“Hey. You’re back,” Jade said, smiling.
“Yeah.” With that being said, Raven walked past Jade and went to the blue jean section.
She knew Jade was behind her. “What?”
“Why do you have to be so mean? I’ve always been nice to you. I’ve tried everything I can to be friends with you. But everyone is right, you are a lost cause.” Jade stomped off. She blew out the breath she was holding. Tears puddled in her eyes, but she blinked them away, so nobody saw, but one always saw.
When she glanced up, Quinn Dixon was leaning against her office door. Frowning at her, watching her like a hawk. She glanced down at the jeans, but nothing appealed to her. Instead of punishing herself any further, she turned and walked out the door.
Pulling out of the parking lot, Quinn stared at her from the door. Raven knew she deserved it. The worst part, she actually liked them all. They were a tight knit group that looked after each other and helped anyone that needed it.
But she didn’t need anyone’s help. She was a Death Hunter, a loner. The words burned as she tried to believe them.
Chapter Three
“Caz Milton, you should be ashamed of yourself. I think I was actually making progress with Raven. Why did you have to make that comment?”
He sighed. “She deserved it. You should have seen the way she treated me when she met me. I tried to be nice, but--”
“You like her,” Calum said from across the room.
Caz’s whole body jerked around and he stared at the vampire. “No, I don’t.”
“Oh my goodness, you do,” Riley added.
“No, no, no, I don’t. Stop saying that,” Caz demanded. He picked up the candle Raven left on the table.
Calum leaned against the counter and narrowed his eyes at him. “Yes, you do. You didn’t have to come check on the store. You did that yesterday. You came because she was coming to town.”
“You two are crazy,” Caz said, walking to the back room. They were wrong.
“Wait.” His sister ran to the door and handed him a bag.
Glancing inside, he started shaking his head. “No.”
“Yes, you are. Stop being a meanie and do this for me. I like Raven and I gave her this. Please take it to her for me.” His sister always knew how to get to him. She even poked her bottom lip out. “Please, big brother.”
Sighing deeply, Caz rolled his eyes and took the bag from his sister. “You could actually come and visit me and give it to her yourself.”
“Don’t have time. All of Calum’s kids are coming into town this weekend and I’m planning a big dinner for them. So I got a lot to do. But you are going back, so you can do it. You will be living in the pack house with her. And this will give you the excuse you need.”
“For what?”
Putting her hand on his face, Riley shook her head and said, “You know, you can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me. I know you and this one has rocked your world.”
“Whatever,” Caz said, opening the door. “I don’t like her. She’s rude and a tiger bigot.”
He heard what his sister said as he closed the door. “Mate.”
No, no, no, she was wrong. That woman would never be his mate. He could already tell. She hated him, and well, he didn’t like her either.
Did he like her? No, she was beautiful and everything, but who could live with that type of craziness. Caz Milton was fine as a loner. This was the way it was meant to be. But as he drove, Raven’s face popped into his head. It was a curse. “Yes, she is beautiful, but she’s mental.”
Now he was talking to himself. His tiger was up front and center every time they saw her. Her black silky hair shined in the sun, and for the life of him, why did he want to touch it? To see if it was as soft as it looked. Of course, it was. And Raven was a natural beauty. She had piercing green eyes that could see in your soul. “Get out of my head.”
Caz took a deep breath when he saw her vehicle parked at the pack house. “Might as well get this over with.” Caz grabbed the bag and exited his truck. His nose twitched as her scent became stronger at the back of her truck. She wasn’t inside the pack house. He let his tiger loose to scan the area. As he walked toward the woods, her scent grew more intense. She was upset. He picked up his pace until he got to Reed and Greer’s tree house.
Greer stood on the top deck. “She went that way. She’s upset. I tried to get her to come up, but she just kept going. Be careful, Caz, approaching her.”
Caz nodded and continued down the path she traveled. He stopped when he saw her sitting at the edge of the little stream. Lennox had stocked the pond with fish, but Raven wasn’t fishing, she was staring off into the water. He could hear her crying.
He approached her slowly, not wanting to spook her bear. That would be a terrible idea and the worst decision he ever made. She knew he was there. Her back came straight up and her hands were busy wiping her tears away.
He never said anything, just sat and placed the bag beside her. “My sister is a good woman. She never had many friends even as we were growing up. Her tiger was too fierce. They could all sense it. I definitely could as we spared and trained together. I bet she could take down some of the biggest predators here. I think that’s why she likes you so much. But anyway, she wanted me to give this to you. She said it was a gift from her.” Caz sat cross-legged staring off into the water. He would wait all day until she said something.
“You trained her to fight?” Raven asked.
“Sure did.” Caz turned to his side and faced her. “And she is good too. She has the softest feet around. Riley could sneak up and jump on you before you even knew what hit you. I think it scared the hell out of all the other pride members. Most of the girls made fun of her. All the guys were scared of her. But I saw the real Riley. The innocent girl who only wanted to fit in.”
Raven turned and stared at him. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because my sister likes you and wants to be your friend and I want my sister to be happy and have things she never had growing up. It wasn’t fair. So anytime she wants something I try to get it for her. You see, I know my sister and she would do it for me if you were something I wanted.”
Caz got up and walked off. He had to. Being this close to her was driving him crazy. He practically held his breath the whole time. His tiger was rolling around on the ground in her scent. Man, this wasn’t good at all. Because she smelled like rum and spices. This wasn’t good at all.
Raven picked up the bag and pulled out the candle. Putting it up to her nose, she inhaled. Peaches, fresh peaches. She had to keep her distance from Caz Milton. His scent was starting to affect her. They even had candles that smelled like him. How odd.
“Don’t you walk by and not talk to me.” Greer’s voice sounded different to her. Made her stop, whether she wanted to or not. “Come on up. Reed isn’t here.”
Raven liked Greer. If she did have a friend, it was Greer. “What’s up?” She tried to act nonchalant, but Greer wasn’t having it.
“So why were you crying and why was Caz Milton following you down to the pond?” Greer asked. “And why were you rude to Jade at the store?”