Raven Moon (12 page)

“Tomorrow I’ll search for a medical facility and get casting material for your arm.”

She followed him up the steps and mumbled, “Fat chance of that happening.”

Every hospital he’d spotted was surrounded by the dead in their stasis state, indicating no living humans within miles. “Actually, I have orders to find and bring back medical experts.”

“Really? I doubt they’ll join your cult.”

Rave had a point. Maddox despised the idea of forcibly taking a medical doctor or nurse to please Lazarus. Without any rights, forced into servitude, they would be punished, or made to watch as others were punished. He tested the door. Still locked. He stepped back then flung his body against it, busting it open. He sniffed and scanned the dark living room and inviting fireplace. On the left was a long wooden dining table with plates laid out. The quaintness reminded him of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Rave peered in. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

“Quite.” Rave shivered. He took off his coat, and draped it over her shoulders, and she bristled. She probably thought it odd he acted the gentleman since she was a prisoner of war. “Come, I’ll start a fire.”

“Not arguing with that.”

In no time, he had a roaring blaze. “I’ll get you some blankets for the sofa or would you rather sleep upstairs?”

Rave stiffened and gave him an incredulous look. “Don’t you watch horror movies? Going upstairs in an old abandoned farmhouse in the dead of the night is never a good idea.”

“Naturally, I’ll make sure it’s safe.”

She snorted. “Safe from zombies and humans but what about ghosts or demons?”

A shadow of terror drew his hackles up. Demons and demonic possession was something he feared since he first sat at his religious school. The Benandanti sermons preached demons waited for the moment their faith waned. And worse, demonic forces could possess his inner wolf, the beast with the natural inclination for wickedness. Maddox pierced her with a guarded look. What would keep a demon from invading the mischievous raven to seduce him? How would he tell the difference? He cleared his throat. “Right. We’ll leave at the first sign of trouble.” He shot upstairs and entered the master bedroom. A note rested on the pillowcase.

Maddox paused and examined the letter addressed:
Dear Son
. A vague memory of his real father reading him a story and the scent of his fur uncovered long buried memories. He swallowed, compelled to read a most private note.

Dear Son,

Mom and I are thankful you are on duty with the rest of the troops. I have no doubt the military will soon bring back order. When you return to the farmhouse, just know we are safe as well. We joined Billie and his boys in a shelter near Blackwater Creek. Stay safe and know we love you.

-Dad

The letter implied hope when in reality there was none. Maddox removed the blankets and a pillow from the bed. He carefully returned the simple note to the exact place on the other pillow. He grabbed more bedding from the closet and returned downstairs.

The glow of the fireplace enhanced Ravenna’s alabaster skin with a soft pink glow about her cheeks. Her purple eyes enthralled him as she met his eyes. “Are you okay? You look like you lost your best friend.”

Maddox snorted. “That obvious?”

Rave shot a quick glance toward the stairs and clutched her handbag. “Yeah. What did you see up there?”

He shrugged and arranged blankets on the sofa. “Just a note from a father to his son, telling him they sought shelter with others.”

“I’m sure they’ve joined the
preppers
.” They were people who had prepared for doomsday long before the zombie bane. They trusted no one and odds were they would not welcome the farm couple.

“Come, get some sleep. We need to leave early.” He held out his hand to help her from the chair by the fireplace, but she moved past him.

“I’ll do it myself.” She sat on the makeshift bed on the sofa, put her bag near her feet and lay down. On her back, she shot him a glance. “Are you going to ignore orders to bring back doctors and me then go after Jaeger?”

Maddox fingered back his hair. “That’s not your concern.”

“Umm. It’s my life. I’d call that my concern.”

He turned toward the broken down door. “Just rest.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll shift to my natural wolf form and sleep on the porch.”

****

Rave took another pain pill, hoping it would make her drowsy enough to sleep. The crackling fire felt cozy but the glow of the blaze cast shadows from the vases and furniture. She slipped the blanket over her face. There was nothing to fear. Not with a powerful alpha werewolf guarding the house. Correction, she had great reason to fear. Said werewolf was a Benandanti Templar and she, his prisoner. He’d been so concerned with setting her broken arm, but why should he bother? Once in his compound, high priest Obadiah would probably break both her wings just to torture her. There would be a trial for the crime of destroying the Bloodstone. The new leader, Lazarus from what she heard, was even more brutal than the last. Didn’t she deserve punishment for causing the death of her loyal guards?
Or would my execution disturb their departed souls?
The Raven Guard code stated, ‘To serve with honor and protect our charge until death granted eternal thermals.’

Cashel’s stern voice haunted her memory. “Princess, be resourceful. Think of nobody but yourself.”

Her heart ached. Isn’t that what she’d always done? Thought of nobody but herself. Her so-called service with the Avian intel boosted her ego. It was always her ego. The best fashions, the best art school, the most beautiful condo, and she had wished to be the best winged warrior.
Look what a hero, I am.
Her parents never had more children and she had always been painfully aware her father wanted a son. He never said it but his regret reflected in his eyes and in his conversations with her mother. Quiet conversations not meant for her ears. At age twelve, she overheard them in the library talking to a raven fertility expert.

Hurt emanated from her father’s deep voice as he spoke to the doctor, “What you are telling us is that I will never have a son to lead my murder?” Father sank on a couch and her mother placed a hand on his shoulder.

The doctor sat across from him. “Princess Ravenna is a smart, beautiful child. Times are different. We no longer expect a prince to lead battles and earn military trophies. Those times have long passed. Our wealth comes from the funeral business, not fighting.”

Rave listened from behind the door, her heart breaking. Her father didn’t want her, he wanted a boy. She hated battles and fighting. Being the prettiest and the smartest was her first priority. Yet the Corax royal family descended from the raven shifters that had once protected England. After the revolutionary war, the British raven king sent one of his sons to rule North America. And so began their legacy in America. Her great grandfather had served as an American fighter pilot during World War II. The humans never learned his true nature and after the war, he returned to the rookery and quietly ruled.

Her mother, whispered to Father, “Listen to him, my dear. Ravenna will find a worthy prince to marry. Like Bram of England.”

Her father nodded and chuckled. “That’s if she doesn’t end up with a werewolf. All of her closest friends are wolf shifters.” He sighed. “Her room is plastered with posters of that actor from that new movie,
The Girl who Cried Teen Wolf
.”

“Dearest, she’s only going through a stage. Besides, the boy from the movie is a human actor not a real werewolf.”

Not a stage, Mother. I prefer my lupine friends. Anyway, in Father’s eyes, I’m a loser.
Rave had heard enough. She ran up to her room and decided to go to the boarding school in Europe after all.

Rave’s thoughts painfully returned to her current situation. She slowly lowered her blanket and glanced at her satchel within reach. If she could get close enough to inject Maddox with the wolfsbane solution, it would give her time to grab his keys and escape before he recovered from the knockout drug. His mission anyway was not to capture her but to search out useful survivors and go after Jaeger. His leader need not know he’d captured and released an important fugitive. None would be the wiser.

Rave slowly sat up, biting her lip as a sharp pain screamed from her arm. A low growl made her freeze. Shit. Had he heard her or was he having one of those doggy nightmares? Kind of cute but not if he was so out of it he ripped out her throat.

The wolf padded near the door and sniffed. She lay back and held her breath. Thankfully, he returned to his spot and plopped down with a wolfish groan.

Am I crazy or what?
It was one thing to sneak in on a sleeping bear shifter in the dead of winter but to think she could sneak around an alert werewolf was stupid. Not to mention the pain meds made her drowsy and she was not capable of driving. Falling asleep at the wheel was a bad idea with hungry zombies lurking around. She closed her eyes and focused on a plan B or even plan C. Before she went down the alphabet of escape plans, darkness ensued and she slept.

****

Maddox woke and cocked his head. Rave babbled and whimpered in her sleep. A nightmare. He shifted to human form, hastily dressed and crept in. The embers in the fireplace still glowed and she had tossed off her blankets. Her sweet face was an angel’s, not a demon’s. The nipples beneath her white T-shirt peaked from perky breasts screaming to be sucked and nibbled. Carnal desire brought out his wolf and his cock strained against his pants. Her lips parted and soft pants escaped her lovely mouth. A mouth he imagined biting into, tasting, and savoring her honeyed fragrance. She’d been right earlier when she teased him about not taking advantage. And yet, here she was sleeping beauty to his beast. So trusting. But what really brought out the hungry wolf again was her irresistible pale throat, ready to be marked and claimed as his mate. His fangs emerged and his fingers yielded long claws.
Mine!

Maddox jerked his gaze away. Never had a woman, werewolf or human and certainly not a bird shifter, made his wolf desire for a mate. Since the first time he saw Princess Ravenna, nearly a year ago, his wolf had been infatuated with her. Then it occurred to him how to curtail his desire. Take Mariah as his mate. They were best friends and they shared a common history. He’d done the unthinkable and asked Mariah to have pre-marital sex with him. She agreed and thought his wolf would stop his obsession with the tempting raven princess. The sex had been a great release and tender, but his wolf had not marked her as his. Mariah had been disappointed, but understood the chemistry was not there. His chest tightened. He’d left America to forget Ravenna. The terrible decision meant he’d not been here to protect Mariah and his friend Diego while they hunted Jaeger.

Guilt tore at his heart. Had the witch, Dora sent Rave and cast a spell on him? His wolf snapped,
Mate!

Rave closed her mouth and puckered her lips. He lowered his head and growled.

Her eyes shot open and she screamed.

Maddox must have looked like a monster, his fangs out and his clawed hands hovering over her like a vampire ready to bite. He held a clawed hand out and snarled, “Shh. It’s only me.” He stepped back, knocking over an end table, crashing a vase to the floor. He roared and she cawed loud enough to shatter his eardrums. He controlled his beast and straightened. “Calm down, Ravenna. Rave.”

She scooted back and winced. “What the hell are you doing?”

His fangs and claws refused to retract and his damn cock pushed against his seams. He turned his back to her and sucked in air. “You cried out in your sleep.”

Her voice sounded hollow. “I had a horrible nightmare. When Cashel and Beccan were torn to…” She clutched the pillow to her chest, curled around it and wept.

Maddox turned. Her sorrow deepened his desire to comfort her in his arms. Her tears enhanced her fragrance and he drank her aroma as if sampling the finest wine. Not in wolf lust but a wolf’s need to reassure his mate that he was there for her. His voice was husky, part-man, part- beast. “Princess Ravenna, it’s over.” Damn. Why had he addressed her as
princess
?

Rave wiped her tears and threw the pillow at him. She met his eyes and scolded, “Oh, yeah, it’s over. That is once you deliver my head on a silver platter to your pack.” Her chin trembling, she braved a frown.

Her fiery temper aroused him like nothing else. Alpha females always turned him on but never to this extreme that he couldn’t stop his fervor. His heart hammered as he locked eyes on her and fumbled for words. “No, it’s not…” Passion swept through him like a tidal wave, leaving him drenched with desire. He stepped over the fallen table to draw her to him, kiss those pouty lips and drag his fangs on her flesh. No one would ever harm her.
Mark her
, snapped his wolf.

She gasped.

Dear Lord, what am I doing?
He twisted around and growled, “I must go.” He dashed out.

Chapter 8

Rave glanced around the living room as daylight streamed through the linen curtains. Groggy, she smiled. That was one wild dream, except it had been real. At first, she thought Maddox was going to kill her. But no, instead Maddox had come close to going all hot wolf-sex over her. The chemistry between them since they met was a volatile mixture ready to combust with just the right catalyst. She imagined him staring at her body as she slept. What big bad wolf could resist a woman sleeping all by her lonesome? Especially if he was still a virgin. Templars took a vow of abstinence until marriage. Pious jerk. If only he’d given in to his beast. Forbidden sex was hotter than hell. He probably would have been rough to ease his shame that his beast had taken control. Slamming his aroused cock into her, grunting and growling with each thrust. Her orgasm would have been earth shattering.

Rave would have kept their tryst a secret. No point getting him in trouble with his pack, or worse, losing her parents’ respect by consorting with the enemy. Wetness soaked her panties from her fantasies.
Reality check. I’m stuck with the enemy in the middle of zombie land. Correction, the hottest mother lode of eye-candy enemy.
Rave slowly stood and stepped over the broken vase.