Raven's Rose (Charity Series Book 3) (2 page)

             
“
Yes, my queen.” He bowed dramatically.

             
She slapped his arm. “Get over yourself Rayvac.”

             
He rubbed his arm in mock pain, giving her the satisfaction she desired.

                                         
Chapter Two

Rose was having a hard time sleeping, tossing and turning restlessly. She knew she needed her sleep after spending hours into the night talking to Raven, but she couldn’t seem to shut out the thoughts flooding her mind now.

              She recalled his adorable expression when he’d first laid eyes on her. But soon she discovered it wasn’t because of her at all. It was due to the fact that she resembled her great-great grandmother Rose. Raven had been in love with her many years ago, and from the look of things he was still in love with her. Surprisingly, Rose found herself struggling with the emotion—jealousy. She never really cared for the emotion before, but it was invading her spirit with a vengeance.

             
Raven was so unlike the other guys she’d dated. He was more of a man than a boy; tall, strong, with pale skin and striking features. His black, silky hair just touched his shoulders, and his eyes alone had captivated her with their depth and darkness. She realized, during their conversations, more than once, she was staring into those black orbs wondering what pain they held and horrors they had seen. She had been surprised to realize she longed to comfort him from all his years of suffering over the loss of his Rose. But every time she thought of her great-great grandmother she felt angry. She didn’t understand why exactly, after all she just met this man. He was virtually a stranger and a vampire on top of that. In a normal world she would never have been associating with him at all. But this is not a normal world, at least not anymore.

Her hatred for vampires wasn’t embedded in her from birth as was the case with most werewolves raised in a pack. She and her brother, Eli were raised alone, separated from their home pack for fear that Eli’s secret would be discovered. Eli was the secret twin of the alpha, and to protect them both, they were separated at birth and sent away to live separate lives. Though it was rare, in the only recorded cases of twin alphas, with their competitive natures, one had killed the other. Eli and Levi’s parents couldn’t risk it and thus sent the younger, though only by minutes, away to live in secret with another couple. Eli was compelled to search out Levi, his brother and twin. And that’s what brought her here, to the home of her and Eli’s parent’s original pack and the home of one mysterious and cryptic vampire.

              When she lived in Atlanta with her parents and brother, she lived a normal life, pretending to be a normal girl, dating normal, human guys. But all that changed when Eli left to find his twin, and understandably so. She held no ill feelings toward her brother for leaving. She’d have done the same thing. She adored her brother—respected him. He’d never do anything intentionally to harm her. She knew that now. Back in Atlanta, there was a moment when she felt differently. He’d attacked Kyle, her latest boyfriend. He suspected Kyle of mistreating her, and it was true, but something about him hurting Kyle had made her angry. She still didn’t quite know why, but it no longer mattered. Kyle was long gone, angry that she’d had to move away.

She recalled the night she told him.

             
They had just returned from dinner and were sitting in his car when she approached the subject.

             
Rose was very nervous as she began the conversation. “Kyle, I have something to tell you.” She swallowed hard and proceeded. “My family and I are moving. I don’t have a choice in the matter. We’re moving to North Carolina. You and I can’t see each other anymore.” She could feel the anger radiating from him and it scared her.

             
He gaped at her, his jaw tight. “I don’t think so. You’re staying here with me. I don’t care what your parents say. And if that crazy brother of yours thinks he can bully me again, I’ll kill him.”

             
She became angry at his words, forgetting her fear. “How dare you talk about my family like that! You’re a jerk! My brother tried to tell me, but I didn’t listen!”

             
He had suddenly reached across the car and grabbed her by her hair. “You’ll regret saying those things to me, you little b—”

             
Rose couldn’t believe what she had done next. She had swung and punched him in the nose. But it had worked. He released her instantly, and grabbed his face, yelling in anger as the blood trickled through his fingers.

             
Rose didn’t waste a second. She jumped out of the car and ran down the road, only getting a little way before a car screeched to a halt in front of her.

             
“Get in, baby girl!” called her dad, swinging the door open.

She felt such relief as she jumped in and slammed the door shut behind her.

Her dad seemed concerned as he studied her face for signs of injury and emotion. “Are you okay, Rosebud?”

             
She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

             
She’d never been so relieved to see her dad in all her life. “Dad! How did you know where to find me?”

             
“I have to confess—I followed you. Eli shared with me his concerns about Kyle, and when you told me you were telling him tonight about our move, I had a feeling it might go bad. I’m sorry, but I had to.”

             
She reached over and hugged him. “Oh, Dad. I love you.”

             
“So you’re not mad at me?”

             
“Mad at you for protecting me? No—at least not this time.”

             
They both laughed as he turned their car toward home.

                                 
Chapter Three

Rose threw her covers back and climbed out of bed. It was ten o’clock anyway, and she couldn’t sleep. When she emerged from the shower and was fully dressed, she went into the little kitchen hoping that her mother had something fixed for her to eat, of course she did. Her father was sitting in his usual chair, reading the paper. She plopped down on the old, blue sofa with her pancake in hand.

              “Hey, Dad, what’s up?” she asked, studying him as she took a huge bite. He was still very handsome for a man in his fifties. His hair was thinning, but just barely, and his hands were big and strong. She had always admired them as a young girl when he would hold her hand, or pick her up and twirl her around.  

             
He peeped at her over his paper before sitting it down in his lap. “Not too much, but I hear something’s up with you.”

             
She shrugged, taking another bite. “Oh—yeah, I guess there is.”

             
“And when were you going to tell me you hooked up with the only vampire in this place. All these cute, young werewolves and you choose the vampire.”

             
She would have been alarmed if it weren’t for the smirk on his face. She sighed in relief. “Well, he seems to be a good guy, and he knew great-great grandmother Rose, so we spent a lot of time talking about her.”

             
“He’s that old, huh?”

             
“Yeah—I guess,” she said with a shrug. “He says I look like her. Do we have a picture of her anywhere?”

             
“You’ll have to ask your mother. I think she’s got one somewhere around here, but she’s still unpacking.”

             
“I think I’ll ask her.” She stuffed the last bite of pancake in her mouth and headed into her mother’s room.

“Hey, Mom,” she said, bursting into the room. Her mother jumped and spun around, startled. “Dad says he thinks you have a picture of great-great grandmother Rose.”

              “I sure do. Let me see—I think it’s in this box here.” She fumbled through the boxes stacked in the middle of the room.

Her mother had been unpacking by the look of things. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun with pieces falling down and around her face. Rose thought her mother was a pretty woman; petite with dark hair splashed with grey.

“Ah, yes. Here it is. You know, Rose, you look an awful lot like her.”

             
“So I’ve heard,” she said, accepting the picture. She wasn’t quite prepared for her reaction as she looked down at the photograph. The woman that stared back at her was very beautiful. She was laughing, her big, brown eyes full of amusement. Her hair was dark and pulled up behind her head with a few little strands falling loose to her shoulders. Her dress was cut low, revealing a very well-endowed young woman.

Everyone had been right—she looked just like this woman in the photo. And Rose wasn’t sure how she felt about that. This was her relative after all. She should be happy to resemble such a beautiful woman, and yet she wasn’t sure that was the emotion she felt at all. She found herself wondering if Raven was the cause of this woman’s happiness, or was this after he had abandoned her and she fell in love and married her husband, Carter Jameson—the werewolf.

How ironic that Raven felt he couldn’t return to his love after being turned into a vampire, causing her to end up marrying a werewolf.
Rose wondered what Raven thought of that. When she’d asked him the night before, he was quiet. It had to hurt him, but not as much as it must’ve hurt Rose; abandoned by her fiancée just when they were planning their wedding. Waiting for him for years and finally forced to marry someone else before she was too old to be asked anymore. Of course that may not have been how it happened at all, but Raven wouldn’t talk about that, so her imagination was underway.

             
The hours passed very slowly as she waited for her date. Rose had spent a little time with Eli, who filled her in on a few things about the facility, took her on a tour, and introduced her to some of the others. Most of the guys were young for her, but Jordan, Jared, Ian, and Cody, some of Levi’s elite, were close enough to her age and still unattached. Except she just didn’t feel drawn to them. She could sense their interest in her though, especially Jordan. He was her age, a senior in high school. He was very handsome, with spiky, blonde hair and very green eyes. But she still felt nothing—not like when she had looked at Raven, with his black hair and even blacker eyes, standing in dramatic contrast against the canvas of his pale, white skin. And those full, red lips were too inviting to resist for long.

             
She shook off her thoughts and headed back to her bedroom to start getting ready for her highly anticipated date.

                                       
Chapter Four

Raven took a deep breath, though it wasn’t necessary, and knocked. He felt like a nervous teenager, and if he could sweat he would have. It had only been a minute but it felt like ten when the big oak door swung open.

Mr. Jameson, a huge but kind looking man, answered the door and smiled. “Let me guess. You must be Raven.” His voice was deep but welcoming.

             
“Yes, sir. It is nice to meet you.” He extended his hand and Mr. Jameson took it eagerly.

             
“Please come in. Rosebud will be out in a minute.”

             
“Please don’t call me that in front of guests!” she yelled from another room as Raven stepped inside.

             
Raven peered at her dad and they both laughed.

             
“She gets embarrassed when her mother and I call her that in public.”

             
Raven smiled as he imagined just what Rose would look like embarrassed; her cute face flushing an adorable red. He wondered if Rosebud was a combination of names, or just an endearment and he asked, “What is her middle name, if I may ask?”

             
“Of course. Well, actually Rose is her middle name, and Sophia is her first. Her mother always preferred to call her Rose.”

             
An endearment then
. Raven thought about that and decided instantly that he liked it—he liked it very much. He would have to ask Rose if he could call her Sophia from now on, and if she said yes, that would be the beginning of his separating this new Rose from his old Rose. It was a necessary process if he was to win her heart and learn to love her for her very own uniqueness. He had no doubt he would love this Sophia more than he had ever loved his Rose. He could feel it as strongly as he had so many years ago, maybe even more so.