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  Happenstance

  T.L. Hodel

  Contents

  Series

  Copyright

  Author Warning

  Playlist

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  33. Epilogue

  34. Hey Jackass

  35. Alive

  Ashley answers

  Ravens Bow

  Chapter one

  Chapter two

  Chapter three

  Chapter four

  Afterword

  Also by T.L. Hodel

  About the Author

  Happenstance

  The Order of Ravens and Wolves

  Ashley you may get answers in this book

  ……..

  Then again, maybe not.

  To EJ, Becky, Dylan, Ivy, Vivi, Heather and Drethi, with out you I never would’ve made it through this. Love you guys.

  Copyright 2021 T.L Hodel

  FIRST EDITION

  All rights reserved.

  If you are not reading this book via a licensed copy sold by Amazon, you have a pirated version.

  This book should not be copied, duplicated, or stored on any retrieval systems except for brief excerpts quoted in book reviews.

  Thank you for supporting indie authors by buying books or reading subscriptions through legitimate channels.

  Cover Design by Mayhem Cover Creations

  mayhemcovercreations.com

  Edited by Just Ask Her Productions

  Sensitivity reader: Crystal Partin, Kamico Seals

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, are coincidental.

  Author Warning: This book is a dark romance and contains violence, profanity, non consensual and dubious consensual sexual scenes, sodomy, and alcohol, tobacco and drug use. If you are a reader sensitive to such material, this might not be the book for you.

  PLAYLIST

  ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ By Blue Oyster Cult

  ‘Cake By the Ocean’ By DNCE

  ‘If Everyone Cared’ By Nickelback

  ‘Stack-O-Lee’ By Samuel L. Jackson

  ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ By Guns and Roses

  ‘Mockingbird’ By Eminem

  ‘Girls Like You’ By Maroon Five

  ‘Kiss from a Rose’ By Seal

  ‘Hooked’ By Dylan Scott

  ‘I’ll Take Everything’ By James Blunt

  ‘Tomorrow’ By Madi Diaz

  ‘Just Give Me A Reason’ By Pink

  ‘Girl’ By Maren Morris

  ‘Everything I wanted’ By Billie Eilish

  ‘IDGAF’ By Dua Lipa

  ‘Levitating’ By Dua Lipa

  ‘Undo It’ By Carrie Underwood

  ‘All Falls Down’ By Alan Walker

  ‘Forget to Forget’ By Shy Martin

  ‘Ready for it’ By Taylor Swift

  Prologue

  Parker

  Pain.

  The deep-seated agony tearing across someone’s nerves could make the strongest fucker bend. It didn’t take much. The right poke or prod, hell, even just the threat, had the power to make someone act completely out of character. What fascinated me was the sound that came with it. Not quite loud enough to give a sense of urgency, but enough to let others know something was wrong. It didn’t matter how big someone was, or how much experience they had.

  They all made that sound.

  A low drowning growl somewhere between a scream and a groan. The same muffled noise the prick I had on the ground was making now. The left side of his face was already starting to swell, and blood trickled from his nose. Pretty sure I broke it. Still, the prick wouldn’t give.

  He threw his fists up in my ribs and grumbled, “Fuck you.”

  At this point, I was driven more by adrenaline than anger and answered his strike with one of my own. He wasn’t a small guy–I definitely felt his hit–but mine was followed by a loud crunch. The split in my lip reopened as my mouth curled. He was making that sound again, only this time it was louder.

  There was no mistaking the agony etched across his face. Broken bone hurt like a bitch. One quick snap sent more pain rushing through a human body than any burn or cut. I’d had my fair share of injuries–part of the job description of being a football player–and still nothing compared to that type of anguish.

  The prick on the ground mumbled something incoherent and shifted under me. He was done. About fucking time.

  Hurting someone like this probably should bother me. It would bother other people. Micha would say my brother and sister made me numb to it. Preston started torturing people before his preteen years, and Ava… I loved my sister, but she was all kinds of crazy. The truth was, this shit never really bothered me. Preston stabbed one of our nannies when we were kids, and all I could remember thinking was, ‘why is she screaming like that?’ Everyone knew my siblings were fucked up, I just hid it better.

  My opponent looked up at me and muttered, “Pussy.”

  I cocked my brow. Guess he had some fight left in him after all. If he wanted to go another round, I was game. I tipped my head down at him, smirked, and dropped my fist into his face. My knuckles grazed his teeth as his head twisted to the side. That seemed to shut him up. He coughed and spit out a mouthful of blood, but remained silent. I smiled and tapped his cheek.

  Good boy.

  If he didn’t come strolling in here with his friends, running their mouths, he could’ve avoided all of this. What the fuck did they think would happen? Probably thought they were big shots, coming from one of my mother’s rallies. She had a way of manipulating people, winding them up. I’d seen it a hundred times. A seemingly docile crowd turned violent with a few words from Lillianna Whitley. These fuckers obviously didn’t do their homework. Preston was not my mother’s ally. He’d take them out for just knowing her name. My brother didn’t give a shit about our parents. They were nothing but annoying obstacles in the cogs that he couldn’t just get rid of because Ava and I were in the way. Ava was a daddy’s girl through and through, and I cared about our parents.

  Would I call it love? Probably not. If they died, I’d feel the loss, sure, but I had no urge to protect them. Hell, I felt more loyal to Micha and his brother than I did to them. There was only one person on this earth I’d die to protect.

  I glared down at the prick trying to push me away and slapped him across the face. He’d put his hands on her. Dared to taint her with his touch. I knew guys like this. Strolling into a town like they owned it, because as far as they were concerned, they were better than everyone else. Except this was Ashen Springs. Our town. And unlike them, we
didn’t think we were better…

  We knew we were.

  Was this prick going to cry? Wouldn’t be the first time. Though usually it was Preston making some poor sap cry for mercy. This guy should consider himself lucky. I’d just fuck him up a little. His friends, however…

  I could feel warm drops of blood hitting my back from Logan’s swinging fists. He was behind me, on top of the big one. Logan had that look in his eyes. The one he got when he’d completely lost control. Not sure what that guy did to piss him off, but there wouldn’t be much of his face left when Logan was done. Then again, no one walked away from a fight with Logan without at least one scar. He’d marked us all in one way or another. Preston’s foot, my arm, and Micha’s leg. Mase was the only one he took it easy on. Never did understand why.

  “Come on, pussy.” Micha reached out and bitch slapped the guy he was squaring off with. “Is that all you got?”

  He only had a few bruises and a couple cuts. No more than Micha himself. Knowing our illustrious leader, he was probably just toying with the fucker. Micha’s thrill didn’t come from the beat down. It came from the mindfuck.

  And then there was my brother.

  I glanced over at the guy curled up in the fetal position, blubbering like a little girl. Preston stood calmly over him and lit a smoke. Logan and Preston were lethal. No one liked squaring off with them, but at least with Logan you could see it coming. He’d get this feral look in his eyes. With Preston, there was nothing. That was the scary part. I grew up with the asshole. I knew what he took in his coffee, who he lost his virginity to, and how he liked his steak. And even I couldn’t read him.

  Preston took a long pull off his smoke and flicked the ashes down on his victim. “Got anything else smart to say?”

  “I’m sorry, man.” The guy started crying harder when my brother crouched down and grabbed his chin. “I won’t fucking say it again.”

  “I know you won’t.” Preston stood up, grabbed his ankle, and dragged him away. “You won’t be saying much of anything when I’m done with you.”

  I’d say the smell of piss was coming from that one.

  The fight was dying down. Micha had finished playing with his guy and had him down on the ground, Preston was doing God knows what out of sight, and Logan jumped up off the beaten mess he left behind.

  “I need a fucking drink,” he said, swiping the blood off his face.

  Great fucking idea.

  I stretched my arms over my head, enjoying the breeze cooling my skin. When Logan called me and told me to bring a keg, I’d thought we were going to one of our usual spots. The last place I expected to end up was some broken down stone bridge in the middle of a field. I kind of liked it though. It was a cozy set up. Little couch and firepit, with a bunch of graffiti on the stone walls.

  Apparently this was where Riley and her friends hung out. The Causegrove. Stupid fucking name, but honestly, I never even knew this place existed. Might’ve taken a look around, if it wasn’t for a certain someone showing up. Once Lana arrived, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Or those tight jeans she was wearing. An ass never looked so good. Then again, she always looked good. Whether her hair was straight, or wild and curly. I didn’t give a fuck. I’d stare at her covered in mud and grass. She’d look real fucking good rolling around in the mud…

  With me on top of her, legs wrapped around my waist as I plowed into her.

  I had to stop thinking about her. As desperate as I was to dive between that girl’s legs, it wasn’t worth what my mother would do to her. My dick, however, disagreed.

  I bet she’s as sweet as fucking honey.

  God damnit.

  I stood up and adjusted myself.

  “Don’t get any ideas,” the prick on the ground twisted his neck and spat. “Fag.”

  My brow arched. Yeah, I liked dick, and I liked pussy. I was a greedy motherfucker and wanted it all. What really got me off was making guys like this realize how much fun a deep dicking could be. Sexual preferences didn’t matter when their prostate was hit the right way. Couldn’t stop that shit.

  “Stop looking at me like that.”

  I snickered and slid my gaze down to the bulge in his jeans. I’d seen better. “You think I can’t see your hard on?”

  His jaw clenched, making me smirk. Stupid fuck. Logan wandered over and dropped his arm on my shoulder.

  “You want me to hold him for you?” He took a drink from the red solo cup in his hand and cocked his head down at the guy whose eyes were now wide with worry. “Should be easy. I don’t think he’s got much fight left in him.”

  “Don’t fucking touch me!” he growled back up at us.

  “Oh, but you want me to touch you.” I crouched down and cupped his dick. Sure enough, he was hard. “See?”

  Logan’s lips tipped up. “Think his friends know cock turns him on?”

  There it was. That glimmer of self hatred. I loved that look. It wasn’t me that was turning the prick on, though. It was the adrenaline rushing through his system. Was I going to tell him that? Fuck no. Let him spend the rest of his pathetic life confused.

  “Listen,” he said in a quiet voice, “You don’t… I’m not...”

  Aw, poor thing didn’t want his friends to know.

  “You’re not what?” Logan taunted, “A fag?”

  “No.”

  “You like pussy.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Huh?” Logan turned his gaze my way. “What do you think?”

  I squeezed the prick’s dick just enough to make it jump. “I think he’s pretty hard for a pussy lover.”

  Now the guy was really getting scared. His arms swung out to push me away. Logan was ready for that. He pounced, grabbing his wrists and holding him down.

  “How much time do you need?”

  Based on how hard he was, I’d say this guy was ready to blow. “It won’t take much.” Two or three pumps and he’d be done.

  “Listen man, I’m fucking sorry, okay?” the prick cried out desperately. “I won’t say shit about you anymore.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you say about me.” I leaned in and softly growled in his ear, “You touched her.”

  This motherfucker put his hands on Lana. He dared to touch the girl I’d been dreaming about for years, and now, he was going to pay.

  Chapter 1

  Parker

  The first time I saw Lana Crawford it was her first day of kindergarten. Micha, Logan and I were showing Mason and Silas around, because having been there the year before, we obviously ruled the place. And then I saw her. This girl standing perfectly in a ray of sunlight, as if the heavens themselves were pointing her out to me. She looked like an angel, wearing a blue dress, red sneakers, and a sparkly purple bow in her wild, curly hair. I was entranced by her magnificence. The way her big hazel eyes and caramel complexion seemed to glow.

  I stood there staring at this beautifully weird girl, jealous of the people she smiled at. Every time she stopped to talk to someone, my fists would ball. Why was she wasting her time with these people? A unicorn shouldn’t talk to a frog.

  I wanted to hurt all the kids that played with her. Beat them down until they bowed at her feet, like I was ready to do. But she was a goddess, and I was just a boy. How could someone like me approach her? So, I stayed in the background. Watching with complete contempt as other people got her attention. Later that day, I found her bow on the playground and carefully picked it up like some treasured item to take home.

  My intent was to return it to her the next day. Get down on one knee and present the lost item like one of those knights in the stories my mother read to me. Before I could ask for the princess’s hand, I had to prove myself. That’s what all those stories had taught me. A bow might not be as good as slaying a dragon, but it was a start.

  My grand adventure came to a crashing halt when we were all sitting down to dinner. My mother started talking about the ‘colored girl’ they let into our school. She said ‘Manswort
h should be evaluating applicants better, because those people are taking over America.’

  At first, I was mad. Why weren’t we doing more to stop these people? How could they let someone come in and take over our country? And then I thought, maybe these people were my dragon? I could slay them and really have a reason to ask for the princess’s hand. Then I realized exactly who my mother was talking about.

  That was the first time I remember hating her.

  “Heads up, Whitley!”

  All I saw before I was knocked off my feet was Sean running at me, head down, and shoulder at the ready. My lungs deflated, exhaling all my air as I went flying back. I managed to hook my fingers in Sean’s shoulder pads and drag the prick down with me. While I was shaking off the ache rushing through my shoulder blades, Sean wrapped his fingers around my face mask and shook my helmet.

  “That’s three, Whitley.” He crashed his facemask into mine, “Get your fucking head in the game.”

  I gritted my teeth and growled back, “Go fuck yourself, Callaghan.”

  Prick was enjoying this way too much.

  Football was a rough sport, and as much as I hated to admit it, Sean was a great team captain. Most Quarterbacks avoided tackles during practice. Hell, they avoided tackles period. Sean not only embraced them, he was the first to go after the slacker. Today, that was apparently me.