The Raven Queen

by Emma Jayne Mills

  She didn’t know where it had come from, or why she was prepared to risk giving up her own freedom for this woman. She just knew the female shifter was deserving of that freedom, even if it meant forgoing her own. Naturally, she intended it to be only a temporary loss of freedom. If her stay with the Stratitiori pack had to be extended, it was a price she was willing to pay for a chance for Melaina to break her mate bond.

  “You were planning to kill me in my sleep?” Lykos raised his eyebrows, then shook his head with a laugh. “Yes, of course you were.”

  “What would you have done in my situation? You should thank your wolf, by the way, you’re only alive because I like him.”

  “You are serious about Mel?” Lykos looked down at her with a frown.

  She unwaveringly met his scrutinising eyes. “Prove to me you really do care for your pack, that it’s not just about the power for you. Show me the honourable alpha you want me to believe you are. Let Melaina leave and break her bond, ensure Axel can’t follow and I will stay.”

  “You will stay? For me?” His surprise was edged with suspicion, he wanted more than anything to believe her.

  “I will.”

  Seconds passed and he watched, surveying her with his wolf senses, not just her scent but her body language, her eyes, her pulse. Did she fidget, hesitate to answer his question? Had her scent changed? Was she avoiding his eyes? No. She showed him nothing of concern. No scent of fear or dishonesty, no signs of guilt. Not a trace of anything that might alert him to deception.

  “You will not regret this.” He reached out to brush her hair from her face; she didn’t flinch or move away, despite desperately wanting to. Instead, she smiled at him and allowed his touch. “I will make arrangements as soon as possible.”

  “Thank you,” she said, quietly and he bent to kiss her. Again, she allowed it, what choice did she have? She’d just dug herself an Aurora shaped hole and needed to make him believe she meant her words. There was no way she was going to stay here and become his mate, but if he believed otherwise, she was already that coveted step ahead of him and that advantage was necessary.

  His lips brushed gently but persistently against hers and she willed herself to respond. Stepping into his embrace, she rested her hands on his sculpted chest and let her mind go blank. At her touch, he moaned against her mouth, his grip on her waist growing tighter. Aurora closed her eyes and opened for his tongue, remaining detached, going through the motions as his hands began to roam her body. It wasn’t horrible as kisses go. It was quite nice, but it didn’t light any fires, at least not for Aurora.

  While Lykos may have been playing the game of appearing to be a respectful and attentive mate, she knew he held her as a possession, far from an equal in the way he claimed. His attraction to her was more to do with the power she could provide for him than through a bond that couldn’t exist.

  Lykos, on the other hand, was once again having trouble concealing the large bulge in his trousers, as he persistently pushed his body against hers. It wasn’t the first time she’d noticed it when he was in her company. Although, there were times when she wasn’t sure he was trying to conceal it. For her plan to succeed, she would have to let him think they would do that deed eventually, but she intended to have fun torturing him in the meantime. A prisoner had to get her laughs somewhere.

  “Honestly, Lykos, can’t you control that thing?” She disgusted herself by spewing out a girly giggle for his benefit when the kiss ended.

  “Not around you, apparently,” he laughed and pulled her back into a tight embrace, resting his chin on her head. It was a gesture of genuine affection and reminded her of Jax, the thought rendering her momentarily numb. “I will prove myself to you, Aurora. I will show you that I am worthy of your trust and eventually your love.”

  “I hope so.” Pulling herself out of her reverie, she found relaxing in his arms wasn’t as difficult as she expected. She could do this. She could pretend her lunatic kidnapper was an ok sort of bloke.

  “I’ll make arrangements for Mel as soon as I’ve dealt with Axel. You may tell her of our plans. Reassure her that she will be taken care of, I won’t see her leave my pack penniless. She will have everything she needs to get far away from here as quickly as possible. And you, I will see very soon, Koraki.” Lykos lifted his chin from her head and bent to kiss her again. Anticipating his actions, she met his lips midway, returning the kiss. She pulled back quickly, making sure he didn’t linger. He laughed and smoothed her unruly fringe from her eyes. “I know it will take time to convince you, but I mean to make the most of the opportunity you have blessed me with. You will be mine.”

  “That sounds like a threat, Lykos,” she smirked at him.

  “No, my little bird, not a threat. A promise… a vow, perhaps… but not a threat. Come, we both have important business to attend to.” He took her hand and led her from the room.

  Melaina walked Aurora through the castle, showing her room after room and introducing her to pack members. Aurora was astounded to find some of them bowed when introduced to her. Embarrassed, she told them to stand, she did not require that level of formality from them. Lykos and his ego knew no bounds. Still, she couldn’t deny the obvious respect and genuine love they held for their alpha.

  Lykos was a conundrum, how was it that he seemed a perfectly reasonable man, yet he had kidnapped her? He’d invaded another pack’s territory, causing panic and no doubt injuries during the fight that followed. He’d taken her violently and against her will, from her home, then proceeded to treat her like an honoured guest. While there had been moments when she’d pushed and wondered how far she could take him, there had been none of the cruelty she’d expected to suffer at his hands. She could find no explanation for his behaviour.

  “Where can we talk without ears, Melaina?” she asked her companion finally.

  “The gardens are usually a safe bet. Why?” The woman Aurora had met in the bedroom the previous morning was back, a sneer on her face and an attitude that rivalled only her own.

  “We need privacy,” Aurora stage whispered and Melaina laughed, grabbing her arm, and dragging her towards a huge glass door.

  “The gardens are big enough that you can generally come out here and not be overheard.” Melaina led her away from the castle towards a walled garden. “This is my favourite part.”

  “I didn’t have you pegged as a flower fairy.” Aurora’s eyes darted around at all the coloured flowers and plants.

  Aurora was by no means a gardener, but thanks to her Grandmother, she knew what most of them were, particularly the herbs. It was summer and the garden was in full bloom. Bright colours covered every patch of land. They followed a winding stone path through the flower beds, walking in comfortable companionship.

  “My cat likes the peace out here. We like to lie in the sun. I often come out here to escape...” her words trailed off.

  “Axel,” Aurora finished and Melaina nodded once. The question of why Melaina hadn’t shifted to heal her black eye was on the tip of Aurora’s tongue, but she sensed that it wasn’t time to address that issue yet. “Talk to me, Melaina. Why did you defend him this morning? There’s no way that was an accident.”

  “It was,” she began to argue.

  “We’ve been completely real with each other so far, don’t insult me by acting weak and submissive now. I know you are not those things,” Aurora told her, sternly.

  Melaina sighed and reached out a hand to lightly touch the petals of a rose. “I learned the hard way that it’s often easier to submit to him. Sometimes, I don’t have the energy to argue and fight him. The aftermath, if I go running to Lykos, is never worth it and although Lykos does what he can to protect me, his hands are tied because Axel is my true mate.”

  “Lykos is your alpha, his hands are never tied when it comes to protecting his pack,” Aurora argued. “You don’t have to put up with this.”

  “And what are you going to do about it? You’re not sticking around long enough to make a
ny changes around here. You’ll be gone soon enough and Lykos will be like a bear with a sore head at losing you. When that happens, Axel will get the brunt of it and take it out on me. Shit runs downhill. If I want to live, it’s better if I just go along with it.”

  “You’re leaving,” Aurora told her.

  “What?”

  “I spoke to Lykos this morning. You’re out of here, he’s organising everything you need to get away from here and break your bond. Assuming that’s what you want.”

  “Well, of course it is. I can’t believe this. How did you...” Melaina stopped mid-sentence and turned her head to look Aurora in the eye. “You gave up your own freedom in exchange for mine.”

  “Not exactly.” Aurora smirked and Melaina raised a questioning eyebrow. “We definitely can’t be heard here?”

  “No,” Melaina looked around as if to confirm it.

  “I made a deal with Lykos. I’ll stay if he lets you go. I’ll give him the chance to prove his worth as my mate.”

  “But you don’t want to be his mate.”

  “No, but in the meantime, I’m hoping you will be headed towards my pack’s territory to tell them every detail you can about this place and how they can get me out of here. Will you do it?”

  Melaina nodded, readily accepting the task. “Absolutely.”

  “I’m certain my brother and his team won’t have gone back to their base. They’ll have stayed at Shadow Fen and already begun planning something. You need to find Marco or Jax. If not them, then Connell or his beta, Brone. Though, your best bet is Jax. Tell him you’ve got a message from his wild thing, that way he’ll know you’re for real.”

  “Jax is your true mate.”

  “It’s complicated, but yeah, he is. He and my brother are part of some special forces unit, I don’t know the ins and outs of it. It’s all top-secret bollocks, you know, man stuff.”

  “Macho bullshit.”

  “Exactly. Don’t tell them I said it, they’re big-headed bastards, but they’re the best of the best and they know what they’re doing. With extra information from you, they’ll be better still.”

  “Got it,” Melaina affirmed and Aurora dared to hope that her stay at “Castle Lykos” wasn’t going to last much longer.

  The door to the room they had taken over opened and Finn entered, a dark-haired female’s arm firmly in his grip. Jax blinked and did a double take. At second glance, he realised that while her hair and clothes matched Aurora’s, that’s where the similarities ended. She was dressed head to toe in black and her arms were covered in colourful ink.

  “What’s this?” Hunter raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

  “She turned up at the gates asking for Jax and Marco,” Finn supplied.

  The woman yanked her arm out of his grip and glared at Finn in a way that again, reminded Jax of his mate. Marco raised his head slowly, taking her in from head to toe, frowning as he did so. Jax grinned, knowing his friend was trying to figure out if he knew her, wondering if one of his beer infused hook ups had tracked him down.

  “Which one of you is Jax?” she asked, eyeing each of the men in turn. The men remained silent, eyeing her back with open suspicion. Her eyes landed on the tallest one, all dark hair and lean muscle. She grinned. “Well, it’s no wonder she doesn’t want anything to do with Lykos when she’s got a pretty boy like you waiting for her.”

  “What did you say?” Jax stalked towards her, she didn’t back away or look to the floor in the presence of an alpha. She stood her ground, gazing up at him with piercing blue eyes.

  “I have a message from your wild thing,” she announced and Jax stilled, his breath caught in his chest. The room around him all but exploded as the others went into motion.

  “You’ve seen her?” Jax choked out, reaching up to rub the burning sensation on his shoulder where the tattoo sat.

  “She’s fine, lover boy, don’t worry. She’s pissed off and making Lykos work harder than he ever has in his life, but she’s fine.” The woman reached out to pat his chest.

  “Who are you?” Zane asked, naturally suspicious of anyone who was remotely connected to Lykos. “How do we know you’re for real?”

  “He knows,” she tipped her head towards Jax.

  “She’s legit,” Jax confirmed. There weren’t many that knew he called Aurora his wild thing and most of the ones who did know were in the room with him. There was only one person who could have told the stranger that.

  “My name is Melaina and until this morning I was the mate of Axel Berger, beta of the Stratitori pack. Long story short, Aurora made a deal with Lykos, free me and she would stay.”

  “Why would she do that?” Zane questioned, while Jax swore under his breath. It was exactly what his mate would do, so typically Aurora.

  “Because my mate is a dick and Aurora’s got a hero complex. I wanted to break the bond. I was basically a prisoner there. In return for my release, I promised to come here and give you all the information you need to help get her out. Only she and I know I’m here.” Melaina crossed her arms triumphantly over her chest and waited for their response.

  “Jax?” Zane turned to him for a reaction.

  “It sounds like something Rory would do.” Jax exhaled and ran a hand over his face. “That crazy bitch will be the death of me.”

  Still, he couldn’t stop the grin that claimed his features as he realised his mate was alive and well and fighting like fuck to get out of there. The fact that she’d sent this Melaina directly to him stroked his ego a little too. Aurora had faith in him to get her out of there and that gave him more hope for them as mates than he’d dared have previously.

  “I’m Marco, Aurora’s brother,” Marco approached Melaina and introduced the rest of the team. “You already figured out he’s Jax. The beast is Hunter, bright eyes over there is Cole, and the strong, not so silent one is our commander, Zane.”

  “Pleased to meet you all. Shall we get to business? I’d like to think Aurora might not blow that place up with everyone in it while I’m gone, but it’s a strong possibility, so we’re on a clock here, boys.” Melaina pulled a chair out from the table in the centre of the room and sat down.

  “Are you sure we’re not related, because you and my sister are very much alike,” Marco laughed.

  “I’m no wolf,” Melaina murmured.

  “Neither is Aurora,” Marco countered.

  “Are these print outs of the castle?” Melaina ignored Marco and leaned over the scrolls, shaking her head. “Is this all you’ve got?”

  “What’s the problem?” Jax asked. Resting a hand on the table, he leaned over to look at the map with her.

  “This is all so old. Lykos has completely modernised the place. Patrols, obviously, but also alarms, cameras, sensors, absolutely everything. Pen?” She held out her hand without looking up. Jax pulled a black marker out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  “Woah! Wait a minute! You can’t deface these scrolls, they’re ancient.” Finn moved forward and attempted to grab the pen. Melaina was quick and had it shoved in her bra before he could blink.

  “Do you want to know where the cameras are or not?” Her question was addressed to Jax, not Finn.

  “Go ahead,” Jax lifted his chin, indicating she should continue.

  “Fuck, Jax! My cousin works in the library, she gave me these with strict instructions to return them unmarked. She’s already stressing about the break in and the book going missing,” Finn whined like a puppy. “She’s terrified she’ll lose her job.”

  “Is she mated?” Jax asked, not looking up and Hunter laughed, already a step ahead of his teammate.

  “No?” Finn replied, confused.

  “I’ll deal with it, Finn, don’t worry,” Jax told him. Hunter would deal with it, more like. Jax looked to Melaina. “Carry on.”

  “Tell me more about this cousin of yours, Finn.” Hunter stood and put an arm around Finn, walking him out of the room and removing him from ears reach of their planning.

 
Not only would Hunter deal with the issue of the scrolls, he would ensure Finn kept his mouth shut about Melaina’s sudden appearance. The men had already decided Aurora’s rescue mission was going to be limited to the five of them, despite Connell offering as many of his men as they needed. They didn’t need or want anyone else involved, the Laignach Faelad trusted only each other. The more people that were involved, the more risk they ran of things going wrong. The aim was to get in, get Aurora, and get to the pre-arranged safe house as fast as possible. Jax glanced up to find Zane trying to catch his eye and they moved to the corner of the room to speak privately.

  “You trust this woman?” Zane asked.

  “Rory obviously does and that’s good enough for me,” Jax told his commander. “There’s nobody else who could have given her that name.”

  “You have faith in your mate, that’s good enough for me. We need to keep Melaina out of sight. Caspian has already mentioned her name so it’s likely he’d recognise her. We don’t know for certain where his loyalties lie yet so I want him kept in the dark. Also, I’m not completely comfortable with certain other pack members here. There are too many different stories flying around about that book,” he said and Jax nodded in agreement.

  They joined Melaina, Marco and Cole at the table as Hunter re-entered the room carrying a bag of food. He winked, to let Jax know he had dealt with Finn and his cousin. Damn cat was one hell of a fast worker. The group gathered around the table to form a plan based on the new information from Melaina.

  “All right, listen up,” Zane began. “We allow the pack to continue thinking we’re going along with the original plan, sending Caspian in as our eyes.”

  “Slimy mother fu...” Melaina began.

  “But in the meantime,” Zane interrupted and smirked at her before continuing. “Melaina will be assisting us in putting together our own plan. One which we know won’t leave room for any double crossing by slimy things.”