Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
"You all need to get the fuck back," My mother's voice came out as a low guttural growl, her panther clawing for the surface. She trembled against me, a mix of fear and fury radiating from her.
My own cat roared inside, desperate to break free and paint the walls with their blood. The air crackled with the promise of violence, and the wrongness coming from our flat mixed with what was out there with us, creating a pure cocktail of nightmare fuel.
My mother lurched forward. I wasn't sure what she was doing—going for Tia's brother?—but before she could take another step, our flat door flung open. The scents, all thick and so very much shifter, wafted out as the two other "humans" I'd argued with stood in our entryway.
My body betrayed me, frozen in place like a fucking statue. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. My mind and panther needed to slot all this into place, because apparently, we'd been doing some kind of puzzle, and I had no idea what the picture was supposed to be.
They grabbed my mother, their meaty hands clamping down on her already battered body. The sound of her pained gasp cut through me.
"Let her the fuck go," I roared, my voice raw and feral. I lunged for my mother, desperation fueling every move. But before I could reach her, iron-like arms yanked me back with brutal force. I thrashed and snarled, my panther howling for blood, but the grip was unyielding. I could have taken these all on if they'd been human, but not a single one of them was. They were shifters. Their scents so thick now. I had no idea how they'd even managed to cover that up.
They hauled us into our flat, and the two that had my mother dragged her into our lounge and shoved her down into the already waiting dining chair. The room had been rearranged, a man now sitting on our sofa, radiating an aura of cold authority.
"What the hell are you doing?" I spat, my eyes darting between them, searching for any weakness, any chance to break free. "Leave her alone."
My mother wasn't looking at me. She was fixated on the man sitting on the sofa, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. The sight of it made my vision go red, fury and terror battling for dominance in my chest.
Things started to slot into place. Little things. I didn't mean to say them out loud, but they came out, my voice raw with disbelief. "You masked your scents to get to me?"
The man in the leather jacket clapped mockingly, his disdainful applause cutting through the tension-filled air. "Give the boy a fucking medal."
"You need to let him go," my mother said, her voice trembling but determined. "Let him go and we'll talk."
"Mum—“ I started, but she cut me off.
"Quiet, Raven," she snapped, shooting me a glare that silenced me instantly. "Let him go."
The man on the sofa rose, towering over everyone. His thick dark hair framed a face in a way that sent chills through my body, a sort of twisted recognition I couldn't place. "But it is Raven I'm here for," he said, his gaze raking over me like I was a prize. He straightened his shirt and cuffs, then smoothed down his tie before removing it. Green eyes met mine, eerily familiar. Then back to my mother. “What an awful thing for you it must have been to have to look at that face every day."
"He is nothing like you," my mother spat, her words dripping with venom.
The man lunged. One moment he was standing looking at me, and the next, he slammed the back of his hand across my mother's face and leant over her, his arms braced at either side, his face just inches away. If she wasn't being held down by one of the Spy Glass fuckers, she'd have got up. But he had his hands down on her shoulders, pushing her into the chair.
"You took him from me," the man growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Did you honestly think I'd never find you? Did you really believe that--"
She kicked at him, slipping down into the chair and flinging her leg out with all her might. Her arms went for him, clawing desperately. I bucked against the ones holding me, trying to get to her, but they had me tight. "Mum ..."
The man grabbed my mother by the throat, shoving her back. The chair flew out from under her, and she crashed into the kitchen cabinets. He lifted her from the floor, holding her up by her throat.
I twisted in the hold of the two shifters, dropping down. I was bigger than they were. Not by much, but even at seventeen, I was built. Genetics saw to that, I'm sure. I spun on them, pushing at one, swinging for the other. My fist connected with one of them and I managed to get myself free. I went for the man with my mother. That was the only thing in my sights right then, and the only fucking thing I wanted, because he sure as hell didn't get to touch her like that. He didn't get to...
I dropped to the floor. Not me, but my panther. He dropped instantly, submitting to all the emotions he filled me with. "No ..."
"Enough," the man said, his voice resonating with a power I'd never felt before.
I could hardly lift my head. I was down on all fours and the world seemed tilted. Almost like I wasn't part of my own body. I swear, I could see his ability shimmering out around the room--vines of power that snuck into every single corner that reached for me, and my panther answered to it, bowing down to the higher animal.
"Let ... my ... mother ... go," I forced out, but each word burnt inside and I fought against my body. All I wanted to do was curl up and shut out whatever the hell he was pushing at me. I felt every emotion to the highest degree and it was drowning me, pulling me under into a darkness. If I just closed my eyes ...
"Stop it. You're hurting him," my mother pleaded, her voice breaking.
"Hurting him? I'm hurting him? Look at what you did to his life. Look at this place. How the fuck am I hurting him, when you've been doing it for almost two decades."
"I was saving him from you."
The man let go of my mother's throat, but he didn't move too far back. He shook his head, his face twisted with rage. "No, you took him from me." He went to swing at her, "You took him from us, from his home," his fist flying towards her, but she moved. She'd snarled at him, her eyes the green of her panther now, her hands a fistful of claws, and she swiped at him, catching him across the arm and tearing his shirt.
They clashed in a blur of claws and fury, each movement a desperate struggle for dominance. I could do nothing, glued to where I was, so unable to move. It was like being encased in lead.
"I would do it again," my mother snarled, baring her panther's teeth. "I would do whatever I needed to keep you from him."
The man got the advantage again, but this time he had her with her back to him. He held her tight in his hold, made her stand up, pushing to her toes or risk losing her head. He pushed her so she was standing right in front of me.
"He doesn't even know who I am, does he? He doesn't even know who he is?"
I met my mother's gaze. They were so green, so bright. Her panther was just there, right under the surface, ready to come out and defend her, to fight, but also, it bowed too. I felt that in her. My panther had connected with hers so many times in my life, because she was all I had.
"Are you going to introduce us, Raina?"
"You need to let her go ..." I pleaded, my voice barely above a whisper.
He shook his head from behind my mother. "She is my pack and she has broken our laws." He lowered his head so his mouth was next to my mother's ear. "Now, tell him. I will not ask you again." One hand gripped her jaw, the other pinned her waist.
I had never really felt my mother's fear, felt her emotions, but I felt them then. Saw them in her. She swallowed, eyes on mine.
"Raina ..."
She sucked in a breath. Her face was cut again, the bruises seeming to have come back and she nodded. "This is your father, Raven," she said, the words falling from her lips like lead.
"And?"
She let her eyes close, defeat relaxing her face. Her dark lashes were wet with unshed tears. "And the alpha to our pack."
"Alpha ... which makes you, my heir. And it is time for you to come home."
As he said it, hands hauled me to my feet.
"I am not going anywhere with you," I growled, defiance surging through me.
"Really?" He raised a brow. "You are the blood of my blood. You belong with your pack, not wallowing in this place with nothing."
My mother twisted in his grip, something in her stronger, more determined. She seemed to suck everything in. I felt that. Like a force against me, and she went to thrust it at him, her power, my power. I don't even know. She used her clawed hands on him, reaching out and slashing at him again. He spun her, grabbing her arm, twisting her. His hand went for her throat again, and this time, it wasn't to hold her still, nor to make her talk.
Her eyes met mine, only for the briefest of seconds, but they did, looking right into me, right at me, and that's the thing I'd see forever. Her eyes. I felt everything in that moment, every ounce of pain and fear, everything she'd kept held inside herself for all these years.
With one quick movement, my father grabbed my mother, and snapped her neck.