Black Wing (Book #1)

Chapter 5

I felt all the air leave my lungs in that very second and for a moment, I felt as though I was suspended in time.

I yanked the sleeves of my hoodie over my gloves, so my hands were completely covered, and I took a shaky breath in, trying to mentally process all the information that Dan just unloaded onto me.

A gang? This is exactly the sort of thing my mother would have tried her whole life to desperately keep my away from and here that dangerous thing was, making me an offer I can't refuse.

The chance to never be alone again.

All this time, Dan was carefully watching my face for any signs of fear or unease. I had no idea how to respond to him or everything he just said, so I stayed silent. It was the best option.

An illegal organisation involved in many acts of criminal activity; otherwise known as a gang.

The word lingered in my mouth for a couple of minutes but refused to leave and Dan cleared his throat, seeing that I was at a complete loss for words.

"That is, officially. But we all like to think of each other as a family, not some label thrown around by the government." He huffed, folding his arms defiantly.

I felt his intense and critical blue eyes burning a hole into the side of my face making me shuffle awkwardly where I was standing.

I really didn't know if I could do this.

"You're asking me to...to join a gang?" I questioned, my voice low and cautious whilst my eyes refused to meet Dan's gaze.

"No Amery, I'm asking you to join our family." I scoffed and turned around, not wanting to face the stranger that I was almost too quick to call my friend.

"Please. I'm not...I don't want..." I started before trailing off.

What did I want?

I shook my head decisively, my auburn waves following my head movement and I took a step away from Dan.

"You're homeless, right?" Those very words cause me to freeze but I still didn't turn to meet his eyes. Those innocent blue eyes would probably convince me to go with him before I knew what was happening.

I heard footsteps behind me and didn't even have to glance behind me to know he was extremely close to me. I delicately brushed a couple wisps of hair out of my face, yet I kept my eyes focused on the graffiti-ridden wall directly in front of me.

"You might not know what you want but I do. I see it every time I look at you."

I wanted to scream at him. Tell him that he didn't know me at all and he most definitely didn't know what I wanted.

But part of me knew, that he knew.

"You want to have a family again. You don't want to be alone. I know because I used to be like you." Nervously, I bit my lip and stuffed my hands into my pockets.

"Listen to me Amery." He walked around me and stood in front of me, his gaze so strong, it was as if he was staring right into my soul.

"We are not the enemy. We all do what we have to do to...to survive. The only people that understand are people like you and I. Everyone else doesn't get it, so they call us things like gangs and before we know it, the world is against us." He sighed, and I gulped and looked up at him. His beanie had tilted slightly and looked as though it was just about to fall of his head.

"'The Ravens'? Well, it's us against the world."

By this point, I had a million thoughts running through my mind but the word 'gang' was quickly replaced by another word.