Now this was one of the things Taryn would really miss about Bedrock, she thought with a smile as she sank into the luxurious bath. There was a brief stinging sensation as the hot water made contact with the fresh scratches and bites now coating her body, but it passed pretty quickly. Damn the bastard for branding her so thoroughly! How in the hell was she supposed to move on after this mating when his marks were all over her, serving as constant reminders of him? Maybe that was what he wanted – to make sure that she wouldn’t be able to forget him. He might not particularly care about her, but the possessiveness that came with the mating was probably messing with his mind.

She had no intention of telling him that he didn’t need to brand her so completely to ensure that she remembered him. As much as it pissed her off, she couldn’t change that she sort of, well…she really liked him. A voice in her mind insisted that was an understatement, but Taryn ignored it. She didn’t understand how she could like him so much. The guy could be so tactless and impatient, so remote and unapproachable. He was unbalanced. He had shitty communication skills. He thought apologies went in the form of o**l s*x, and he could brood with the best of them.

And yet, she truly liked the guy. Naturally, her wolf was very pleased about that.

Well enough thinking about him. All she wanted to do right now was relax and soothe those aches that always came with the rough f**kings he gave her. She had a strong feeling that her manly mate wasn’t going to be too happy about the smell of jasmine that now filled his bathroom thanks to the soap Lydia had given her. Just the thought of that made her smile – simply pleasures and all that stuff.

So relaxed that she was beginning to wonder if she had entered subspace, the little tapping sounds were just background noise to her at first. Soon, though, they penetrated her daze, pissing her off. The noises reminded her of when Shaya used to throw stones at her window at night when they were teenagers, hoping to get her attention. She tried real hard to ignore the incessant tapping. After a short while, though, they began to grate on her nerves.

“Trey?” she called out, hoping to have him check out the noise. “Anyone?” Nothing, which meant she was going to have to see what the f**k it was herself. Fabulous.

Muttering curses, she stepped out of the bath, wrapped a white fluffy towel around her, and made her way into the bedroom. As she had suspected, something seemed to be tapping against the window. Still muttering curses, she stalked over to the window and pulled aside the curtain. And jerked back. “What the f**k?!” Oh no, that wasn’t what she thought it was. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.

Having sensed her alarm and anxiety through the pack link, Trey came dashing into the room. “What is it? What’s wrong?” And then he saw it. Slowly he went to her. “Is that…is that the raven you always talk to?”

Grinding her jaw, she nodded, close to tears at the sight of the beautiful bird now dead. Not just dead, but hanging upside down by some kind of string as his beak repeatedly tapped against the window as his body blew with the wind. “I heard the tapping.”

“Baby, come here.” Not giving her a choice, he pulled her to him and enfolded her in his arms.

“Somebody did that,” she said through her teeth as shock and rage flooded her veins.

“I know,” he said, working to keep his voice soft or else his rage might feed her own.

“Somebody killed him and then hung him there, like that, for me to find.”

“What happened?” asked Dante as he, Tao, Marcus and Trick came dashing into the room after obviously having sensed their Alphas’ alarm. “Shit!”

“Is it dead?” asked Trick. “Why would someone – Shit, Taryn, is that your crow?”

Marcus supportively squeezed her shoulder as he passed to get up close to the window. “Looks like someone snapped its neck.”

“Who the hell would do something like that?” Dante shook his head, sickened.

“Maybe the same person who vandalised her car,” suggested Tao. “Maybe not, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Leaving Trey’s arms, Taryn demanded, “Out. Everyone out. Now!”

Dante nodded. “I’ll go…get him down.” He gestured to the enforcers to follow him out of the room. Casting her sympathetic smiles, they reluctantly did so.

“Baby, what’re you doing?” Trey asked as he watched her snatch clothes out of the wardrobe in a rush. She didn’t answer. Just began pulling on her blue cashmere sweater and tight fitting jeans. “Taryn -”

“Someone did that to hurt me. They went to the trouble of hunting him down, catching him, killing him, and creeping around outside our cave to hang him upside down like that where I’d find him. I want to know who the sicko is ass, and I want to kick his ass.” Having now slipped on her knee high boots, she headed for the door.

Understanding her need to retaliate but not liking her hurting so bad, he dashed after her and wrapped both arms around her front, bringing her to a halt. Nuzzling her neck, he rocked her from side to side. “Let me deal with this, baby. I promise you, as soon as I find out who’s responsible, they’re all yours.”

Her voice came out flat. “Let go of me, Trey.”

“Come on, you’re upset and in shock. Let me deal with this for you.”

She could sense that he was just as infuriated as she was yet he was containing it all in the hope of easing her anger and hurt. It was sweet, but there was just no way anything could soothe her right now. “Let go.”

Dabbing a soft kiss to her neck, he slowly released her. Before he could say anything she was marching through the tunnels. He stayed at her heels as, to his surprise, she headed outside and down the flights of stairs.

“Stay back,” she told him as they reached the bottom.

Seeing that she was close to snapping, he stopped still and held up his hands in a white flag gesture. He had thought she intended to head to the river as she had the last time she was upset. Instead she paced a short distance away from him and looked up at the crowd that had gathered at the mouth of the caves.

“So which one of you was it, huh?” she shouted, enraged beyond belief. “Which one of you was it?!” No answer. They each looked from one to the other but didn’t move from where they were. “You have a problem with me then come down here! Come on! You and me, let’s go!” Still, nobody moved. Pacing back and forth, she continued to shout. “I’m latent, remember! I can’t possibly win! You think killing a bird, a small creature that couldn’t even fight back is brave? It’s sick and it’s cowardly! If it’s me you want then get the f**k down here! I dare you! No, I challenge you!” Still, not one person moved from where they were. “COME ON!”