Secrets of His Rejected Mate

SUNSET PERFORMANCE

Helios has always been scared of driving after the accident that almost took his life. But he has to do it because he wanted to. He had decided to visit Javier that day to go ask after Rain. It has been a few days since they met and she seems to have disappeared from the surface of the earth. Even though he didn't want to come off as a stalker, he had gone over to Sunset and bought himself a couple of drinks just to see her. The women there threw themselves at him but they were not Rain.

He had driven up the Randall brother's driveway and his heart almost jumped out of his mouth when he saw Rain walking down with her friends. He had lost focus and thus lost control and before he could control the car, it had bashed into something; a scooter.

"Damn," he cussed. So much for staying away from trouble.

He got out of the car and stopped when he saw Rain glaring at him with her jaw almost dropping to the ground. Again, he saw that resentment in her eyes, it radiated off her. He could see that her friends were giggling behind. Not knowing what to do, because her presence always unnerves him and the way she stares at him makes him feel he had done something terrible to her. How could someone he just met resent him so much? Despite the feeling and her icy glare, he waved and smiled at her.

She started walking up to him and folded her arms across her chest when she was in front of him.

"Why do we always meet in this kind of situation?" she asked.

A little frown perched on his eyebrows and his lips twitched up in confusion. She gestured toward the scooter with her head and he followed her gaze. That was when he realized that the scooter belonged to her. He turned back to her.

"Oh, indeed." He smiled and rubbed his forehead.

"Indeed?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes "You destroy my only means of transport and all you could do is smile and say indeed?"

"But Rain, we are still talking."

"Don't say my name," she snapped, her icy glare becoming intense.

He gets she was angry that her scooter was ruined, but this was beyond ruining her scooter. It was almost as if she was angry with him for something else, something more grievous. She has a grudge against him.

He sighed. "Okay, I am sorry." Sorry was not a word he used often. She appeared unmoved, but her eyes had left his face and were on the scooter behind. He looked behind again and looked back at her. She was looking at him again but not with resentment. She had a curiosity and he understood why. "I will fix it."

"Good." She brought down her arms and turned away from him.

"Rain, wait!" He took a quick step toward her, holding out his hand to grab her arm but she spun immediately, making him shrink back. What kind of a woman was she? She takes him unawares and makes him very cautious. He was always at ease with women, because he always had the upper hand, but it was different with her. "So, where can I find you when I am done with the bike?"

Her eyes rolled to the side, but before she could say anything, her friend the one with pink hair stepped up and interrupted them.

"Diner's Delight."

If eyes could shoot bullets, then Phoebe would have been on the floor, spurting blood from her mouth right now. Rain glared at her and Jenny, then she turned to him.

"Leave it at Javier's, I will pick it up from there."

Helios nodded and a mischievous smile crept up his face. He had registered the name in his brain and that was exactly where he was going to bring the bike. She interested him so much, moreover, he wanted to find out everything about her and why she seemed to resent him so much. She was a mystery to him, a mystery he needed solving quickly. He had not told any of his brothers about her yet. He wanted to find out whatever it was about her first before telling anyone about it and more because he was scared that what he might find about her might not be good. That thought brought a sting to his heart.

Rain turned on her heels and goaded her friends to leave with her. The wolf turned and he saw admiration in her eyes. That was how women looked at him or—he looked at the one with pink hair, she was looking at him like she wanted to devour him there and then. His cheek went up in a lopsided smile. Those were the looks he got from women. They admired him or lusted after him not glare at him with cold, furious eyes.

As they walked down, he could hear their argument. The other girls were on Rain, asking for an introduction, but Rain seemed to be the luna of the pack, even though she wasn't a wolf. He turned on his own heels and headed toward his new friend's house.

~~~~~

It so hard to love you, 'cause it so hard to breathe around you.

But I can't help but do it, 'cause I feel choked when I deny

that I am in love with you...

Uhh uhh, what have you done to me? Ohh, ohh

Uhh, uhh, I do things I never did... ooh, ooh

I am turning into a slave for love...

The crowd went into a rapturous uproar as Rain and her band finished their song themed 'A slave for love' Rain was always the composer, the solo singer, and the guitarist while the girls backed up. Jake plays the drums, Javier plays the piano and gives them the tenor they needed. She stood there smiling at the ovation from the crowd. It always makes her happy to see the smiles on the faces of those people and the support they give to her band and her.

But she could never dream big because her mother didn't want her to be exposed. Exposition means traveling away from home and that has never sat right with her mother since she was a kid. She went backstage with her crew and they shook hands and commended each other for a job well done. Rain sat on a chair, took the wipes, and started wiping at the makeup on her face. She was a natural and her face was always bare, except for times like this when she had to be in character.

"We are getting enough streams from YouTube already, I wish we could be bigger than this," Phoebe said excitedly, holding up her phone as the song they just sang played from it.

Jenny scoffed as she removed her jacket. "If you don't want Rain's mom to liquidate this band and make us go extinct don't bring up that suggestion again."

Javier moved over to Rain, dragged a seat, and sat in front of her. "Speaking of which. I have an idea, Rain."

Rain smiled at him before wiping over the black lipstick. "Bring it on, Javier, but if it's about my mom giving me the chance, it won't work."

The others seemed interested to hear Javier's suggestions, so they hovered around the duo. Rain loved her bandmates so much. They were so in sync and never had serious arguments, even though they were different in so many ways, but they have turned into a family over the years. Jenny was the only supernatural among them, the other guy, Jonah, who was a werewolf died two years ago from a wolf's bane poison. Since then, they have all been very protective of Jenny.

"Why don't you bring your mother to Sunset one of these days and let her watch you perform? Who knows, it might change her mind and her whole perspective about this whole thing."

"Wow," Jenny exclaimed and placed her hand on Javier's shoulder. "That would have been an excellent suggestion if it was thought through properly." She bent over so that her mouth was closer to Javier's ear. "You forgot that her mother runs a restaurant and would be very busy." She straightened up. "I can't believe I stopped all I was doing to listen to this." Jenny walked away.

"Yeah, it is a very good suggestion," Jake agreed even though Jenny's assertation was unanimous. "I mean since she loves you so much that she could barely let you out of her sight, make her come."

"Claudia loves her work as much as she loves her daughter," Jenny called over her shoulders.

"And you are Claudia to know that?" Javier fired at Jenny. Jenny's assertation seems to rankle him still.

Aside from tonight, Jenny and Javier were always in a kind of combat. They argue with each other a lot and it was cute when they argued. The other group members have always called them lovebirds, but Jenny had been claimed by her mate. But their arguments never deter their friendship, they were the closest in the group when they were not arguing.

"Listen, guys, I have tried all these. My mom just knows how talented I am both in art and music. She is just overly scared of losing me. Her world revolves around me and I am sorry but I am not complaining. I know that one day, something will change her mind and we will surely go big. I promise. We are good already."

There was a short silence in the room and they all stared at her and she stared back. Then Jake sighed.

"Who cares about being big anyways."

"As long as we are getting all the love and support we need from here, we are big already, just look at our social media streams," Phoebe chirped in, her eyes never leaving her cell phone.

Rain smiled. The support from her fans was great but the support from her group was top-notch. Javier stood up and winked at her. She smiled back at him.

Javier and Jake were brothers. Javier was the older and more handsome brother. He was sexy or hot as some people would love to put it and he has this step that looks as if he was sauntering when he walked. He was a lady's man and he enjoys the attention a lot, although no one has ever seen him with a woman, maybe except his brother.

Soon, Rain was left alone as the others went home one after the other having one thing or the other to do. Even Jenny had to leave when Drake, her mate called her. Rain had to wait behind for Mr. Jones' wife to pay her for the day's performance. She gets the payment and shares the money with her group later. The woman was a plump woman with a ruddy face and she was so much in love with frowning that she always wore it like a medal. When she finally paid Rain, she thanked her and started out of the bar. Only a few people were there now and they all waved at Rain as she walked out of the door, calling out good nights to her.

Rain returned their gesture and when she was done, she pushed the glass door open. The cold night air hit her and she felt suddenly alone for a moment. She was used to hitching a ride with Jenny and walking the suburbs with her. Tonight, she was going alone and she wished she had her scooter more than ever. Her eyes caught someone leaning against a car at the corner.

Her heart stopped when she realized it was Helios, standing there, looking so in place with his hands stuck in his pant pockets. She willed herself to think he was there for another reason and not for her, but when he waved at her and started walking toward her, her heart picked up a race.