“Not unless you really start hurting her. I don’t see her pulling any punches.
Unlike you.”
He did pull punches. He couldn’t help himself. Besides, the Gathering wasn’t their enemy. Every once in a while they may end up at opposite sides, but that was down to the gods. Releasing his aggression on Neecy would only have her responding in kind, which meant all bets would be off. That would be an ugly and brutal fight he’d like to avoid.
Especially when fighting was the last thing he had in mind when it came to her.
Tussling maybe, but never fighting.
Chuckling to himself, Yager pushed the woman’s hands off his ribs. “What’s her name” stopped handling his wounds and now simply handled him. But he had no interest in her. Lately, he had very little interest in any woman but Neecy Lawrence.
Yager remembered when he first saw her. Both sixteen, Skuld had just called her to the Gathering. He’d accompanied one of the Elder Ravens to the Bird House to meet with their leader at the time. A strange little woman called Mitzy. When the conversation touched on things they believed Yager too young for, they sent him off to explore the house. He stumbled upon Neecy in the backyard.
Since Neecy wasn’t born with wings she had absolutely no idea what to do with them. He watched her jump up over and over again trying to take off. Getting more and more frustrated in the process. Then she sneezed, her wings extended, caught a breeze, and the next thing he knew she trapped herself on the roof.
Yager thought for sure she’d be grateful for his help…she wasn’t. He made the mistake of suddenly “appearing” on the roof beside her—the Ravens could sometimes move so fast people often didn’t even see them until they were right in front of them.
That’s what happened with Neecy. All he got out was “hi” when she screamed and kicked him in the face. She broke his nose and sent him right off the roof. He landed in front of the Elder he’d accompanied, bleeding and trying really hard not to cry. Unless you really wanted to suffer, you never cried in front of the Elders.
Ever since then, he’d never really stopped thinking about her. But with him going off to Caltech and MIT for his degrees, he only saw her a few times a year at joint Raven-‐Crow-‐Valkyrie functions and, to be honest, she never seemed too interested and he was too young to care.
It wasn’t until he moved into his position as head of the New York-‐New Jersey Ravens when his mentor and leader died suddenly that everything changed for him as Neecy Lawrence went from the occasional wet dream to full on sex goddess.
Receiving the mantle of Raven leader meant receiving Odin’s rune branded to the back of his neck in front of an audience filled with Ravens from all over the world, as well as Valkyries and Crows. The branding wasn’t pleasant, but Yager showed no signs of pain. He didn’t even flinch. If he were to lead the Ravens, he needed to show them and Odin he could take pain. That he, in fact, welcomed it.
It was the typical Viking bullshit, which hadn’t changed over the last thousand years.
Once they completed his branding, one of the Original Seven—the original immortal Valkyries who called Odin “Dad”—presented Yager to the audience as the new leader of the Ravens.
He stood before the warrior representatives of all three Clans giving a speech that took him hours to craft and even more hours to rehearse when he saw her.
Leaning against a wall, staring out over the crowd and bored beyond tears, Neecy wore a little black dress with three-‐inch-‐heel sandals. In the middle of his speech about the changing face of the Odin warrior he stopped talking. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. It became so bad Mike had to slam him with his wing to get Yager to focus on the rest of his speech.
He couldn’t help himself, though. A vision came to him. As clear as anything he’d seen before. A vision of Neecy Lawrence naked and tangled up in the white sheets on his bed. Well-‐fucked and beautiful, she sighed his name in her sleep.
That simple vision was, by far, the most erotic thing he’d ever seen in his life and he was determined to make it his reality as well as hers. The only problem?
Neecy treated him like some rich white trash she couldn’t get away from fast enough. It drove him crazy. She drove him crazy.
Those small pale hands returned to now rub his shoulders. Yager gently removed them. “Thanks…uh…Shawna.” Or whatever…
“Anytime.” She gave an alluring smile and walked out of the room.
Mike shook his head. “And what’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing. She’s perfect. Exquisite.” Not surprising. Odin, known for his lusty ways, never picked ugly mortal Valkyries. He liked his women beautiful and big chested. But since that bad night a bunch of them took Odin to a local strip club, visiting Mountain Creek suddenly turned into a Russ Meyer’s film.
Still, Yager could care less about Shawna’s big tits. Not when he could still feel Neecy’s adorable breasts in the palms of his hands. An accidental grab he fully enjoyed.
He stood up, allowing his wings to once again unfurl. He stretched them out, shook them, and pulled them back into his body. For now they’d sit hidden behind flesh and muscle. The only telltale sign his wings were there at all were the two long scars racing down his back, next to his spine.
“I’m going home.”
Mike watched him pull on a fresh T-‐shirt. “Look, if you’re trying to slum it a little, I can hook you up with some very accommodating girls from my old neighborhood.”
Yager sighed. “It’s like you want me to hurt you.”
“No. But I’m the only one who will be honest with you. You’ve got Valkyries falling over themselves to get to you. And you’re concentrating on a Crow. The same bird used in the ‘Omen’ movies.”
“Actually those were ravens, you idiot.”
Before Yager could leave, or twist Mike into a pretzel, his second-‐in-‐command walked into the room. “Just got an interesting call.”
Tye Ulrich was his best friend and a man of few words, which was why he was Yager’s best friend. He got enough chatter from Mike.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. We’ve been invited to a party downtown.”
Yager shrugged on his leather jacket. “Not in the mood…what the fuck are these?”
He pulled the condoms from his jacket pocket as his eyes immediately went to Mike.
“What? I’m being a good friend and hoping you get laid before the end of the next millennium.”
Sighing Yager shoved the condoms back in his pocket. Tye raised an eyebrow.
“If I toss them away, he’ll just put more back in.”
Mike nodded. “He’s right.”
“Whatever.” Tye continued, “Anyway, seems the Bama Crows are in town and our girls are throwing them a party at some Shifter club.”
Yager’s head snapped up as Mike let out a moan of annoyance.
“And I was thinking,” Tye continued, “That we really shouldn’t let our country cousins come to town and not give them a nice Raven greeting.”
Shrugging with a huge grin, Yager quickly agreed. “It would be downright rude.”
“Exactly.”
Neecy sat at the bar and looked out over her girls. One thing would always be true…Crows could throw a mean party.
Glancing over, Neecy watched two seventeen-‐year-‐old Crows order a beer. The stupid Shifter bastard didn’t even card them. She slammed her fist down on the bar, causing the two girls to jump. “Don’t even think about it, ladies.”
Rolling their eyes and groaning, they headed back to the dance floor. She motioned to one of the older Crows heading out for the night. “Take them home.”
Chuckling, “You got it.”
The few young ones that came to the Gathering soon learned Neecy kept a tight leash on them until they turned at least eighteen. But no drinking until twenty-‐ one. And no drugs ever. Since there was no leaving the Crows except by death, the other alternative when the young ones got out of hand was one of those brutal Raven Elder–type beatings. Since the Crows hated even the thought of something like that happening, they followed orders or hid their antics real well.