Trouble at Brayshaw High

by Meagan Brandy

“You don’t belong.”

everyone on hand is replaceable, Raven is not. He should have fucking thought of that.

She was different, and I knew it instantly. It was in the way she didn’t peek up at us but stared full-on, her chin held as high as ours if not higher. She gave lip when we demanded silence. When we pushed, she pushed harder, stepped in closer and lit our asses on fire in a way nobody ever had. She tested us more than we have her and without even trying, maybe even completely unaware.

Family runs deeper than blood, yet it’s the ones we chose we’ll so willingly bleed for.

She wants to fuck with my head? It’s worked. She wants to prove a point? She’s done it. She thinks I’ll back down? She’s fucking wrong. My jaw clenches, a heated poison burning in my veins at the thought of her with him. Don’t lose her to them, he said. I’ll lose her to no one. Raven Carver is mine whether she wants to be now or not. Period.

Go on, play your games, baby. I’ve got more moves than you can handle.

A better person would feel bad, pull away and let her digging in the trash be enough to get the point across. He’s mine.

I drop my eyes from his, unable to look him in the eyes this time, and step past, but of course, his hand shoots up and he stops me at his side, shoulder to shoulder, my front facing one way, his the other. We both shift to look at each other. His grasp shakes against me as his nostrils flare. I see in his eyes what I feel. This is torture.

“They fear her now, just as you wanted. She has their respect, forced from the three of you from the beginning, but earned on her own. You thought the guys wouldn’t touch her?” She laughs. “Welcome to the other side of the spectrum, Brayshaws. Your very own queen might just dethrone you.”

“It’s whatever you want it to be, Graven, but none of that matters, because at the end of the day, you’re still you and they’re still them. Stronger by count and courage.” I turn and walk away. Fuck life.

What’s your game, baby? With him, but hurting for us. Giving us nothing but fighting for us. For us.

“Fuck!” Royce folds his hands behind his head, looking to the sky. “She did it again. She fucking protected us.”

His lip curls. “And what were you planning to do to protect us, to protect me?” I tell him the honest truth. “Anything.”

“You protected me,” he whispers, biting at the flesh there before kissing it gently. I nod against the pillow, my back arching slightly, hips rolling to meet his. He grinds against me. “I didn’t need you to, but you did it anyway.”

“What do we do?” I whisper as the taillights disappear. “We wait.” “For?” “Dad.”

Maddoc is fucking fierce, Raven. He loves us. Would die for us, but we’re his brothers. He’s never loved before. This? This is what that looks like.”

If he tries to push her out, I’ll push back for the first time in my life.

“Why do you think they moved you in with them? Security. To make sure, when good ole daddy went before the judge he had a happy story to tell of how the very daughter of the woman who had accused him of rape has forgiven and forgotten, and she’s even fallen for his own sons. A tale of how it brought you together, forcing one big twisted family.”

Truth is, I’m not above something like this. I’d play someone even harder – anyone, anywhere, in a fucking heartbeat – if it meant saving my family, which now includes you. By choice.”

“Raven ...” He trails off, his voice barely above a whisper. “Are you telling me, you did what you did, made a fucking deal with Collins, for my daughter? For my baby girl who you’ve never even met and owe nothing to?”

“We didn’t have to accept each other once we understood we came from different parents, but we are a family in every sense of the word. We chose each other.”

Being a Brayshaw has rules, and if an item is given to you by a Bray, it was created for you, and not to be given away. Those words are sacred. If he gave you something with them written on it, it’s because he knew, eventually, you’d be exactly where you are right now. With us.”

Family runs deeper than blood, and I think I might have found mine. We all stand, and Royce and Captain both move in for a hug before disappearing inside to crash.

“If he wanted that for me, some random kid in a beat-up trailer, imagine what he would do to protect his own grandbaby, packman?” I whisper. “I’d bet he’d die for her.”

“You recognize what we need and when, like you’ve known us all your life. You’re connected to us, and that’s not something we’ll ever be willing to let go of, Raven. Never. None of us. No matter fucking what.”

“Don’t let that woman’s words play tricks in your mind, child, you’re smarter than that. I told you once before, you belonged. I asked you to start believing it and you have. Keep pushing back at the nagging inside telling you it’s not right. It is.

“Have you dealt with snakes before, Cap?” I challenge, and a rare smirk that has me pulling back a little finds his lips. “We are the snakes, Raven.”

“You wanna fight?” He holds his arms out. “You watch me fight.” “Fucking deal.” A laugh bubbles out of me, and his glare intensifies. “What, you thought I’d say no? Pass on the chance of seeing you go alpha out here? Hell, no!” I grin. “Go for it, Big Man. Whoop some fucking ass.”

I squint to try and see better, but I can’t make him out. My eyes lift to Maddoc’s and right as they do, his meet mine. His move prompts his opponent to turn as well and my jaw clenches shut. Leo. That little bitch.

“I bet you hate I have that power over you, just as much as you don’t.” “You bet right.” I laugh lightly. “Do you hate it?” “I love it.” My grin is slow. He nods, running his fingers through my hair. “Well, I’m pretty fuckin’ sure I love you, so I’m glad you’re on board.”

“Shut your mouth, dumbass, or I’ll let him flip the fuck out. You’re big, too, I get it, but nothing would stop him when it comes to her, so quit trying to be a smart ass and know your fucking place, and here you don’t have one. She’s his and she loves it. Period.”

I peek again, right as Collins moves to grip him by the suit jacket, shoving him against the lockers. “Watch your fucking mouth, Uncle.” My eyes shoot wide. Uncle?! Holy shit!

I’d never felt so helpless in my life. My fists couldn’t fix it, my money couldn’t help her. My name meant jack shit. In that moment, I was nothing but a scared fucking boy who thought his girl was dying right before his eyes. She didn’t.

“When he went after the ‘trashes’ mom, aka Ravina.” “What the hell does all this mean?” Cap shakes his head. “Did he say when?” She nods. “Eighteen years ago.” “What … not long before you were born.” She eyes me a minute before hers grow tight. “Oh my god...” “What?” Cap barks. “Your mom.” Royce slowly stands, eyes on her. “She’s from here.”

“I told you,” he whispers, squeezing my palm. “You’re good for us.” The truth to his words stares back through those light eyes of his. “It’s real inconvenient, you know,” I tell him. “What is?” “Caring,” I whisper. “I’m not really a fan.”

“So, you’ll share your world, but not your mind?” “My mind is dark, baby.” “And?” His mouth comes down, sliding across mine before he steps back, releasing me. “And you’re afraid of the dark.”

Does that make me sick, not caring if my own mom dies but livid at the thought of someone messing with you guys?” “No.” Maddoc’s voice flows over my shoulder. I look, following him as he and Royce step into the room to join us. He drops on the ottoman in front of me. “It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you Brayshaw,” he whispers, and my chest grows tight.

“He’s mine now, so I don’t give a shit about what he used to do.” I look back to Bass. “Just him?” he asks bluntly. “Just him, though, the other two are real close to catching up,” I joke and he knocks my knee with his, making me laugh. “Nah, Maddoc is...” “You,” he says. “Maybe a little crazier.”

“I’m telling you there is no one like you, Raven Carver, and we all know it. We see it and feel it and that’s some powerful shit, girl.”

“Because I need to know a girl who lived like me, fucked up mentally and cut off emotionally – to most, anyway – can fight her way from the bottom and come out with sharper claws, not broken ones.”

“Would you let your daughter near me, if she was different than us?” I wince, but thankfully it’s dark and he misses it. I swallow subtly. “Different how?” “If she was good.” I glower, shifting toward him. “I’d wish she could find someone like you.” “Why?” he whispers. “Because, you’d love her. Hard, raw, probably a little too possessively, and definitely beyond anything a normal guy could.”

“To need someone is weak, because what happens when they leave, and you fall flat on your face? I don’t want to be weak, Big Man, not even for someone strong enough to carry us both.”

“That’s right.” He studies me. “Your mother is none other than Ravina Brayshaw, one and only child of Raymond Brayshaw. You, dear girl, are Brayshaw born, Brayshaw blood.”

“Have I underestimated your hold on my boys?” he asks, and I’d swear there’s a tinge of anxiousness in his words. Before I can stop it, my smirk grows and his eyes narrow. “No, Rolland. You underestimated them. They’re not the boys you left behind anymore. They’re the boys with the ability to bring a grown man down with a snap of a finger.”

“Ravina Brayshaw,” he booms, not one to be over spoken. “Was promised to Felix Graven.” My head snaps back. “The deal was set, the plans made, and then she ruined it. She left.” “What the fuck does this have to do with anything?” I growl. “What the hell are you saying to me right now?” “A Brayshaw and a Graven,” Cap whispers, his eyes hitting mine.

As if ... we won’t stand against him, our father, head of the Brayshaw name. He just fucked up, and he doesn’t even know it. He has no idea what she means to us, no fucking clue what we’ll do to protect what’s ours. And Raven. Is. Ours.

With my head dipped low, my eyes slice up to lock with his, and slowly my chin rises until we’re eye to eye, chin to fucking chin. I raise mine higher. “No.”