Raven (Book One of the Dark Lycans Series)

Darkness. It was all I could see, not a single speck of light. I blinked multiple times, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Even with my enhanced night vision, I still couldn't make out any distinguishable shapes.

I tried to move but I was restrained by something, my arms held above my head. When I tried to move my arms, I heard a rattling sound, I assume came from a chain. My legs were free, but I couldn't move anywhere due to the chains around my wrists above my head.

I huffed in annoyance, just great! How the hell did I get here? I thought.

I do not know Raven, but Blake is still trying to contact you. I'm letting him in. Akira said quickly, and opened my mind link before I had time to object.

Raven? Please answer me I'm really worried! Blake's voice flooded my mind, I could hear the worry in his voice clearly.

Blake what the hell happened?! I yelled. I was pissed, I hated not knowing what is going on.

I heard Blake breath a sigh of relief. Oh thank god you're okay. Why haven't you answered me?

I was trying to leave! And then because the whole pack was trying to communicate along with you, I blacked out. Now I am chained up somewhere, and I can't see anything! I growled, feeling rather irritated.

Shit, I'm sorry babe. We got attacked by rogues, and I needed to make sure you were okay, he explained. I sighed, frustrated.

Is everyone okay?

Yes, a few people got hurt, but otherwise everyone's okay. His voice sounded strained, and I became slightly concerned.

Are you okay? I asked quietly.

No I'm not Raven. I miss you so much, you're killing me right now. The desperation in his voice was clearly evident. I felt my heart drop, leaving him was going to be a lot harder than I thought. Akira whined at the pain he felt because of us.

I'm sorry Blake, but I don't want to hurt you. I am a horrible person, I kill and torture for fun. You deserve someone much better than me. Just forget about me and move on, I can't hurt you again, I whispered the last part.

Raven, the whole pack is scared of me, I can't control my anger without you here. I can't sleep without you here. Being away from you is killing me inside. Hurt me all you want, just stay with me. And I'm not exactly the nicest person either, I have done things I'm not proud of either. My heart clenched at his pleading.

Okay, I'll try. But first I have to get out of these chains, and figure out where the hell I am. I'll talk to you later Blake, I quickly ended our connection before he could argue.

"Damn, how did I even get here?" I wondered under my breath.

I realized that there was a wall behind me, and got an idea. Since the chains were not really tight, I was able to turn around so I was facing the wall. I grabbed ahold of the chains that held my wrists, and pulled myself up. Keeping myself lifted, I placed my feet on the wall for support. My feet were slightly higher than my hands, and braced against the stone surface.

I used my feet to push my body towards the floor while yanking the chains with me. Using all of my strength, I managed to break the chains free of their supports. I heard a crashing noise as I did a back flip off the wall, the chains broken free. Landing lightly on my feet, I felt a weight on the end of my chains hit the floor. It sounded like peices of stone or cement.

With the chains free of the wall, I remembered that the metal was still around my wrists, binding them together. I twisted my arms sharply, snapping the metal connecting my arms. The chains were heavy, and hung from each arm.

One at a time, I grabbed the chain and broke it off of the metal braces around my wrists. Since it was still dark, I couldn't see, and realized that it felt like I was wearing something similar to wrist guards.

Shrugging, I felt around the walls searching for a door of some sort. My hand caught on a handle of some kind, and I pulled until it gave way. I had to squint against the light that seemed to blind me for a moment. Once my eyes adjusted, I looked to see where I was.

I was standing at the end of a dimly lit corridor that turned sharply, it seemed more like a tunnel, with its stone walls. I pushed the heavy metal door open a bit wider, so I could easily slip through. Silently and quickly, I walked down through the winding tunnel, the only light coming from the torches on the walls.

Suddenly I wondered what I was wearing. I looked down and saw I was wearing a black jumpsuit.

Who changed me? Oh well. I shrugged.

I heard voices around the next bend, and stopped dead in my tracks. They were coming from ahead of me and getting closer. I could only distinguish two separate voices, so I waited until they were close. Hiding behind the bend of the wall, I sprung out when they passed me.

There were two men, both wolves from their scent. I punched the first man, a blonde, in the face, sending him stumbling backwards. With my right foot, I kicked the second man, a brunette, in his stomach, and he doubled over in pain. The brunette tried to lunge at me but I deftly snapped his neck before he could make another move. The blonde growled at me, before shifting into an average sized brown wolf.

The wolf lunged at my neck, and I grabbed its scruff. I held him against the wall, while he thrashed and snapped at me. In a quick movement, I threw his head against the stone, knocking him out cold.

I ran forward without looking back. Swerving around sharp corners, I sprinted silently through the tunnel, before reaching the end. There was a staircase leading upwards a few flights.

I bounded up the steps and found another door. Pushing it open, I found myself outside. It was dark out, but with the full moon's light I was able to see the forest surrounding me.

Looking behind me, I realized I just walked out of a pack's holding cell. The aspen trees looked familiar, and after smelling the air, I figured out why. I've been here before, I thought.

I was in the territory of the Lunar Howler's Pack. I remembered it because it was the pack I had completely wiped out a few years ago.

What am I doing here? I wondered.

I heard a sharp laugh that brought me out of me thoughts. Whipping around to face the source of the sound, I saw a large group of men behind me. At the head, was a dark brown haired man with bulging muscles, and hatred filled gray eyes. Narrowing my eyes at him, I stood tall and confident. Due to the Alpha blood from my mother, I had a powerful presence.

"What am I doing here?" I demanded.

"You are here to be punished Ms. Raven, for your crimes against werewolves." The leader replied with an angry tone. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I have done nothing wrong," I said innocently. He laughed and shook his head.

"That's where you're wrong. Get her," he ordered the men behind him with a flick of his wrist.

"Shit," I breathed, turning around and running from the oncoming men. I darted through the aspen trees, sprinting as fast as I can away from my gaining attackers.

The men were shouting to each other, and I realized they weren't far behind me. Changing my strategy, I took a sharp turn and leapt into a tree.

Using my best skills, I was able to quickly and quietly scale the white aspen. I climbed as high as I dared, clinging to the trunk as the branches were too weak to bare my weight.

Looking down, I saw men come into view, their feet loud on the forest floor. They stopped directly underneath me, some leaning against the tree.

"Where'd she go?" One asked sounding extremely worried and nervous.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" Another snapped. I held back a snort.

"Well I don't really want to get punished," he replied sharply. I shook my head as they got into a rather childish argument.

My position on the tree was rather uncomfortable, but when I tried to shift, a branch snapped loudly from under my foot. I cursed quietly when the branch fell and hit someone's head.

They yelped loudly and everyone looked up. I heard one shout out as they spotted me. They spoke loudly to one another, and they started to climb my tree.

Smirking, I tried to guess how much they weighed, and at what point would the branches snap. A loud cracking sound and a large thud snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked down to see a buff man lying unconscious on the ground.

I laughed at their pointless attempts to climb the tree. Shaking my head, I watched as at least ten more guys tried to climb it and then fell on their asses. The whole time, I sat happily perched several meters above them.

I heard them whispering, and ignored them, thinking that they were coming up with another useless plan to get me down.

A clicking noise brought my attention to the men below me. Looking down, I saw the end of a sniper rifle. My eyes widened as I watched the man pull the trigger.

Almost instantly I felt a sharp pain in my left thigh. I cried out from the pain and my grip on the tree was lost. My scream echoed through the forest as I fell to the ground. I twisted like a cat, halfway through the plummet to my death.