Raven (Book One of the Dark Lycans Series)
Chapter One: Anger Rising

I walk past the stares of the Hunters, knowing that they will not go away. I lower the hood of my cloak, so I can flick my blonde hair over my shoulder.

I open the doors to the Weapons Room and glance around at the swords, axes, and other assorted weapons. I grab the bow from my section, all but the weapons from my section were shared. I am an exception, being the only female hunter out of over a thousand males.

The weapons I have are heavily guarded because of the diamond, silver, and gold in them. All three are considered precious metals, and extremely expensive. The other weapons aren't exactly cheap but, have to be replaced much more often than mine.

I grab my daggers, and whip before heading off to the training arena, bow slung over my back with a quiver of arrows beside it.

"Raven . . ." A voice sings from behind me.

"Darren, if you try to get me to let you borrow my weapons one more time, I will end you." I turn around and glare at him until I see fear cross his eyes.

"I give you my deepest apology," he whimpers. I stalk away from him, making sure to glare at everyone I pass.

Once I reach the training room, I take off my cloak to reveal my armor. When I turned 18, I demanded new armor that could be used to seduce my enemies. It consisted of a skin tight band across my upper body, covered in gold, silver, and diamonds on the outside.

I have the same material covering my lower half as well. What makes people stare is that it only covers my breasts and my ass, completely showing off my toned stomach, and legs. I also have a neck collar, weapon's belt, boots, and wrist guards that reach my upper arm, all in the same material.

Hunters quickly enter the viewing area, their eyes hungry and filled with desire. I enjoy finding new ways to punish them, they need to be taught that I do not want anything to do with their fantasies.

"Listen up! I have a proposition to make." I smirk, knowing that they would not be able to pass up my offer. "I will fight with any of you, and if you are able to restrain me, I will offer that man one night with me in bed." They start getting extremely excited, but I am not finished yet. "But! If I am the one to restrain you, then I have the right to execute you in any way I feel necessary."

I'm not surprised when none if them look willing to back down. They still don't believe that I can beat them. After all, they have never actually seen me fight, only heard stories about the people I have killed. They think I am a fake, and I haven't exactly had time to show them otherwise.

"Who is ready to be the first victim?" I ask, then watch as a highly unskilled hunter jumps out of the crowd first. This is too easy, I think as I look over his frail body.

"I am going to take your offer and win. I look forward to a night of pleasure with you," he grins with a mischievous wink that makes my nose wrinkle in disgust.

"The rules are no one may intervene, it will result in immediate execution. You may only use the weapons present on your person. You win once your opponent cannot escape for at least 1 minute. And lastly, killing may count as a form of restrainment. Charlie will be the one to blow the whistle announcing the start." I trust Charlie because I have known him for most of my life. And he is the only one in this sea of testoteron that does not like me the way the others do.

Charlie stands up, and walks in front of the man, Jason I think, a whistle in hand.

"Three . . . two . . . one!" I pull out my dagger, just as he blows the whistle. The Hunter leaps at me trying to get a hold of my waist, but I sidestep him easily and drag the blade across his back as he flies past me.

"BITCH!" He screams. He stands, blood dripping off his back from the cut I made.

"You really should show more respect," I snap before running at him and flipping over his head, landing behind his back. I grab his head and twist, his body falling limp beneath me.

"Somebody clean up this mess." I look at the crowd, waiting for someone to take the body away. Two men run up, one taking the body, the other taking the dead boy's place.

As Charlie blows the whistle a second time, I decide to make this a just little more fun for me. He lunges forward, making a move to punch my face, but I just drop to the ground and kick his feet out from beneath him. He falls to the ground with a thud, and I swiftly kick into the air above him, bringing my heel down hard on his ribs before he can stand up. I hear a cracking sound as several of his ribs break. He howls in pain, and I place a dagger on his throat to keep him on the ground.

"Any last words, you pathetic excuse for a man?" I sneer at him.

"I only regret that I went easy on you." He looks at the crowd. "The rumours are true!" He yells just before I slit his throat with a roll of my eyes, why are men always so dramatic?

I deal with 47 more whimpering mutts before they finally give up and leave. Many of them are furious with me for killing their family and friends, but I don't care. They deserve to be punished for their cruel, disgusting minds.

With my cloak pulled back over my body, I walk back to the Weapons Room. I gather up all of my weapons, and place them into their designated locations on my person. After that event, there's no doubt they will try to steal my things.

I see it growing dark outside and start walking to the Mess Hall, smirking at the Hunters who glare as they pass me. They must be pretty pissed at me after I killed four dozen of their friends and partners, I think with a small chuckle.

All eyes turn to me as I enter the Mess Hall, most of them look shocked, I haven't been home in almost two years. I grab a bottle of water and walk towards a table where two familiar faces are seated.

"Raven! Its great that you are finally back," Charlie says, giving me a tiny smile.

"Yeah, I just hope I am not back for much longer," I reply, my voice void of any emotion.

"Charming as always I see," the man next to him sighs, his sarcastic tone making me glare.

"How are you still alive Seth?"

He winces, faking hurt and holding a hand over his heart. "You wound me Raven, truly. I'll have you know I have gotten much better at fighting since the last time you were home," he smirks.

I look at Charlie skeptically and he shakes his head almost unnoticeably, confirming my thoughts.

"Seriously though, why are you back now? After all this time?" Charlie asks, turning to face me.

I sigh and sit down beside him, readjusting my weapons so they don't stab me.

"I finally finished all of my missions and haven't received another one in almost a week. I was told the Elders want me to take a break, but I don't know if I can survive just doing nothing for much longer," I admit.

"Well, it obviously has taken a toll on you already, I mean you did just kill like 50 Hunters not long ago, maybe that will convince the Elders to discontinue your little 'break'," he says using air quotes.

"I hope so, if not, I am going to go out and start killing rogue wolves, mission or not," I decide and stand up, nodding to both of them before stalking out of the Mess Hall. I walk through the maze of hallways until I find my old bedroom.

I push open the door to find it is exactly the way I left it, well, almost exactly. My desk has shifted a few inches and a few of the drawers are slightly ajar. My bed has also been moved, and the sheets aren't tucked right.

"Somebody has been in here," I mutter under my breath with a frustrated groan. I check to see if anything is missing, but everything is still here.

What the hell were they looking for? I think in confusion before shrugging and undressing. I pull off my weapons belt, placing it next to my bed and hanging my cloak on the end of it.

I drink the rest of my water and climb under the silk sheets of my bed, keeping my eyes trained on the door for several minutes before allowing them to close. My fingers reach under my pillow and curl around my dagger, a small sigh escaping my lips.

I feel myself slip into darkness just moments later.

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The sound of light footsteps has me jerking to an upright position, gripping my dagger tightly. They grow louder but suddenly stop, just outside my door. My eyes narrow and my body tenses. The door is thrown open and I send my dagger flying, straight into a man's throat.

Another one rushes towards me and I leap to my feet, smashing my fist into face. His head snaps backwards and he collapses onto his back. He starts to get up but I shove my knee against his neck, pinning him to the floor.

"Why are you in my room?" I spit, pushing my knee harder into his neck when he shakes his head.

"Why has someone gone through my room? What were they looking for?" I hiss, putting my face close to his.

"You of all people should realize that I am not going to tell you anything, no matter how much you torture or threaten me," he grits out and I stand up. He starts to get up as well, gasping for air but I have his head between my hands before he can take a full breath.

I jerk his head sharply and a sickening crack echoes in my room when I break his neck. His body drops to the floor with a thud and I suddenly hear more footsteps approaching from down the hall.

"Shit!" I curse, snapping on my weapons belt and collecting all of my things into a bag. I grab it and throw open my window. Just as I am climbing out of the window, I hear a snapping sound and whip around just in time to catch the arrow that was flying in my direction.

The barbed tip is centimeters from my face and I look to see Charlie standing in my doorway. He stares at me, his jaw set in anger, and dozens of men behind him with the same expression. They are here for me, I think, my eyes widening in realization and push myself out of the window.

I fall about four stories before landing gracefully on my feet, immediately taking off for the nearby woods. I push myself to run faster as I hear them quickly follow me.

I dive into the dark forest and weave through the maze of trees. I don't stop to take a break or check behind me.

After 50 miles I finally collapse in a small clearing. My body is covered is small scratches from stray branches but I can't feel any pain.

I lay against a thick tree trunk; my bag acts as a pillow. I wait, silently staring into the forest, for nearly an hour. I relax when I still don't sense any Hunters.

I fall asleep hoping that I have run far enough to keep them lost for a while. If they find me I know they will torture me, and that pain and anger will reveal the secret that will either get me executed immediately, or have me endure something much worse than death. Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ Find ɴøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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