window to gawk at all the people. It gives me a welcome moment to settle myself down.
I pull the Jeep into the grassy field that serves as the fairground's parking lot. We end up parking pretty far out since it's almost filled to capacity. I climb out of the Jeep and scoop up Luna before she can leap out on her own and hurt herself, then set her on her feet. I lead the dog around to the passenger side as Raven climbs out and closes the door. She smiles up at me again as she pulls on the jacket she brought with her and wraps it snugly around her body.
I'm grateful I put the hard top on for tonight, since it's a little chilly out this late September night. Like all my kind, I run hot and would normally have left the top off tonight. The temperature has to drop a hell of a lot lower than it is now before I need anything more than the T-shirt and jeans I'm currently wearing. I return her smile as I hand Luna's leash over to her. Then I take her hand, and we head toward the noise and lights of the festival that beckon us.
The next few hours pass in a glorious haze of fried food, cheesy fair games, and Raven's giddy laughter. I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I had this much fun with anyone. There don't seem to be any nerves between us as we comfortably chat about anything and everything. I love watching her talk, her face and body so alive and animated as she speaks. I learn that she spent her whole life, up until now, in the city, something I can't fathom, since I grew up with the forest mere yards from my back door. She tells me about growing up with epilepsy and how protective her father, who's a cop, is because of it, and how relieved she is to finally be on a medication that keeps the seizures at bay. I don't even want to think about watching her have a seizure. I hope I never have to because I know it would rip me apart to see it.
She's so easy to talk to, and I find myself candidly chatting about myself like I never have with anyone besides my family or Cooper. This thing with Raven feels real, feels right. My wolf chose this woman for a reason that the man in me is quickly falling in line with. She's perfect for me. I can feel it. Dad was right when he told me earlier today to trust in my instincts and that my wolf wouldn't steer me wrong.
Now I just hope that Raven is open to what's happening between us and can handle the truth when I tell her. And it's going to have to be sooner rather than later because my body is craving her more and more like a drug I can't resist. But I don't want to have sex with her until she knows what I am and everything that comes with being the mate to a werewolf. I won't start this thing between us wit
h secrets and lies. I just have to figure out when and how to tell her without scaring her away or jeopardizing the pack.
All these thoughts swirl around in my head as we sit at a picnic table in companionable silence while taking a break from wandering around the midway. That is until Raven starts licking the remnants of the sugary cotton candy that she just ate from her fingertips. My brain screeches to a halt as I mindlessly stare at her pretty pink lips and her tongue darting in and out. Goddamn. I'm vaguely aware that she's talking to me, but I don't have a clue what she's saying. I'm too busy picturing that tongue laving a certain very male part of my anatomy to make sense of it.
"Earth to Emmett," Raven finally announces loudly as she waves a hand in my face.
"Sorry, what?" I mumble as her words finally register. An amused smirk pulls at one corner of her pretty lips and lights up her gorgeous eyes.
"I said, I have to use the restroom," she says with a shake of her head. "Where'd your head run off to there?" she asks impishly.
"Uh..." I feel my face heat with embarrassment that I didn't even think was possible from me as I run a hand though my hair. "You don't want to know."
"Maybe I do," she says in a seductive tone like I've never heard from her before.
Her grin turns wicked and she brings another finger to her lips, then slowly licks the tip of it, her tongue riveting my attention yet again. Son of a bitch. She's killing me. She reaches up and gently closes my gaping mouth with her fingertips as she lets out an adorable giggle. Fuck me, I'm going to die.
She rises, then grabs one of my hands and places Luna's leash in it. "I'm going to the restroom, and I'll be right back," she tells me in a slow and overly enunciated manner as she smirks at me. "Will you be okay?" she asks sarcastically.
I glower at her, but it quickly fades into a grin when she winks and leans down to press a little peck on my cheek that makes my skin tingle. She laughs yet again, then saunters toward the restrooms in the small pavilion nearby. I turn around in my seat and helplessly watch her ass sway with each step. Luna, who's been lounging under the table, crawls out to follow her master, and whines when the leash stops her just as Raven disappears from sight.
"It's okay, girl," I reassure her. She whips around at my words and immediately climbs halfway up onto my lap and starts licking me yet again. "Damn dog," I mutter. This animal is something else.
I somehow get her front paws back on the ground and start gently stroking her fur to get her to chill out. It works for only a few moments, until I suddenly feel the dog's entire body stiffen under my hand. A long low growl rumbles up from inside her little chest, deeper and far more vicious than any sound I thought she was capable of. A second later, the unmistakable stink of rotten eggs hits my nose on the shifting breeze.
Fuck. Me. Not again.
Luna's ears are pricked forward, her hackles rising up along her back as she stares straight ahead. I follow her gaze in the direction the retched scent is coming from. My eyes pin to the duck pond game nearby, and the crowds part giving me a good view of the carny manning it. He's tall and muscular with greasy dark hair under a backwards ball cap and wearing an old wife beater. He looks normal enough, just some middle-aged guy, but I breath in again and confirm my first impression. He's a goddamn demonborn, and I need to get Raven the fuck out of here right now.
11
EMMETT
I'm standing with Luna only a couple of yards away when Raven finally comes out of the restroom a few minutes later. I've been fidgeting the whole time and glancing frequently at the demonborn abomination. He hasn't noticed me watching him yet and is too far away to smell us.
A demonborn's sense of smell is no where near as keen as a trueborn, and I suspect their ever-present stench of sulfur has something to do with it. However, I still can't take the risk of being discovered if we stay, if it's not already too late. He may be the only one I scented, but he may not be the only one here, and I need to get us out of here now. For all I know, some fucking demonborn could be close by and downwind of us right this moment. I scan the people around us warily as my nerves rise.
"We've gotta go," I hastily tell Raven. The smile she's wearing as she approaches me immediately fades at my harried words.
"What's wrong?" she asks as she studies my face with furrowed brows.
"Um..." I run a hand through my hair as I rack my brain for a reason that I hadn't bothered to come up with yet. "I'm not feeling well," I lie to her in desperation as I hand her Luna's leash.
"Is it the food?" she asks. "It was pretty greasy."
"Uh...yeah," I reply, glad she handed me my next lie.
I've never been sick even once since coming into my wolf when I was fourteen years old. I suffered through the raging fever and debilitating pain of the change for almost a week when puberty woke the wolf inside me, and it fought its way out of my body. I've been perfectly healthy ever since.
"I'm sorry," I add with a pained expression as the lie eats a hole in my gut. This is not how I wanted this night to end.
"It's okay," she says with a sympathetic expression as she places a hand on her belly. "To be honest, my stomach is not too happy with me either." She abruptly arches a brow and narrows her eyes suspiciously at me. "This isn't some ploy to get rid of me, is it?" She tries to play her words off as a joke, but there's no missing the hint of hurt in her expression.
"No, of course not," I answer immediately as I take her free hand in mine.
Fuck, that's the last thing I want her to think. I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss to the back of it as I breathe in her luscious scent. My wolf rouses, and it's all I can do not to lick her soft skin and taste her. I lower her hand from my mouth before I get carried away, since the wolf is urging me to devour her.
"Good," she says with obvious relief as she smiles again, "because I thought this date went really well."
"It did," I say warmly as I grip her hand reassuringly. "And I want to do it again soon."
"Me too."
Her face softens, and I lose myself in her big blue eyes for a moment. I'm a hair's breath away from kissing her when the sickly stench of sulfur invades my nose, and Luna starts growling again. Raven turns a worried frown down at her dog.
I glance furtively toward the demonborn and see that he's leaving the game booth as another carny takes his place manning it. If he gets any closer and downwind of us, we're screwed. Shit. We have to go. Now.
"Come on," I say as I begin dragging her away from the demonborn before she can even comment about her dog's sudden and odd change in behavior.
All the way back to the Jeep, I'm on full alert, nose constantly sifting the air and my eyes darting around our surroundings as I weave through the crowd of people with Raven's hand still tucked firmly in mine. I haven't smell sulfur again, but I'm not taking any chances. I don't plan on letting go of her until she's safely in my Jeep, and we're getting the hell out of here.
The parking lot full of cars sets me even more on edge. I imagine demonborn hiding all around us, eager to burst out from behind or from under a vehicle to get their claws into Raven, to take her from me. It's not fucking happening again. I'll kill them all first. I'll rip apart every last one of them to pieces, or anyone else that threatens Raven. I clench my jaw and stifle a growl as the wolf surges up inside me with bloodlust, eager to escape the confines of my human form and lay waste to my enemies. Fur tingles under my skin and my teeth throb as the urge to shift nearly consumes me. My need to keep Raven safe and the approaching full moon in only two days are making it harder to resist, and I can feel my control slipping as we reach my Jeep.
I wordlessly open the passenger door and lift Luna into the back seat, keeping my eyes averted from Raven for fear they'll flash silver, before helping Raven climb inside. I close her door and round the back of the Jeep as I search the area for threats one last time.
I pause next to the driver's side door as the shift nearly consumes me, my hands clenched into fists and my body trembling as I
fight to control the wolf. I somehow shove it down with sheer strength of will, knowing I'd be spending the night out in the woods to appease the beast in me later. The longer you suppress the shift the harder it becomes to control. The wolf regularly needs out to run, to hunt, to be. It's as necessary as breathing.
I get into the driver's seat and finally hazard a glance at Raven. She's eying me with a sympathetic expression. She frowns and reaches out to rub my upper arm gently. Her touch soothes the bloodlust for both the wolf and the man, but only wakes a different kind of lust, one that is shockingly harder to resist than the shift I just quelled.
My gaze inexorably travels down Raven's body, needing, wanting. I grow uncomfortably hard in an instant, and I'm glad it's too dark in the Jeep for her to see my aching erection straining against the confines of my jeans. The wolf rears up again to encourage the man in that direction, and I grip the steering wheel to keep from grabbing Raven and dragging her onto my lap. I start trembling yet again.
"I'm sorry you don't feel well," she says worriedly.
I'm relieved that she thinks my strange behavior is due to illness and not the truth. That I want to fuck her hard and deep until we're both sated and spent.
"I'll be okay," I somehow gruffly reply past the wild lust that's heating my blood and driving me insane.
I shove the key into the ignition and start the Jeep, then rip my eyes from Raven and focus on getting her the hell out of here. My patience is tested as it seems to take forever to get out of the damn parking lot thanks to the interminably slow line of cars we end up stuck in, but we finally make it out onto an actual road. I take us carefully through Harrisville's streets at what feels like a snail's pace since I know that the Harrisville PD loves pulling people over. That's the last thing I need. I keep my hands on the wheel and my attention on my driving, so I can keep my shit together. Raven's safety is more important than anything else right now.
Wild Blood: The Trueborn Saga Book 1 Page 8
