“As long as he doesn’t shift, the humans are safe,” Caspian mused. “We can’t stall for long though. He could lose it at any second.”
“Yeah, his wolf has killed so he’s unlikely to have control. We need to get him out of there before he shifts.” Aurora eyed the packed shopping centre the man had entered.
The board outside the building told her that a movie, shown in the cinema on the top floor, had finished a few minutes ago. The movie was a children’s one and the restaurants of the mall were preparing for a busy dinner service, full to bursting with young families. Children everywhere. Aurora was hyper aware that one stumble, one scraped knee, and one tiny drop of blood could drive the wolf into action. They had been tracking him since the night before. He’d spent most of the dark hours in wolf form, constantly moving, only shifting when daylight came, allowing him to mingle among the humans and lose his pursuers.
“I can still smell him, he hasn’t gone far,” Caspian pointed out.
“He’s just inside the door, I can sense his wolf,” Aurora told her partner. “We can’t just go in and drag him out, the place is crawling with security and he’s staying close to them.”
“Well, would you look at that? The movie was only about a wolf.” Caspian looked at the board and grinned. “Distraction?”
“Seems appropriate.” Aurora returned the grin.
“I got this.” Caspian nuzzled her neck with his lips and squeezed her hip. “Grab our man and I’ll meet you at the car.”
“Fast and safe, Cas.”
“I always am, gorgeous.”
Caspian lingered in the alley, while Aurora stepped out and casually made her way towards the entrance of the shopping centre. She slipped inside the door and quickly had eyes on the prize. She didn’t have long to wait for Caspian to pull his stunt.
“What the…” the security guard closest to her target stammered and moved through the doors to investigate a commotion on the footpath outside.
A startled human screamed as Caspian’s huge, silver wolf sauntered along the paved street. Believing him to be a publicity stunt on behalf of the movie makers, a wag of Caspian’s tail was all the humans needed as an incentive to play the game. They surrounded the wolf, petting and cuddling it, creating the distraction Aurora needed to take the rogue prisoner.
With the security guard’s attention diverted, Aurora moved stealthily, across the crowded concourse of the shopping centre, sneaking back and around the pillar that hid her target. He didn’t see her coming, had no idea she was even there.
“You really need to be more alert if you’re going to go on the run.” Aurora grabbed both the man’s hands and fixed them in a hold behind his back. His shoulders dropped. Aurora’s reputation preceded her and he knew a struggle would only end in pain for him. His game was up. “Let’s go, arseface!”
The Laignach Faelad, took its name from the legend of the wolf warriors of Ireland. Put simply, it was a top secret, elite, shifter task force and among its ranks was where Aurora’s brother, Marco, and Jax now resided. As far as she was aware, the two were off in some remote corner of the world, playing hero or some shit. She’d given up asking, after repeatedly being told it was classified information that Marco couldn’t share. In actual fact, they weren’t as far away as she assumed and all their work revolved around her and the future of their race. Marco knew the secrets that had sent Jax away from Aurora. He had his own part to play in his sister’s destiny, but his immediate priority was her sanity, which he was fairly sure was hanging by a thread.
“I’m a raven. A bloody raven. What use is that? How can that possibly be of any use to anyone or anything in the history of everything, ever? The first female alpha in a pack of wolves for three thousand years and I’m not even a sodding wolf. My parents are wolves, my brother is a wolf, my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles for generations have all been wolves. My entire pack is made up of wolf bloodlines that have been around for centuries. Me? No, I’m a fugly death bird! How am I supposed to take over from Dad as alpha of a pack of wolves, when I’ve got wings and a beak? What kind of self-respecting wolf is going to take orders from a bird? They’re going to eat me alive, Marco!”
“Fugly?” Marco snorted into the phone.
“Yes, fugly. As in fucking ugly! Have you ever looked at a raven, Marco? Up close? They’re not attractive birds. I’m not a pretty pink flamingo. Ravens are downright fucking creepy!” Aurora rolled her eyes and threw her dagger into the ground at her feet. She’d been throwing and retrieving the dagger for as long as she’d been on the phone. Spinning the blade with enough force to bury it to the hilt in the earth beneath her bare feet.
“Calm down, Aurora. Stressing won’t make it go away.” Marco, older than her by two years, tried to pacify her while she ranted at him during their weekly phone call.
“Look, I know as a general rule you can’t find your arse with both hands, but even you must be able to see that this is fucked up on an epic scale?” Aurora continued to rant and he sighed, ignoring the jibe.
“What did Mam and Dad say?”
Silence.
“Aurora? You did tell them, didn’t you?”
Silence.
“It’s been a year since your first shift, Aurora!”
“I’m telling them today,” she whispered, defeatedly.
Marco and Caspian were, officially, the only people who knew about her lack of wolf status. Unofficially, she was almost certain Marco had kept Jax up to speed on the cluster fuck of her life. No doubt filtering the information back to him after every phone call. She was also certain Jax would be thanking his lucky stars that he’d denied their bond and left all her drama behind.
Life had been so simple once. Now, her only escape from the constant churning of her stomach, was when she and Caspian were hunting rogues. The hunt relaxed her, made her feel powerful and useful. She even found peace with her raven when they were hunting. Taking to the skies to scope out a potential rogue hideout or track a runaway was always a thrill, because nobody else had that skill. A wolf could scent another from a fair distance, but they couldn’t fly. They couldn’t identify a creature on the ground from miles above. That was hers alone. Aurora flung the blade from her hand once more and refocused her attention on her brother’s voice.
“Look, this is big, sis. It’s bigger than you realise, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. You need to talk to Mam and Dad, and to Gran. Especially Gran. Are you listening, Aurora? Talk to Gran!” Marco’s clear, confident voice became muffled. Aurora didn’t have to ask, to know who he was speaking to, when he covered the speaker with his hand. She could feel the other presence streaming down the line. Her heart lurched and the painful shards of her emotions tore her open from the inside out. Marco’s voice came back on the line, gentle and soft, less sure of his words this time. “Aurora… he wants to speak to you.”
“No!” Her answer was immediate and came from the gut.
It had been almost four years since they left. Marco spoke to her every week, unless they were on a mission. Jax hadn’t so much as sent a text message. Nothing. Radio silence. There was no way he was going to get on the other end of the phone now and act as though nothing had happened. Neither her heart nor her temper could take it.
Marco’s huffed breath was lacking in patience. “Aurora, he’s your mate.”
“Not according to him!” There was movement on the other end of the line, then the voice that had haunted her dreams every night since he left assaulted her reality.
“Rory...”
Aurora hung up, shoved her phone in her pocket, and bent to retrieve her dagger. She lifted her tear brimmed eyes to look at Jax’s brother. Caspian was sitting a few feet away, obliviously playing on his phone, while he waited for her to finish the call. Caspian would never be her true mate, although he claimed to be, but he was good enough. He was loyal, loving, and caring, and he made her happy. Mostly.
“All done, gorgeous?” Caspian grinned at her and she smiled
back, nodding. He stood and shoved the phone into the back pocket of his grey combats. “Ready for the big reveal?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Aurora sheathed her blade and he slung an arm around her shoulders, filling the empty air with mindless chatter as they walked.
“You got this, y’know? It doesn’t matter what your animal is, you were born to lead this pack. And as your mate, I will be right by your side while you do it.” He squeezed her shoulder, an attempt at reassurance but it did little to ease her.
Caspian would readily stand beside her while she faced her fate as alpha of the shadow pack. He’d been by her side for everything in the last four years, never questioning or complaining, he was just there. This felt different though. She couldn’t help but feel his constant encouragement was more about him than her this time. As a beta wolf, Caspian would be the ideal mate for Aurora if she became pack alpha. He was desperate to prove himself as a worthy beta for the pack, but there were other beta wolves in Shadow Fen, so his position wasn’t a foregone conclusion. For Caspian, being mated to the alpha was his way in. Only, she knew his claim on the mate bond was fake. She knew because not only did she not feel the connection to him, she had felt that bond with his older brother her entire life and it wasn’t getting any weaker.
Even before either of them shifted, they knew. Not that it mattered. Jax had left her, passing her over to his brother like a hand me down. Sorry, you don’t fit me anymore. Hey, bruv, have a girlfriend. The pack would be more than satisfied with an alpha and beta mating as leaders, it was a strong pairing, but Jax was an alpha, like Aurora. Mated alphas leading a pack was almost unheard of and would have given the Shadow Pack status beyond measure. Jax didn’t want her, though. Bond or not, her true mate didn’t want her.
A heavy weight in the pit of her stomach filled her with uneasiness. The sense that somehow the rest of the afternoon would be life changing was impossible to shake. Resolving to take whatever came her way (what other choice did she have?) she opened the wooden front door of her parent’s cabin and stepped inside.
“I’m a raven, I’m not a wolf. I shifted a year ago and I’m a raven.” Aurora ejaculated the news in one breath because honestly, she didn’t know how else to tell them.
There was no point in dancing around it. Like her Grandmother, she’d never been one to waver, she faced things head on. The fact that she’d spent an entire year hiding her true self, pretending to be something she wasn’t, was stifling and out of character. She could no longer live that way. Her raven had been in hiding far too long and as much as it filled her with dread, it was time to face the music.
The room fell silent, staying that way for long, drawn out seconds, while its occupants processed her revelation. Eventually, Elouise Byrne rose slowly, from her seat beside the fire and made her way to where Aurora stood, staring out the window on the other side of the room. Reluctantly, she turned to face her Grandmother, who stooped to gain eye contact. Aurora squirmed uncomfortably; this woman had always given her the heebie jeebies. She loved her, as any child loved their Grandmother, but she was almost certain the woman was a witch. After close scrutiny of the young woman in front of her, Elouise smiled and turned to face Aurora’s parents.
“The Raven Queen has been reborn,” she announced, proudly. Aurora frowned at Caspian, who looked as confused as she felt.
“Ah, the what now?” Aurora wanted to know.
“You, my child, will bring peace between the races,” Elouise declared to the room, as though they all knew what she was talking about.
“Have you been at the herbal tea again, Gran?” Aurora leaned to one side and looked around her, at her parents, who both wore the same expression. A mixture of pride, fear, and something else she couldn’t pinpoint.
Her father was masking his scent, preventing her from picking up his true feelings and avoiding her eyes. That worried her. Her dad had always been honest with her, he was her mentor, her teacher, and her confidant. The fact he now didn’t want her to know his true feelings could only mean one thing. This, whatever this was, was bad. Really bad.
“Are you certain, Mother?” Connell Byrne moved towards his mate and rested a hand on her shoulder.
True mates, like her parents, could feel each other’s emotions, while Aurora could only assume her mother was freaking out as much as she was. She caught a glimpse of Caspian out of the corner of her eye, he was scowling down at his hands, one resting on each knee. He didn’t look up to acknowledge that she might need his reassurance at that moment. He didn’t have a clue how the woman he claimed to share a bond with was feeling. Anger and foolishness threatened to conquer her, for the years of lies she’d put up with from him, but now was not the time to be dwelling on her love life.
“Son, it has been three thousand years. The time has come. It is as we suspected, Aurora is our salvation. Her reign will unite the paranormal races and bring peace to the realms,” Elouise said, cryptically. Although, Aurora noted that her parents seemed to be in on the secret her Grandmother was blabbering on about.
“My daughter.” Aislinn Byrne reached out and took both of her daughter’s hands in her own. “My beautiful girl, you have such a future ahead of you. We will guide you, there is nothing to fear.”
“Yeah, rewind folks.” Aurora removed herself from her Mother’s grip and stepped around her. “Wanna tell clueless here what the hell is going on? Because I’m not following this queen shit.”
“Language, Aurora,” her mother scolded.
“Sorry,” came the automatic response, both women fully aware of its insincerity.
“Mother? Would you do the honours?” Connell asked Elouise, gesturing for Aurora to sit.
Caspian and Aurora exchanged a look and she sat down by his side. He reached out, pulling her hand into his lap and even though they didn’t share the mate bond, she could sense his love and support through their body contact. Guilt, for doubting him moments before, pushed to the surface. Guilt was a familiar feeling for her when it came to Caspian, she felt it daily and it had become easy to ignore. The anger, however, was becoming a permanent resident.
“There is a prophecy...” Elouise began, dramatically.
“Well, of course there is,” Aurora responded, dryly. Her secret had been revealed for less than ten minutes and already her life had begun to resemble the plot of a paranormal fantasy novel.
“Aurora, please.” Connell glared at his daughter. The dominance of the alpha wolf tinged the edges of his deep timber and Aurora nodded her submission with lowered eyes.
Elouise continued to bask in the attention she commanded from the room. She always had been a drama queen. A well-meaning one but a drama queen, nonetheless.
“You are aware of the legend of the Morrigan, of course.” She didn’t bother to wait for a response. “The Morrigan prophecies incorporate three of the supernatural races- raven to represent the shifters and the Goddess herself, vampire to represent the night dwellers and we believe, Fae. Although, that is unconfirmed. The third was once thought to be witch, but as you know, they were wiped out by the vampires, leaving us only with Fae to represent magic. Each of the races will birth a queen. A female destined to join with her Morrigan sisters and free the paranormal races from the conflict that plagues us. The raven is the shifter’s manifestation of the Morrigan. I don’t know where the other two queens are, they will be young women much like you, Aurora.”
“The exact wording of our part of the prophecy escapes me, it is written in the pack scrolls, which can be found in our library. I digress.” Elouise waved a dismissive hand in the air as she paced the room theatrically. “The prophecy states that three thousand years after the great war, our pack will raise a female child, a born alpha. This child will not be a wolf, but a raven. The raven is unique in her gifts, possessing powers never before belonging to shifters. Her strength will exceed that of any alpha wolf. If memory serves, some of the pictures depict a winged woman, able to maintain her human form and produce wings, as
well as perform a full shift into the raven. There is also talk of her taking the form of a red wolf.”
“She’s gonna get wings? Like, on her back?” Caspian looked at Aurora with a naughty grin. “That’s so damn hot.”
Aurora grinned back at him, seeing the humour in his comments, but otherwise he was ignored. After a swift dirty look in his direction, she never had favoured him, Elouise continued.
“The raven and her mate will not only rule the Shadow Pack, but the entirety of the shifter race, no matter the animal. Together, the three queens will bring forth an end to the race war, de-throne the vampire dictator and restore peace to the supernatural world. You, my child, are not only the future alpha of this pack, but queen of our race. The Raven Queen has risen.” Elouise clearly expected a response to her grand announcement but Aurora doubted hers was the one she was looking for.
“Well, that makes everything clear. Absolutely crystal. Not cryptic or insane at all, Gran. Thanks.” Aurora shook her head in disbelief.
“Your training must be doubled. Your time is going to come sooner rather than later now that you’ve shifted. You really shouldn’t have kept this from us for so long, Aurora. I’ll call a meeting of the elders. The packs must be prepared for the changes and you will begin to meet with all of the alphas in the near future. You are the chosen one, my girl. Our world rests at your feet,” Elouise lectured and continued to pace the room on her high-heeled shoes, laying everything out as though it made perfect sense.
“Come on, Cas.” Aurora stood and motioned for him to follow.
“Where are we going?” he asked, rising, and trailing her to the door.
“The library. I need answers!”
Aurora still had no real clue what was going on. Hell, she still hadn’t dealt with the fact that she wasn’t a wolf, let alone this whole queen of the world thing. She needed to get her hands on that prophecy, fast. The librarians were cagey creatures and wouldn’t want to part with it, but it was about her, so she figured it was hers for the taking. Elouise continued to list her orders and her parents listened dutifully as Aurora closed the door on them.
The Raven Queen Page 2
