Masked man

Drake pressed down on the accelerator of his porsche, driving at breakneck speed towards the Wallace estate.

His fist gripped the wheel tightly, knuckles white with the pressure he was exerting on it. His jaws remained clenched with restrained anger, and his eyes were burning red pools. He didn't want to think about it, but seeing Raven almost hurt made him remember Lana, his dead mate. Apart from Lana, no other woman had ever been close to his heart.

Now that Raven was slowly sparking up something within him, he couldn't bear to let anything happen to her. It would be like reliving all that happened with Lana.

He touched a button on the dashboard and a call connected instantly. Perry's name flashed on the dashboard and it rang repeatedly, but there was no response. It rang numerous times and yet, there was no answer.

Strange, Drake thought. Perry would always pick on the first ring. The beta was always alert and ready for any news from the Alpha. What on earth would take him away at an important moment like this?

He suddenly braked to a stop when he caught sight of something in the middle of the road. He turned off the ignition and stepped down, looking down the quiet dark silent road. Walking towards the middle of the road, he saw that it was an upturned limo. Broken glass littered the ground and the tires had been punctured. A crumpled number plate lay on top the pieces of glass and Drake crouched down, his eyes scanning over the name on it.

Wallace Estate.

This was Caroline's limo. What must have happened to it?, Drake thought. There were no bodies inside the car and it was all so confusing for him.

Suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of something on the ground. A splash of something red. He crouched again and examined the stain. Blood. The smell was unmistakable. It seemed a body had been dragged cruelly over the shattered glass. His eyes slowly followed the trail of blood and he shot to his feet instantly, seeing two bodies that lay motionless a few distance away.

Drake hurried towards the bodies, but he knew there was no use. Whatever attacked the limo must have attacked the TV star and her driver.

Caroline's body lay in a twisted angle, face unrecognisable and bloody. Drake turned his face aside, not because he couldn't stand the state of such gruesome sight. But because he would never be able to unleash his anger on the woman for trying to kill Raven. She was already dead.

He was about to walk away when a thought stopped him. If Caroline really planned to kill Raven, why then was she dead? Who must have killed her? And why on this same day? Something wasn't adding up.

The rider who tried to kill Raven must have used the Wallace Estate code as cover, so he wouldn't be discovered. And though he didn't know what Caroline's death had to do with it, it meant the killer was still out there.

Roaming free.

Raven!

With a vicious curse, Drake turned swiftly on his heel and sprinted back to his car. He would have preferred to shift into his wolf form, but he couldn't leave the Porsche out there through the night. He didn't want to be connected in any way to Caroline's death.

He got into the car and turned it on, shifted gears and sped off in a sharp U-turn, heading towards Raven's house. He hoped he wouldn't be too late.

...

A dark hooded figure quietly creeped into Raven's apartment, leaving the door opened behind him. He had a black mask on, covering half of his face while his hands were enclosed in black gloves. As silent as a mouse, he walked through the living room, stepping lightly over the coffee table.

As he moved silently through the house, he withdrew a gun from his coat pocket and thumbed off the safety. Aiming the gun, he stopped at the entrance of Raven's room and watched her sleep for a while.

He would have loved to screw her before killing her but there was no time. She needed to die before she would change his entire plan. He already knew Drake was slowly falling for her, and he couldn't allow that.

Pointing the gun at the sleeping Raven, he took a step forward and the floor board creaked loudly.

The man froze, just as Raven stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

A terrified scream tore out of her throat as she noticed the masked gunman pointing a gun at her. A loud shot blasted out and Raven felt the hit on her right shoulder. It burned like hell.

Raven didn't have the chance to feel the excruciating pain because the need to survive suddenly kicked in. Before the masked man could squeeze out another shot, she bolted out of the bed, grunting as pain shot up her right hand. She grabbed the digital alarm clock and hurled it at the man, diving sideways as another shot rang out and the bullet slammed into the wall.

"Bitch!",the man cursed as the alarm clock hit him squarely on the face.

Raven felt pure dread as she struggled to escape, while at the back of her mind, she struggled to figure out why the gunman's voice sounded familiar.

She froze suddenly when she felt the cold metal of a gun at the back of her head. Her entire body went still with terror, waiting to feel the death blow.

"You should never have been reborn...",the stranger growled out.

Raven frowned? Reborn? What the hell was this crazy man talking about? And where had she heard his voice before?

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he never discovers who you are",the stranger said again and prepared to push back the trigger.

Raven shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain.

It never came.

Instead someone crashed into the living room, breaking through the glass and landing with a thud. She heard strange snarls and growls as her saviour collided with her the strange man, shoving him away from her. The gun flew from his hand and clattered towards the corner of the room.

Raven crawled into a corner of the room, holding her hands tight over her ears. The eerie sounds of growls terrified her so much that she didn't even have the courage to look up at the man that came to her rescue. The two men crashed around the room, slamming into the walls and destroying everything on their path.

Raven's eyes fell on the gun and she looked up at the two men that were locked in combat. She couldn't just sit there doing nothing. She needed to help. Quickly she crawled over to the gun and picked it up with trembling hands. Aiming it shakily, she squeezed the trigger and a shot blasted out.

There was a loud grunt and the strange gunman pushed the other away from him, turned swiftly and leaped out of the window, escaping into the night.

Raven felt the gun drop from her hands and her eyes turned to the man who saved her.

"Raven? You're hurt", Drake's voice quavered as he gently pulled her into his arms.

"Drake?",Raven murmured faintly, feeling dizzy from the loss of blood. Her right shoulder was soaked with her blood and the pain was unbearable, dragging her under. Drake saved her. Again.

"I'm taking you with me. To a safe place"

Drake's voice sounded far away and there was a persistent ringing in her ears. Her vision turned blurry and as her eyes closed, she felt Drake scoop her into his arms, cradling her close to him.

And then her body turned limp as the darkness pulled her under completely.