Take My Hand [Brac Pack 28] by Lynn Hagen

and stopped in front of the bloody shifter. The bound man’s eye was swollen shut, and blood was trickling out of his nose, bathing his mouth and chin in blood-red color.
The shifter gazed up at Kenway with his one good eye, but refused to answer. Either that or his damn brain was scrambled. Riley had unleashed on the man.
“I asked, how many are with you,” Kenway said with a growl.
The shifter turned his head, his lips tightly sealed. He was slightly tilted to one side, and he winced heavily as he tried to push back up into a sitting position. Raven could feel his claws extending, thinking of what the shifter had done to his mate. He wanted a piece of the action, but feared killing the man.
No matter what his father thought, Raven was not a monster like dear old dad. He wouldn’t kill the shifter. He wasn’t going to prove his father right. Magnum had tried like hell to turn Raven into a killing machine. But as hard as his father pushed, Raven had pushed back. He wasn’t a murderer. He wasn’t going back to Darcy with blood on his hands. Watching the attacker get his just dues was enough for him. The guy wasn’t going to attack anyone else. That was for sure.
“I’m going to take him somewhere more comfortable,” Maverick said as he untied the bloody mess of a man.“It seems this piece of shit needs help in remembering how to count.”
Raven glanced toward the barn door when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Sterling quickly ducked out of sight. He wondered how much of what just took place that Sterling had seen. Raven looked over at Riley, but the bear was too busy staring daggers at the man who had attacked Darcy’s younger brother.
“I want to be in on his punishment,” Riley said as he wiped the sweat from his face with his shoulder.
Malcolm stepped closer to his son, lowering his voice. Raven wasn’t sure why Malcolm was whispering. Everyone there had exceptional hearing.“I will not have one of my sons in on a vindictive revenge. You doled out your punishment, Riley. Let it be.”
Riley opened his mouth as if to argue and then tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling, letting out a long breath.“Fine.”
Raven turned and walked away. It may have been Sterling who was targeted, but Darcy was the one who felt the shifter’s malicious intents. He once again felt the need to rip the man’s throat out and with that urge came images of his father taking him on hunts.
“Go ahead, Raven. He’s nothing more than a savage shifter. They know nothing about kindness or mercy. Kill him and feel what it is like to rid the world of violent, unrestrained creatures.”
Raven shook the memory off, gritting his teeth as he headed toward the house. He was not a monster, and he wasn’t going to kill anyone. Magnum had taken Raven on many hunts. Hunts where vampires chased shifters into the ground, killing them in the name of whatever the fuck they thought was righteous at the time. To Raven, it was only an excuse to feed their darker sides with bloodshed. He hadn’t seen it at the time, but Raven’s eyes were wide open now to what his father truly was.
Magnum, and his buddies, had been the violent, unrestrained creatures, not the shifters they hunted.
Pulling the screen door open, Raven climbed the steps until he was standing outside of Darcy’s bedroom. He stood in the hallway debating on whether to go in and crawl back into bed with his mate or go to his own bedroom.
It had been their first time together, their bonding, and their claiming. Raven should be curled around his mate, inhaling Darcy’s clean, fresh scent and nuzzling into his warm flesh. But he felt the rage and pain warring inside of him. He wanted to avenge his mate, but he feared turning into the very creature Magnum tried to mold Raven into.
Blowing out a deep breath, Raven walked across the hall and entered his own bedroom. Besides, he couldn’t wake up with Darcy. There were no protective curtains up to shield Raven from the