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Didn’t I?
Barric’s shoulders swelled as his power penetrated the atmosphere again. “A new shifter alone, especially a wolf, is dangerous. They don’t do well without a pack. It doesn’t matter that you bit her.”
The tattoos on Fane’s arms and neck quivered as his muscles strained. The beast within slinked closer to the surface, ready to attack. “Tate is not going anywhere with you. She’smine.”
Goose bumps prickled my nape, and hot tingles raked over the curve of my spine. There was no mistaking the possessive edge to those words. Anyone—nightworlder, human, or raven—could hear and feel it.
What the ever-loving-hell did he mean bymine?
The ravens in the gym bristled, and some deployed defensive stances as they sensed the dangerous change in Fane. They had no idea that he could probably take them all out within minutes if they attacked.
I loosened the demon shifter’s grip on my wrist enough to slide my hand into his, linking our fingers together and squeezing.“Maybe shifting into your wolfish beast would be a bad idea.”A few ravens, including Axel, inched closer, contemplating a strike.
“The only bad idea here is this wolf thinking I’d let you go with him.”His nostrils flared and lips curled back to reveal his teeth.“And this woman thinking she has any say whatsoever.”
Barric tilted his head as he noticed our linked hands and the silent, lingering stares. “I see.” He hummed and rubbed his jaw. “Unless you plan to take her to the Underworld, she still falls under my jurisdiction.”
Uh, no, I would not like to live in the Underworld, especially with Princess Venna thirsting for our blood.
“We’ll stay with my uncle.” Fane rolled his shoulders, his muscles bunching and twisting beneath the green Henley shirt. “That’s all I will offer.”
The head alpha nodded. “Mohan Wilds is a good place for her, but I’ll need to keep in contact with Alpha Camus to ensure she’s acclimating to shifter life.” His eyes hardened to two sharp stones of amber. “Rogues like her don’t do well.”
A shiver rippled down my back at his ominous words and the threat beneath them.
Coltrane scoffed. “You can’t just let her go, Barric. She’s a trained raven. That makes her more dangerous as a shifter.”
If she only knew the Infernal Sol had burrowed inside of me.
Barric shrugged. “She’s no longer a raven, and you have no say in the matter, Captain Coltrane.”
Scarlet pooled in her cheeks at her authority being challenged, especially in front of other ravens. She turned to me, and regret flashed over her expression before she forced an unreadable mask into place. “Fine.”
Did she regret losing me as a raven and a person she cared for, or did she believe I knew more about the Infernal Sol and just saw her chances of letting it slip through her fingers?
A pang seared my chest, stabbing my heart with invisible needles. She was right to worry about the Infernal Sol falling into the wrong hands, but did I ever really matter to her?
“Tatum cannot return here, not as a raven.” Coltrane clasped her hands behind her back and gave a curt nod. “Her things will be sent to her.”
I choked back a bout of tears. The fact that she hadn’t addressed me directly didn’t go unnoticed.
“Tate will get whatever she wants from her room right now.” Fane’s deadly glare had Coltrane taking a step back. “It’s the least you can do after everything she’s sacrificed for the ravens. She wouldn’t be in this position if you hadn’t sent her on an impossible mission in the Underworld to face Lord Karn alone.”
Murmurs of surprise rippled through the ravens, and Coltrane’s cheeks paled. Apparently, no one knew the covert mission's details except her and Hawk.
Coltrane smoothed her blonde hair and then lifted her chin, turning her nose down at Fane. “Fine, but she will be escorted by ravens.”
Fane didn’t release my hand as he drew me toward the door, a group of ravens falling in line around us. As we passed Hawk, I tried to catch his attention, but he quickly angled away, unable to bear the sight of me.
* * *
“You have five minutes,and the door stays open.” Gary, a raven in his mid-twenties, stuck his foot in my bedroom door when Fane tried to close it.
The demon shifter gave a terrifying smile. “She’ll take as long as she wants.” He then kicked Gary’s foot out of the way and slammed the door on him. “Come in here, and I’ll show you why the head alpha of Georgia backed down from me.”
I moved like a robot and grabbed a bag out of my closet, yanking clothes off my hangers and tossing them inside. Everything in the room blurred as I tried to keep the unshed tears from falling. My life as a raven was over. I’d never set foot in Corvin Manor again, and I’d never fight with them to protect the innocent. My chances of atoning for my wrongdoings burned to nothing, blowing away like ash in the wind.
Fane stepped behind me and tossed a few transformative weapons in my bag. “Don’t forget these.”
