Electric Moon (10 page)

“Raven.” She eyed him in turn, noting he didn’t offer her a
drink. When she opened her mouth, he waved a hand.

“I suggest you ask your questions with better care.” Humor danced
in his eyes, and she took him at face value.

“A number of deaths have increased with the coming full moon.”
Donaldson just stared at her, not denying or confirming anything. “I think the
recent murders are tied to the approaching conclave.”

Still no response.

“I want to know if you think this could be a grab for power
from within the conclave or an attack on it as a whole.”

“You’re quick. I’ll give you that.” He took a calm sip of
his drink, never taking his attention from her.

His comment so mimicked his son, it was uncanny. She refused
to twitch under his formidable stare. Something in his gaze made it feel like
he could see right through her shields and steal all her secrets in a single breath.
A flutter of panic gurgled in her stomach, but she held her ground.

Donaldson raised his own brow then relented. “Either option
is possible, though not likely. We bring too much influence to the shifters. If
the power structure were to change, the shifters would not be as prosperous,
and that would hurt everyone. As for an individual trying for a seat on the
conclave, maybe, but the attack would have to be more direct.”

Raven tipped her head at his response, her senses sharpening.
“Direct approach? I never said how they died.”

“I believe it’s my turn to ask the question.” He set down
his glass. “Do you even know my son?”

The intensity in his eyes increased, snippy at the thought
of being tricked. Griffin warned her to choose her words with care if his
father asked. “I’ve met him.”

Those eyes narrowed further. “Where?”

“You might say we were hunting the same killers.” She didn’t
know why she said it, why she protected Griffin, but it felt right.

Donaldson sighed, seemingly eased at her confession. “He’s still
playing games, I see.”

Raven thought about asking how he knew about the deaths, but
figured someone in his position would have contacts. She didn’t want to waste her
question. “You know about the deaths. Does that mean you have an idea of who
might be behind them?”

He laughed out-right, and she saw the charismatic man that had
the ability to hold a room full of alphas if he’d wished. “You’re a clever
little thing, aren’t you.” He set down the glass and walked toward the door. “I
don’t, but I suspect you’ll find out the truth soon enough.” He paused by the
door without bothering to face her. “Try to keep my son out of trouble if you
can.”

 Chapter Ten

FIVE DAYS UNTIL
THE FULL MOON

B
y
the time she’d left the country club, midnight had come and gone. The moon beat
down on her, its rays a cool threat of things to come. The exhaust smells of
the cars had lifted, and she could almost taste the chill in the air. Raven walked
a block to her car, her thoughts lost in what Donaldson had said and so artfully
not said.

She unlocked the door when a shiver worked up her back. Not
giving herself a chance to think, she threw her body sideways.

Most people hesitated for fear of feeling stupid if they
overreacted.

Raven would rather be alive.

The baseball bat meant for her head cracked against her car
window. A waterfall of glass hit the road. Raven whirled, stumbling to her feet.
Two teens, hoodies raised, charge toward her. Menace pooled around them.

“Can we talk about this?” Their movements were faster than
humans, almost a blur.

The guy with the bat wound up and swung again. She rolled over
the back of the trunk and landed on the other side of the vehicle. Her car
wasn’t so lucky. The rear light shattered under the impact meant for her knee.

“You should’ve minded your own business, Region.” The other
boy hurried after her, a blade shimmering under the streetlight. Instead of
running, she dropped into the fighting stance London had drilled into her. She
lashed out with her foot, knocking the blade from his hand.

It was a tossup which one of them was more surprised, her or
the kid. Unfortunately, he recovered quicker, swinging his fist. She weaved to
dodge the blow, but his fingers grazed her jaw. That she could’ve handled, but
she hadn’t anticipated the brass knuckles.

Her skin split open. Blood spilled down her neck. Up close,
she could see a shock of hair fall over his brow. His clean jaw indicated the
kid was no more than fifteen years old. No animal blazed out from his hazel
eyes, but the potential was there. His eyes widened when he caught her looking,
fear turning them green.

She spun and without thinking, slammed her foot into his
knee. A rumble of rage or pain ripped from his throat, but she had no time to
find out which. The mini-league wannabe was up to bat again.

A metal bat.

A really stupid, totally irrational idea grabbed her. Running
didn’t even enter her mind. They’d be on her before she made it back to the club.
Raven pretended to stumble. She pushed her back against the car, taking comfort
from the cold metal against her spine.

When bat came down toward her head, she ducked. Metal
thunked against the roof of her car. She reached up, and saturated the bat with
electricity.

A hum filled the air at the sheer quantity of juice she
funneled. Lights all the way down the street flickered as she drew the power from
the city grid.

The jolt slammed into the kid with enough force to toss him
back a few feet. He landed hard, skidding a yard before he stilled. Fear that
she’d killed him curled through her. Then he coughed as he grasped for air,
rolled to his side, but didn’t rise.

Raven slowly straightened. The other kid hobbled over to his
friend, practically picked him up and scurried away. She debated going after
them, but reason asserted itself. If they turned on her, she couldn’t guarantee
she’d win the next round.

As adrenaline wore off, her chin throbbed. She probed the
bruised area and winced at the pain, her jaw already swelling.

“Shit.” She was so busted. There was no way to hide that. Though
already clotting, she wouldn’t be anywhere near healed before she arrived home.
She scrubbed away the blood and walked around her poor vehicle.  

Her once pristine new car.

London was going to kill her.

The roof had a huge dent, the window was gone and the rear light
was not only broke, the bumper was crumbled as well. The kids had been stronger
than she’d anticipated.

Because of the new Alpha drug Randolph had mentioned? But that
made little sense. Why target her?

There had been a wildness to them, a lust for violence that seemed
reckless. They reminded her of Griffin without the taste of alpha on them.

More rogues.

Scraping the keys off the road, she groaned and all but fell
into the car.

The ride home dragged on as she riddled out everything she’d
learned. Most importantly, why rogues had targeted to kill her when she was
working to save them?

And she had no doubt that they would’ve killed her. She was
faster than before, but still not quick enough. She needed to be better. Needed
to train harder and trust her animals more. If they had sent anyone but boys,
she doubted she would’ve come out on top.

By the time she parked the car and trudged toward the front
steps, exhaustion had mugged her and won. All she wanted was a hot shower and a
bag of ice.

Hand on her jaw, she opened the door and pulled up short.

Four men littered the hallway: Durant, Jackson, Taggert and
Dominic in his wolf form. As one, all eyes riveted on her like she was a ghost.
She could’ve kicked herself for not getting a clue when the house was lit up
like a beacon. “Uh, what’s up?”

She carefully kept her hand on her jaw, thankful the light
spilling from the study didn’t reach her. She angled her body to better hide in
the shadows. Unobtrusively as possible, she wrapped the darkness around her to smudge
her appearance. She dropped her arm to her side. If they looked at her jaw
directly, they’d be able to see the injury. Otherwise, she should be safe.

Dominic reacted first, stalking toward her on stiff legs, his
fur ruffled on end in outrage. Tags and a harness rested on the floor, the only
way a shifter in animal form could go out in public. No one would’ve mistaken
his beast for a pet.

Then there was Durant. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Where were you?” The calm, soothing tone of Durant’s voice
raised her hackles.

No one moved. Their extreme reaction alarmed her. “I went to
meet a guy about the case I’m working. Didn’t Griffin tell you?”

“He gave us some cockamamie story about you meeting an alpha
on your own then proceeded to disappear. That was hours ago.”

“It was for the case I’m working.” So why did that sound
like a lame excuse?

“Work is fine, but you are not just a Region. You’re the
alpha of this pack. Please tell me you’re not stupid enough to endanger
yourself by meeting another alpha without any type of backup.” He stepped
toward her, and his nostrils flared. In seconds, he was at her side.

She tried to turn away, but he had her face gripped in his
big palms before she could so much as twitch. She sucked in a breath when his
fingers swept ever so lightly over her injury as if brushing away the darkness
she’d grabbed.

Stupid.

Of course they scented the blood.

“What the hell happened to you?” He tipped her face into the
light. Jackson whitened, clearly holding himself responsible. Taggert’s
reaction hurt the worse. He stared at her with wounded eyes. Not that she was
injured, but that she’d left without telling him and broke his trust.

Their expectations were too much. They treated her as a
prisoner. “You’re overreacting. You knew I had a meeting.”

“But you conveniently forgot to tell us where. You can’t go
into a potential dangerous situation and not expect us to react.”

“The meeting went smoothly. Why make it into such a big
deal?”

A rumble of anger worked up Durant’s chest, her question
testing his patience. “You’re the alpha. Even a male wouldn’t have left his
pack without protection. Until you achieve pack status, your situation is even
more precarious. And to make it worse, you know what I’m saying is true. Look
at you. You’re injured.” 

“But not from the meeting.” Admitting the truth was
humiliating. She was a fully-grown female. She could take care of herself, yet
two teens nearly took her down. “I was attacked getting into my car.”

Durant captured her wrist in his grip. When she tugged, his
hold clamped down like a vise, and he dragged her unceremoniously toward the
kitchen.

He slammed the swinging door open so hard it warbled and rebounded
off the wall. She barely caught the wood before it thumped into her. Durant yanked
out a chair, wood screeching across the floor, before shoving it under her ass.
She plopped inelegantly on the seat with an oomph.

Everyone filed into the kitchen behind them. The wall of
glass was dark, reflecting the too silent room back at her. The violence so prevalent
in shifters lurked close to their surfaces, ready to erupt if she made the
wrong move.

Jackson leaned against the wall, muscles tense, ready to
explode. He crossed his arms as if he didn’t trust himself not to toss her over
his knee.

Taggert set about making tea, though he knew that she didn’t
drink the stuff. The action calmed him, so she kept her protests to herself.

“You’ve shown you can’t be trusted with your own safety.” Raven
swiveled in her seat at Durant’s comment. He opened the fridge, slamming around
inside as he wrestled ice cubes free from the freezer. He piled the cubes onto
a rag, forming a small mountain of ice.

“I—”

“You will never be alone without a chaperone.” He roughly
wrapped the towel and came toward her, a number of ice cubes escaping like mice
to hide under the recesses of the cupboard. “Even if you have to go to the
bathroom, one of us will stand guard by the door.”

“That’s not necessary.” She thought he’d plunk the haphazard
icepack in her outstretched hand. Instead, he placed it to her jaw with a
gentleness that shouldn’t have surprised her. The cold burned against her skin,
and she clenched her teeth against revealing any reaction for fear she’d set
them off again.

Durant lifted her face to his. “Isn’t it? You’re in charge
of protecting that kid, Aaron. How can you protect him without being here? If something
happened to you, everyone in this room would be at risk.” He dropped his hand,
but kept the icepack against her skin. “Explain to us how it’s not necessary.”

“Did something happen?” Dread tightened her chest.

His eyes flashed gold at the question. He leaned in closer,
his jaw clenched so tightly, she feared he’d hurt himself. “No one could find
you.”

The kitchen fell silent. Raven searched their uncompromising
expressions, and her shoulders slumped. They were in complete agreement. Part
of her appreciated their concern, but another part found it stifling. A shiver
worked down her spine at the possibility of being caged again. It didn’t matter
that their prison was made out of concern instead of hate. “You’re treating me
as a helpless female, not an alpha.”

“Then damn well act like one!” The roar echoed in the room.

“Do not pretend like I’m just a shifter. My power gives me
an edge. I will not stop working my cases because you fear I might be harmed.”

“And I don’t expect you to. All we’re asking is not to take
any chances until after your pack status has been approved by the council.”

They weren’t going to budge. To make it worse, a small part
of her agreed. “Fine.”

There was a pause of stunned silence. A contented rumble
poured out of Durant now that he’d gotten his way. He angled her head in the
light to get a better view of her injury. “Now tell us what happened.”

“Two kids decided to have a little fun.” Raven shrugged off
his hold, ignoring the growl of upset. “My car took the brunt of the attack.”

“What did they want?”

“They didn’t say. Warning me off the case. What else could
it be?”

“Which case?” Aaron opened the door and entered, a
casualness to his walk that said he’d made himself at home and wasn’t above
eavesdropping. Though well into the night, he hadn’t changed as if he, too, had
been waiting up for her. “The police case or mine? Mother has a habit of hiring
rogues to do her dirty work. Were they trying to scare you or kill you?”