Rain

An old alarm clock that I keep on the coffee table usually wakes me up around 5 AM. I am so used to getting up so early that sometimes I wake up before the alarm goes off. Today is one of those days. There are a few minutes left until it is 5 in the morning, and I lay awake on the mattress listening to the rain falling outside. It is funny how my name is also Rain. I don’t even know if it was raining when I was born or if my mother or father liked how it sounded and decided to name me that. It is kinda ironic; I’ve never liked the rain, not since I am the one that has to spend the entire day on my knees, cleaning the floors. Sure, there are mops, but the one I had broke months ago, and a new one is yet to be purchased.

When the alarm lets me know it is time to get up, I reluctantly turn it off. For once, I want to stay longer in bed and read or draw. Soon I will be able to do that and much more. There are only three weeks left until my birthday, and I am counting down the days.

I kick the quilt to the side and get up. Since my room is basically the old laundry room, some water pipes are along the walls, and I use them to hang my clothes. I grab a towel and clean clothes and head to the half bathroom I was given to use.

Since half bathrooms don’t have showers, I had to improvise when it comes to getting clean so I’ve installed a hose to the sink. The water is cold most of the time. If I am extra lucky, it can be lukewarm, but not today. I grit my teeth and take a quick cold-as-the-North Pole shower before I get dressed, tie my hair in a ponytail, and head to the kitchen.

The Packhouse is quiet at this time in the morning. Well, not really, since werewolves have better hearing than humans, and I can hear babies crying, mothers shushing them… the squeaking of beds…. A pack rarely has secrets. Over time, I learned how to tune it out, and now I can barely hear the sounds made by the others.

After I leave the kitchen and the dining room ready for breakfast, I start cleaning the floors. Rain always brings mud, and children that run outside or jump into puddles.

It is past noon when the grey clouds finally disappear, giving way to a bright July sun. I am on the first floor, cleaning the windows, when someone stops behind me. I don’t need to smell his scent to know who he is—Jordan. By now, I probably recognize everyone by the sound of their steps.

“What is it?” I ask.

Tomorrow is a big day for him, I guess. He turns twenty-two, an age at which many Alphas are already mated. Maybe he wants the packhouse spotless for when the unmated females arrive. I really hope one of them carries the scent that will make his wolf want to court her. It is the first sign that lets a male know his mate is close, but only when they touch, skin on skin, will they know for sure if the Goddess linked their souls for eternity. There are times when, if the male has been looking for his mate for years, the wolf will pick a scent that he likes in the hopes that they will find the one. Jordan hasn’t been waiting for that long, but the pack’s current Luna—Jordan’s mom—is sick, and the pressure on him to find his mate is immense.

Sometimes when a mate dies, the Goddess will give them another mate. Rejected mates are rare, and they are almost never granted another mate, as the link that ties their souls together almost never disappears. It is only weakened.

I think it is like a slap in the face to the Goddess to refuse the one she made for you.

“To have a word with you,” Jordan tells me.

He… what?

Jordan doesn’t speak; he… demands.

I turn around to face him. My sketchbook is in his hands, a scowl on his face—or at least that’s what Safia lets me know. A cigarette is behind his right ear, and I bet it won’t take long before he lights it and starts smoking.

“I have looked at your drawings,” he starts saying after a few moments of silence. “They are not bad, but neither are they good. The one of Titan is terrible though, so I threw it where it belongs, in the garbage.”

Does this asshole have any idea how much work I put into drawing Titan? Not only did I have to spy on him one night when he was running, but I also had to remember all the details perfectly. While I can’t see human faces, I have no problem with animals.

I don’t understand Safia’s crazy obsession with Titan. I really wish she would have chosen another wolf. Not someone from this pack. Apart from Jordan’s bullying and the way everyone treats me… there are other things that have… happened to me.

“May I have them back?” I ask, hoping I can go back to cleaning the windows. I still have a thousand things to do today. “And my backpack?”

Jordan puts the cigarette in his mouth, takes a lighter, and lights it. He takes a few puffs while looking at me. At least, that’s what I think he is doing. Safia is watching him attentively. Is she obsessed with him now too? I hope not.

After letting ashes fall on the freshly scrubbed floor, Jordan says, “Meet me by the waterfall at 9 PM.”

The waterfall is in the forest, about twenty minutes away from the pack. Jordan knows I can’t possibly make it on time.

“Where Elly usually goes to dance?” I ask, wanting to be sure we are talking about the same place.

Elly is one of the Gamma females. She is younger than me by a few months and lives with her brother Dan in a lovely cottage close to the packhouse. Their parents died around eight years ago when Elly was twelve, and Dan was sixteen. A group of feral rogues attacked the pack that day and killed around ten members. Since then, Dan has worked hard to take care of Elly.

“You know another waterfall within the pack’s territory?” he asks like I am stupid.

Not that I would know since I have never been able to run across the entire territory. The pack resides in Romania, in Baciu Forest, and old magic protects this place. It is kind of like how in Harry Potter, where anyone that dares to enter the famous Baciu Forest will not only never find us, but strange phenomena can happen around them. Things that will make them think twice before setting foot in our territory. It is the same for any place where paranormal creatures live.

The Crescent Moon Pack is the gatekeeper of the Diamond Realm. I have never been there, but from what I have heard, it is a wonderful place. There are many paranormal species living there. A long time ago, the Diamond Realm was opened to everyone, including humans. The Diamond Realm was founded by Queen Sera—the most beautiful werewolf female that had ever lived—and her mate, King Aris—who was the son of the king of the Ruby Realm of the vampires.

The Cosaci Vampires are the vampires that can see the memories of the ones they drink blood from. After being kicked out of the Ruby Realm for killing King Aris’ father and trying to make Dimos, King Aris’ cousin, the new king of the Dacian Vampires, they made a pact with the feral rogues to conquer the Diamond Realm. Queen Sera was on good terms with King Roi of the Sapphire Realm—the realm of the dragons—and she, with the help of the dragons, defeated the Cosaci Vampires but lost her life in the last battle. King Aris, while being Queen Sera’s mate, was killed by the Armored Knights—the Queen’s personal guards—for being a vampire. Since then, relationships between the Diamond Realm and the Ruby Realm have been tense, to say the least. Werewolf-vampire couples are taboo, and most times, they are forced to separate by their families. Or killed.

There were some Cosaci Vampires that escaped and have rebuilt their numbers. Last I heard, they live close to here, in a very old palace.

As for the dragons, they usually keep to themselves.

There are more realms, of course, but the Ruby and the Sapphire Realms are the closest to us.

I shrug. “The farthest I have been is at the waterfall,” I say to Jordan. “I can’t make it at 9 PM. I doubt I will finish everything that I have to do by 10 PM.”

He looks at my hands, which are callused from all the years of hard work. “Nine-thirty then. Not a minute later.”

While he has the sketches with him and could give them to me right now, I agree to meet with him by the waterfall. Reluctantly. “At 9:30 PM,” I confirm the time.