Eli dropped Rose off at her new school, after his poor attempt at a pep talk. God love him—he was trying. He knew her well enough to know she was struggling to keep her emotional state in check. Unfortunately, his calming words did little to lift her spirits. She was bummed. Mostly it had to do with an old, but gorgeous, yet annoying vampire. It was also already weeks into the first semester and she was feeling anxious about meeting her fellow classmates, but Jordan was a familiar face in the crowd and that brought her comfort—though just a little.
Jordan had told her he was taking his senior year over again. He had been held back for two reasons. One, he failed one of his classes last year; and two, the pack needed a shift-changing werewolf watching after the school. Since the other elite members had graduated and the newer pack-students were still too young to shift, Jordan was the one picked. He had told her he didn’t mind much though. There were too many cute girls in his graduating class this year to be too put off.
For the most part Rose was treated with kindness. Her teachers seemed to be all right and most of the students were friendly enough. But she was miserable—for reasons outside of school, though she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.
The day passed painfully slow, but when the last bell finally rang she bolted out of her class, eager to have her first day behind her.
Back at the Drake House, a handful of pack members had gathered in the dining hall for a brief meeting, Raven among them. He had managed to make it through the day without hurting anyone and had actually spent most of his time with Eli.
Eli had ordered a new Xbox game and had been eager to show Raven how to play. Raven didn’t quite understand the pack’s obsession with this time-stealing past-time, but he made an effort to learn—mostly because Eli was determined to beat him, and he was more determined not to allow it. This at least helped the day pass quickly.
Jordan rushed into the room and threw his backpack on the table. “Sorry I’m late. I thought I would wait for Rose, but she never showed.”
“What do you mean she never showed?” Raven asked in alarm, rising from his seat.
“She never reached the parking lot. I guessed she got a ride home from Eli.”
“I didn’t bring her home,” Eli said, also standing. “She was supposed to call me if she needed a ride home, and she didn’t. I’ll just call her.”
Raven paced nervously as Eli tried to reach Sophia on her cell phone.
“That’s weird. She’s not answering.”
Raven, in a mad dash, bolted through the room and out the door.
Charity threw her hands to her mouth. “Raven!” she called in alarm. “It’s daylight! You can’t go out there! Levi, do something!” she squealed, grabbing his shirt in her hands.
Eli was the first to react, running through the facility after his friend, but Raven was already out of sight. Vampires were known, after all, for their amazing speed. Eli gathered up a group and went after him.
Raven bolted through the forest with fervent speed. Even though the thick forest filtered the sunlight, he could still feel the pain as it began to penetrate his clothing and skin, slowly draining his strength. He ran faster. Nothing would keep him from reaching her. He didn’t stop running until he approached the school parking lot, which by now was empty. He paced anxiously, trying to catch even the slightest scent of her.
He finally stopped, calmed himself—and listened. He picked up on it right away—a rustling in the forest. It was her. He ran with speed and stealth, making no sound as he moved in and around the trees.
“Stop crying! No one is coming to save you! If you would have stayed with me none of this would be happening—and breaking my nose was a bad idea and one you’ll regret.”
Kyle was dragging Rose by the arm through the forest. She tried to use her strength to break free, but it only angered him more. He’d shown up after school, pressing what she thought was a gun to her back and demanding she come with him. No one seemed to notice or even care, which puzzled her. She was a new student after all, but everyone was either on their cell phones or iPods, not giving her the least amount of concern, or maybe they really didn’t notice. Either way it didn’t matter anymore, she may die soon, and she’d not even had a chance to really live. She didn’t know Kyle’s plans, but it couldn’t be good. After all, besides being mean, she knew he was also reckless and impulsive.
“Kyle, let me go. Please let me go,” she pleaded, fear shaking her to her core.
“After how you treated me—I don’t think so. You’re coming back to Atlanta with me.”
Her eyes widened in alarm. “Kyle, no!”
She struggled and fought until he pushed her down and pointed the gun at her.
“Are you gonna make me do this?” he shouted, his eyes were wild, and his hand shook slightly as he held the gun to her face.
“No!” she screamed, squeezing her eyes shut, too scared to even move for fear of angering him further.
Suddenly, she thought she picked up a sound but before she could make sense of it something that resembled a brick wall slammed into Kyle with great force, sending him sailing ten feet into the air and then crashing hard to the ground. Raven stood there, teeth clenched, this time picking him up and slamming his body into the closest tree and letting him fall to the ground again where he lay unmoving.
For a moment she lost herself, staring at the beautiful man in awe with his black hair and blacker eyes. He was magnificent. Her eyes trailed down to his rock hard arms and then she remembered the women wrapped around those arms just yesterday. As his eyes finally met hers, her anger returned.
“Sophia!” He rushed to her side and began helping her to her feet. “Are you all right?” he asked, pulling her to him.
She let him take her in his arms, snuggling her face against his chest as she breathed in his amazing scent. But, remembering her previous irritation with him, she jerked away from his touch. “I’m fine.” She knew she should forgive him, but her pride was damaged. And she was nothing if not stubborn.
Eli, Levi, and Charity burst onto the scene.
“Rose! Are you all right?” Eli asked, taking his little sister in his arms. She clung to him and cried. He ushered her immediately away.
Charity watched as Hector came up from behind them and grabbed the little twerp, Kyle, and carried him away without a word. They would have Raven remove Kyle’s memories of Rose later.
Raven stood there motionless and numb—right before he collapsed.
“Levi!” Charity called.
Levi collected Raven’s limp body in his arms and carried him all the way back to the Drake House.
Chapter Seven
Levi laid Raven on his bed and Charity covered him with the blanket. “We need to get someone to feed him so he can begin to heal,” Charity said to Levi. “Where is Doc?”