Zeus's Pack 9: Rave (12 page)

Tony drank Logan’s seed, pulling it down his throat as he came, his orgasm so intense that Tony had thought for a second he would pass out. His head fell back, Logan’s cock slipping from between his lips as he once again felt remorse for his jaguar, for the lost moment he would never get back.

Tony pushed away from the bed, stalking toward the bathroom.

As he closed the door, he heard Logan in the bed. “Prick.”

He deserved that. Just because his jaguar couldn’t get free, it was no excuse to leave Logan’s side. Tony shut the door, wondering if he would ever have sex with either mate without feeling as though a piece of his soul was stolen every time.

Rave stood on the balcony off of his bedroom. He looked off into the night, feeling the soft breeze of the spring night blowing across his face and through his hair. It was peaceful out here, quiet. He knew what was wrong with Logan. His mate had a budding power that he had to learn to control.

But Rave had no clue what was wrong with Tony. The man was closed off, secretive. He wouldn’t tell Rave what was wrong, and that bothered Rave. As a wolf shifter, a shifter period, he had a deep compulsion to take care of his mates, to make sure they were happy and healthy, well cared for. But Tony was making Rave fail at his job, his honor.

But Rave couldn’t complain. He had his own demons he lived with. The soldiers in this house had their demons from Jackson on one level or another. Rave had pushed his demons down so deep inside of him that he was almost positive that he had conquered the beast. But one look from Logan yesterday had unraveled everything Rave had tried hard to conceal.

“You look troubled.”

Rave smiled as he stared out into the night. Taz knew him well.

The man had a way of making Rave face what he didn’t want to face.

He wasn’t sure if that was such a good thing right now. Rave shrugged. “It’s my turn to fight my demons.”

Taz chuckled. It was warm, comforting, and made Rave want to smack the man. “What do you mean it’s your turn? You, along with everyone else, have been fighting our demons from the first day Jackson took over our pack. What makes meeting your mates any worse than what you had already been going through?”

“Shut up,” Rave said as his fingers curled tighter around the railing. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

Taz shook his head. “And you think I would lie to you to make you feel better?”

“Yeah.”

“Not going to happen. You know me better than that. We’ve been through too much together for me to lie to you, Rave.”

That was true, and as much as Rave didn’t want to face the truth, he was glad Taz was always honest with him. “You’re a dick.”

Taz laughed as he knocked his shoulder with Rave’s. “That I am.”

“Logan saw Jackson hurting me,” Rave said as he sobered. “He saw the images of what happened to me and what I had done. I feel like a fucking monster in his eyes now.”

Taz sighed. It was a knowing sigh, because Taz had been by Rave’s side through it all. Rave had considered taking Taz as a lover.

The man was stunning as hell and a great friend to have, but Rave knew that sometimes, crossing that line from friends to lovers destroyed more than it conquered. Their friendship had been too important for Rave to risk. But they did have a deep bond, a bond forged in the fires of hell, and Rave would love the man until his dying breath.

Besides, Taz was too damn picky for Rave. He glanced at Taz, trying to convey how much he appreciated and loved the man.

“I know,” Taz said as he popped Rave in the shoulder. “But your ass is too hairy for me.”

Rave chuckled. “Fuck you.”

“Don’t let Tony or Logan hearing you saying that. Tony has a gun.”

Rave nodded. “And he knows how to use his weapon very well.”

Taz scrunched his face up, his body shivering dramatically. “Too much detail, my friend.”

Rave leaned back, sighing as he shook his head. “All jokes aside, nothing changes the fact of how Logan must look at me now.”

“He’s your mate. Explain things to him. He’ll understand. From what you’ve told me, he is fighting inner demons as well. Maybe instead of looking at you as a monster, he’ll look at you as a kindred soul.”

Rave hadn’t thought of it like that. Logan had looked at him with understanding, but Rave had thought the man pitied him at the time. It still didn’t make him comfortable knowing that Logan had seen the monster inside of Rave, had seen the ugly things he had done while under Jackson’s maddening reign. There didn’t seem to be any clear-cut answer.

“What are you doing in my room anyway?” Rave asked.

“You’re going to love this one.” Taz harrumphed. “You know how the winged beasts are patrolling the streets now for the hounds?”

Rave nodded, turning fully to Taz now. Somehow, he knew he wasn’t going to like this.

“Well, the alpha wants to team one of us up whenever a pair of winged beasts is out on patrol so we can learn how to fight the evil little doggies.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Rave stood there stunned. The hounds of hell were nothing to sneeze at. One bite and there was a chance a shifter wouldn’t survive. Of course, one bite and there was no way a human would survive. His mates were human, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. Rave wanted to know how to protect both Tony and Logan against everything. Even evil little doggies, as Taz so eloquently phrased it.

“Nope, and guess who gets first go-round?”

From the look on Taz’s face, Rave didn’t need three guesses.

“Little ole me,” Taz supplied. “Wish me luck. If black shit starts oozing from my mouth, make sure you kiss me.”

Rave did not find that thought funny. Taz was his best friend, and he didn’t like the idea of him being out there fighting those nasty things. “Be careful, dumbass.”

“Aw, you care,” Taz teased, but Rave could see the slight fear in Taz’s eyes.

“No, it just took me forever to break you in as my best bud. I wouldn’t want to have to train anyone else.”

“Prick.” Taz chuckled as he walked from Rave’s balcony. Rave watched him leave, feeling a weight settle in his gut. If he ever lost Taz, Rave would never be the same again.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked as he walked out onto the balcony with Rave. “You look like you just lost your best friend.”

Rave turned to his mate, eyeing him. “I guess we all have our little demons to deal with.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tony asked as he rested his hip on the railing, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

“Nothing,” Rave said as he turned away, staring off into the night once more. He didn’t want to fight Tony. He wanted a peace that had eluded him for so long that Rave thought he would never find it. Ever since Logan had looked inside of Rave, he felt as though his world was tumbling out of control.

“Dollar for your thoughts,” Tony said as he moved closer.

“I thought it was a penny?” Rave asked.

Tony shrugged. “Inflation. Nothing’s cheap anymore.”

Rave chuckled. “True.”

“I saw the way you were looking at Taz. Is it something I need to worry about?”

Boy, the man didn’t hold back. He cupped Tony’s face, smiling as he stared into the man’s shimmering eyes. The moon was reflecting off of the light-brown orbs, making Tony’s eyes sparkle. “Never. He’s my best friend, nothing more.”

“You ever sleep with him?”

“Intrusive, aren’t you?”

“Hit dog holler?” Tony asked as he pulled away from Rave.

“What?”

“It means the guilty bark louder than the innocent.”

Rave curled his fingers in, trying his best not to lose control. “You have no idea what you are talking about. Taz is my best friend. We’ve been through a lot of shit together that you probably couldn’t even wrap your head around.”

“And you aren’t sharing either.”

“Neither are you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tony snapped, his light-brown eyes going from sparkling to a deep coppery anger.

“I’m a damn shifter, Tony. I can smell you lying to me, and it stinks like hell.”

“Rub it in.” Tony stormed away, leaving Rave standing there confused as hell. What was that supposed to mean?

* * * *

Logan watched Tony storm from the room, slamming the door so hard behind him that the walls shook. Things seemed to be unraveling around him, and he wasn’t sure what he should do about it, or if he even wanted to do anything about the situation with Tony and Rave.

After all, it wasn’t like Logan had wanted to come here in the first place. He wasn’t in a hurry to run back to his old life. That had been boring as hell, but this new life didn’t seem to be working out either.

With a sigh, Logan left the bedroom and wandered downstairs. He walked outside and sat on the front step, wondering if he would ever feel at home anywhere else again. He couldn’t go back to Browlers, and staying here was looking less and less appealing to him by the minute.

He felt hopeless and lost, like he’d never be happy again. Logan rubbed his arms, wondering why he was so damn gloomy right now.

It wasn’t like him to feel so damn despondent.

He stilled when he felt someone watching him from the shadows.

He wasn’t sure if it was Aba or not, but Logan didn’t want to give away the fact that he knew someone was there. He mentally pushed out, trying to
feel
for a mind. What he saw made him gasp. It was bleak, horror filled, and made Logan want to claw his own damn eyes out.

Never had he seen anything so malevolent, so evil before. It was like some sort of black ooze creeping over his skin, as if worms were writhing all over his body.

“You know you feel me, human.”

Logan wasn’t too sure anymore if he could be categorized as a human. He was feeling less like one every day.
Freak
would probably sum him up right about now. He tried to push harder into the thing’s mind, forcing his will upon the creature.

He knew right away that the thing talking to him wasn’t Aba. No, this thing was much worse. Logan wasn’t sure what he was dealing with, but the words
sulfur
and
brimstone
came to mind.

“You’re being a bad boy. Do you think that will work on me,
styre
mente
?”

“I was kind of hoping it would.”
Why lie?

“Honesty, such a bad quality.” The thing stepped from the shadows, but all Logan saw was a man. He would have bet everything he was that something would have slithered from the shadows instead of walked.

“What do you want?” Logan asked as he stood, backing toward the door.

“Your life,” the man answered. “Nothing important.”

Logan scrambled for the door, but the thing was faster, grabbing Logan and throwing him a good ten feet away from the house.

“I don’t think so,” the thing said as he hopped down from the steps, stalking toward Logan. “We wouldn’t want my playtime cut short.”

“I would,” Logan said as he pushed to his feet.

The man-thing shrugged, looking casual as he walked closer to Logan. “We all have our issues.”

Logan froze, his body locking into place as images so horrific that Logan wanted to vomit flashed in front of his eyes. He saw this thing killing, tearing throats out, biting into warm flesh, and glorying in the kill. Blood and meat ran down his chin as the creature chewed, ravaged each body in his arms. The thing was almost high from the kills. The victims’ begging had fueled his hunger. It had excited him.

“Like what you see?”

Logan shook his head, trying to breathe calmly. The creature wanted Logan’s fear, wanted his pleas. His eyes were shining over with glee at the thought of Logan running. The creature wanted the chase.

Glancing around, Logan knew the only way back into the house was through the guy, thing, whatever. But Logan could also feel that he was no match. The man would glory in tearing Logan’s flesh from his bones.

“Run,” the thing said as he took a step closer. “Run from me.”

“No.” Logan moved to his right, keeping his heart rate as slow as he could manage while looking hell in its eyes. That was what came to mind when Logan looked into his deep, bottomless black eyes.

They were swimming with pain and suffering, no hope in sight for its victims.

Logan was going to try his hardest not to become the thing’s victim.

“I can feel your fear, your hopelessness, and it tastes so damn good on my tongue.”

Logan’s heart rate flew up a notch. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of this. He remembered Rave telling him not to let anyone bite him—although Rave had bitten the shit out of Logan when they had sex.
Talk about a paradox.

“You are going to taste so good when I sink my teeth into your flesh, human.” The creature moved closer, taking small, measured steps. Logan had already witnessed how fast the thing could move, so he knew that the creature in front of him was toying with Logan, trying to make him run.

Logan pushed his mind out, using his ability, but not on the thing in front of him. He tried to push into Rave’s and Tony’s minds, showing them what he was seeing. Logan wasn’t too sure it would work, but something had to give. Either this thing was going to eat him, or Tony and Rave would come to his aid.

He was praying for the latter.

“I told you that your little mind control won’t work on me,” the thing said. Thank goodness it couldn’t tell what Logan was doing, or it probably would grab Logan and tear his damn throat out on the spot.

Logan gasped when the thing moved so quickly that he had thought it just disappeared and reappeared right in front of him. Long, clawed fingers wrapped around Logan’s throat as the thing licked Logan from jaw to temple. “You taste sweeter than you look.”

His hands pushed at the thing’s chest, trying to break the connection, but the creature was stronger. His grip on Logan’s throat tightened like an iron fist. Logan couldn’t breathe. His air supply was being cut off as he felt the claws digging deeper into his neck. His vision swam as the edges began to fade.

Logan knew he was about to die.

Shots echoed close to Logan’s ears, making him slam his hands over them as the creature spun around, taking Logan with him.