Lycan Blood

Page 15

Raven's jaw slightly dropped as she stared at Dasker, her eyes wide from surprise. Just then, the waiter arrived with two platters and placed them on the table in front of the two, revealing their meals.

On the day of the ball, only a couple of days after their date, Dasker and Raven accompanied each other into a large, modern building. Inside, there were tables on the outskirts of the center room, and arched doors surrounded the building. Dasker took Raven's hand in his, leading her in. She wore a beautiful, long, dark blue ball gown. It was sleeveless, showing off her tanned shoulders. They could feel eyes on them from all over the room, but neither of them were bothered by it. In fact, a slight part of Raven loved the attention. Dasker led her to a group of other well-dressed men and women, all paired up. Raven now knew why he didn't want to attend alone. After Dasker introduced her to them, they began discussing pack business, and since she had no part in that, Raven excused herself. She walked around the large room, watching as people laughed and flirted. They were all having a grand time, while she was wandering around, alone. "Hey." A voice behind her called. Raven turned around to see Theo.

"Theo!" She pulled him into a hug. "Where have you been?" They hadn't seen each other in quite a while, and Raven began to think he was avoiding her. In fact, he had been, but he chose not to admit it.

"I've just been dealing with pack stuff, went out of town for a bit." He explained. "Where's your date?" He was surprised to see her alone. Raven shrugged.

"He's also dealing with pack stuff." She let out a slight chuckle to try and hide her disappointment. "How'd you know I had a date, anyways?" He flashed her a heartfelt smile.

"You're too beautiful to be here alone." He stared into her eyes for only a second before forcing himself to look away. "Your date's crazy for leaving you by yourself here." He smiled at her again before walking away, getting lost in the crowd. Feeling a little better, Raven maneuvered through the crowd, heading towards the bar. She walked alongside the walls for easier movement. Once she was close to the bar, she felt someone grip her arm and forcefully pull her through a door, slamming it shut behind her.

"Hi, Raven." A familiar voice greeted. She couldn't tell who it was, but she knew she had heard him before. Once she looked up, a gasp escaped her mouth. It was him- the man who had abused her. "Do you remember me?" He laughed. Raven remained silent, her heart beating quick. "Look, I'm sorry for what I did. I deserved that stake, but, please. Just come home with me. You don't belong here!" Fear overpowered her, and she tried to inch towards the door, but his body was blocking it. You need to escape. She knew that, but the real issue was, she didn't know how.

"Let me go." She reached for the handle, but he grabbed her wrist, throwing it back down firmly.

"Just come home with me." Raven tried to get closer to the door, but then he snapped. He pushed her down to the floor, her back slamming to the ground. She winced in pain. He swung his foot to her stomach, and she received a painful blow, making her cry out. He pulled her up, his hand around her neck, and pulled her off of her feet. As his grip tightened, the oxygen from her lungs was forced out, and her body was crying out for air.

"Matt?" A faint voice called from outside the door. The man quickly dropped Raven, gesturing for her to be quiet as he exited the room, closing the door behind him swiftly. Raven was left alone in the dark room gasping for air as the pain of her injuries grew and tears streamed down her face. After a couple of minutes, the door gently swung open as someone walked in.

"Zara?" Raven's voice was but a whisper. A look of shock flooded her face.

"Oh my god! Raven! What happened?" She rushed to help her up.

"Zara..."

"Stay still, I'm going to get Dasker."

"No." Raven grabbed Zara's arm. "Please." After contemplating the decision, Zara reluctantly nodded and began helping Raven leave through the back door, carrying her to her house. Once they arrived at Zara's house, she helped Raven get out of the dress and provided her with a sweatshirt and sweatpants to wear. Raven laid down on the couch, not wanting to move further to reach the guest bedroom.

"Raven, have you ever changed into your wolf form?" Zara questioned urgently. Raven shook her head. It was obviously not the answer Zara had hoped for, as her worry seemed to increase. "You'll probably heal up, but you won't have the fast healing that a changed wolf would, so, just rest. Then, maybe you'd like to tell me what the hell happened!"

Raven, pretending to try to sleep, waiting until Zara had left the room to sit up and think. Why didn't I fight back? She thought to herself, Am I that helpless!? Anger flooded through her veins. I'm so damn pathetic. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails sinking into her palms. Suddenly, she heard the door swing open and slam shut. Dasker rushed in, still in his suit. "What happened? Why'd you leave?" He questioned, bending down next to Raven. She didn't speak, trying to think up an excuse.

"I was, uh, tired." She lied, and as soon as it came out of her mouth, even she wasn't convinced. Dasker arched his eyebrows before gently reaching to grab her hand. As he brushed over her injured wrist, Raven winced in pain. Concern shadowed his eyes. Raven tried to pull away her hand, but he kept ahold of it, gently pulling the sleeve of the hoodie up to reveal a red mark encircling her wrist. His eyes quickly grew serious as he glared at Raven, lightly pulling her hand up.

"Who did this?" He interrogated, his eyes examining Raven's face. She looked down at her lap, feeling ashamed she had let herself get abused without even fighting back. I'm not gonna cower behind Dasker's back whenever trouble arises. She didn't answer. With her silence, Dasker grew furious, knowing she was hiding something. He stood up, his eyes still glaring at her. "Strip." Raven looked up at him with a confused look.

"What?"

"Strip down, Raven!" He wasn't asking, he was commanding. Raven stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide and brows furrowed.

"Really?" She was hurt by the way Dasker was treating her.

"Don't make me ask again- you won't like it." He stated sternly. Raven's nose scrunched up and her eyes began watering. She hadn't thought Dasker would make her do something she didn't want to- they had just begun to get comfortable with one another, and now he was doing this. He wasn't serious, was he? No matter, Raven wasn't going to give in easily.

"No." Her response only made Dasker grow angrier; his eyes started swirling red, and his jaw clenched. Before she knew it, he gazed into her eyes with his own blood-red orbs,

"Strip." Even though she didn't want to, Raven couldn't stop herself from pulling the hoodie above her head, exposing her bare body. It was like she wasn't in control, but merely an observer. Dasker inspected her body, growing furious by the second. His eyes first hovered over the marks around her neck, then down to the bruises on her stomach. He let out a vicious growl. On the other side of the room, Raven saw Zara peeking out, fear of the situation unraveling before her enveloping her face. Zara slowly walked over to the two, trying to calm herself down.

"Dasker," He didn't even look back, "Let's just all calm down and-"

"This doesn't concern you," Dasker snarled, still glaring into Raven's eyes. "Tell me who did this." His voice was deep and demanding. Raven's eyes hadn't stopped watering, but she shed no tears. In fact, she was doing all she could to stop herself from crying. After not receiving a reply, Dasker slammed his fist into the table next to him, causing it to break upon his impact. "Fine. If that's how you want to play this, then so be it." He leaned closer to Raven. "Tell me," he took a short pause, "Who did this to you." Unable to stop herself, Raven gave up the information Dasker had wanted. Without another word, he violently left the house, slamming the door behind him.