Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Chapter II

Rain

When I woke up, it was raining. One would think that I love the rain because of my name, but in reality, I hate it, because it means more work for me. Werewolves come inside the Pack House with their boots full of mud, getting the freshly cleaned floors dirty around thousand times in a day.

And here I was, on the second floor, on my knees, because the Pack loves seeing me like this, scrubbing the hallway floors – floors that I cleaned fifteen minutes ago. I stop for a moment to look out the window. I sigh when I see it is still raining. When will it stop?

Someone stops next to me and his scent lets me know who he is – Jordan.

“What do you want?” I ask, and I don’t even look at his face because I am too busy looking at his shoes full of mud.

“Making sure you are working hard for the pack,” he says.

“By bringing more mud into the Pack House?”

Jordan says nothing for a minute, time in which I try to clean some part of the new mud. When he doesn’t move, I stop and look at him. I forget to breathe for a moment when I see my sketchbook in his hands.

He looks at me with an expression I can’t see, but lucky for me, Safia sends me the image of a grey cloud, meaning that he is irritated by something.

I wait for Jordan to reply to me. Or to move. Or to do anything.

He takes out a cigarette from a pack and lits it and starts smoking.

I hate the smell of tobacco. I never understood how some werewolves smoke.

“I have looked at your drawings,” Jordan finally says, after he smoked about half of the cigarette and let the ash fall on the floor. “Not too bad. But I wouldn’t call it good either.”

I don't care what Jordan says about my drawings. I know I am good. Mr. Smith told me a lot of times I have real talent, and I believe him.

He opens my sketchbook and takes out a drawing of a wolf I have been working on for some time. While some people with prosopagnosia have problems recognizing animals’ faces, I can see them very well. It’s human faces that I don’t see. And right now I wish that I could see faces because the wolf I have been working on is Titan. I have been drawing it for Safia. I wonder what expression he had on his face the moment he saw the sketch of his wolf.

“Titan says that this drawing doesn’t do him justice.”

I don’t care what Titan says. I am not drawing it for him!

“I am sorry he doesn’t like it. Can I have my drawings back?” I ask, hoping that he will give them back. I have worked a lot of time on them, and I don’t want to lose them.

Jordan smokes some more, letting the ash fall on the floor. I so want to make him eat that cigarette. Maybe then he will think twice before smoking in my presence.

“I will give your sketchbook back if you agree to meet me this night at the waterfall. Let’s say around 9:30 PM.”

I frown because I don't want to go to the waterfall. And why does he want to meet up with me later today?

He starts walking towards his room, leaving a trail of mud behind him.

I said through gritted teeth, “I don’t have to meet up with you later so that you can give me back my drawings. You have them with you.”

Jordan keeps walking as he says to me, “I will see you later, dark witch.”

I hate when he calls me a witch, especially a dark one. Not that I have something against them. I never actually met a witch, but from what I read there are dark, light, and nature witches–also known as druids. A dark witch uses her power to harm others. And the pack thinks that I am the one that started the fire that killed my parents. Truth be told, I don’t know what happened that day, I was only three. There are many times when I do believe that I am to blame.

Safia sends me an image of a heart and a hug and I inhale deeply.

"I love you too! And thank you for always being here for me. You are my best friend,” I tell her.

She sends me an image of both of us eating chocolate.

"You do realize that chocolate is like a poison for wolves?" I ask her.

She whines.

And then Safia sends me an image of Titan and her at the waterfall.

“You really need to get over your obsession with Titan,” I tell her and chuckle.

When she sends me an image of Jordan and me holding hands, I refuse to further talk to her.

I continue to work inside the Pack House all day long, making sure the dining hall is spotless for tomorrow. Then I arrange the tables and the chairs for all two hundred pack members. Thank the Goddess it is a small pack, otherwise, I would have ended up staying awake all night to get everything ready.

By the time I finish everything, it is already 9:05 PM and I decide to go to the kitchen to see if Mrs. Marian, the Gamma in charge of the food, has some leftovers for me.

Normally, the Omegas are the ones that make sure that the pack is fed, but my pack doesn’t trust me with the cooking. They think I will try to poison them. Who knows? Maybe I would, if given the opportunity.

“What do you want?” Mrs. Marian asks me when I step inside the kitchen.

“I am hungry,” I simply say.

“You are always hungry! All you do is ask for food. And then ask for some more food,” she starts with her usual bickering, and I don’t even listen to the rest. It is the same thing day after day.

When she is finally done, Mrs. Marian gives me a plate of spaghetti. Just the spaghetti, with no salsa.

“Can I have some tomato sauce?” I ask.

“This is all you receive! You either eat it or leave it!” she says in a tone full of poison.

I sigh and start eating the food. Safia sends me an image of ice cream.

“Once we get out of here, we will eat the ice cream we want,” and I feel Safia’s happiness.

After I finish the food, I go to take a shower. I use a small bathroom with only a sink and a toilet. To wash, I have to put a hose to the sink. And the water is always cold. I don’t even remember what a hot shower feels like.

Ever since my parents died, the pack had me sleeping first in the basement, next to the boiler. It was always dark in there and I often woke up crying because I had a nightmare. And no matter how much I cried, no one ever came. In time, I stopped crying, even if the nightmare continued. When I turned ten, they gave me the old laundry room. My nightmares finally stopped when I turned eleven.

When I am done with the shower and I am dressed, I look at my watch–Mr. Smith gave it to me when I turned fifteen. It is already 9:35 PM. Crap! It takes ten minutes to get to the waterfall. I doubt Jordan will wait for me.

I put my hair in a ponytail, grab my backpack and rush out the door.

I run all the way, hoping Jordan is still there.

“You are late!” he says, the moment I stop next to the waterfall. “I said 9:30 PM, and it is 9:42 PM.”

While I try to catch my breath, Jordan continues speaking, “I am going to keep one of your drawings, so that next time you make it in time. And each time you are late I am going to keep one more drawing.”

Next time? There will be no next time because I am going to get my sketchbook and return to my room.

Jordan moves in front of me. He looks at me with his turquoise eyes – Safia once sent me this color when I asked her about his eyes – and he inhales deeply.

“I never realized how sweet you smell. Apple and caramel,” he says.

“What does my scent has to do with my drawing?”

“Everything, little black witch.”

“Can I have my drawings back?” I ask and look at his face. “And stop calling me a witch!” I say in an angry voice.

Safia sends me the image of an angry cloud. Crap! I don’t want to make him angry, because Jordan has a bad temper when he is angry.

“I can call you whatever I want! And if I want to call a black witch, then that’s how I am going to call you!” Jordan snaps at me.

I look at the waterfall.

“Do you understand?” he asks me and I nod. “Look at me!” Jordan says, and I turn my head to look at him.

When Jordan moves a hand towards my face, I flinch. He chuckles and left his hand down.

“I am not going to hurt you.”

I don’t believe him. I hope that he will give me back my sketchbook so that I can leave as fast as I can.

“I am going to give you one sketch each night.”

“What?” I ask in a disbelief voice. “You can’t do that!”

“I think you forget who I am,” he says.

“You are the future Alpha,” I say automatically.

“That’s right. And like I was saying, I will give you one drawing each night. We will meet at 9:30 PM each night. Except for tomorrow, since it is my birthday.”

I want to throw something at him and hurt him. Bad! Or I could just – calm, Rain, calm.

“And to make things more interesting, we are going to play a little game,” Jordan says, and Safia sends me the image of a white cloud. He is smiling.

“Game? What sort of a game?” I ask and narrow my eyes.

Moments like this make me hate the fact that I have prosopagnosia. I want to look at someone’s face and to be able to recognize emotions.

Safia sends me the image of a cloud with the sun, and I know that Jordan is smirking.

“For each drawing, I want something in exchange. It is only fair.”

“But – but I have nothing to give you! Did you forget I live from the charity of the pack?”

Jordan smirks again–I am glad that Safia sends me images fast to keep up with all his mood changes.

“For each sketch, I want a kiss!” he tells me.

“A what?” I ask in disbelief.

“A kiss.”

I have never kissed someone before, and I don’t want to give my first kiss to him.

“I will never kiss you!” I say.

“Then I guess I am keeping your drawings. And I will do what I want with them,” he says and starts walking away.

I can’t believe him! And I can’t let him go, he still had my sketchbook! But I don’t want to kiss him.

An idea occurs to me and I mentally high-five myself.

“Wait!” I say.

“Yes?” Jordan says and turns to look at me. He smiles.

“I agree. One kiss for one drawing.”

Jordan looks at me for a few moments, then says, “I am waiting for my kiss.”

I take a few steps until I am standing in front of him. I tilt my head back to look at him. He is tall. And his scent tickles my nose.

I stand on my tiptoes, but I can’t reach his face.

“Can you bend a little? You are too tall!”

Jordan chuckles but does as I ask.

I move so that I can kiss his cheek. He never said where I have to kiss him, only that I have to kiss him.

I almost kiss his cheek, when Jordan suddenly turns his head and my lips lock with his mouth. My eyes go wide with shock, while he moves his lips on top of mine.

My first kiss.

With Jordan.

I take a step back, “You kissed me!”

He licks his lips, “That was your first kiss?”

“You had no right!” I say, and I feel how anger boils inside of me.

“Oh, little black witch. I had every right.”

I turn on my heels and walk away. I am so angry at him!

"You forgot your drawing!" Jordan yells after me, but all I want to do is to put distance between me and him.

When I get inside my room, I can still feel his lips on top of mine. I touch my mouth with my fingers.

Why did he kiss me?

When I fall asleep, I still think about it.

Soon after I fall asleep, I start dreaming. And it is the same dream I had ever since I was little.

I am in a room made of stone. A throne is in the middle of the room, and on it sits a woman with long golden hair. She wears a white dress.

She looks at me and starts talking.

“Fire and Ice. Ice and Fire. Two elements that are not compatible. Two elements that should not love each other. But it is only when Ice burns for Fire and Fire melts for Ice, that they will become Alpha and Luna Supreme. For it is their combined power that can seal the portal that connects the two worlds. They will fight the Demon King and send him back to his realm."

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter