Raven (Book One of the Dark Lycans Series)

He lunged at Matthew whose eyes widened to the size of moons. Blake and Matthew tumbled to the ground, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I looked at my wrists, still attached to the bedposts. The bed was wood, very thick and unfortunately, very strong. Taking a large breath, I yanked my wrists towards my feet, and I heard a splintering crack.

The bedposts snapped and the wooden canopy fell towards me. I shrieked before it suddenly stopped falling. I looked up and saw Blake holding it up.

I smiled before unbuckling my feet and getting off the bed. He dropped the canopy and it broke the bedframe. He shrugged and turned to me.

Tears pricked my eyes as I jumped and threw my arms around his neck. Blake's arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me close to him.

Suddenly he pulled back, and I gave him a questioning look. He showed me his hands that were covered in blood. I slowly turned around to show him my back, and I heard him growl.

"I am going to kill him!" He snarled. I heard a whimper from Matthew. Blake towered over him and my wolf howled at the power radiating from him.

"You hurt my mate?"

"I didn't know, I swear, she wouldn't tell me who her mate was. Besides she can't have a mate, she a Hunter," he rambled. Blake snorted before turning to me and nodding.

"Can a Hunter do this?" I asked before shifting into my black wolf. Matthew face was of pure horror, and he backed away into a corner. I growled, and slowly stalked towards him. Blake grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground with one hand.

I watched with pleasure, as Blake carried Matthew by his neck out the door and threw him over the side of the tower. Matthew's screams filled the air, and I shifted back before looking over the side just as he hit the ground, landing on his back.

The stone around him started to turn red with his blood. I looked at Blake who was breathing heavily, and his eyes were still black. Trying to calm his wolf, I placed my hands on his shoulders and rested my head on chest.

I could hear his wolf start to purr and his arms wrapped around me. He nuzzled into my neck, breathing in my scent to calm himself. Footsteps brought my head off his chest, but his arms stayed around me.

Blake growled quietly before blocking my view of the owners of the footsteps. I pursed my lips and gave him a look before standing on my toes to see over his tall shoulder.

The corners of my lips lifted when I saw Jackson, Jinx, and other pack members. Something was tugged over my head, and I realized it was Blake's shirt. I put it on and it fell just above my knees.

Blake stepped to the side and I was instantly embraced by Jinx. I hugged her back, and noticed her smell was different.

"You've been busy," I remarked with a raised brow. She smirked and looked back to Jackson. Her new smell was the result of her completing the mating process with her mate.

Jinx let go of me and walked back to her mate. An arm slid around my waist, and I was pulled back into Blake's sculpted chest.

Suddenly, I felt extremely faint, and my legs collapsed. Blake picked me up bridal style, and my head fell against his shoulder.

He shouted something before running down some stairs and then I felt him jump. We were in the air for a few seconds and he landed on the ground softly.

I was happy to see the trees again, and to be away from the territory that was once the Lunar Howler's. Blake came up to a large truck, and set me in the backseat before climbing in beside me.

He set me in his lap, and I snuggled into his neck. As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell into darkness.

***************

I woke up, and kept my eyes closed. Someone was carrying me, I could tell it was Blake because of his familiar scent. He suddenly stopped.

"Raven, I know you're awake." His voice was deep and husky, as he whispered in my ear.

I opened my eyes to find myself face to face with my mate. "Hi," I whispered.

Looking around, I saw we were in the hospital. Blake continued walking and we ended up in a room where Aspen was waiting.

I gave her a smile that she returned. Blake set me onto the floor, but kept an arm around my waist for support.

"Thank god you're back, he's been unbearable for the past couple of weeks." Aspen said gesturing to her brother. I looked at him and he shrugged.

"I wasn't exaggerating," was all he said. I nodded numbly.

"How long was I gone for again?"

"Almost four weeks, its August 25."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "You won't believe how many times I blacked out in the time I was there."

"I need to check you out, to make sure you're okay." I nodded and turned to Blake.

"You should leave, I'm afraid you'll kill someone if you see what they did." I spoke softly. He quickly shook his head.

"I'm staying here." I knew from the look in his eyes that his decision was final.

"Fine," I muttered and faced Aspen again.

"So the first thing that happened after I got taken, was I woke up in a room with my arms chained above my head. I escaped and ran through the forest and up a tree. They got me down by shooting my leg, and I fell thirty feet. I blacked out again, when I woke up, I was in a cage." I paused to look at Blake.

He was breathing heavily, and buried his head in my neck. I continued when he had calmed a little.

"After a little bit of fighting, I was dragged to some kind of restraining mechanism. My arms were strapped above my head, my legs apart, and there were metal belts across my hips and my waist. I made Matthew, the one you killed-" I pointed to Blake.

"-a little angry, and he threw a dagger at me. It stabbed my heart, and I died." I furrowed my brows in confusion at the memory.

"What do you mean you died?" Aspen asked.

"My body died but my wolf didn't, so I could still see what was happening. I was revived and given a dark blue injection before blacking out again."

"Did it look like this?" Aspen asked lifting up a syringe filled with the same liquid.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Its a sedative, it only works for 24 hours unless readministered."

"Well I was out for a few days, and when I woke up it was getting infected where they put the stitches. I gave myself medication to fix it. I woke up wearing only bandages covering my upper half, and pants. Unfortunately when they were fixing my wound, they saw my mark."

"That's when you contacted me right?" Blake asked and I nodded.

"I refused to tell them who my mate was, and they burned me." I said looking down. Blake's grip around my waist tightened.

Aspen? I tried a mind link with her.

What is it? She sounded worried.

I need some undergarments because I need to show you the wounds but I am tired of being naked.

Got it, she said quickly. I was glad she understood, and sighed in relief.

"I'll be right back, I need to get something." Aspen spoke quickly before leaving the room. I closed my eyes and rested against Blake.

His voice brought me out of my thoughts, "Did you really kill that whole pack?"

I let out a large breath through my nose before answering. "I was fifteen years old, and it took me two months. I killed a few at a time, usually the wolves guarding. I used a sniper rifle with silver bullets for most of the time, but I did cause problems to draw them away from their homes,"

"You killed all of them? Men, women and children?" I could hear the pain in his voice at the thought of his own mate killing women and children.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, before nodding numbly. "I've done many things I regret, but more are the things I don't."

My head turned towards the door as I heard it open. Aspen walked in and handed me a small bag. I smiled at her before walking down the hall into the bathroom.

I opened the bag and found a pair of cotton panties, sports bra, and spandex. I took off Blake's shirt and changed into the clean clothes.

The shirt was stained with blood so I put it in the trash. When I walked back into the room, Blake was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.

"This is where they burned me," I said softly placing a hand next to the wolf burn that started healing. From how deep it was, I knew it would leave a scar outlining the wolf even after fully healing.

Blake's head snapped up, taking one look at the burn, and he stormed out of the room. I heard a loud crash outside the room and flinched slightly.

"What else happened?" Aspen asked distracting me from Blake's destruction.

"When I still wouldn't say whose mark it is, they whipped me. I lost count after thirty." I turned and showed her my bleeding back.

Aspen filled me in on what happened while I was gone, and fixed my injuries. I thanked her before heading to Blake's house. The house was silent, but I knew he was there.

Realizing I hadn't taken a shower in almost a month, I ran up the stairs and into the bathroom. My bandages were waterproof so I jumped into the shower and started scrubbing my skin.

I watched blood swirl down the drain, both dried and fresh. I washed my skin roughly trying to remove the smell and memories of the past few weeks. After wrapping a towel around myself, I took my first look at myself since I left.

My hair was now clean, and my skin was bright pink from the abusive scrubs. I let go of the towel to look at the burn, almost finished healing. A white scar outlining the wolf was starting to form near my right hip. An idea came to my mind and I smiled to myself.

I got dressed in one of Blake's shirts and got into the plush bed. After sleeping on stone for a month, the mattress felt like a cloud. Blake was in the house, but not in the bed. I didn't know what he was doing but I fell asleep before I could think too much of it.

************

I woke up to a burning sensation near my shoulder. My breathing was ragged with gasps of pain as I sat up. It was dark and Blake still wasn't in bed.

I growled loudly before leaping towards the doors. The whole house shook when I threw them open and tore through the halls. The pain from my Mark could barely be felt through my cloud of anger.

Catching my image in a mirror I passed, I saw my eyes were marbled black and gold. I jumped from the top of the stairs down to the first floor. Landing softly, I stalked towards where I could sense Blake was.

I came to a door and stopped, listening intently. After feeling another wave of fire from my Mark, I slammed into the door. The wood splintered into pieces with a crash.

My breathing was very heavy and I glared at everything in sight. In the room, I saw two figures and I flipped the light on to save my night vision.

Blake was laying on a small bed with a girl straddling his waist. I felt myself snap when she sent me a smirk.

I snarled viciously and leaped forward, catching her by the neck. She let out a scream when I threw her to the ground. I waited for her to stand before punching her head hard. Her body fell limply to the ground.

I lunged forward to see if she was dead, and to finish the job if she wasn't. Two arms caught me before I reached her. Twisting around I saw Blake keeping me away from her.

My wolf was pissed, as was I, so I let her take over and I felt myself shift. Black fur covered my body, and a growl shook my chest. Blake let go of me and backed away.

He shifted into his red wolf, and crouched down into a defensive stance. I snarled at him before running through the front door of the house, and into the woods.

My wolf went on a rampage through the forest trying to rid of the pain our mate had caused. We ripped into everything in sight, and soon blood covered my fur, none of it my own.

I collapse onto the grass and let out a small whimper. I should have stayed away.

I sat up raising my muzzle to the full moon, and let out a long, mournful howl.