Falling Rain

8

Mason 

    I’ve been trying not to make her feel uncomfortable about getting her period, she must have felt scared though. Seeing it was her first time. I have been bringing her hot water bottles and tea to try and help soothe her. I remember dad would do those things for mom when she was pregnant, how different can it be? 

    Striker has been going absolutely crazy in my mind, fighting for control. He senses she is a mature woman now and he wants her. I want her too but I promised myself I wouldn’t do anything to her until she was ready. 

    I keep fighting him back, every time I’m near Rain. I woke up early this morning to go for a long run, maybe Striker would calm down once he was out for a while. I get up from the couch and slowly walk over to Rain who's asleep in the bed. She has a smile spread across her face, I wonder what she’s dreaming about. 

“Ma...son” She whispers in her sleep, her smile getting bigger. 

Oh Goddess, grant me the strength. 

I peel myself away from her, painfully. 

She was whispering my name… she was dreaming about me. 

Yeah, yeah whatever. Let’s go.  Striker is jealous. 

We shift and start running into the forest, Striker doesn’t hold back at all. He needs this, to release some of the pent up energy he has. 

We run over broken branches and deep within the forest.  

What if she really leaves us to go be with her family?

I don’t think she would… I think deep down she really does love us. 

But what if she does? He demands 

I won’t force her to stay Striker… that’s the very last thing I would ever do to her.. She’s been through so much already. I will never force her to do anything. Even if it breaks my heart to do so.. 

And what about me? 

I know it will hurt Striker, but I will bear the pain for both of us… I promise to make it hurt as little as possible for you.. 

You know that’s not how it works.. But I do want her to be happy. 

Let’s not push the matter any further for now. 

Striker howls into the dead of the night, his massive howl echoing against the trees. He walks slowly, at almost a painful speed back to the house. We shift behind a tree and get dressed. 

I thought I’d feel better after a run but it only made me feel worse. Striker tells me 

I know.. 

    When I get back, Rain is still asleep in the bed, I go to the bathroom and start the shower. Washing off the grime of my run, I step out and wrap myself in a towel. I reach for my underwear when I hear a crash in the bedroom. I run back in to find Rain on the ground, 

“What happened?” I ask as her I lift her in my arms and set her on the bed. 

“My wheelchair is across the room and I have to pee.. I thought I could go a few steps by myself.. I’m sorry” She is almost trembling. 

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m the one who's sorry.. I’ll help you to the bathroom..” 

Once she is finished in the bathroom she says she wants to go to the gardens. 

“Have you thought about whether you’d like to do some physical therapy? Try and strengthen your legs?” I ask as I push her chair around the gardens. 

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while.. I just have so much on my mind right now” 

“Oh? Do you want to talk about it?”   

“I’m sure you already know how I feel.. You can sense it can’t you?” 

“Well.. I can sense certain strong emotions, but that doesn’t mean I know exactly what you're feeling.” I tell her. I stop her chair and sit on the bench beside her. She doesn't look at me right away. 

“Everything has changed so much for me, in just a few short months. Everything still scares me and that’s not a bad thing.. It’s just different. It’s taking me a long time to get used to all the changes. The only thing that I know to be consistent is you. You’re always here, always by my side… I’m just terrified you are going to decide you’ve had enough one day and decide to leave me.. I don’t know what I’d do without you at this point Mason. You saved my life and now I feel these strange things when I look at you.. I don’t know what it means” 

“The first thing you need to know is that I’m never going to leave you. I’m here for the long game Rain.. I’m with you until the end. Secondly.. These feelings you are having.. Is it like a tingling sensation in your gut?” 

“Sort of.. Sometimes when I see you I feel like I’m going to throw up… Other times I can’t breathe when you leave even if it’s only for a few minutes, I find myself longing for you to come back… I think I may know what it is but I can’t make myself say the word…” She is blushing deeply, looking down at her hands. 

“I know the word well… I’ve felt it for a while.. Basically since the first day we met.. It’s been growing every day more and more since then” I tell her, her head snaps up and she looks at me in shock. 

“I didn’t want to rush you into anything, but it is how I feel. You don’t need to say anything right now-” 

“I don’t want to fight it.. I just want to be happy…” 

“We can be.. Together.. If you let me, I can make you so happy” 

“I would like that'' She smiles at me with such happiness and brightness, her eyes almost glowing. 

I go to give her a kiss when Kayden, the former Beta ,interrupts us. 

“Excuse me Alpha.. We have a situation that needs your attention” He bows his head as he speaks, a sign of respect. 

“Can someone else not deal with it?” I ask with annoyance laced in my voice.

“I’m sorry Sir but no.. it seems to be a delicate matter…” He seems anxious

“Alright.. I’ll be right there.. I’m sorry Rain, I have to take care of this” 

“It’s alright, I understand.. I’ll see you later.. Do you want me to bring you back inside before I go?” I ask as I get up. 

“No, that’s okay.. I enjoy sitting here” She smiles sweetly at me 

“Alright.. I’ll have someone come get you in a little while okay?” I lean down and kiss her softly before walking away. 

“This better be good.. We were having a moment” I snarl at Kayden, as we walk towards the woods. 

“We need to go to the East border, there is a problem. There are rogues littering the border. They say their pack was attacked and they are looking for sanctuary… problem is their eyes. They clearly are not survivors… They have been rogues for some time. I think they are trying to gain access to our pack to get information of some kind” 

    We shift and run to the border, I can see the red in their eyes from almost a mile away, the crimson burns bright in the evening air. 

“What brings you to my land?” Striker demands, using our Alpha voice, a few of them flinch back at it but one holds his ground. 

“We seek shelter… my King” He says, looking Striker in the eyes. 

“Do you take me for a fool?” Striker paces in front of them, closely. 

“Whatever do you mean my King?” The rogue stutters slightly, obviously taken back by Striker's tone. 

“We are not stupid enough to let a pack of rogues just wander into our lands… I don’t know why you bother to try and lie about what you are but anyone can see you are rogues... You stink.. So, tell me why you are really here”

“We heard rumors… that there was a new Alpha King. A young boy of no Alpha blood…” He bows his head unwillingly as Striker growls and scratches the ground in front of him, making him submit against his will. 

“You have been misinformed.. This is King Alpha Mason.. He is the son of King Alpha Maximus..” Kayden roars at the rogues. Six of them have laid flat on their bellies in submission, the only one resisting is the leader, he still will not lay down. 

“Kill them.” Striker says as he turns his back. The rogue takes his chance to try and pounce on us. Striker turns and strikes him down midair, sending him into a nearby tree. 

“You dare attack me?” Striker strides towards him, his presence menacing. Before letting the rogue have a chance to speak, he comes down on the rogue, wrapping his tiny neck with his massive jaw and ripping upward. I can taste the blood as his head is disconnected from his body. Striker tosses his head to the side and looks back at the other rogues who are still on their bellies. They are too scared to even fight for their lives, they heard my orders from them to be executed and yet they cower in fear instead of trying to run or even fight back. 

“I said kill them” Striker strolls away, not looking back. His word is law to the members of his pack. I can hear the rogues howling as they are torn to shreds. I doubt they ended up putting up much of a fight at all. 

“You really didn’t want to question any of them?” Kayden asks as he catches up to me. 

“What’s the point, he said why they were here.. They wanted a look at the false king” Striker snaps 

Kayden bows and backs off, leaving us to our thoughts. I know Striker hates people doubting our abilities, but I can’t help but wonder if there is any truth to it all. 

We get closer to the house and Striker tenses up slightly, sniffing the air.

I can sense her wolf… it gets stronger by the day but I cannot connect with her yet.. It’s like she is hiding herself for some reason.