Raven instantly halted, placing her hands on her hips. "I'd like to see you try."

"Do you know what you're problem is?"

Raven raised a brow. "I only have one?"

"You need to trust others. You need to let go." Jackson slicked back his hair. The action pulled tight the wet shirt he wore. The sight of all the muscle made her swallow hard. It took her a second to realize he was still speaking.

"And I'm going to show you how to follow through on your threat. Durant helped you with your animals. I can already see the difference."

"You have no idea how dangerous my power can be without control."

"But I do. It was your power, along with your wolf, that healed me." He stalked along the banks. "You must think like an alpha if you have any hopes of keeping your pack. You must be ruthless. Stop worrying about hurting us. We're grown men. We've made our decisions. We can't lose you now. So we need you to fight for us."

They wanted her to give up all pretenses of control. They couldn't possibly understand the consequences. But they were correct in one respect. She wasn't acting like a shifter. They would slaughter her if she didn't learn. "What do you think you know about my condition?"

"You're standing in water. It's a conduit for electricity. Let loose your power and learn how to control it."

Raven debated the wisdom of his request, but what did she have to lose?

"It's a hot spring. The water in the pool comes from an underground reservoir. There are no animals or plant life."

"So that's why the water is so warm." Everything was so very well thought out that it eased some of her trepidation. He'd obviously put a lot of effort into planning today.

She gave him a stiff nod then closed her eyes.

And hesitated, realizing that she'd never called upon her full power when there wasn't a need. She wasn't sure what to expect, especially after all the abuse last week. The burnout. Part of her feared she might have done her gift permanent harm.

Taking a deep breath, Raven dropped her shield. The energy eagerly escaped its cage and forked through her body. All but an ugly black void in her gut where a spark had burned too bright for too long. Even with her animals accelerated healing, there was no reversing the damage.

Electricity slithered under her skin, her body adapted quickly, welcoming the heat. Despite her turbulent past, she didn't want her gift gone. She only wanted control.

Then she did something she'd never done before and let her power loose on the world. Water swirled around her like she'd been dunked into a fryer. Her skin heated to near blistering, ready to burst under the pressure. Her toes curled into the sand. Gritting her teeth, Raven widened her stance and took the agony. Current sloshed around in her gut, slowly clamping down on her insides.

When her throat began to ache from holding back her screams, the pain finally eased. She opened her eyes to find Jackson standing at complete attention, preparing to rescue her despite the fact that it would almost certainly kill him.

Aaron sat by the basket, a forgotten apple in his hand. He met her gaze and gulped the mouthful of food. "Holy crap."

She gave a brief smile. "Yours just might not be the most dangerous talent out there, kid."

"I hid something in the water for you to find." Jackson seated himself next to Aaron and began removing items from the basket. "You better hurry before the food gets cold."

"Do I get a hint?"

"That would be cheating. You have to earn your present." Jackson didn't even bother to turn.

"Present?" Her belly flip-flopped at the word. Part of her wanted to find what he went through all the trouble to hide. The rest of her wanted to leap out of the water, half expecting the gift would come with strings to tangle around her feet and drown her.

Taking a deep breath, she dove beneath the surface. Every inch of her skin felt sunburned, the current twisting and rubbing against every inch of exposed skin. She'd never been so completely submerged in her gift.

She had to surface for air three times before her body adjusted to the new denseness in the water. On the fifth dive, she hit bottom. There were no weeds. The whole area was covered by tiny granulates of sand and stone that time had eroded.

She circled twice before she ran out of air. "There is nothing down there."

Jackson smirked. "You're using your eyes. Did you think I would just leave it lying around for easy pickings? Use your power. That's the whole point of this exercise."

He took a big bite out of his chicken wing, his white teeth making short work of the meat, and she could easily picture him feasting in his wolf form.

With another breath of air, she dove under. When she called on her power, the whole pond responded. The shock was so unexpected, so sudden, she gasped. Water immediately filled her mouth, spilling down her throat.

She shot to the surface, choking as she sloshed toward shore. On her hands and knees, she waited for the press of panic to fade.

Jackson and Aaron remained seated, watching with unblinking eyes. She scowled at them, hating that they'd witnessed her failure. And it wasn't like they could help. This was something that she had to do herself.

Pushing to her feet with shaky legs, Raven turned, splashing back into the water and dove under. Knowing what to expect didn't lesson the jolt of pain, like being wrapped in frayed wire that gave off a nasty shock, but she braced for it.

Just when she thought she'd run out of air, the pressure on her lungs eased. She used the energy to search for something man-made. Three plastic beer rings, a pair of sunglasses and thirty-seven cents later, she came up for air. She tossed the items on shore.

Since that wasn't working, she decided to search for something recent. Only the whole floor lit up in a blue glow, thousands of individual pieces of sand twinkling like her own private galaxy. The unexpected beauty stunned her. She hadn't realized how many granulates had dropped from the current.

She pushed off the bottom and treaded water. Jackson had fouled up the water when he dove in with her, so she couldn't trace his movements. There wasn't any scent to follow under water.

But what could she see? With another deep breath, she settled on the bottom. She pulled the electricity around her then sank it into the sand. Little whirls where she and Jackson had frolicked spun through the water. She also saw her power build in a light blue color where she herself pushed up the bottom or dug for treasure.

A light pure blue illuminated a large rock. Or more specifically, underneath the rock. Swimming forward, Raven gave the small bolder a shove to get it rolling. Beneath rested a small black bag.

She picked it up, caught off guard by the lack of weight. Wanting to make sure it was what Jackson had secreted away for her, she opened the strings and tipped the bag over.

A cord of silver slinked out, the metal cutting through the water in a way that caught the fractured light and sent it sparkling. She pulled out the chain until it pooled into her palm.

A large tear-shaped stone slipped through the water, floating down into her waiting hand. The bright blue stone was encased in a swirling silver lace of vines and leaves. Once the stone landed in her palm, it warmed to her touch. It had to be the size of a quarter, and no doubt very real.

If she accepted the gift, the lace would rest right below her collarbone. When her lungs finally protested the lack of oxygen, she shoved toward the surface.

Lights danced along the edges of the pool. But a foot away from air, the water darkened, offering resistance. It was actually a physical effort to break topside.

She opened her mouth to call out to Jackson when she spotted that they had company. Three men faced off against Jackson while a fourth hovered near the tree line to observe. She immediately recognized him from Vivian's entourage.

She swam closer to shore, walking when her feet finally brushed the pebbled bottom.

That's when the shifters noticed her.

Raven halted when the water lapped her thigh, afraid to venture further with all her power sunk into the pool and her animals tamed. "Problems, everyone?"

The shifter nearest Aaron took a step back at her arrival. "No one told us she'd be here. I didn't sign up for this."

Trailing her fingers in the water like a stirring stick, Raven pulled at the power. Energy seared up her arm, the coolness of the liquid dropping away. Blue sparks similar to a flint being struck snapped around her hand and up her elbow.

Two shifters launched themselves at Jackson. Aaron didn't wait and threw himself into the fray. She imagined a ball, wrapping the blue cords tight.

"Down!"

Jackson and Aaron immediately dropped as she drew back her hand, so did the one shifter that had protested. When she let loose the ball, it crackled like static. The power shot out, the cords unraveling like a weed whip. The raw energy plowed into the two shifters that remained standing. They flew backwards, their momentum only stopped by a tree. Wood groaned in protest at the impact, and their bodies thumped to the ground.

They didn't move.

Raven slowly walked out of the water, each droplet clung to her like a lover's kiss, delivering a charge of power before slushing off. She eyed the two remaining shifters. "You were following orders. That's done now. I suggest you pick up your men and leave."

She rubbed her fingers together until electricity crackled. "Or I will take care of you in a more permanent manner."

Their movements were slow so as not to startle her as if she were a dangerous animal. They picked up their comrades and backed away, never taking their eyes off her. When they put two hundred yards between them, they turned and disappeared into the forest.

"You found it."

Raven followed Jackson's gaze to the necklace still tangled in her fingers. He gently pried the metal from her grip, walked behind her, and lifted the pendant over her head. When the stone came to rest on her chest, the lace holding the stone in place curled up and over her collarbone.

"Where did you find a sapphire this size?"

"It's a rare blue diamond. It matches your eyes when I first saw you." He meant when the power was riding her hard. "It's nearly indestructible, so anything you do will not affect it."

He gathered her hair out of the way, carefully spreading the wet strands over her shoulders. When he stepped in front of her, the tips of his fingers were red and blistered from the silver. "It suits you."

"It's bad ass." Awe coated Aaron's words, excitement thrumming through him.

Raven's brows furrowed, his comment completely lost on her. "What?"

"When the other shifters see that you can stand that amount of silver directly against your skin, it sends a message."

She hesitated, wondering if advertising her differences was such a good idea, not if it would lead them to dig further into a past she didn't want revealed.

Chapter Twenty-one.

By the time Aaron and Jackson packed up the basket, Raven had wrestled on her wet shoes. A pall had fallen over the afternoon. The secluded paradise no longer felt safe. Maybe it was for the best. She wasn't sure how she should act around Jackson and his too generous gift.

Though the men meant well, she felt like the one with the rough edges. She didn't fit anywhere. They were right that she hated relying on others. She only accepted their training grudgingly when it had come down to survival of her pack.

She only hoped it wasn't too late.

Jackson got them back to the house in record time, the sunlight beginning to fade from the sky in a ball of orange fire on the horizon. Despite the turn of events, Raven had enjoyed herself. Jackson's confidence in her gave her the courage to push herself.

She never would've thought using a smaller amount of electricity would be harder than just allowing her power free rein. The aftereffects of burnout were still evident, but they were less. The last two days gave her hope that she'd ultimately be able to find a balance between her two worlds when she had though the only outcome would tear her apart.

"Here." Aaron accepted the basket Jackson handed to him. While he disappeared inside, Jackson came around to her open door, stopping her from exiting.

"If things don't go right with Vivian-"

Raven kicked him in the gut with both feet. He shot from the cab, nearly landing ass over teakettle. Raven jumped from the truck, storming toward him. "What the hell was this afternoon about if you didn't think I could handle all of this?"

When she would've left him in the dirt, he rolled and snagged her ankle. The ground rushed up to meet her. She would've face-planted into the gravel if her reflexes hadn't taken over.

Her palms stung as she slammed into the earth. Before she could contemplate more, she was dragged backwards. Feeling no pity, she tipped to her side, bent her knee and aimed for his nose.

He easily deflected the blow then grinned and pulled her under him. She managed to hit him with her elbow to his jaw, missing his temple and the chance to stun him.

He pinned her wrists to either side of her head. Without Aaron being close, the moon's heat crept over her.

Slow.

Insidious.

The fight turned into foreplay, both wanting to be caught.

Once he had her immobile, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. "I have faith in you, but Vivian won't rest until she has what she wants. You are in the way of that. If it comes to a choice, I will choose you and my life will be forfeit. They will put me down like an animal."

Raven twisted his thumb toward his wrist, pleased when his grip broke. She grabbed his face. "I forbid it."

"You don't get it. I was sent here with the knowledge that if I did my job and protected Aaron, I was a dead man. I don't protect him, I'm dead. I can save him from the men she might send, but if she wants him killed bad enough, she just has to walk past me and murder him, and I can't do a damn thing."

Her hand fell back to the ground, stunned by his logic. She'd missed it in her conversation with Aaron, or had ignored it because she didn't want to face the truth. Since he was the enforcer, she'd thought he would be exempt. Fighting his own pack was bad enough, but she never expected this. "Then why?"

"I'm incentive."

"For me." Then it made horrible sense. "Bait."

He heaved a sigh, rolled on his back, throwing his arm up to cover his eyes. The part of damsel in distress sat ill on him.

Jackson would do his job...even if it meant his death.

Part of her had to wonder if the whole thing had been a set-up, or if Kevin had just taken advantage of the circumstances when the opportunity presented itself.

They were using Jackson to lure her into settling the war brewing inside their pack. Kevin refused to give up his son, but realized that more people would be killed, the pack destroyed from within, if something wasn't done.

That's where she came in.

Clever bastard.

She'd call him on it if it weren't for two reasons. Aaron really did need protection.

And if they survived, Jackson would be hers.

Raven leaned up on her elbow. When Jackson didn't move, she leaned over and brushed her lips over his, stealing the taste of him.

Jackson seized up, afraid to react least she pulled away. His eyes, not quite hidden under his arm, had splintered yellow and whiskey brown. He feathered his fingers across the smooth skin where her necklace had rested. "Amazing."