was nice to have a friend who was like me. You have to understand I left everything I knew, my culture, my family, everything, just on the off-chance that Beaston would be the man I hoped he’d grown into. I was in a crew of predator shifters, and ravens are naturally timid. It was hard, feeling stretched between both worlds, and I didn’t want you so immersed in Damon’s Mountains that you didn’t know where I’d come from. Where you …came from. You were going to grow up a raven, a flight shifter, in a crew of bears and dragons, and I didn’t want you feeling alone. When Avery’s mom got pregnant after I did, it felt so good to go through that with a friend who understood my raven side. And hearing stories of Avery as she grew up, I thought more and more that maybe she could be a comfort to you someday if you ever grew unhappy with being different in the Gray Backs.”
“But I wasn’t different. No one ever treated me differently.” Sure, his friends teased him about being a flight shifter, but that’s what friends did. They gave each other shit.
“But you were. You were quiet like your dad, and you came to me one day, wondering about ravens. And Avery’s mom had mentioned letting you two be pen pals for years before you questioned your heritage. So it felt like the right time. For you, and also for Avery.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something was wrong with her raven. Not…wrong to a Gray Back, but wrong for Raven’s Hollow. She is dominant, Weston.”
Dominant? She didn’t feel dominant, but maybe she was for a raven. Maybe that’s why she could talk well on the phone and converse so easily with customers. Maybe that was why she was able to tell Shelly to get off him tonight. “Why would dominance be a bad thing?”
“Dominant ravens aren’t supposed to exist, especially in a female. They like the flock as steady as possible, but Avery shook up everything. She was a late Changer, and soon after her raven emerged for the first time, her parents were stripped of their rank. In an effort to make Avery’s animal more submissive, the council required the community to…”
“To what?”
“Weston, I don’t know all the details, and that’s something Avery will have to explain to you. It doesn’t feel right talking about her like this.”
“But when I was a kid, you told me she was untrustworthy. That she had betrayed me. You told me she was willing bait to take me away from the Gray Backs. From you and Da. She doesn’t sound like bait, though, Ma. She sounds like a victim.”
“Wes, her mother went to the council about our friendship, told them everything about me. Every discussion, every admission, ever insecurity I had leaving our people. And when I got pregnant, they implored Hannah to get pregnant, too. They hoped for a girl.”
“What?” Weston’s thoughts were churning. He hadn’t known this part. “What are you saying?”
“Avery was conceived in the hopes that she would be a female who could seduce you back to Raven’s Hollow. And I know them. They would’ve sequestered you away from Damon’s Mountains, brainwashed you, turned you into one of them. I want you to live the life you choose. Not one someone chooses for you.”
Wes scrubbed his hand down his face and stared blankly ahead at the road winding under his tires. Why him? Why go to such effort to draw him back to a culture he didn’t connect with? “When I was a kid, you told me her mom had betrayed us to the council for all those years. You told me the council had been reading my letters to Avery, picking them apart, using them to manipulate our friendship. But if the council hates dominant ravens, why the fuck would they even want me there? What’s the point of all the manipulation?”
“I don’t know,” his mother said helplessly. “Hannah let it slip one day while they were planning their trip to Saratoga to let you two meet for the first time. She mentioned the council was allowing her to come
“But I wasn’t different. No one ever treated me differently.” Sure, his friends teased him about being a flight shifter, but that’s what friends did. They gave each other shit.
“But you were. You were quiet like your dad, and you came to me one day, wondering about ravens. And Avery’s mom had mentioned letting you two be pen pals for years before you questioned your heritage. So it felt like the right time. For you, and also for Avery.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something was wrong with her raven. Not…wrong to a Gray Back, but wrong for Raven’s Hollow. She is dominant, Weston.”
Dominant? She didn’t feel dominant, but maybe she was for a raven. Maybe that’s why she could talk well on the phone and converse so easily with customers. Maybe that was why she was able to tell Shelly to get off him tonight. “Why would dominance be a bad thing?”
“Dominant ravens aren’t supposed to exist, especially in a female. They like the flock as steady as possible, but Avery shook up everything. She was a late Changer, and soon after her raven emerged for the first time, her parents were stripped of their rank. In an effort to make Avery’s animal more submissive, the council required the community to…”
“To what?”
“Weston, I don’t know all the details, and that’s something Avery will have to explain to you. It doesn’t feel right talking about her like this.”
“But when I was a kid, you told me she was untrustworthy. That she had betrayed me. You told me she was willing bait to take me away from the Gray Backs. From you and Da. She doesn’t sound like bait, though, Ma. She sounds like a victim.”
“Wes, her mother went to the council about our friendship, told them everything about me. Every discussion, every admission, ever insecurity I had leaving our people. And when I got pregnant, they implored Hannah to get pregnant, too. They hoped for a girl.”
“What?” Weston’s thoughts were churning. He hadn’t known this part. “What are you saying?”
“Avery was conceived in the hopes that she would be a female who could seduce you back to Raven’s Hollow. And I know them. They would’ve sequestered you away from Damon’s Mountains, brainwashed you, turned you into one of them. I want you to live the life you choose. Not one someone chooses for you.”
Wes scrubbed his hand down his face and stared blankly ahead at the road winding under his tires. Why him? Why go to such effort to draw him back to a culture he didn’t connect with? “When I was a kid, you told me her mom had betrayed us to the council for all those years. You told me the council had been reading my letters to Avery, picking them apart, using them to manipulate our friendship. But if the council hates dominant ravens, why the fuck would they even want me there? What’s the point of all the manipulation?”
“I don’t know,” his mother said helplessly. “Hannah let it slip one day while they were planning their trip to Saratoga to let you two meet for the first time. She mentioned the council was allowing her to come
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