Page 162 of White Raven
“That bitch isn’t going anywhere,” Rhaena promised, taking the first available spot at the window. It was almost like Sykes could sense them there. As soon as she turned her face to the glass, Athan’s heart pounded with animosity. A knowing smirk crawled over her mouth, and her eyes somehow found his.
“Aaannnd, now I wanna slash her throat,” Sarah growled, staring at her.
“Easy, ‘killa…” Wren snorted. “Where’s Leigh?”
“She’s two rooms over. They came in here of their own accord.” Foster took a spot in the corner, and addressed them all, but focused her attention on Rhaena. “I’m assuming we’re all on the same page as far as who andwhatRyan Sykes is…correct?” Everybody nodded. “Good. So…it won’t be a shock to anybody that for the past few weeks, the sole focus of my team’s investigation has been on her, the coven she protects…and thatpack.”
“If thatpack…means so much to her, then she should have stayed in fucking Seattle,” Rhaena argued.
Athan eyed his partner, and anger radiated from her in waves. Jenkins did his best to keep her leveled, but it wasbecoming more clear by the second that everybody in this room could be in some very serious danger if Rhaena lost control. And that possibility seemed very likely.
“Sykes came here for the girl…of that I have no doubt,but…that was not her main reason for coming back to Boston,” Foster continued. “Northwood—Rhaena…I…think you need to see what’s behind door number three.”
Rhaena’s entire body went still.“No,”she whispered under her breath. “She didn’t.”
Foster only nodded—almost sympathetically. “A willing bargaining chip, in exchange for letting her go free. And as badly as I’d like to take the gold star…I really don’t feel like it’s my place. It might be my biggest-ever, promotion-earning case…but this isn’t my war. It’s yours. It’s yourcaptain’s. And as much as I hate to side with the Devil here…it’s Ryan’s too.”
Athan bristled, and Rhaena’s teeth ground audibly. All eyes were glued to her. “Rhaena?” he started, trying to get that lethal focus away from the woman on the other side of that glass. Rhaena glanced at him, and her once soft brown eyes were a molten amber that threatened to burn the world down. The kind of stare that usually came with claws. Brandon looked helpless at her side, knowing that if she boiled over, there might not be any stopping her, and Athan wracked his brain trying to figure out a solution. His knuckles tightened, and the ring on his thumb bit into his skin…
And then it hit him.
“Here,” he said, all but ripping the silver off his thumb. “I dunno what we’re about to deal with here, but try it.” He held it out to her, and she trembled as she stared down at the glinting circle in his palm. “It used to work for the wolf. Maybe it’ll work for the—hybrid.”
“That’s brilliant,” Sarah said, sending her eyebrows skyrocketing to her hairline. “I mean…it’s…better than my handy dandy solution for everything.”
Foster scoffed at her. “Which I told younotto do.”
“Yeah, well…you never said not to use it in a moment of desperation for someone who clearly isn’t fucking human. I might have messed up this last time, but…balance or no balance, things could have gonereallybadly that night we found out Athan was missing.”
“I’ll do it,” Rhaena snapped, holding her hand out. “Put it on.”
Athan made to slip the ring on, and Brandon stepped in between them. “Hold up. The only person putting a ring on that hand is me. I got this.” A tremendous feeling of pride rushed through his bones as he took a long, hard look at his comrade. Athan genuinely smiled, ignoring the gasps of surprise around him as he handed the ring over.
They could leave. Rhaena Northwood was gonna be just fine.
She’d lead their force as captain, and Brandon Jenkins would leadher. He’d fight for her. Protect her. Today suddenly seemed like more of a sign from God, than another battle. It would be the same for whatever was behind ‘door number three’…as long as she had this man standing next to her. Completely and utterly human, and ten times the being Athan felt he was. He nodded at Jenkins, and a flash of deep understanding and belonging bolted through his eyes as he took the ring, smiling back and turning to slip it onto Rhaena’s forefinger. She flinched, and they all held their breath. Wren took a hard step forward, Brent protectively backing her, and Rhaena’s body relaxed. The wolf stopped its howling, and the silver was like a tranquilizer dart, while the vampire in her amped whatever strength she’d need to control herself.
It worked.
She took a deep breath, and when her mouth opened, he saw a set of slightly longer canines, but hardly noticeable—and kind of hot. Especially when she smiled back at him, happy as fuck that it worked, and she wasn’t a weak, drooling, heap of fur on the floor of a tattered closet.
She’d be okay.
Relieved breaths sounded around the tight room, and Foster made a move from her spot in the corner. “Well,” she sighed. “I’ll add that to the list of shit Ishouldhave known.” She pulled a tiny flashlight from her belt and shined it in Rhaena’s eyes. “Do we know what kind of side effects this will have?”
“I’ve seen those for myself,” Wren answered, getting nods from both Athan and Sarah. “In her full-out beast mode, it was pretty heart-wrenching. But this?Damn. This is remarkable.”
“How do you feel, Northwood?” Foster asked.
Rhaena’s grateful expression fell, and they all watched her. “I feel like I’ll be a little less likely to ask no questions and rip them all apart. Will that work for you?”
“That’s our girl,” Sarah chuckled.
“No shit,” Athan agreed.
“Who’s in there, Rhae?” Wren asked.
Rhaena focused on Athan then, narrowing her eyes. “Ashina fucking Northwood.”
