Raven

The night was chilly and the cold was already biting at her flesh but Raven
had decided to ignore it. She shifted position in the tree knowing full well that if her limbs became numb they would be of little use to her. The moon was full and its silvery light was spilling down across the still sleeping valley, the spiraling smoke from village below caught on a breeze in the star filled sky.

Raven sighed deeply her breath coming out in a small white mist, already
snow had settled on the high peaks of the mountain and it wouldn't be long before it moved down into the valley.

Something stirred at the edge of the forest, it was a small sound but she
heard it never the less. For a moment she held her breath, was this it?

A figure was moving just in the darkness of the tree line Raven could sense
its coarseness as it paced back and fourth. Had he caught her scent? She'd been careful to wait down wind as not to alarm him but still...

After another moments hesitation the creature emerged from its hiding place
and padded into the moonlight. It shook its thick black mane of shaggy hair its wolf like snout sniffing briefly at some random scent of the breeze.

He hadn't sensed her nor caught her scent Raven began to relax slightly then
stopped herself after all it was still better to be prepared.

The werewolf's head shifted in the direction of the village its ears cocked
listening to the distant chime of the town clock as it struck midnight.

Raven shifted ever so slightly on the tree branch and only then realized it
had been a mistake. The creature's head turned quite suddenly in her direction. As her eyes locked with its very human blue ones she only had a second
to make out what looked like a very savage smile.

With a growl the beast leapt upwards toward the branch propelled by its
powerful back hind legs and Raven did the only thing she could do and let herself drop backwards the other side of the branch. She lay for a second staring
up at the branch where the werewolf now sat.

Rolling to her feet she cursed under her breath he had heard her move in the
tree she should have never have moved.

A savage howl pierced the night and Raven ran she was smart enough not to
look back she could already hear the splintering of wood behind her. Running for a clearing she turned swiftly to confront the beast and then froze as she found he was not behind her.Clever boy she thought he wasn't dumb he was still thinking clearly and that made what he had done murder.

Her eyes searched the shadows and darkness of the night her ears straining
for any tell tale sound of his where abouts.

The softest of growls emanated from somewhere to her left and Raven braced
herself. Relaxing her shoulders she silently called her energy to her. Her hands began to tingle as it began to well inside her ready and waiting.

It was the tiniest of movements and Raven turned just as the werewolf flung
itself from the trees. Claws extended outwards it powerful jaws open and snapping ready to sink deep within her flesh. Arms out straight towards it
she opened her hands and the energy rushed out of her.

The werewolf screamed more out of fear than pain as the warming energy
engulfed it. Raven rolled to her left out of the way as the beast hit the floor, its body engulfed in the green pulsing energy.

Its form began to wither the soft fur falling away revealing the smooth pink
skin of a man. The wolf like snout diminished and the muscular clawed legs and arms shrank away.

Raven stood and observed the dark haired man as he lay naked curled into a
protective ball shaking. After a moment he raised accusing blue eyes in her direction " Why did you have to do that witch?".

Raven smiled but it did not reach her eyes " You were going to kill me and
you knew full well what you were doing you were never consumed by your beast your eyes were still human".

Sitting up the young man regarded her with hatred " So what? They will never
believe you! my father is the alpha male who do you think he's going to believe?".

It was one thing to subdue his beast but this young lupin was turning out to
be a nasty piece of work even in his human side.

A movement drew both there attentions and as another shaggy form emerged
from the trees Raven tensed but only for a moment until she recognized the unkempt chestnut fur and the confident hazel eyes. " Nice to see you 've
taken your time Ash ".

Ash regarded her for a moment before his eyes turned to the young man " On
your feet your father wants to see you and don't even think of trying something there were enough of us around tonight to know how cunning you really are Michael".

For a moment the young man looked shocked his eyes flicking toward Raven
before with a sulky expression he got to his feet. Raven averted her eyes from his nakedness as the young man moved off into the darkness of the trees.

" Don't worry i didn't come alone" Ash assured her quietly as he watched him
go. Ash padded closed to her, muscles rippling under think soft fur. "You ok?".

It was the sound of the concern in his voice which made her look up to meet
his gaze " Yeah it worked out ok".
"That's not what i asked, are you ok?".

Raven sighed deeply and then nodded " Im cold and im hungry but yes I'm ok".
Ash was smiling " Better get you back to the cabin then and next to that
warm fire" he reached out a clawed hand and very gently moved a stray piece of red hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

Ash was concentrating on the road as Raven sat in the passenger seat of his
car her eyes closed with exhaustion. She was still in the Black jumper and jeans she had worn the night before the only thing which was fresh was her underwear.

They had managed to get back to the cabin but then had been asked to appear
before the Alpha male of the lightfoot tribe and give an account of the evenings events. Raven had sensed that although there was enough evidence against
the werewolf's youngest son he was still having a hard time believing it.

By the end of an exhausting two hours the pack leader was in no doubt about
the extent of the crimes his offspring had committed. Even between the lupin clans there were clear rules, no normal human was to know of there true
existence much like other mythical species which were still thriving.

Michael had broken the rules by seeking out and killing innocent humans just
for the pleasure of the kill and matters were far worse because he had done it well aware of what he had been doing he had been in full control of himself never once consumed by his beast which may have been a forgivable offence to some extent.

Raven opened her eyes and turned her face towards Ash " Do you think they
will punish him for his crime? or do you think his mother will get him out of it?" The Alpha female, Michael's mother had been fiercely protective
of her son during the proceedings.

Ash shrugged " I don't know it depends on how far she can push her mate to
be lenient".

Raven turned her head back to the window and stared out at the rolling hills
they were passing a few sheep dotted here and there. The welsh hills had been an interesting assignment she just hoped the monster they had
stopped would be punished properly or she could tell they would soon be
visiting again.

"By the way i have our next assignment if your interested?" Raven sat up and
raised an eye brow at her companion, he had been working fast to get something else this quickly.

"So?" Ash smiled at the tinge of curiosity in her voice " Some curator's at
a museum of the ages want us to located and retrive an artifact for them for there collection".

Raven slumped back in her seat with a sigh, things like this were never to
complicated and were a nice break from it all of course unless the client left something life threatening out and then things became a bit dicey.

" Ok well leave the details with me when we get home i'll get Red to check
the artifact out and let you know".

Four hours later and they were back in London and Raven was happy to be
home. As they pulled up outside her house she sighed deeply and smiled. Ash helped her with her over night bags and she used her key to let them in. The large ginger and white male cat uncurled himself from the seat he had been nestled on and leapt from the table to greet her. Dropping her bags in the hall Raven opened her arms and collected the furry purring creature into her
embrace " Have you missed me my love huh?" she cooed lovingly in his ear.

The cat gave a throaty meow and lay his head on her shoulder eyes half
closed with contentment. " I'm sure you love that thing more than me!". Raven glanced up at the man who was leaning against the door frame of the kitchen
his arms folded against his chest, his short blonde hair tousled. She returned his teasing smile " You know Eric's my familiar and we have a bond".

Gideon unfolded his arms " Yes and I'm your boyfriend you think i would get
greeted with the same enthusiasm!". She lowered the cat to the floor and walked the few paces to him " You know i love you just as much as Eric, even more".

Raven wrapped her arms around his waist her 5ft 1 dwarfed by Gideon's 6ft 3
as he gently stoked her hair as he kissed her.

Ash was still standing in the hallway and coughed politely " I told you i
would return her to you in one piece".
Gideon raised pale blue eyes to meet Ash's hazel ones and Raven felt the
tension between them. Dropping her arms she sighed loudly and rolled her eyes " Well if you two are gonna start all that male posturing, dominance rubbish
im going to have a shower". They both turned to watch her disappear up the
stairs followed by a very smug ginger and white cat as he knew full fell she would have her attention.

Eric settled himself beside the doorway and watched his mistress stripe of
her clothes before getting into the shower. Raven turned on the hot water and stood beneath the downpour. Ash and Gideon always seemed to have a
dominance issue going on which was part of them both being werewolves but
some times she just wished they could get on after all Ash was her business partner and she needed him and yet she needed Gideon to, she loved him.

By the time she was dressed again and came down stairs Ash had gone and
Gideon was in the kitchen putting the kettle on. He turned and smiled at her as she pulled out one of the kitchen chairs Eric beside her ever step of the way.
" Why you to just can't get on i don't know".

Gideon pursed his lips and frowned "I don't know why i do it, the protective
male in me i guess".
Raven watched him as he set out two mugs and popped in the tea bags. Gideon
was what you would called ruggedly handsome in a tall, blonde, blue eyes viking kind of way, she admired his tattooed arms silently with a pang of desire.

"Ash is my friend you knows he's no threat to you i just want you to be
friends that's all" She sighed as she excepted the mug of tea he offered her. " I know darlin and i do like him its just my wolf side which is having
a hard time".

Ash had been her friend for over 7 years and he was happily engaged to Fiona
a another friend of Raven's. Fiona was a very successful and talented psychic and she knew for a fact that Ash loved his fiancée's to bits.

Raven sipped at her tea and flipped open the folder Ash had left for her
containing the details of there next assignment. It didn't look like anything to difficult it was just a matter of locating some artifacts an ancient
pagan drum and Knife.

Gideon had began pulling out pots and pans from the cupboards and Raven
decided to stop him before he began cooking.
Getting up she walked up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist "
I need to see Red about something but i won't be long".

Gideon stilled at what he was doing and then turned in her embrace to hug
her back " I was going to make you lunch,
im sure you haven't eaten since breakfast and that was hours ago".

She wrinkled her nose up at him and smiled " Let me get this out of the way
and then you can cook for me ok".
He signed deeply " Fair enough but I'm coming with you".

Raven smiled as she let him go and he gently kissed her forehead before
returning to his mug of tea.