Page 81 of Raven

My eyes darted to the panthers surrounding us. There were at least twenty, all watching, waiting for the slightest sign of defiance. My father had brought an army, and I was bleeding out in a street, barely able to stand. “So that’s it? You’re going to keep me prisoner for the rest of my life? Is that how you treat your children?”

He stepped closer, his gaze burning into mine. “I have given you every chance to come willingly. This is your final warning. You can walk to my car, or we will drag you there. But one way or another, you’re coming with me.”

I clenched my jaw, my hand pressing harder against the seeping wound in my side as I fought to keep his power at bay. It slithered over my skin, trying to worm its way inside, but I slammed my shields up, blocking him out. “I won’t stay,” I gritted out. “Even if you take me back. I’ll never stay.”

His face tightened, and for a second, I saw a flicker of something vulnerable, something raw. “You think this is what I wanted? To have to hunt my own son like a criminal? You were mine, Raven. You were supposed to be with me, to lead our pack. But she took you. She stole you from me, from all of us.”

I flinched, but he kept going, his voice rising. "Your mother stole you from me. She took you while I slept. I woke to find you gone, ripped from my pack, from me. I searched for you every day. My panther howled for you; my soul ached for you. And every night, I lay awake wondering if you were safe, if you knew who you really were. You don't understand the pain of feelingyour own blood lost, hurting, unreachable. She robbed me of my son, of every moment of your life. You were mine, and I lost you. I couldn't do anything. That pain, that helplessness—it’s haunted me every day you were gone. But it wasn't just me she hurt. She robbed you of a father, too. She took the life you should have had "

The pain in his eyes was raw, his panther straining against his human form, clawing at the surface. For a heartbeat, I saw him not as my father, not as the alpha, but as something broken, something that had lost as much as I had. His grief rippled out, brushing against my own. It was almost enough to make me falter.

But then my mother’s face flashed before me—the way she’d fought for me, the way she’d died—and all I could see was the blood on his hands. “And what about her?” I shot back, my voice splintering under the anger. “You killed her. You think you can just explain that away?”

His gaze darkened, the mask of control slipping as he stepped closer, his power surging. “There are two sides to every story. There are pack rules, and she broke them. Any alpha would have done the same.”

“But you’re not just any alpha. As you keep telling me. You’re my father,” I growled, voice trembling with the effort of holding back tears. “Don’t you dare make this about you. She was my mother.”

“And I am your father,” he roared, his voice booming, filled with the force of an alpha’s command. “She stole you from me, Raven. I never stopped searching, never stopped trying to find you. Everything I did, I did to bring you home. For eighteen years, my life has been consumed with finding you. The pack has been waiting, we all have.”

Before I could respond, the sound of screeching tyres filled the air, cutting through our argument. I turned, seeingMalcolm’s car pull up, and a surge of relief washed over me as he and his enforcers stepped out—Stephen by his side.

“You need to leave here. This is none of your concern,” my father snarled, his eyes locked on Malcolm as if he were the only thing standing between us.

Malcolm’s eyes were cold, his tiger prowling just beneath the surface. “You’re on my territory, threatening my ward. I think that makes it my business.”

My father raised a hand, a commanding gesture that made everything still. “You do not move.” He shook his head, and it was like he grew taller, broader, the presence of an alpha who’d built his life on power and control. “No. He is not your ward. He is not your anything. He is my son.”

Malcolm’s growl rumbled low, vibrating through the air, his tiger clawing beneath the surface, desperate to break free. His eyes were a deeper green, fierce and dangerous. My father’s panther mirrored him, pacing, restless and ready. It was two apex predators on the brink of violence, circling each other, fangs bared and claws itching for blood.

“It’s okay,” I said, my voice breaking. “I can go.” My father’s command hung in the air like a noose tightening around my neck. He wouldn’t back down. I didn’t know him, not really, but I knew this much—he was an alpha who didn’t know the meaning of surrender.

Malcolm’s eyes flashed, a lethal promise in their depths. “You’re not going anywhere with him.” Before I could react, Malcolm moved, faster than I’d ever seen, a blur of muscle and fury. One second, he was by my side, the next, he was between me and my father, partially shifted, claws extended, and teeth bared. “He stays,” Malcolm snarled, his voice a guttural mix of man and tiger, layered with a threat that made my stomach drop. “This is my territory. Raven is under my protection. You have no power here.”

My father’s eyes narrowed, his jaw clenching as he sized Malcolm up, every line of his body screaming defiance. I could feel the battle raging inside him, the urge to strike, to tear Malcolm apart. And then it came—the overwhelming surge of his alpha power, pushing against us all. Even his pack took a step back, momentarily cowed by the sheer force of his will. “You’re outnumbered.”

Malcolm’s smile was cold, a deadly curve of lips that held no warmth, only the certainty of a predator who had fought too many battles to be intimidated now. “Numbers aren’t everything. You and I both know that.”

My father’s gaze darted between Malcolm and the tigers, calculating, his mind already mapping out every angle of attack. His shoulders squared, and he stood his ground, unyielding. “I am the alpha of the panther pack. He is my son. My heir. And there is no law, no authority that will stop me from taking what is mine. I do not want a war, Malcolm, but I will start one. And I will win.”

Malcolm’s top lip twitched, a feral snarl simmering just beneath the surface. The air between them grew electric, charged with fury and defiance. I couldn’t take it, the way it pressed against my chest, threatening to choke the breath out of me. I tried to move, to step in, but Stephen’s hand clamped down on my shoulder, holding me back with an iron grip. His eyes warned me: stay put.

Malcolm’s voice cut through the charged silence, steady but brimming with the raw, primal authority of an alpha who would not be challenged. “Raven signed up to be one of my sentinels. The moment his name hit that paper, your rights as his father were terminated. You don’t own him. Not anymore.”

My father’s eyes flashed, a mix of disbelief and a fury that bordered on madness. His power pulsed, a violent force barely kept in check, and I could feel it clawing at my own shields,testing the boundaries of my will. “Impossible,” he spat, each word dripping with venom and grief. “He wouldn’t?—”

“I did,” I said. My own panther stirred, caught in the crossfire of blood and loyalty, responding to my father’s desperate pull, and it took everything I had to keep from stepping towards him. This was the bond I’d never asked for; the connection I’d never known I’d lost.

My father’s gaze bore into me, raw and unfiltered, his panther reaching out like a lost soul, clawing for something it could never fully reclaim. “I will pay for his release. I will petition the council. I will do whatever it takes.” His voice dropped, a low, dangerous growl that sent a shiver down my spine. “You belong with your own kind, Raven. You belong with me.”

Malcolm’s warning was a sharp, cutting command that sliced through the chaos of my mind. “You need to leave. Now. I will not ask again.”

My father’s lip curled back, revealing fangs that seemed almost inhuman, and for a moment, I thought he would charge, that blood would be spilt right there on the ground. His power was a living thing, coiling around us, vicious and unrelenting, ready to destroy anything in its path. “You will only have him for two years,” he snarled. His eyes locked onto mine, fierce and unyielding. "I will be back for you. You are my son, my heir, and you belong with us."

EPILOGUE

Flames clawed at the night sky, painting the world in shades of amber and gold. The fire's glow bathed our small gathering, illuminating the faces of those few my mother had allowed into her life. Malcolm and Sue flanked me, their presence a silent bulwark against the crushing weight of grief. Lachlan and Anika hovered nearby, while Stephen and Cade stood just off to the side. A small gathering, but meaningful. Wasn't that better?

Before us, the pyre devoured my mother's wrapped body. In our world, shifters were denied the luxury of burial. No graves for us, no markers, nothing. What we had was this—a bonfire, a final blaze of glory to send off our dead.

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