Runaway Mate

Chapter 14

Raine

It took Raine and Joe nearly an hour walking through the tunnel until they finally reached home. Raine would much rather have walked home outside, because the tunnel was just too long and boring, but she was glad she had Joe with her. Joe kept the conversation flowing and he was fun to have as a partner.

The tunnel had enchantments so that no one could enter without a key, which each performer and Sigmund had, and even if someone managed to get through this security measure, there were others within the actual tunnel. They passed a few as they had walked; little symbols on the wall that glowed as they passed; secretly scanning them to make sure they were allowed access to the tunnel.

Despite Joe’s excuse for using the tunnel being the snow and not wanting Raine to be cold, it was still freezing down in the tunnel. But ever the gentleman, Joe gave her his hoodie to warm up with, while he was stuck in his thin t-shirt. Not that it bothered him, wolves ran hot and even walking next to him was like walking beside a radiator at full.

When they reached home and walked through the door, Raine felt herself calm and let the warmth of the house envelop her. The door to the tunnel was right next to the actual front door and opened into the main hall.

Both of them eagerly walked towards the stairs, ready to turn in for the evening. They passed the doorway which led to the communal living room. Lulu and Jack waved hello to them and they waved back, but didn’t linger.

They trudged up the stairs together until Joe parted on the third floor to his room and Raine kept on by herself until she reached the fifth floor and eagerly opened her room door and entered the familiar space.

To call it a room was a bit inaccurate; it was more like an apartment. She had the whole fifth floor to herself and her ‘room’ consisted of a small kitchen and lounge, a bathroom and two bedrooms. She shared the room with Sylvia even though Sigmund had offered them each their own, but Sylvia wanted to stick with Raine and so did she.

When she walked in, she instantly spied Sylvia on their couch watching the television with a bored expression. A sigh of relief left her lips and announced her arrival to the Were-cat, who turned and grinned widely at her. Raine walked to her, kicking off her shoes and fell on to the couch beside Sylvia. They exchanged smiles before turning to look at the TV.

“How was it?” Raine asked, knowing the type of answer she was going to get.

“The same as usual, nothing exciting.” Sylvia frowned.

“Good, it’s best when there are no complications.” Raine smiled.

“Yeah, but a little complication might make it more interesting.” Sylvia moaned, ending their conversation.

This was how they would normally talk after one of them returned from an assignment. It was an unspoken rule, you never asked what the assignment was about or the details of what happened. And no-one ever felt like breaking the rules, the assignments could be gruesome and no one wanted the added baggage of thinking what others thought or being judged and it could end up with the worst consequence of all; a conscience. There was no place for a conscience when you were on assignment. It could get you killed or worse, discovered.

Everyone at Runagate was running from something and being discovered was everyone’s worst fear. Raine didn’t know everyone’s stories, but she did know little bits of some. She knew that Sylvia was running from family but she never went into more detail than that. Joe had trouble with his mate, but anytime the subject came up, he got really upset and sad and Raine didn’t like it when Joe was sad. Lulu had issues with a lover’s jealous ex, but again never went into detail and Raine had no idea what anyone else’s stories were.

It was the same with her. No one asked Raine how or why she ended up at Runagate, but they all knew it had to be because she was running from something or someone. The place just attracted those who were lost and running and Sigmund always accepted them without asking after their past. He was a good man, even if he was a bit mysterious at times. She was glad no one asked or tried to find out, because if they did she would need to leave and she really didn’t want to when she had finally found a place she enjoyed and people she liked being around. She wasn’t sure her heart could take it anymore.

Sylvia knew she was running from were-wolves, but she knew nothing beyond this and the only reason Raine filled her in on the rest of her story from Orion Valley was because of Sylvia’s vision. She saw no harm in letting her know and after she had told her, Sylvia was so enraged by what had happened to Raine there that she wanted to take a trip to Orion Valley and personally castrate the Alpha who had been so horrible to her. Raine stopped her and it made her laugh as Sylvia told her all the things she would do if she ever came face to face with Alpha Axel.

She didn't know Raine's story before Orion Valley, and Raine never wished to reveal the truth. Only bad things would follow if anyone ever found out.

After watching about an hour of a documentary about big cats, Raine gave Sylvia a hug and bid her goodnight, before scuttling off to her bedroom. She didn’t bother showering, promising herself to have one in the morning.

She stripped of her clothes and slipped into her pyjamas and when she climbed into her bed she suddenly cursed loudly. She felt like such an i***t, she had left her phone on her make-up table in her changing room at the club. She knew she had a message from Fidelia and had planned on replying before turning in for the night.

She sighed and shrugged to herself, she would just have to wait until she was back tomorrow night and then she would reply to Fidelia. She felt a bit guilty about forgetting. Fidelia had helped her so much while she had been on the run with Sylvia for those two years.

Raine wasn’t sure how she had found out, but more than once Fidelia had warned Raine that Axel was on to her whereabouts and Raine made sure to leave whichever town or city she was in immediately. They had had a few close calls, but Fidelia had always saved their asses before they were caught by her nasty brother.

Honestly, Raine couldn’t understand why he was still looking for her. Surely, his pride and ego weren’t so large that he couldn’t get over one escapee, who had escaped years ago. But apparently his ego was just that large and he was still searching for her. She wished he would just leave her alone and move on. She had and her life was great; with Sigmund and the Ring-Master’s protection, there was no way he would ever find her in Andromeda City.

Hopefully, he would find his mate soon and just forget about her whole existence. She knew wolves became obsessed with their mates and could barely keep their minds focused on anything else when they were around or once they knew who it was. A good Luna for that nasty Alpha would distract him from Raine’s existence, even if she did feel bad for the poor she-wolf who got stuck with him.

Maybe that’s what Fidelia’s message was about, maybe her monster brother had finally found his mate and had dropped his fruitless search for Raine. That would mean Fidelia could come and visit more and wouldn’t have to lie anymore.

She smiled to herself and turned over in her bed, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, ready to drop off into dreamland. But for some reason sleep took longer than normal to find her, she had a strange feeling pulsing through her. It was like fear but also longing? Whatever it was, it squeezed her heart and made it a bit difficult to breathe. She constantly tossed and turned trying to find a comfortable position, but it seemed impossible. She couldn’t understand what was wrong. She had a bad feeling, like something was approaching her…but that was silly. Sylvia would have had a vision if something bad or dangerous was approaching like she normally did. Raine was just tired and exhausted.

Eventually, she managed to drop into an exhausted sleep but the feeling lingered and she couldn’t shake it.

Little did she know that something was slowly approaching, getting closer and closer by the second, and she could have escaped it, had she not forgotten a certain something that could have forewarned her…