Chapter 5

As she entered the ballroom Ravenna’s eyes filled with disbelief and wonder. 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 different types of cheeses, fruit, vegetables, and rolled meats. The hors d’oeuvres were located in the corner next to a massive champagne fountain. Next to the fountain was a table with a large white cake. The cake was accented with blue flowers and sat 10 tiers high. It was distributed by two castle butlers who proudly handed out slices with a smile. 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, even though she pretty much knew the answer.

“Nope, you?”

“Nope, but we figured that in advance so no need to let it ruin our evening,” Ravenna answered as she smiled knowingly at her sister.

Serena nodded in agreement, but her disappointment showed. Ravenna knew Serena has always wanted to find her mate, but luck had not been on her side. Both Serena and Ravenna are in their early twenties and still haven’t found their mates. Serena sighed and scanned the room, she noticed a man walking up to them. He approached and bowed out of courtesy, and stood in front of Serena as he stretched out his arm.

“May I have this dance?” Ethan, the son of Alpha Conner asked her.

Serena smiled sweetly and held out her hand as he whisked her out to the dance floor. Ravenna then took the opportunity to hit up the champagne fountain and walk around to look for an exit that she could use to sneak out undetected to get to her match at the Midnight Rose 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 she sipped on her champagne and looked at the people in attendance, she continued to people watch until she eventually noticed Patrick. He sat at a table in the corner with a miserable expression on his face, he was downing glasses of champagne one right after another, and the sadness in his eyes couldn’t be missed. He adjusted uncomfortably in his chair, so she decided to approach him as a friend. Once she finally reached his table, she pulled out a chair and sat down next to him.

“Trust me I’m bored out of my skull too.” She said to him as she glanced 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 the space he needed and allowed him time to work through his grief. Kevin’s loss was devastating, he was their Third Musketeer, and his death hurt them both immensely, Patrick even more so, since he was family.

“This sucks,” Patrick replied. The anger was evident in his voice as he looked at her. “That Leech killed my brother; we watched him do it, we watched him casually strut away as if nothing happened. Instead of taking the time to figure out who he is, we are here more worried about having a stupid party showing off your brother’s mate with no attempt to find him.” Patrick rolled his eyes and quickly drank another glass of champagne as he sent a nod towards a waiter to bring him more.

Ravenna rolled her eyes and looked around the ballroom at the crowd. “You are so overly dramatic, are 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 just an excuse that will be used until we forget about it altogether. In all actuality; you aren’t the most neutral opinion in this scenario considering you’ve been sneaking around seeing that Vampire Prince. Ignoring this issue could simply be your way of keeping your relationship secret longer.”

Ravenna gasped in shock, narrowed her eyes, and 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!” Patrick rolled his eyes, as 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. Kevin’s death had devastated her, and the fact Patrick accused her of covering it up crushed her even more. She took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and looked at her watch.

Time to go, thank Goddess.

She quickly kicked off her shoes and hid them in a nearby bush; jogged to her bike, and started it up. As she revved her engine louder, she could still hear Patrick as he called her name. She knew it was not a good time to attempt to deal with him; she was too hurt over what he had said. So she ignored his calls, raised the kickstand, and headed for Alaria and the Midnight Rose.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Serena finished her Waltz with Ethan, bowed out of courtesy, and left the dance floor. As she walked around the ballroom, she decided to look for Ravenna. She grabbed a glass of champagne from a wandering waiter and 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.”

He gave her a slight smirk and looked back down at the cake.

“Are you ok?”

Patrick took a deep breath and threw down the fork in disgust, he then 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?” Serena asked as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

He cleared his throat and looked away. “It doesn’t matter, it’s done, and she’s upset and gone.”

Although he didn’t like lying to Serena, he had 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 stood, grabbed his hand, and helped 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 have been 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 as she held her arm out towards him.

He entwined his arm through hers, and they walked back to the castle in silence. Suddenly, they heard the screams of those in attendance at the ball and began to run 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 one of their border guards lying on the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ravenna pulled up to the tavern and looked around at the crowd. She smiled when she noticed there were many more spectators in the parking lot than usual. Her eyes wandered towards the door and noticed the line out the door of people waiting to gain entrance to the arena.

This ought to bring a good payout.

She thought as she smiled to herself and dismounted her bike. She grabbed her duffel bag and quickly entered the building. Once she was in the tavern a few men made passes at her, she ignored the catcalls and drunken pickup lines and went to the ladies’ room. She quickly changed and headed downstairs to locate her manager, Titus.

“There’s my star,” he flamboyantly yelled in her direction.

“What’s the deal?” She asked as she walked up to him and took a seat next to him.

“Dunno, a big announcement is supposed to happen tonight. I was requested to bring all my fighters.”

Ravenna 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 as they tried 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.

Ravenna ordered a glass of water and began to watch the current fight that was between two humans. This fight was brutal for both contenders as they both fought with brute strength only. One contender named Brick had a broken nose and one eye swollen shut, while the other contender, Javier, had 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 excitedly. “I’ve got a ton of aggression to let out!”

Titus smiled, he knew when she has aggression to let out, 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. Raven clapped for the winner, as she looked at the human in awe. She knew 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 as she fought 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; he knew his meal ticket just got expelled from fighting. “I’ll try to bribe a few people; many don’t know you are a wolf, maybe it will work. Give me some time and I’ll call you with updates.”

She nodded her head, stood up, gave Titus a two-finger wave, grabbed her bag, and headed up the stairs. As Ravenna headed towards the door she didn’t miss the drunken screams about the Werewolf that killed the queen, she sighed loudly because things now finally made sense. She took one last look at the tavern and watched dozens of shifters leave upset over this announcement. She walked back to her bike sad and in disbelief, mounted her bike, and looked at her phone. She had 33 missed calls and 25 texts from Patrick and her sister. The texts she had received all had the same theme:

Get home now!

Emergency!!! Get home quickly!

Are you ok?

She figured it was important, and she also knew there was nothing she could do here. She quickly got on her bike and headed home.