Raven

Chapter 7

"Okay, how are you completely ignoring the dead person lying in a parking lot?” I question from his side. “Also, you don't have a shirt on. Don't you think that will draw attention to us even more?" I'm actually 100% positive that Reid strolling around the streets shirtless will direct a great deal of awareness to us; undoubtedly given by anyone with eyeballs since he is a walking masterpiece.

Reid huffs while approaching a navy blue sedan. He peers into the backseat of the car before ramming his elbow into the driver’s side window, shattering the glass. I nervously glance all around us as the car alarm begins wailing throughout the ghost town of a parking lot. I'm half expecting the vehicles’ owner to come barging out of the rundown building bordering the alleyway to confront the people breaking into it. But, just as soon as it began, Reid rips a handful of wires out from under the steering wheel and tosses them onto the ground, ceasing the alarm. He then proceeds to casually whistle the Jeopardy theme song as he pulls the back door open and reaches into the backseat, snatching a plain blue t-shirt off of the floor. He pulls it on overhead and turns back around to face me, slamming the car door shut.

"So, now that I've got a shirt on and you aren't distracted by my devilishly good looks, are you ready to show me where your office is?" he questions and I roll my eyes.

"Again, I'm not taking you there. It’s in my territory and I can't bring some random werewolf onto my grounds. That’s just asking for me to be banished from my cluster," I counter.

“Alright, guess we’ll do this the hard way,” he shrugs, walking away from me with his hands shoved in his front pockets once again. I narrow my eyes at the back of his head, silently willing him to burst into flames.

"Son of a...do you ever listen to anyone?" I state in an irritated tone, stupidly following him once again.

"No, not really. One of the perks of being my own boss,” he answers. “By the way, what is your name?" My eyes flicker to the left at his face as we stroll back across the street where I was previously almost annihilated by a string of cars.

"You said that I am on a 'need to know basis', so I am going to extend that same courtesy to you right now," I reply. I'll be damned if I tell him my name after everything I've just witnessed him do. He kills people, casually breaks into cars and rips alarm systems out of them like a professional. Clearly Luna Rossa is full of criminals and psychopaths.

"Yeah, you are on a need to know basis,” he replies. “I, on the other hand, already know quite a few things about you just by our brief interactions thus far. I don't even need to know your name to figure out who you are, although uncovering your identity wouldn’t exactly be difficult." I raise a sarcastic eyebrow at his response.

"Oh really? So what is that you know about me from mere observations, and how could you possibly figure out who I am?" I snidely retort.

"Let's see, where to begin...” he ponders before snapping his fingers. “Well, for starters, you've never killed anyone or witnessed a murder in your life. That fact isn’t bad, but it’s obvious for many reasons. You also like to put up a confident front in the hopes that someone will actually believe you mean business, when really, you don't know the first thing about self-defense or how to take a life. You have major trust issues, probably as a result of some traumatic event that you experienced in your past. Those trust issues have manifested themselves with intimacy and physical contact as well. Oh, and you likely harbor contempt for your cluster and Alpha for a wide variety of reasons since you aren't even feebly attempting to fight me as I stroll through your territory. Deep down, you feel like you are justified in allowing me to come here with you because you think I may be able to help you more than your own Alpha can. In all likelihood, he is passive, non-confrontational and won't get anything done. As for locating your name…well, let’s just say I’ve got my resources." I stop walking for a moment and narrow my eyes at the back of his head as he confidently continues strutting down the sidewalk.

How can he possibly gather all of that from meeting me twice?

"What's the matter, dolcezza? Did I hit the nail on the head or something?" he turns around to face me, now walking backwards while he grins. I elect to keep my mouth shut in light of his oddly accurate observations and we continue the remainder of our walk in silence. I can't believe that I'm willingly allowing a werewolf onto Noctis grounds. It's also insane that I'm talking to one and walking side by side like we are all buddy-buddy.

It's now about 8:30 AM, so the streets and sidewalks have died down with a thinned stream of people. I know that my employees should be arriving at the office any minute, so hopefully we get there before they do. Maybe Jake will still be unconscious and on my kitchen floor so Reid to take him and do whatever it is that he's planning. I don't even care what happens to the guy at this point, I just don't need anyone who works with me asking questions that I can't and won't provide an answer to. As we approach the front door of my office and Reid reaches his hand out to grab the door knob, he pauses for a moment.

"Looks like we’re in the right spot, Miss Lancaster,” he offers with a casual sigh. I furrow my brow in confusion, slightly perturbed that he suddenly knows my last name. He glances over his shoulder at me and motions his hand towards the white vinyl letters that spell out 'Raven Nicole Lancaster' on the glass.

Well, there goes my short lived secrecy.

"Fantastic," I mutter to myself, as he pulls the door open for me to enter. He files in behind me and the electricity emitted by his skin a few feet away from mine makes my nerves scream.

“Hai un bellisimo nome, Raven,” he quietly murmurs. Blood rushes to my cheeks and I quickly walk away from him, secretly melting inside a little at the sound of my name leaving his lips. I'm definitely not used to receiving any sort of attention from men because I'm never interested in them, but something about Reid makes me react in a way that I never thought I would; in a way that I can’t. Lustfully pining for attention from a werewolf is a dirt road that leads straight to disaster. I make my way towards the kitchen and notice the door which has been kicked off of its hinges lying on the black tiled floor. The window I somehow managed to squeeze my body out of is still open, allowing a cool breeze to waft into the room.

As fate would have it, there is no Jake.

The internal panic begins to set in when I realize what this means. Whomever is after me now knows I am still alive and perfectly aware of the situation. I’ve removed their element of surprise. By now, Jake has definitely informed his Alpha that they didn't finish the job, so they will probably be gunning for me twice as hard. Reid strolls past me with a purpose, scanning the ground and the window intently. He crouches down towards the tile, observing a small pool of crimson blood and severely dented toaster on the floor next to one another. I approach behind him and stand a few feet away, observing his methods. He closes his eyes and inhales fully through his nose, exhaling slowly through his mouth. His eyes shoot open and he stands up straight with a look of frustration, still staring at the floor.

"Maledizione, a chi cazzo ti sei affiliato?" he mutters under his breath. He looks over at me and realizes I have no idea what he just said because he spoke in Italian, so he decides to clarify for my benefit. "I was just wondering who they are affiliated with. I've never smelled either of them before, and I know every single wolf pack in North America. I was hoping that I'd recognize his scent since I frequently do business with other packs, but I can't distinguish any familiarity. There’s no way they hail from the states, I would have heard something in advance."

"So you think they are from a pack that didn't originate in North America?" I worriedly ask. Reid rotates around to face me, his dark eyes no longer holding any warmth or compassion. They now only harbor anger and contempt.

"That's exactly what I mean. You need to watch your back, someone wants you dead.” I close my eyes and rub my face with my hands, reeling over Reid’s words. I'm not necessarily surprised since I already know someone is after me, but I still can't understand why or what motive they would have. As I said before, Noctis doesn't pose a threat to anyone. I'm not special by any stretch of the matter and I'm not competition for any werewolf pack. I'm more baffled to have someone else reconfirm what I already know because that means I'm not crazy. My life is actually in danger.

"What position do you hold in your cluster?" Reid inquires. I apprehensively bite my bottom lip and glance around the room, trying to avoiding eye contact with him. I was really hoping he wouldn't ask about my cluster affiliation, and I was especially banking on him not questioning what my position is. But, even though it pains me to admit it, Reid is probably going to be my only saving grace at this point. I can guarantee his resources far outweigh mine. Zander won't try to track this pack down, he will most likely tell me to move back into Noctis Manor so he can keep me out of harm’s way instead of actively dealing with the problem at hand. I still want to question him about who Luna Rossa is so I can gather some intel of my own, but keeping him in the dark about the recent attempts to end my life would be best. I don't need him forcing me into living at Noctis Manor and I definitely don't need him asking me 21 questions about where I’ve been and who I've been with. At this point, the more information about myself that I can offer Reid, the better off I will be.

I nervously draw in a deep breath before beginning. "I'm part of the Noctis cluster, and when I turn 25 in a few months, I'm set to take over as Alpha. My parents were the Alphas until they died. My brother passed along with them, so I am the only living Lancaster left to continue running the cluster. It’s in my blood and I don’t have a choice."

I elect to omit the part about my amnesia because I’ve already said too much. I don’t want to delve into an even more personal subject right now. Reid carefully mulls over this information, not seeming entirely surprised.

"I see...well, maybe someone wants to control your territory and with you out of the picture, it will be even easier to take it," Reid suggests.

"I’ve already considered that as a possibility, but why now? Why wouldn't they have started trying to eliminate me earlier on?" I shrug my shoulders.

"I don't know, but that is the only motive I can think of. Unless you've earned yourself a hefty number of enemies like yours truly, there would be no other reason to have you killed,” he answers before his eyes shift from my face back over my shoulder. "Someone’s here.”

I inhale deeply, smelling Hannah's familiar human scent as the sound of the front door opening redirects my focus.

"It’s one of my coworkers," I mutter before realizing the state of disarray I’m in. There is a beaten down door, blood on the floor and a strange man standing in our kitchen. This entire situation looks just as bad as it actually is. "s**t," I whisper, scanning the room for a possible way to hide all of this chaos. Not shockingly enough, Reid seems unfazed or concerned.

"Just follow my lead. I've done this quite a few times," he assures me.

Of course he’s done this before. Why wouldn't he have?

I turn around to face Hannah as she rounds the corner and enters the hallway. As soon as she sees me standing next to Reid, her eyes widen and she walks with a little more skepticism.

"Good morning...is everything okay?" she inquires with confusion. Before I get a chance to answer, Reid steps forward and whips out a fake police badge.

"Yes ma'am, everything is fine. My name is Detective Daniel Jacobs, and I got a call from Ms. Lancaster about a break in here early this morning,” he states. Hannah glances at the badge and her expression softens with relief. “I’m just wrapping up and will be in contact throughout the investigative process. I'll take care of everything from this point forward and someone will be here to clean up the crime scene within the hour." I raise an eyebrow at him as Hannah nods, completely buying his story.

"I'll be speaking with you soon, Raven." Reid flashes me a quick, devious smile. He nods his head at Hannah before strolling back down the hallway, exiting the office with the click of a door. As soon as he is no longer in the building, Hannah whips around to face me, her eyes wide with a million questions. She looks down at my oversized, men’s t-shirt and gives me a quizzical look.

“What are you wearing?" she asks and I clear my throat.

"I spilled coffee of my shirt, so I tossed this one on instead of sporting a giant brown stain all day," I immediately answer. Hannah gives me a satirical look with a raised eyebrow, clearly not sold on my fabrication.

"Right...well, why don't you just go home for the day and I can take care of things here. We don't have any meetings, so you should be good to go. Maybe you can even meet up with Detective Jacobs to do a little more investigative work," she suggests with little air quotes. I figured that she noticed how stupidly attractive he is as well as I have.

That man is like a welcomed disease of the mind; carefully implanting his viral tendrils into the threads of my brain. He’s gradually seeped his way into my thoughts more and more as the days pass, infecting me with the pure notion of him.

I’m nothing but an unsuspecting victim of the lethal, circulating contagion.

•••

As I pull my car into the driveway of my house, I note Tessa's car sitting on the right side of the driveway and I groan. I was really hoping she wouldn't be here so I don't have to answer any of her prying questions about my attire or the smell of Reid's wolfiness emanating from my body, but there is no turning back now. I exit my car and cautiously approach the front door, spinning my key in the deadbolt and pushing it open. Once my foot crosses the threshold into the living room, I hear metallic clanking and frantic footsteps running in my direction. Tessa rounds the corner with a crazy look in her eyes, wielding a frying pan above her head. I throw my hands up in front of me, taking a step back. Her eyes widen as her gaze shifts from Reid's loosely fitting blue shirt on my torso and back over my shoulder.

"Oh you have got to be shitting me, Raven. Do you have a death wish?" she angrily states before setting the frying pan down on the coffee table.

"I promise that this isn't what it looks like," I quickly retort. I know that I need to stop her over-analyzation before she gets even further down the black hole she's creating on her own.

"Really? Because it looks like you did the dirty with that werewolf from the other night at Dixons, and now you are walk-of-shaming back home at 9:00 in the morning," she snaps. She stares at me with an irritated look in her eyes, waiting for me to respond. I exhale sharply and drop down onto the couch with exhaustion.

"Look, I was attacked at work by two werewolves today. I managed to knock one of them out before I had to squeeze through that tiny window in the kitchen to escape from the other one. I didn't want to lead anyone straight here, so I took off out of our territory where I ran into the werewolf from the other night,” I explain. “Reid saved my life, again…and then the two of us went back to the office in the hopes that the second guy was still there. Unfortunately, he wasn’t." Tessa swallows hard and shakes her head, the worry and fear painfully prominent on her face.

"Raven, this is serious. You have to tell Zander about everything that's going on. Maybe he can help. I just...I don't want anything bad to happen to you again," she answers and I scoff at her suggestion.

"You and I are both fully aware that Zander isn't going to do anything by way of tracking this pack down,” I reply. “The only thing I need to speak with him about right now is Luna Rossa so I can gather some information. Maybe they’re trustworthy."

"Zander isn't going to tell you Luna Rossa is trustworthy even if they aren't the bad guys, Rae. You know asking questions isn’t going to get you anywhere," she sighs in response. I know Tessa is concerned about the dark turn my life has taken and my firm aversion to informing Zander, but this is something I need to do. In my gut, I know that I’m doing the right thing by keeping him in the dark.

I'm not expecting him to tell me I have the green light to associate with Luna Rossa, I just want enough information about them to formulate that opinion on my own.