Stone Crest: Rise of a Raven

38. Chapter 38

Chapter thirty-eight

Locke

R aven’s eyes glisten as I watch the realization cross her face at my admission.

“But I’m not…” she steps away. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Her face scrunches. “I’m not a wolf, Locke. Who else knows about you?”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a wolf or not.” I tell her. “And just a select few that are human know….” I let that truth hang in the air. “If this got out…. I’d be dead. We would all be.”

“All?” She rakes a hand through her hair, then reaches in the pocket of her pants and pulls out a peppermint. She mindlessly unwraps it, then slips it between her plump lips.

“All,” I repeat. “Me, Dec, Autumn, Hendrix, Zander, Frankie, I rattle off. “There are others throughout the states. Many kinds of shifters not just wolf.”

She lets out a slow breath. “This is a lot.” She shakes her hands out before clenching the hem of her shirt. “I need…...I need some time.”

Time.

“I understand.” The guilt of what I’ve laid on her has a storm thrashing inside of me. “There are some other things you should know, Raven.”

She holds up a hand. “I need to process.”

Don’t let her leave. My wolf presses.

“I can give you space. But I can’t let you leave.”

Her eyes whip to mine.

“Not like that.” I hold up my palms. “I trust you. I just want to keep you safe. You were attacked last night. I can’t take that chance.”

“That wolf. Was it another shifter?” She asks.

I swallow hard. “Yes.”

She gives a quick nod. “How long?”

I shrug. “Until I can figure out the reason behind it.”

“Ok.”

Relief fills me at her compliance.

“I’m assuming Presley can stay too? What’s going on with our building?”

Fucking Declan.

“Nothing, baby. Declan compelled Presley to get her to cooperate.”

She narrows her eyes. “Compelled?”

“Like I said. There’s a lot of things you don’t know. We can talk about it when you’re ready.”

She glances around the garden before looking back at me. “I’ll need my things.”

When I pull up to Raven’s apartment, I throw the car in park and stare out the windshield.

There are so many odds against us right now. Our relationship is forbidden. My kind is forbidden. They are heavily stacked, but I’ve never been surer. She’s my mate. Even through the curse. I found her.