3. Raven

3

RAVEN

T he waves on the rocks outside my window mimicked the waves in my dreams, the ones that crashed against the shoreline and threatened someone I couldn't protect. Panic and fear raced through me as I struggled to get through the surf, my hands outstretched as I screamed for her. Fought to get to her.

Too late, I was too late.

Sweat soaked through my sheets even though I'd gone to bed naked.

Jerking to a sitting position, I swung my legs to the side and bent at the waist, sheets pooling around my middle.

"Fuck." I growled the word, hating that I could still be denied a good sleep from something that had happened too damn long ago. Then again, I wondered if the dreams were even real now, because no one else remembered the things I did.

My skin was tight and hot, and my guts ached.

Curling my tongue over my fangs, I was reminded I had to feed today. Before we left on this so-called quest. Or Diana was right, she might just wake up with me eating her.

A flash of her on her knees in front of me instead of how it had actually happened was a pleasant enough thought that I considered relieving myself right then to the image but…no. I was not about to let her get to me.

Something about the woman dug at me in a way that made my skin itch, made me want to poke at her. Made me want to force her to deal with me. Which was only more reason for me to not go with them back to the mainland.

Yet I could not deny my King, or my friend.

"She's not even my type," I muttered under my breath as if saying it out loud would help me.

To be fair, the women who found their way to my bed were typically soft, with generous curves, and hair like silk that I could bury my face in while I fucked them ragged, making them beg for more before I brought them screaming to completion. Mind you, they rarely lasted more than a night or two—didn't want them getting attached, after all. But there was always another waiting in the wings. A maid who'd heard someone's panting through the walls .

My lips turned upward and then immediately slid into a frown.

Diana…she was everything that I would expect from a wolf queen, right down to her leather pants and the weapons she was never without. Her body was lean and strong, her muscles tight, and the way she held herself, with more confidence than I'd seen in any other leader.

I wanted pliable. Sweet. Not a sharp-tongued, battle-hardened she-wolf.

Grumbling to myself, the last remnants of my nightmare banished at the thought of the queen staring down at me when I'd apologized. I'd known exactly what I was doing, looking up at her, the same way I would have had I been feasting on her pussy.

Sure, she hated me, but I could see the blood rise to her cheeks as that knowledge had hit her, and the darker thoughts ripple through those frosted blue eyes. Her wolf had stared out at me with curiosity even while the woman was pissed as fuck to even consider the thought.

And now I had to spend goddess knew how many weeks with her.

"Stake me now and be done with it," I muttered as I slid into a dark shirt and pants. I ran my hands through my hair, not caring if it was tousled. It would give the impression I'd just fallen out of a lady's arms after pleasuring her all night. An image I had to uphold if I was to continue as the rogue.

I grimaced, anger snapping through me. There had been no woman to take my attention away from this stupid political game—the only two that had caught my eye were married to my two closest friends.

Strike one and two. And worse, I now considered them family, and would fight to protect them.

I made my way to the side table and opened the refrigerator hidden behind the panel in the wall. I stared at the stock of cold blood with mild distaste. Nothing like taking it straight from a warm, willing woman, but Dominic had reminded me that I had to drink and drink deeply before I got on the damn boat…A deadline that was rapidly approaching.

Familiar footsteps sounded outside my door.

"Bossy bastard." I smiled as I reached for the first of four bottles.

"Talking about me again?" Dominic opened the door as I spun the lid off the bottle and tipped it back.

Even cold, the flavor wasn't unpleasant. This vintage was from a human, female, early thirties and she tasted of chocolate and fruit. Not bad.

I put the empty bottle down and reached for a second. "No, of course not. How many bossy bastards are in my life? Wait….I suppose that it's just you."

Dominic raised a brow and leaned on the edge of the door frame. "Still mad? "

"You're sending me on a quest of some sort, with a woman who despises me, and a whelp who has barely been tested in battle, on a boat that likely was made when the Territories came into existence." I looked over my shoulder. "Sounds like the start to a bad joke, don't you think? Why would I be mad?"

I spun off the cap on the second bottle and snapped it back. Female, human again, and tasted strongly of whiskey and…peanut butter? It was an odd combination, but smooth and it slipped down my throat with an ease that had me sighing. I set the second bottle down and picked up a third, but didn't open it just yet. Instead I turned to my friend.

"Choose another to go. Your sister doesn't want me there, and conveniently, I don't want to be there either. I came back to the Territories for a reason and this surely was not it." I pointed the bottle at him. "You have many, many men and even some women—who would be more than capable of doing this job, and you fucking well know it. So why me?"

"Diana is strong enough to take care of herself," Dom said. "But you know the mainland better than anyone else. You have the connections she might need to find this thief. And despite how you behave, you're skilled in areas outside the bedroom. Your swords are deadly, Raven."

I smiled at him over the third bottle and gave him a wink. "You would know it. You still bear the scars of our first fight, do you not?"

Dominic's nostrils flared. "You cheated."

"I won. Have you not yet learned? All's fair in a fight to the death." I tipped the bottle at him and then poured it into my mouth. This one caught me off guard. Werewolf, female, tasting of a wild spring storm and driving itself into my veins in a way I hadn't felt in so very, very long, making me want to run and howl at the moon, to find a partner and fuck her until I couldn't breathe any longer, then lay in her arms as the stars burned above. Eyes closed, I put the bottle down and leaned on the wall. "Gods, I forgot how hard other Territory blood hits. That was a doozy."

Dominic grunted. "I do not forget."

I lifted my eyes to him, my veins still humming with the unknown female's blood. "Sienna?"

He gave me a sharp nod. "When it tastes of magic, I believe you might have found your mate."

I grabbed the fourth bottle, almost hating that I had to drink it down and wash away the previous one. "There is no magic in blood that comes from another Territory. Power and strength, yes. But mates are for those who believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters." I paused and put the drink back. "I lost faith in those many, many years ago."

Dom motioned for me to follow him. "So did I. Then I met Sienna. Things change, Raven. Let them. And…drink your last bottle before you leave."

I saluted him. "Yes, you bossy bastard. Where are we going now?"

"You need a tune-up. I want to make sure you can protect my sister."

I laughed, blowing a kiss to a maid as she scurried past. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped into a perfect O that would fit right over my?—

"I want to see if you can still spar. I've no doubt you'll be in a few fights before you find the thief."

I stared after the maid who had slowed and was looking over her shoulder at me. Yes, that one would be lovely to hold and yet…I winked at her and turned back to Dominic.

"Sparring, sure. I do keep up, you know." I tapped a hand on my chest. "Ladies don't like a man who lets himself get soft."

Dominic looked over at me, his eyes thoughtful as I kept my smile pinned in place. Let the fool I was thought to be stay on the surface.

"I see you, Raven," he said finally. "I know who you are. You will protect her with your life if you need to, as would I. Which is why I am sending you. Because I trust you to do what you must to make sure you get the job done and both come back alive."

His words cut into me, his faith in me still shaking me from time to time. I was just the palace maid's boy, before we were cast to the mainland. I did not come from blood, or fancy titles.

Dominic had never cared.

"You have my word," I said, all the light teasing tones gone. "I will protect her as if she is family."

He nodded and that was that—an understanding from one to the other.

We made our way to the covered courtyard, set up for the vampires who'd stayed behind in the Werewolf Territory. Will would need to leave soon, he'd gone back and forth for the last five weeks, dealing with both his own court and supporting Diana. Now he would finish his official takeover of the Vampire Territory as our new king.

The courtyard was empty. The day was only just beginning. We'd leave for the mainland this afternoon—just the three of us, if you didn't count a bare bones crew to help man the boat.

Diana, Nicholas and myself. That was enough to draw irritation through me again, and I scooped up not one, but two swords.

Dominic lifted his eyebrows. "In a mood then, are we?"

"You said to spar. So let us spar." I lifted both swords and settled into a waiting stance.

Dominic scooped up a sword and a shield. A more traditional set of tools for this fight. "Come at me then. Bird boy. "

An old insult and one that only made me roll my eyes. "You can do better than that, you bastard."

He grinned. "Bird brain?"

"Perhaps that's what I will call you from now on."

Diana's voice made my hands flex of their own accord around the hilts of both swords. Though she wasn't my type, even I couldn't deny that she was striking as she came into view. Stalked into view was more like it.

Her long dark hair and frosty blue eyes like a winter morning could make you feel like kneeling at her feet.

Again.

I bowed at the waist. "Ah, the queen of all arrives. Come to watch the peasants fight for your honor?"

Dominic sighed so heavily, it fairly rattled the air. "Must you, Raven?"

"Oh, I must." I smiled and dipped my head. "I cannot feed on this trip. I cannot bed any women, and I must be subject to the ice queen's whims. Fairly played, but let me have a little fun."

Diana's eyes narrowed on me. "I barely saw you on the battlefield against Edmund, and have yet to ascertain with my own eyes if you have any skill, or if all you do is talk your way out of having to fight."

I shrugged. "A win, is a win, is a win. I don't care how I survive, Your Majesty , only that I do." And, now, that she did too .

Diana moved into the sparring square that had been marked out, her eyes locked on me as she circled around. Hunter and prey, I could see it in the way her body shifted ever so slightly.

Another woman I might have laughed at, seeing her set herself up to attack me. With her, I was going to have to be careful. She'd just as soon tear my throat out.

"How are you going to track this thief?" Dominic asked, cutting through the growing tension. "He's been gone for years, correct?"

I was not so stupid as to take my eyes off the stalking wolf. She paused and turned to her brother, and I realized that had been his goal. To draw her ire away from me. I stabbed the tip of one sword into the ground and leaned on the handle.

"Yes, I'd be curious about that as well. Unless you're hoping I'll do all the work for you?"

Dominic shot me a look and I just grinned at him. I couldn't help it. She was fun to irritate, and I liked the way her eyes flashed at me a little too much.

"My tech team has been studying the crimson stone here, and have found a way to mimic the resonance within. They then sent out a similar sound and got back four pings."

My eyebrows shot up. That was…actually pretty clever. "Four pings, better than the whole world at least. "

Diana tucked her hands behind her back. "Of the four locations, there is only one that Maverick would willingly go."

"Indulge me," I drawled. "I'm curious as to the other places we might end up."

"Antarctica, Madagascar, Moscow," she said and I winced as she went on. "But from what I know of him, he'll be in the fourth place. Isla Naranja…"

"How can you be sure?" I asked. "Being wrong will truly fuck us over."

I thought the question would piss her off, but she laughed and the sound caught me off guard, wrapping itself around me.

"Because that's where the party is. Casinos, brothels, pubs. And he is, at heart, a scoundrel and a gambler. And he sure as shit isn't gambling with penguins." Her eyes sparked and she turned to her brother.

"Hand me your weapons. I want to see if he's any good."

"He survived the battle unscathed," Dominic said. "And I've seen him fight. He's that good."

Good enough to beat the General himself more than once. But while I might brag about my skills in the bedroom, my skills on the battlefield…I chose to keep that to myself as much as possible. The more someone thought you were good at fighting, the more challenges came your way .

"You want to spar with me, Frostbite, far be it for me to stop you. Although I can't help but wonder if this is just a ploy to get close to me." I flashed her a wide smile as I tugged the blade from the ground and swung my two swords up into a ready stance.

"I'll get close enough to run you through the heart, just for giving me that stupid nickname." She smiled so very sweetly up at me, that I knew I was in trouble.

We circled one another, and Dominic watched from the sidelines. "He's weak to the right."

"Fucker," I growled at my supposed friend. "You'd help her cheat?"

"Giving her advice, it's a rather brotherly thing to do." Dominic laughed as Diana came at me, fast and low, springing up with her sword and shoving me backward.

I could have beaten her right then, her belly exposed to my right-handed blade, but I fell back, let her push me around the ring.

Always keeping just out of reach.

Letting her direct the flow of this dance. Watching her body work, and admiring it none too little.

Keeping pace with her and noting when I could strike. Because I didn't want to hurt her—despite how she was getting under my skin.

On two legs, I outmatched her in speed, and reflexes, so I kept myself reined in. If she got seriously pissed, and shifted to four legs….well, that would be a wh ole other ball of wax. Werewolves were far more deadly when they had claws and teeth that could tear your head from your shoulders.

Not that I'd ever admit that.

The fight rolled into ten minutes of parrying and thrusting, and her softly golden skin had a sheen of sweat coating it, beads sliding across her collarbone and down her neck. Her lips were parted as her breath came in harder, and faster with each passing minute, the sound drawing me closer, wanting stupidly to feel her breath against my ear.

The top of her shirt slid just a fraction of an inch, exposing the very top swell of her breast and my eyes locked onto a bead of sweat as it ran down her skin there as I wondered how she'd feel under me, sweating and writhing, panting for air.

A bit of material that was not her shirt caught my eye. Binding? She bound her breasts to keep them out of the way?

The shield snapped into my face and sent me backward, flat onto my back, the world spinning. The tip of her sword followed, settling into the hollow of my throat. "If you can't keep your eyes on the prize, then you will die, Raven."

I laughed and smiled up at her, letting her see my fangs as I ran my tongue over them. "Who said I didn't have my eye on the prize, Frostbite?"

The flush of her cheeks could have been from the exertion of the fight, but I didn't think so. With a snarl she tossed her shield and sword away and strode from the covered courtyard.

I pushed to my feet and dusted myself off as Dominic picked up the weapons and set them in the racks. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

I shrugged. "I find I enjoy getting under her skin. If I must go, at least give me this."

Dominic sighed and shook his head. "Just try not to get yourself killed."