Talons

Chapter 87: The Viking

Colton’s POV

It's the night of Luke's birthday and Dolton, despite being around for three days, has only just made his arrival known to his mate’s family. He literally dresses like a character in some middle earth movie, complete with the sandals, so he’s ready before I am.

“Have you ever f*cked Raven?” he asks, making me chuckle. Once I realize he is serious, I become serious as well.

“I would never not tell you something important like that.” Dolton nods, and I start to get the feeling that he is worried about something. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

“What if dad is right and she rejects me, or worse, what if I waited all this time and she isn’t my mate? Do you know how many worthy women I have turned down?” I shrug, not knowing what to say because it is possible.

“At least dad hasn’t sold you to a rich family.” Dolton repeats the same action I had just done.

“I still can’t believe you haven’t killed that old f*ck yet. I don’t know how you survived him alone,” he says.

“I told you; a lot of f*cked up sh*t happened on this side of the ocean. Jessica is just one of them.”

“What ever happened to the little Talon’s sister? You screw her?” Orlin stirs with aggression, but I pull him back before my twin notices.

“She had an even more f*cked up life than either of us. The last time I saw her was after she was attacked by someone from her brother’s pack.” Dolton is clearly confused. “Told you, f*cked up.”

I examine myself in the mirror and decide I’m not in the mood to wax my hair, so I pull it back instead.

“Twins,” Dolton says jokingly, and I shake my head at him. While we do have similar haircuts, my hair can be made professional. His sh*t doesn’t look like it's seen a brush since he left.

I gesture for us to leave, and link Carter for an ETA. His parents are on patrol, and Holly has broken ribs from Dolton’s attack. She needs rest to recover, and since she is the only other person they will leave Carly with, they had to shift gears and are taking their pup with them.

I know firsthand how much that small girl needs, so I’m not angry when my beta tells me to go ahead of him. It would look better if we arrived together, but I understand the setback wasn’t planned.

Rhea’s POV

I’m extremely drunk, and I know it. The thing is, I don’t care. Other than Luke and Lark, everyone is cheering me on, and I swear I’m invincible right now. The only other person who isn’t happy is Jack, who takes every opportunity to yap in my ear about our connection and friendship being ‘too strong’ to throw away.

The man is still gorgeous to me, but I don’t have that same need to stare like I once did, and it's likely a bit of trauma left behind from all that's happened to me. 

The bottom line is that Jack had me, he also could’ve ‘had’ me, and right now, he would probably still be ‘having’ me, had he not chosen to go after Raven instead. That is his mistake, not mine, and I’m no one's second choice, which is why Mike will never get another chance with me.

Miracle keeps handing me drinks and I keep knocking them back, but after a while Lark tries to intervene, yelling at my cousin, who starts to pretend she doesn’t speak English. Luke tries to get through to her, but Robin tells her mate that they should let me live my life and I find myself clapping at her wisdom, which completely irritates Lark.

The only thing that could calm me down right now, is if my mother showed up with her shoe, but the minute she saw what Robin and Miracle put on me, she fled the area, taking my father with her.

I’m wearing light blue skintight jeans and a glittery black top that wraps around my body and cups my breasts perfectly. Like everything my cousin’s own, it's a crop top, and it laces up at the cleavage, which has been intentionally left open.

“Chun is dancing with someone,” Lark says abruptly.

“I’ll f*cking kill her,” Miracle replies, looking in the direction of Chun, who is quietly watching the kids play inside of the steel playpen type contraction that Robin had built to keep Corbin out of trouble while she works out.

I can see that Chun’s older nieces and nephews are inside as well, but they are coloring. I spot two other children I don’t recognize, but I’m almost positive they are the new additions to Chun’s collection.

I swear that if I ever get my hands on Chungha and her mate, I will make them regret using such a sweet and loving family as a permanent daycare while they ‘explore the world,’ but for right now… I’m focused on myself.

"Luke isn’t enjoying his party because of us."

“Luke isn’t my problem,” I tell Sylvia who laughs hysterically. She is drunk too, but she thinks she’s the levelheaded one right now.

I was really into whining* to a Sech song that I absolutely love when I noticed a Viking walking up behind Miracle. He’s wearing a sheer linen shirt, and brownish pants that hit just below the knee, but what does it for me are the sandals on his feet, and the random braids in his beard and man bun.

My cousin has stopped arguing with Lark about ‘toying with her emotions,’ and she is just staring in my direction. I don’t know how I have a drink in my hands, but I do, and I’m sipping it through a straw, watching her in curiosity.

The man wraps his arms around Miracle before her face goes red with anger. He called her Raven, and it's then that I realize that the Viking is Dolton, the two of them are mates, and he thought she was Raven because he has been away for too many years, and Miracle and Raven have similar builds.

“I guess rejections are in order,” Miracle says with an attitude. “Now if you'll excuse me. I’d like to get back to my boyfriend.” Dolton grabs my cousin a little too aggressively for me, so I take a step closer, ready to attack if necessary.

“I don’t think I said anything about a rejection,” he growls, and Miracle laughs.

“Sure Michael,” she says, spitefully calling Dolton by another man’s name, but truthfully, I don't feel that bad for her. I told her that she wouldn’t like being called by someone else's name, but she shrugged it off, and her offense can’t be because of looks because Raven is beautiful.

“Don’t test me little half-breed. You are lucky to be fated to me.” I wince because Dolton has no idea who he is talking to right now.

“You're right, I should count my blessings. You could have been attractive, making rejection just a little bit harder,” she says.

She starts to walk away, and I can see that Dolton is about to grab her hair, but I catch his wrist and shake my head. He narrows his eyes at me, trying to be menacing but then he smiles brightly, obviously recognizing me. How? I don’t know.

Everyone has gone to consul Raven, who I presume was still getting ready to meet Dolton, but I’m not entirely sure that it's necessary. Before I started drinking, I spoke to her about preparing for the worst, and I could tell she needed to hear those words, because she had been calm since that moment; her only concern was Jack, who is of no concern now.

“Were you going to hit me?” Miracle growls.

“I just wanted to show you how weak your boyfriend is. He hasn’t even come to protect you from me.” I take the opportunity to chime in, telling Dolton that Miracle is single.

“B, I was just trying to let him keep his pride, but in all honesty, this whole Viking thing isn’t doing it for me. Only Chun can satisfy my needs.” I glare at my cousin, who is putting my brother’s gamma in a difficult position and as a man with much responsibility, he doesn’t need her games.

“Show me this Chun,” Dolton orders, and my dense and selfish cousin actually points, but Chun’s hearing is great because he is already staring in our direction, twirling his finger at his temple, letting Dolton know that Miracle is insane. “Looks like the alien was telling the truth.”

“Bet I’ll be taken by the end of the night,” Miracle warns, and Dolton pulls her in a way that forces her legs to wrap around his waist. “Damn,” she says, “Maybe I do want to be raided.” Dolton growls deeply and presses an enthusiastic kiss to her lips, making me turn around.

I hear my cousin ask Dolton why he called me an alien, and he tells her that was my role when we were children. He isn’t lying, during the time I didn’t speak English, I was always casted as the villain in whatever game they were playing.

Most of the time they would mime what it was they wanted me to do, and it often involved kidnapping their babies. Those memories are not that great for me because when they would capture me, it almost always involved real hitting for a fake crime.

“Do you still want to reject me?” Dolton asks, and I swear I heard a little fear in his voice.

“I don’t know yet. You kind of pissed me off.” I turn to see that Miracle is still straddling Dolton, so I walk away, and Jack takes the opportunity to get me a refill on my drink. I study him for a while, wondering if he is bold enough to drug me.

“Wow,” he says, his accent a little thicker than I remember it being. “You don’t even trust me anymore?” I’m really tempted to tell him that I have never trusted him, but I hold my tongue. I’m still drunk, and I’m not sure sober me would like it if I said something with the intention of being cruel.

I take the drink, and Jack and I toast to ‘friendship’ making me laugh. 

Before long, I’m dancing again, only this time Raven has joined me. When she first came out, she hugged me tightly, thanking me for being honest with her at a time when she needed it, and I have to say; I’m impressed by my sister's maturity. Especially considering that she’s been waiting for someone who wasn’t even hers.