The room remained a frozen tableau. She hadn’t suspected the group treated her any different, but she knew that for a lie. She was an outsider, even with the people closest to her.
Afraid to look at anyone for fear they’d see the hurt, Raven gazed out the window. She suspected that many of them knew about her past. She’d made her peace with it. Until she dredged it all back to life.
She should’ve left well enough alone instead of playing one-upmanship with Trish.
“Raven–”
“No,” she cut Dominic off. He had nothing to say that she hadn’t already said to herself a thousand times. And she sure as hell didn’t need anyone’s sympathies. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I knew she hated me, I just didn’t know why. That’s no excuse for the way I acted.” Energy spiked, pulling from the room and wallowing in her body, building with the pain.
“You have the right to defend yourself.” London’s gruff voice only made it worse.
She needed to leave before she did anything else she’d regret. “We’ll discuss the meeting later. If you’ll excuse me.”
Raven left by the back door and quickly lost herself in the woods, aware of the faint outline of blue that swarmed over the skin of her hands, extending up past her wrists now. It was getting worse. The blue lines darker, more pronounced.
Her greatest fear was losing control, and each day her control weakened more, no matter how she tried to stop it. She couldn’t live with herself if she hurt someone she cared for.
Not again.
Chapter Seven
SUNSET
“How many shifters are missing?” Raven directed her question at Dominic, not lifting her gaze from her computer as she methodically entered data into the system. Thankfully, no one mentioned her blow-up earlier that afternoon, and she wanted to keep it that way. She shoved the last of her sandwich in her mouth and waited for his answer.
“Seventeen.”
The number snapped her out of her funk. Her hands hesitated over the keys, and her gaze shot to his. “And we’re only now learning about it?”
“There have been no police reports, no calls from concerned relatives. Nothing to hint at foul play.” Frustration rippled through his voice in a rumbled growl.
“Then how do you know there’s anything wrong?” She wanted to shove back her chair and demand that Jackson and Taggert give her space to breathe. The study seemed to shrink in size. Their scents wrapped around her, tearing down the wall she was desperately trying to build between them.
Instead, she suffered in silence, unwilling to admit even to herself how their nearness affected her, tempting her to relax her shields and be herself. That could never happen.
“Instinct. Experience.” Dominic leaned over her desk, his face inches from her, his autumn scent helping to drag her attention back to business. She grabbed onto the excuse with both hands, discretely scooting the chair closer to the desk and away from all the men crowding around her. “It’s their MO.”
It meaning the scientists. She couldn’t dispute his claim, but not everything evil was spawned by the labs. “Do you have any proof?”
He straightened, running his hand through his wavy hair in a rare show of emotion. “Nothing yet.”
He retreated across the room and propped himself against the window frame, his green eyes calculating as he studied her. The pose put her on edge. He was up to something. She braced herself, knowing she wouldn’t like it. “Speak.”
“That’s why I want to pull you in for this one.”
She was right. The thought of entering the labs again sent a flash of ice through her veins, rooting her to her chair when she wanted to bolt.
“This is unnecessary. The wolves would’ve been notified of any large scale disappearance and taken action.” Jackson bristled, the heat of his anger lapping at her back as he unobtrusively inched closer to her. She was half convinced his protest stemmed more from Dominic upsetting her than taking issue with the missing shifters.
The confrontation and sudden tension forced her mind into action. Both wolves locked eyes and refused to back down. She took a deep, steadying breath and broke the stalemate by relenting on her rule to never get involved in the labs again.
“Get me a list of names.” That’s the best she could do. She’d stopped hunting labs years ago, unable to bear witnessing the remnants of failed experiments and wade through all the pain that saturated the walls. Not if she wanted to remain sane. She’d delegated the hunt to Dominic and his crew, but there was one thing she could do. She could find these missing people.
Jackson turned to her, thunder in his eyes. “If there was something happening in the community, everyone would know. You can’t hide that many missing shifters.”