Raven's Rose

“You break into my home, attack me, and tell me you’re a werewolf—and you think I wanna meet your folks? Get a grip.”

              He threw his hands up. “Okay, so I see your point, but please give me a chance.” He began pleading again. “All I want is for us to get to know each other. If you would hang out with us you’d see just how normal we are.”

              “I don’t think so, Eli. As you can see I don’t handle some things all that well.”

              “We’ll take it slow.”

              “Why do you care what I think anyway? You barely know me.”

              He put both hands to his chest. “Tell that to my heart. I’ve been watching you for a while.” He pointed to the forest.

              “You’ve been watching me from the forest?” I screamed in alarm.

              His eyes widened as if he’d said something wrong. Which he had. “Umm.”

              “Are you kidding me?! I’ve been undressing in here!”

              He rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

              “You mean you’ve seen me?!” I screamed.

              “Well, what do you expect me to do—turn my head?”

              “Yes!”

              “Well, I didn’t—so shoot me.”

              Anger shot through me like a bullet, and I planned to show him just what I thought of him at the moment. “I think I will.” I got up to go in my father’s room for his.45.

              He stopped me, his expression questioning. “Wait, are you serious?”

              If I weren’t angry his expression would’ve made me laugh. “Yes, I am.”

              He searched my eyes for a moment, as if reading my mind, and then he took off like lightning, bolting from the room and out of the house.

                I sat back down on the bed, put my face in my hands, and cried.

Chapter Seven

                                        Shae

I kissed my parents goodnight and headed up to my room to shower before bed. I emerged some time later, dressed in my nightgown, but was too tired to dry my hair. I was just getting comfortable under my covers when someone grabbed me and covered my mouth. I struggled, but to no avail as I was carried across the room and out my window. I could make out two figures in the dark. One duck taped my mouth, while the other tied my hands. Then I was sailing through the air as one picked me up and jumped. We landed on the ground below with very little jarring. I looked up to see Eli’s beautiful face. My own face turned red with anger. I tried to yell at him, but the tape muffled my screams.

              “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “but if you would’ve just listened to me I wouldn’t have to do this.”

              He rushed into the forest with such speed that he blurred. The other one too blurred as he ran alongside us, but he looked different from Eli, with very pale skin. It almost glowed in the dark.

I felt a lurching in my stomach.

“We’re almost there,” Eli said.

Yeah, and then I’m gonna kill you, I thought.

              We ran up to a tree, and I closed my eyes, thinking we were gonna run into it, but when I opened my eyes we were walking into a round tunnel. I turned to see the glow of the moon disappearing as a door shut behind us. Was the tree a door? Impossible.

              He took me into a big room and sat me down on a big red sofa.

              “I’m sorry, Shae, but this is your fault.”

              I stood and began yelling through my tape. “My fault?” I tried to say.

              “Yes. If you would’ve listened to me I wouldn’t have had to bring you here.”

              A couple entered the room then. The young man looked just like Eli, and I knew this must be his twin brother.

              The girl started fussing at Eli immediately. She was very beautiful, and tall, with long, flowing, dark hair, and pale blue eyes. “So, it’s true! You kidnapped her? Are you crazy?” she screamed.

              I think I really like this girl.

              “Untie her now!”

              Eli did as she said, being very gentle as he took the tape from my mouth.

              I rubbed my wrist and tried to calm myself.

              The girl cautiously approached me. “I’m so sorry for this.” She shot Eli a mean glare. “I’m afraid Eli is suffering from temporary insanity. Are you all right?” the girl asked me.

              “Um, yes, I think so. You must be the sister-in-law?”

              “Oh, so he’s been talking about me, has he?” She turned to scowl at him, hands on hips.

              He looked like a reprimanded puppy with his tail between his legs. I was liking this girl more and more by the minute.

              “My name is Charity, and this is my husband, and alpha male of this pack, Levi.”

I glanced up to find a tall guy stepping around Charity. Oh man, this guy was extremely gorgeous. I could tell by the way he carried himself, and the gentleness in his eyes, that he was a good man. And he was in love with Charity, that much was obvious by the way he looked at her. “It’s nice to meet you both.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Oh, honey, don’t lie,” Charity said. “I know you must be scared to death, but I assure you no one here will hurt you. We’ve been suspicious that Eli’s been interested in someone for a while now, but he only told us about you two nights ago. We’re very happy to get to meet you, although not under these circumstances, of course.”

              Levi stepped closer then. “Yes. I’m sorry for your treatment. We’ll be glad to punish my brother if it will make you feel better.”

              “No!” I snapped. “I mean, I’m sure he meant well. I’m fine. No harm done.”

              He smiled, and then I knew why Charity had confused him with Eli. They looked exactly alike, aside from the red streak. Even the dimples were the same, and my heart went pitter-patter.

“I’m glad to hear that. My brother is sometimes bothersome, but I would hate to have to punish him.”

              “Yes, well I don’t think that will be necessary.”

              Charity took my hand in hers, and I couldn’t help but be in awe. This girl was seriously beautiful, with long dark hair and very blue eyes. “I must say, Shae, Eli was right—you are very beautiful—and your eyes are remarkable.”

              I couldn’t believe it. I was just thinking the same about her. More importantly, Eli had been telling everyone I was beautiful, and she said my eyes were remarkable. Aside from my mother, no one had ever said that to me before. Maybe Eli was right. Maybe these people were special somehow. I decided then and there to give them a chance.

              I smiled. “Maybe I could see this place.”

              She smiled back. “I’m sure Eli would love to give you a tour of the facility. Wouldn’t you, Eli?”

              His smile was wider than I’d ever seen it, and his dimples were magnetic. “Absolutely.”

              “Oh, by the way, who’s your partner in crime?” I asked, pointing to the lovely man standing by the door—the one who helped Eli take me.

              “Oh, this is Raven,” Eli answered, “I talked him into helping me one last time. He and his wife, Rose are leaving us tomorrow to move to Alaska for a while. He’s our vampire friend. He lives here with us.”

Eli shot out of his seat and reached for me. “Shae! Not again!” I heard him say just before my world went black—again.

              When I woke I was lying on a bed and a lovely, older woman was wiping my face with a cold, wet