by Heather Karn
I lifted my head in time to see the wolf give a sharp nod.
"Fine," I muttered, rolling onto my back with a huff. "I'm not sure what we are. We admitted we liked one another, but that was about it. His parting words were that he wasn't going to let any other males near me."
Shannon giggled, launching herself across the bed to wrap her arms around me. Jacks yipped.
"Oops, sorry, love." Shannon reached for the side of his head, where she'd apparently nailed him with her knee. His exhausted gaze was likely the reason he hadn't moved fast enough out of her way. Turning back to me, she laughed again. "Well, it's official. And if it's not, then he needs to back the heck up on claiming you as his territory. He can't keep men from you if he doesn't plan to court you himself."
I shrugged. "I'll settle for him keeping them away while we're here."
"If nothing changes after we return home, then you'll need to sit him down and talk."
"I just want to move slow," I argued, and she was already nodding.
"I think you both should, but acknowledging you have feelings for one another is a great first step. Okay, now that I know where you two stand, I'll let you get some sleep."
"Thanks."
The moment Shannon turned her back on me, my thoughts zeroed in on Raven and our talk, dissecting and analyzing everything we'd done and said, and I had a whole monologue prepared that I should've said at the time, but it was wasted now. It was also probably pretty sappy, so I was also glad I hadn't bothered to speak a word of it.
After an hour of replaying everything, I gave up, throwing the covers off of me. Jackson lifted his head, but I waved him off and pointed toward the door. I wasn't sure where I was going, but laying in here wasn't helping me relax. Even as tired as I was, sleep was escaping me.
The living room was empty, but I wasn't fool enough to think someone wasn't on watch. Somehow, I'd avoided the nightly guard duty, but I had a feeling it was because of everything else going on and no one wanting me to stress out more. Tonight, that wouldn't have been an issue. Sitting on the couch, I closed my eyes and forced my body to try and relax, but the more I tried to force it, the more I tensed up.
"This is ridiculous," I moaned into the empty room before collapsing to my side, curling up into a tight ball so my legs weren't hanging over the edge.
I wasn't sure how long I laid there before sleep finally took me, but sometime afterward, strong arms gripped me, holding me against a hard chest and I had the odd sensation of being carried. Once I sunk onto a soft mattress, my head resting into an even softer pillow, with sheets laid over me, I fell back into a deep sleep. My last memory of the day was of soft lips pressing against my temple.
I was alone in the bed when I finally woke up, sprawled across my half. The blue stones were brighter than they were at night, which meant the sun was up on the surface. Though I wasn't half as energized as I'd hoped to be, I also wasn't drop dead tired anymore. Somehow, I'd slept through Shannon and Jackson leaving, and whatever else was happening in the apartment.
After changing into last night's jeans, since they were the last decently clean pair I had with me, and my last clean t-shirt, I let myself out of the bedroom. Raven sat on the couch, and when he saw me, he grinned and pointed toward the kitchen. A plate of food sat on the counter, the smells reaching me and making my stomach growl.
"You missed breakfast, so I had Avery dish a plate up for you. It should be about what you ate yesterday. And, if you want, you can come eat it over here." His facial expression didn't change from his normal demeanor, but a hopeful undertone in his voice announced something had changed between us.
Grabbing the plate and cutlery from the bar, I crossed to the couch and sat in the middle, right next to where he sat on one edge. Without waiting for permission or to gauge my mood, Raven lifted his arm over my head and rested it along my shoulders. The feel was so natural, like I was meant to fit next to him. To keep myself occupied without hyperventilating at his touch, I shoved food into my mouth, and when he stole a slice of bacon from the plate, I narrowly missed jabbing his hand with my fork.
"Thief," I mumbled between the hash browns in my mouth.
"Come on, you should've seen that coming," he joked between bites of my bacon.
"I'm still waking up, and I thought you were nicer than that."
"When it comes to bacon, no one's nice." Raven chuckled, his fingers brushing the exposed skin of my arm. "If we hurry, we can watch the weightlifting competition."
My fork hung suspended in the air, my mouth open to accept the scramble eggs hooked on the prongs. Turning to Raven, I gave him a sly smile, making him tilt his head to study me.
"Are they still taking competitors?"
He snorted. "Not that I doubt you, but why? Are you thinking of entering?"
"Are you crazy?" I responded, stuffing the eggs in my mouth. "I want you to enter."
Raven stiffened beside me. I'd said something wrong, but I couldn't even begin to guess what it was. With his lips pressed into a thin line, he averted his eyes, which had taken on a slightly haunted glimmer.
"I can't, Koda. I'm disowned and House-less. Only members of a House can enter competitions."
Shooting him a doubtful glare, I set my cleared plate off to the side on the empty cushion beside us. "If that was true, then they wouldn't be letting Luella enter a food competition."
"But she isn't a vamlure who's been disowned."
"Well, as Head of Third House, I want you to lift. If they have a problem with it, send them to me." I stood and turned to him, offering my hand to help him off the couch.
Letting me pull him up, Raven used his momentum to bring me into his arms, holding me tightly against his body before whispering in my ear. "And this is why I'm so attracted to you. I saw a sliver of this during your Interview, and I was drawn to you because of it."
"What exactly is 'it' that's attracting you?" My voice came out husky.
Raven responded with a rumbled growl in his chest. "Your stubbornness and drive to never give up. I saw it again when you faced the ghoul, not accepting the odds dealt to you, but taking all that you had and fighting to the death, whether it be his or yours." He buried his nose into the hair above my ear, his lips brushing the shell of it. "If Shannon hadn't arrived when she did and broken the glass so I could run to you, I would've broken every bone in my body if it was required to break that door in."
A sweet shiver ran up my spine at his words and the growl reverberating through them. "You know, it's a lot easier to read you now that you're being open and not so secretive," I teased, pulling away before I did something stupid.
With a deep chuckle, Raven shrugged before taking my hand. "For the first time in a decade, I feel free."
"Then let's go show off your newfound freedom." I tugged him toward the door, and he came without argument.
We closed the door after us, and Raven kept a firm grip on my hand, like he was finally staking his claim on me. A few vamlure passed us in the hallways, their eyes always being drawn to our clasped hands. I didn't hesitate to smile back at them, never happier. For some reason, being with Raven was freeing for me as well. I couldn't explain it in any other way.
A deep, sinister laugh made me peer up at Raven to find him watching me, a crooked grin and bright eyes making me wary. "You do realize I'm still your trainer, right? Once we head home and life goes back to some semblance of normality, I'll still be the one kicking your butt and throwing you across the room, with the occasional pinning to the mat as well. In those moments, I won't be this Raven. I can't afford to be. You'd better prepare for that now."
Groaning, I continued with him down the hall, letting his warning sink in. "I wouldn't expect anything different."
"Good. Because I'm going to push you until you think you're going to break, and then I'll push some more. Whoever wants you dead isn't going to stop until he succeeds, and I'm making it my personal mission to make sure you're as prepared to face him as you can be."
&nb
sp; "So, in other words, I should enjoy this vacation, because you know, it's been so fun."
He snickered as we entered the main room where a large crowd was already gathered in a ring around the edges of the room and a weight bench and extra weights were positioned in the middle. Our team stood off to the right, and with Raven clearing the way in front of us, we joined them in no time.
Lee took one look at our joined hands and sighed. "Well, it's about dang time you two figured out you were meant for each other."
"What'd we miss?" Raven asked Avery, ignoring my brother's comment, but I grinned back at Lee, who winked at me.
"Not much. They just announced that anyone who wants to enter has five minutes to give their name to Duchess before this thing starts."
"Guess that means we need to find Duchess," I told Raven, nudging his arm.
Peering around Raven, Avery met my gaze. "You're making him compete?"
"Yes, I am. He's going to show up these kids."
"You do realize that isn't fair, right?" Raven murmured with a laugh. "My nutrient levels are stable while theirs are barely holding. It would be the difference of a baby competing with a teenager."
"Then it's even more of a reason to convince these people to find a way to find sources of nutritious blood. Now, stop arguing with me and take us to Duchess before you miss your chance and I have to end this before it even starts." I squeezed his hand to make sure he was well aware of what "this" was.
Rolling his eyes at me, Raven led us in front of the crowd, straight across to the other side of the room. I was sure there were several disappointed males in the room at the sight of me trailing Raven, our hands still clasped. If I was lucky, we'd be holding hands most of the day. I certainly wasn't ready to let him go.
An older woman with a few strands of silver in her otherwise black hair lifted her gaze from a sheet of paper and watched us approach. From the grim expression on her face, she guessed why we were here. The pen in her hand trembled a little as she met Raven's eyes.
"Yes?"
"I wish to compete."
"House?"
A brief pause and a hard stare later, Raven ground out, "None."
Duchess opened her mouth to respond, likely to tell him he couldn't compete by the worry she was exuding and her cautious expression, but I cut her off.
"If Avery or my human brother were to want to participate, could they?"
Without hesitation, Duchess nodded, her face relaxing. "Of course."
"Then why can't Raven?"
She tensed again, noticing too late where I was going with this. "It's different for outcasts."
"It shouldn't be."
"Yes, it should," she argued. "Vamlure are only disowned for serious decisions they've made, such as endangering our people or horrible criminal acts. I'm sorry, but he can't participate without being under a House. That's final."
I opened my mouth to argue again, but Raven squeezed my hand, stopping me. "Leave it," he murmured, his voice soft enough it wouldn't carry. His stricken expression told of the hurt within him, and humiliation.
"It's not fair," I argued just as soft, to which he shrugged.
"It is what it is. No other House will take me."
My eyes narrowed on him. "I would. I just don't know if there's a formal way to do it."
"There is and there isn't," Kayla spoke, coming up from behind me, her voice making me jump. "I'm sorry to startle you. Duchess, hold on starting. The two of you, please come with me."
She led us through the crowd to the hallway we'd exited a few minutes ago, but turned us down a different tunnel until we reached a door guarded by two vamlure, one male and one female. Either they were guards, or Kayla's assistants. They both nodded to her, and she led us into the room, closing the door behind us. This room was much like Gerald's, with one large bedroom and a second, smaller bedroom.
"I would ask you to sit, but we won't be here long enough for that." Kayla entwined her fingers to keep them from shaking. "Your father is going to be furious when he finds out what I've done, but it's my right."
Raven's eyebrows pinched together. He took one of her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze, the concern on his face as intense as the embarrassment had been earlier. "Mama, what are you talking about?"
Instead of answering him, Kayla turned to me. "You know that we all have a House, but has Raven told you about our Second Lineage yet?"
His eyes widened and I shook my head. "No, we haven't quite gotten to that part of my vamlure studies. Is it important?"
"Usually not, but in this instance, yes." She dug in her pocket, taking something out, but kept it secreted in her hand. "I brought this with me, just in case."
"What's a Second Lineage?" I asked the two when Kayla didn't show us what she held right away.
She looked to Raven, expecting him to answer. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his thick hair. "Every family belongs to a House, I told you that. The House you're born into is your House, but you also have a Second Lineage, or a second House that you can claim. If your parents are from two different Houses, it'll be the second one, the one you weren't born into. If they were both from the same house, it'll be a House that most of your family is from."
"So, what's your Second Lineage?"
Kayla let the pendant she held in her hand fall and spin on the thin gold chain. "Third House."
Chapter 16
I reached up and covered the gold pendant I wore under my shirt, the spitting image of the one Kayla held up. A teardrop, rimmed with gold. It took everything in me not to reach out and stroke my thumb over the droplet Kayla held, too shocked to be seeing it. Raven appeared just as shocked.
"I thought your family was from First House," he murmured, voice breathless with disbelief and wonder.
"We were after my distant grandparents left the Third House under orders to keep the family safe. This necklace is the last to be passed down, and it's yours now, to claim your Second Lineage as your House." She grinned at the two of us. "I think considering the circumstances, this works out perfectly. Now if you want to compete, you'd better hurry and take this, or Duchess will start without you."
Taking the necklace from his mother, Raven hooked the ends together behind his neck. It was the first time I noticed he wasn't wearing his other pendant, the tree symbolizing First House. With him being disowned, he probably wasn't supposed to be wearing it at all, but especially not down here. It was likely tucked into his bag, or somewhere in the truck. Or I really hadn’t been paying attention and he hadn't even brought it on this trip. Not that it made much of a difference now that he had a new pendant to wear, a legal pendant.
"Thank you," Raven murmured, fingering the gold teardrop like I'd almost done a few minutes earlier.
"There's no need to thank me. It's yours, a part of your heritage. Your brothers aren't in need of it, and your potential mate is the Head of Third House. It should be you who carries our Second Lineage forward." Kayla gave him a soft shove and motioned toward the door with her other hand. "I wasn't kidding. Duchess will start without you."
"He's probably stalling," I muttered. "I'm the one who wants him to participate, and he seems to be trying to get out of it."
With a snort, Kayla shoved at Raven harder until his feet started moving across the floor. "Your female wants to show you off and you're being a stubborn male. Move it along, and your first stop had better be to see Duchess."
I pulled Raven along behind me as we rushed down the tunnel. His mother's words had either spurred something in him to hustle, or his newfound identity had him light on his feet. Either way, we made it to Duchess as an aggravated Alexander was telling her they needed to start. Duchess eyed us with suspicion before her eyes dropped to the pendant openly visible around Raven's neck.
"So, you're representing Third House today?" she asked, and the sound of that made me want to hold my head higher.
"Yes, he is," I responded for him.
Arching an eyebrow, Duchess wait
ed for Raven to answer for himself. He quirked his mouth into a sly grin and eyed the row of men off to the other side, obviously the contestants. Not a one of them appeared happy that Raven would be challenging them for champion weightlifter.
"Yes, I'm representing Third House." The pride in his voice when he answered made my heart swell.
"All right. Go line up." Duchess motioned toward the line, and I took a second to glance at Alex. He was none too thrilled as he scowled at Raven and avoided looking at me.
Turning to me, Raven lifted my hand and placed a kiss to the back of it. "I'll see you when it's over, and I promise to represent our House well."
"Just don't lose," I teased before instinct took over and I brought his hand to my lips to place my own kiss on the back of it. "And don't hurt yourself."
Quirking a grin, Raven stepped closer to me. "If I do, I know who I'm coming to for a blood donation."
My stomach dipped, and before I could think about that any further, Raven was gone, crossing the room to stand at the back of the line. I took my cue and retreated back to where the rest of the team, and Tanner, stood, waiting to watch the competition. It was a welcome relief that no males approached or stopped me in my journey. By now, they were all well aware of the fact that I was claimed by Raven. My brain was still having a difficult time wrapping itself around that information.
"So, they're letting him compete after all?" Avery asked when I stopped beside him and Lee.
"Obviously," I snickered, and it was a fight to take my attention off Raven when Alexander stepped forward and everyone quieted.
"Welcome, everyone. We hope you've enjoyed your time at the festival thus far. From what we've been hearing, the activities have been well received. Today we're starting out with a traditional festival activity. These men have either been asked or volunteered to represent their Houses today. We wish them each good luck. May the strongest man win."
"So how does this work?" Luella asked Tanner, who stood close to her on my other side.
"Basically, each man starts out with lifting the bar, and every time he lifts, more weight is added until he can't lift anymore. The man who can lift the most wins." Tanner's eyes may have been almost black, but they were bright with excitement.
