Runaway Mate

Chapter 8

Nessa/Raine

Nessa sat staring at the strange and mysterious woman who was still lying naked across her bed. The woman just stared back with a large smirk on her face.

Nessa had no idea what to do or say. What do you say to a woman who was a cat who is now a woman who decided it was cool to lie next to you in the buff? Even the sentence was confusing!

Luckily, the woman, Sylvia, seemed to catch on to her frozen and very confused state. She let out a yawn, flipped onto her stomach and then stretched her body out like she was still a cat, with her ass in the air.

“You need more time.” She sighed, sitting up and swinging her legs over the bed. With her back to Nessa, she could see how long and beautiful her hair was. All of it was silver and it didn’t looked dyed or bleached, it looked like her natural colour and it was very long. So long that she could have easily have sat on it.

Sylvia turned her head towards Nessa again, sniffed the air and then scrunched her nose.

“You could also do with a shower and some clean clothes. You smell like a wet dog!” She laughed.

She then got up and glided across the room to the door and unlocked it, still naked.

“I shall see you downstairs when you are ready.” She chimed, opening the door that led downstairs to the diner and leaving through it. Still naked!

Nessa just sat on the bed staring at the door Sylvia had disappeared through, not quite sure what to do or say.

‘This has to be a dream…’ She thought to herself, still dazed.

She took one hand and pinched her cheek hard; she felt the sharp pinch of her nails and then the pain blossomed beneath the skin.

‘Ouch, okay...not a dream…’

She then thought of the other thing that Sylvia had said, she grabbed a handful of her dress and inhaled. It was true. She unfortunately reeked of wet dog and other unpleasant smells. But honestly, what do you expect? She had been locked in a cell that was very famously rumoured to be the ‘interrogation’ area for rogue wolves; she had run for dear life through the woods on her bare feet, ridden a bus for at least twelve or more hours and then slept in the same clothes, too exhausted at the time to even consider changing.

She felt a pang of pain in her heart. The other reason for her smelling like a dog was because she had lived among wolves for so long and had spent the evening before her imprisonment in their company. Of course she would have that scent clinging to her. But she needed to be rid of it, she needed a clean slate away from those memories, otherwise they would consume her and one of two things would end up happening. She would either wallow in her memories and become easy prey or, worse, she would return, right into the arms of that horrid monster of an Alpha.

She needed another fresh start and what better way to begin than with a nice, refreshing shower?

So, she followed the advice of the mysterious Sylvia, choosing to ignore how odd and disturbing her sudden presence was, and got off her bed. Her dress clung to her from sweating in the dry heat; it looked like the rain wasn’t doing a great job at bringing the temperature down a whole bunch. She walked into the room she had assumed was the bathroom and once she found the light switch, she was relieved to discover that she was right.

The bathroom was basic; it had a shower, no bath, a sink with a little mirror above it and a toilet. The colour scheme was white and cream, with no particular patterns on the walls or tiles, but for Nessa’s needs it was perfect. She didn’t need anything fancy; as long as there was running hot water she would be quite fine and happy.

Before she had the chance to close the bathroom door, she heard a sudden commotion. She tensed instantly; trying to listen hard to where the commotion and sound was coming from. It was definitely from downstairs in the diner. She relaxed and even cracked a small smile when she managed to hear some more distinct sounds and voices.

There was a loud crash, definitely from the kitchen area, and then a high pitched caterwaul, which she assumed was from Sylvia. Then the voices reached her ears.

“You crazy old witch!” She heard Sylvia shriek and then hiss loudly.

“Don’t start with me cat! If you come into this diner, then you wear some damn clothes!” Came Agnes's screams and then a few more crashes and high pitched cat noises.

Nessa chuckled as she listened to the two fighting. She then closed the door, peeled the ruined dress from her body and stepped into the shower. It took her a minute and a few startled jumps to get the right temperature for the water, but once she found the sweet spot she felt herself melt under the warm water as it poured over her skin, washing away the dirt and grime.

She was happy to discover that there was already shampoo and soap on a little shelf in the shower and was thankful to Agnes for keeping the bathroom so well stocked.

While she washed her body and hair, she thought of the fight downstairs. From what she could hear it was obvious that Sylvia was no stranger to the diner or Agnes and Agnes knew she wasn’t human. She had clearly called Sylvia a cat and didn’t seem that surprised by her sauntering around naked. Which meant it was likely that Agnes and her brother were also not human. Nessa had discovered it was very unlikely for supernatural creatures to reveal their identities to humans, humans had a knack for over-reacting or an inability to keep their mouths shut.

The thought made her pause. If they weren’t human, did that mean they knew that she wasn’t either? She did her best to keep herself hidden here and she was curious about too many things to let herself truly trust these people yet. The whole thing just seemed to set out, as if they were kinda ready for her arrival. She wouldn’t let them know just yet that she had these suspicions. During her life on the run she had learned that sometimes it was better to play along and get a little extra information than to just flat out flee all the time. However, you had to know when the situation was becoming too dangerous. Best not to overstay your welcome then or you could end up dead.

She reluctantly stepped out of the shower and wrapped one of the towels that were folded by the sink. She glanced down at her dress, it lay in a filthy heap on the floor and again she felt a tug at her heart.

‘Fidelia loved that dress…’ She sighed and then shook the thought from her brain. She had to stop that, she would miss her friend dearly, but she had to keep her focus forward and stop looking behind. It was safer for both of them that way.

She stepped over the dress and decided she would deal with it later and stepped back into the room. She was just considering what she was going to wear, she definitely could not put on the filthy dress again, despite how desperate she was and considering the commotion earlier, she didn’t think it wise to wander down into the diner with just a towel wrapped around her.

She settled on the plan of searching through the drawers in the room and hoping someone had maybe left something, when she spotted something on the bed.

Someone had been in, Agnes she would have thought, and had made the bed and left a small pile of folded clothes at the end. Nessa cautiously picked them up and could instantly smell the heavenly scent of fresh cotton. After knowing what she had smelt like before her shower, this scent was heavenly.

She quickly dried herself and slipped on the clothes. They were simple but she liked them, some skinny jeans and a black t-shirt. They were a bit big, however, so the skinny jeans looked a bit baggy and the t-shirt was extremely loose. But they were comfortable and clean and that’s what mattered to her the most.

She was just about ready to venture downstairs when she caught her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall by the door. She frowned at her reflection and sighed heavily. Her hair would have to go. It had felt nice to grow it long again and she was even getting used to the colour, but she knew she had to change it now that she was a different person.

She walked to the small kitchen, rummaged through the drawers until she located a sharp pair of scissors. She slowly and carefully walked back into the bathroom and took one last long look at her beautiful hair and then began the chopping. She wasn’t careful, because personally it didn’t matter to her really, it was only ever temporary. When she pulled the scissors away she looked at her new roughly cut haircut, it didn’t look half bad, she thought. It was a lot shorter, resting just above her shoulders, but the colour would have to go as well.

She placed the scissors down on the sink and took another last look at her ash-coloured hair; she had really come to love the colour and now it had to go. She reached her hand back to the nape of her neck, tracing her fingers along her hairline where she felt it. The small magical symbol burned into her skin, she traced the symbol and closed her eyes and thought hard.

What colour would be best? She would love to remove it and have her own hair again, but that was a big no! She thought about what would look best to match her new name and the gentle colour of chocolate brown popped into her head. Yeah, chocolate brown would be a good colour for a while; it had been a long time since she had had that colour.

As she visualised the colour, she pulled her hand and fingers away. She felt the magic release and dance along her head, swirling through her short locks and a familiar tingle all along the skin. And then, just as quickly as the sensation had begun, it disappeared. When she opened her eyes she smiled at her new reflection. Short chocolate brown, it looked perfect.

With her new look complete, she made her way to the door. She noticed a few pairs of shoes, all different sizes, and chuckled at the thought of poor Agnes trying to guess her size. She found a pair of black flats that fit perfectly and then left the small studio apartment and went downstairs.