Mate to Match

Earthquake!

5. Earthquake!

(Raina)

I'm walking through the corridors of the pack house, my head down, when I bump into somebody. I look up, startled, only to find an older woman looking down at me in concern. Her red curls are arranged around her head like a halo, and her lips are painted to match.

"Eileen," I murmur. "Sorry."

I try to sidestep her, but she thrusts out a plump arm to stop me in my tracks. "You okay, kiddo?" she asks me, frowning.

Thank the Moon Goddess I wiped off my tears before entering the house. "Um, yeah, sure."

"Yeah? Coz your mascara is drying on your cheeks. You look like you gave up halfway through cosplaying a raccoon."

I cross my arms and press my back on the opposite wall, my lips pursed. I don't know what to say here. Aiden made it plenty clear that he was ashamed of having me as his mate. Eileen is a good woman, and she's always been kind to me, but she is also Jax's mate. Who's to say what I tell her won't reach the ears of Aiden's Beta?

Eileen snaps her fingers in front of my face. "Wake up, kiddo." She narrows her eyes and looks at me curiously. "Come to think of it, you look like you could use some sleep."

"Yes, I pulled a double at the diner today," I tell her, glad for the distraction, "I'm just tired."

"You work at Gigi's, right? I've seen you there a couple of times."

"Uh-huh."

"How about I make you a cup of hot cocoa and something to eat?" Before I can say anything, she steers me back towards the kitchen with a hand closed on my upper arm. I stumble my way along with her, hoping against hope that the kitchen is empty.

It isn't. There's a bunch of the wait staff cleaning up in there, talking and laughing loudly. Some of them cast curious looks over me, one or two not bothering to hide their giggles. I blush hard, trying to cover my face with my hand as Eileen guides me to a bar stool. She gets a glass of milk and a tub of Hershey's. Watching her mix the cocoa into the milk is somehow soothing. She sets the mug inside the microwave and turns it on.

A heavy hand lands on my shoulder, making me jump. With a sinking feeling, I realise it's Joe from TAP and he's about to give me a reaming the likes of which I'll never forget. Some of the waiters around us have actually stopped to watch.

But then Joe looks over my shoulder and nods. I turn around to see Eileen glaring at him and everyone around us. They go back to work quickly, and Eileen sets the mug of cocoa in front of me. "It's okay, kid," she says to me in a soft voice. "Anybody could've dropped the tray. You were dead on your feet. There's no need to cry about it."

I realise she thinks I've been crying about the faux pas I committed in front of all the guests outside. I raise the cup to my lips, the hot chocolate burning my tongue as I swallow a large mouthful. "Everyone's really impressed by the new Alpha," I say, my voice quivering.

"Yeah. To tell you the truth, I almost lost my bearings the first time I saw him too. He's got such an imposing aura. It's almost Lycan."

The chocolate must be working, because I giggle involuntarily into the mug. Lycans are a race of mythological werewolves said to be the Moon Goddess' children, from whom modern werewolves are descended. They're supposed to command the respect of all magical creatures because they were the ones that the Moon Goddess chose to give powers to before anyone else. They're portrayed as powerful, arrogant, territorial beings--and Aiden fits that bill perfectly.

Eileen gives me a maternal smile before she turns away to talk to someone else. I set down my mug and lay my head on the cool countertop. I must be getting a migraine because my head is pounding. I should really go home and get some sleep.

***

I'm adrift in a dark, roiling sea. The sky is black. Lightning crashes down in angry streaks, thunder as loud as a bullet being fired from a gun. The raft I am on is tossed on the waves, the black water splashing into my nose and mouth, almost drowning me. I cough and sputter and shake with cold. I'd give anything to be warm right now.

Something shoots into the water beside me. I look up in alarm as fireballs begin raining from the sky. One catches on the edge of my raft and the whole thing starts to go up in flames. I scream, trying to scoop water onto it. Then an especially violent wave comes and throws me into the water.

I didn't think I could get any colder than I was on the raft, but I was wrong. The water is icy, chilling me down to the bone. I struggle for air, being tossed here and there by the raging sea. A large wave pushes me completely underwater.

My arms and legs beat fruitlessly, trying to propel my body upwards. The surface is a distant circle of light above me, growing smaller by the minute. My hair floats in the water around me as if alive.

A light breaks in the water before me. A woman emerges from the glow. She is tall and stately, dressed in a white gown with long, flowy sleeves. Her blonde hair floats behind her. Her mischievous green eyes are crinkled up in a smile. She reaches out a slender white arm towards me.

As I grip her hand, the light comes back. It springs from the place where our hands touch, growing bigger and bigger until it envelops us both. I look into the woman's eyes, but they are no longer smiling. She looks sad, her beautiful features pinched with worry. She says something I can't hear through the water. Her hand is ripped out of mine as I am pulled bodily upwards, awakening with a gasp.

***

"Raina! Get up!" Eileen is screaming in my ear, hauling me upright by the scruff of my neck. The whole room is shaking. The tower of champagne glasses I stacked on the counter slides and breaks on the floor. Plates and spoons clatter on the table.

Eileen pushes me towards the back door. People are pushing past me to get outside. I am herded out with the crowd into the backyard. I see people running everywhere, the crews from TAP and Gigi's among them.

"Everyone into the open!"

I hear Aiden's voice booming out over the panicked crowd. He is standing on a table, shunting people into the abandoned party space as it is the only place big enough to be out of reach of falling trees or debris. As I watch him, the rest of the pack streams into the lawn, leaving me behind with a couple of stragglers.

Aiden catches my eye just as I hear a scream from behind me.

I whip around. It's Meera, trapped under a fallen branch near the tree line. A teenage boy is trying to lift the branch off her, but it's obviously too heavy for him.

Ignoring the shouts directed at my back, I run to her. I grab hold of the branch on one end while the boy clutches the other and we heft it off her leg together. I put her arm around my neck and help her up. The boy puts his arm around her waist. We move away just in time before another branch hits the ground where I was standing.

Halfway through stumbling back to the lawn, we're met by Jax and Eileen. They take Meera off our hands. I dimly register that the earth has stopped shaking.

Jax lingers next to me as Meera is taken away to where the pack doctor is waiting. He steers me away from the prying eyes into the shadows.

"What's going on? Where are you taking me?" I ask him.

He motions me to sit down on a chair in the dark, glancing nervously up at the eaves of the mansion above us. He turns his back to me, looking out into the crowd with his arms crossed. I peek around him to see Aiden in the middle of the lawn, barking out orders.

"I should go help," I insist, getting up.

Jax looks back at me. "Sit down, Raina," he says curtly, "You've done enough for one day."

"But--"

"Raina. Your mate just saw you almost get crushed by a tree branch. Don't give him any more reasons to be pissed off. Sit down."

I sink back into my seat, my knees weak.

"I'm gonna stay with you so that you don't do anything stupid--his words not mine--until he can get to you."

Now I'm pissed off. And it doesn't help that my migraine is coming back either. "That's dumb. You should be out there, making sure everyone's okay. You can go. I won't tell."

Jax grins at me. "I don't think so. He asked me to guard you. If the Alpha thinks you are important enough, more than all the good work I could be doing out there, it's not my place to question him."

"He doesn't even want me!"

Jax turns back to watch the dispersing crowd, sighing heavily. "I wouldn't be so sure, Rey. I wouldn't be so sure."