Walking into the ballroom Ravenna couldn't believe her eyes. The wood floor had been waxed and cleaned to the point you could see your reflection. The white tulle that flowed across the ceiling had been accented with blue lights and lined with matching white balloons filled with blue glitter. There was a table with hors d'oeuvre in the corner next to a massive champagne fountain. Next to that table with a large white cake accented with blue flowers was sitting 10 tiers high, as two castle butlers proudly hand out slices. Everyone in attendance was dressed to the nines, in suits and gowns. Once the Royal family was announced, they took their seats at the head of the room.
"Smell anything yet?" Ravenna asked her sister, pretty much knowing the answer.
"Nope, you?"
"Nope, but we figured that in advance so no need to let it ruin our evening," Ravenna said smiling at her sister.
Serena nodded but her disappointment showed. Ravenna knew Serena has always wanted to find her mate, but luck has not been on her side. Both Serena and Ravenna are in their early-twenties and still hasn't found their mates. Scanning the room, Serena noticed a man walking up to them; bowing out of courtesy, he stood in front of Serena stretching out his arm.
"May I have this dance??" Ethan, the son of Alpha Conner asked her.
Smiling sweetly, Serena held out her hand and was whisked out to the dance floor. Ravenna then took the opportunity to hit up the champagne fountain and walk around to find an exit to sneak out undetected to get to her match at the Midnight Rose was later on that evening. She had already packed her bag and hidden her clothes on her motorcycle to save time. As she walked around the ballroom sipping her champagne, she noticed Patrick uncomfortably sitting in the corner downing drinks one right after the other. Figuring he needs a friend, she walked over to him and sat down next to him.
Trust me I'm bored out of my skull too." She said looking around the room. "How are you holding up?"
Patrick had been extremely withdrawn since the incident with the Vampire and the loss of his twin. Patrick and Kevin were so close and she knew he needed his space. Ravenna had given him just that and allowed him time to work through his grief. Losing Kevin was devastating, he was their Third Musketeer, his loss hurt them both immensely, Patrick even more so since he was family.
"This sucks," he replied, the anger evident in his voice as he looked at her. "That Leech killed my brother; we watched him do it, we watched him casually walk away and we are sitting here having a stupid party showing off your brother's mate with no attempt to find him." Rolling his eyes, he quickly drank another glass of champagne as he flagged down a waiter to bring him more.
Rolling her eyes, she looked at the crowd. "You are so overly dramatic, you sure you aren't an Alpha? I get that you want revenge, but not every Vampire killed him. This one could be a Rogue; he could be working alone; we have no clue of the circumstances here. What would jumping to conclusions accomplish?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, it just seems like we are sweeping his death under the rug and that's the excuse until we forget altogether. In all actuality: you aren't the most neutral opinion in this considering you've been sneaking around seeing that Vampire Prince. Ignoring this could simply be your way of keeping your relationship secret longer."
Narrowing her eyes, she turned to look at him," how do you know about that?!"
"I'm your bodyguard I know everything you do! I know about him and your secret fighting personality at the Midnight Arena RAVEN!" Rolling his eyes, he downed another drink and stared daggers at her.
"Who else knows?"
"Only me, I have not told your father, but I will if it gets us justice for Kevin. So, stop spewing your shit about investigations and innocence to me and tell someone who cares!"
Ravenna stood up and quickly walked out of the ballroom, she managed to make it outside and out of sight before the tears fell. Patrick and Kevin have been her best friends since they were little; the three of them had been inseparable. His death had devastated her, and Patrick accusing her of covering it up crushed her even more. Taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes, she looked at her watch.
Time to go, thank Goddess.
Quickly kicking off her shoes and hiding them in a nearby bush, she jogged to her bike and started it up. Through the revving of the engine, she could hear Patrick calling her name. Not wanting to face him at this time, she ignored him, raised the kickstand, and headed for the Midnight Rose.
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Serena finished her Waltz with Ethan, bowed out of courtesy, and quickly left the dance floor. Deciding to look for a Ravenna she grabbed a glass of champagne from a wandering waiter. As she sipped her drink, she scanned the room seeing no sign of Ravenna; however, she did see a noticeably upset Patrick sitting alone stabbing at a piece of cake.
"I'm sure the cake didn't mean whatever it said, can you please stop torturing it now."
Giving her a slight smirk, he looked back down to the cake.
"Are you ok?"
Taking a deep breath and throwing down the fork he looked up at her with worry in his eyes. "No. I said some mean things to Ravenna and she left. I'm guessing she's going to cool off. But I was such an asshole with what I said."
"What exactly did you say?" She asked sitting next to him and placing her hand on his shoulder.
Clearing his throat, he looked away. "It doesn't matter, it's done, and she's upset and gone."
Although he doesn't like lying to Serena, he made a promise to himself to not give away Ravenna's secret. "I'll ask your dad to reassign me tomorrow since she probably won't speak to me again."
"Let's go for a walk;" she stands, grabs his hand, and helps him to his feet. Once they got outside and were walking through the gardens away from the guests, she stopped, took a deep breath, and looked at him. "Look, Ravenna is stubborn and emotional; she will react first then think about it. You and Kevin were her best friends for so long; I doubt she would let one conversation end it all. Eventually, she will do the right thing. Give her time, before you do anything rash. She's probably beating up some poor soul at the Rose to clear her head."
Patrick's eyes widened in surprise," you know about that?"
"I do, but no one else does so let's just keep it under wraps, shall we?" She raised her eyebrow and put her finger over her mouth looking at him intently.
He nodded at her and gave her a charming smile.
"Shall we go back?" She asked holding her arm out. Entwining his arm through hers they walked back towards the castle in silence. Suddenly, they heard the screams of those attending the ball and started running in that direction. Serena found herself being yanked backward as Patrick stopped still gripping her arm. Once she regained her footing, Serena looked at him and followed his line of sight to the head of their border guard lying on the ground.
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Pulling up to the tavern, she noticed the crowd was huge; there was a line out the door of people trying to get in the arena.
This ought to bring a good payout. She thought as she smiled to herself and dismounted her bike. Grabbing her duffel bag, she quickly entered the building, ignored the catcalls and drunken pickup lines, and went to the ladies' room. She quickly changed and headed downstairs for Titus.
"There's my star," he flamboyantly yelled in her direction!
"What's the deal?" She asked walking up to him.
"Dunno, a big announcement is supposed to happen tonight. I was requested to bring all my fighters."
Taking a seat she scanned the room, there wasn't an empty seat in the house. The crowd was loud and the bookies were running around left and right trying to get their client's bets in on time. The bartenders and the waitresses were frantically trying to get drinks served and people to quiet down, as the patrons were letting off steam from their hard day.
Ordering a glass of water; Ravenna took a seat at the bar and began watching the current fight that was between two humans. This fight was brutal for both contenders as they both are fighting with brute strength only. One contender named Brick has a broken nose and one eye swollen shut, while the other contender, Javier, has blood streaming from the numerous gashes on his face.
"This fight is boring; can we get to the announcement already?" She thought to herself as she swirled the straw around in her water.
"Will I be able to fight tonight," she asked Titus. "I've got a ton of aggression to let out!"
Titus smiled, knowing when this is the case, he always makes good money. "I'm not sure yet, let's wait for the announcement."
Finally, after one extremely brutal full body slam Brick won the match by knockout. Clapping for the winner, Raven looked at the human in awe knowing that move required a ton of strength and patience. As the doctors pulled the knocked-out Javier to the ring's apron, the announcer walked into the ring and took a deep breath.
"It's about time!" Raven said to Titus.
"Ladies and Gentleman! Welcome to the Midnight Rose Arena this evening, I have an unfortunate announcement to make. As many of you know our beloved queen was murdered as she slept two nights ago. So, as a result, per the royal decree, the Midnight Arena and Midnight Rose will no longer be open to any species but humans. Please collect any winnings we may owe you and go home!"
Raven's jaw dropped, she spun around and looked at Titus in disbelief. "I need this! Fighting is my life," she screamed fighting back the tears that wanted to fall. She took a deep breath knowing this day keeps getting worse as it goes on.
Titus looked sadly at her, knowing his meal ticket just got expelled from fighting. "I'll try to make a few bribes; many don't know you are a wolf, maybe it will work. Give me some time and I'll call you with updates."
Nodding her head, she stood up, gave Titus a two-finger wave, grabbed her bag, and headed up the stairs. Walking towards the door she didn't miss the drunken screams about the Werewolf that killed the queen. Sighing, things finally made sense, taking one last look at the tavern; she watched dozens of shifters leave upset over this announcement. Deciding to head home she mounted her bike and looked at her phone she has 33 missed calls and 25 texts from Patrick and her sister. Looking at the texts from her sister they all had the same theme:
Get home now!
Emergency!!! Get home quickly!
Are you ok?
Figuring it was important; she quickly got on her bike and headed home.