A/N: Happy New Year and Happy Holidays! May 2021 be better the 2020. In other news. I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to read my story. As some of you know I struggle with PTSD and severe anxiety and depression. Writing has always been an outlet, but I never shared it. Until now and everyday I get on and see the read count going higher and higher. Everyone I live with has said that my mood has been a lot better and I seem happier. So thank you! You'll are giving me the motivation I need. Now enough of my babbling. Here is Chapter 14!
Chapter14
Rayn walked in to the pack house and narrowly missed being shot in the face by a Nerf dart. "Sorry Luna!" Three kids called as the continued to run about the front room and kitchen shooting each other. Rayn chuckled to himself, it was nice to see the kids playing carefree. "Sorry about that Luna Rayn. We have dinner ready if you are hungry." Marie Ann, a werewolf and mother of two of the three running around, told him. "That sounds fantastic. Asami said he would be inside in a few minutes." He told her as he followed her back into the kitchen. "Hey kid." Jeff called to him when he saw him. Rayn smirked, by the look in some of the pack members faces,they weren't to happy with Jeff calling him 'Kid' however with everything Jeff had done for him he very much deserved the right to call him that. "Hey Jeff." He answered as he took a seat next time him. A plate of food was set in front of Rayn and he thanked them. As he ate himself, Jeff and some of the pack members talked about random things.
-General Point of View Change – Rayn, Asami & Goddric -
"When you are done eating can you and Jeff come to my office?" Asami asked as he passed the kitchen. "Yeah, I am almost done so we will see you in a few." Rayn told him then turned back to finish eating.He finished quickly and he and Jeff walked upstairs to the office. "Are we interrupting?" Rayn asked amused when he entered the office to see Goddric rubbing Asami's shoulders while discussing so pack related matter. "Someone's jealous." Goddric smirks,causing both Asami and Rayn to laugh. "Moving on." Rayn rolled his eyes playfully as he walked in and unceremoniously plopped down into the chair in front of Asami's desk. "What did you guys want?"Rayn asked as he tried to stifle a yawn. Goddric and Asami both pretended to not notice. It was more then apparent that Rayn had along day at work and they could feel the soreness and tiredness rolling off him in waves. "You look exhausted Little one." "It was a long day at work, but I am fine. So what's up?" "We wanted to go over the plan for tomorrow." "Oh, yeah I forgot we are leaving tomorrow. By the Goddess it really was a long day at work."Rayn half joked. "Jeff did you contact your sister?" Rayn asked."Yup, he can't wait to see you and that you have a surprise." "Oh goddess, you didn't???" Goddric and Asami watched the banter between the two of them. "I didn't but I might have hinted at it."Rayn groaned. He loved Jeff's sister, but she was one to be very overly mothering. "I am sorry ahead of time." Rayn said to his mates. "So what time are we going to leave? Are we going by car?Plane? Have you contacted the Alpha to let him know we are coming?"Rayn rattled of the questions in rapid fire. "Okay, calm down there kid. Starting with the when and how. We agreed to leave around 5 A.M,fly out to my sisters were we will stay the night before we go the rest of the way by car. As for contacting the Alpha, I spoke with him right before you got home. He looks forward to finally meet you and of course as with any visiting Alpha's he wants you to come straight to greet him." "Of course." Asami said before asking, "What's wrong Rayn?" "Oh, I was just wondering why the new Alpha of the pack is looking forward to meeting me... He wasn't in the Alpha until was already here." "About that..." Jeff started, carefully trying to find the right words. "When he was told about all the things you suffered and how that original Alpha had not only ignored it, but also took part in it. It didn't sit well and he wants to express his apology directly. He told me if he had known he would have challenged sooner." "How could he have known. You were part of the pack and were unaware until I final confided in you." The room was silent.
Asami and Goddric were not sure how to comfort their mate. He was hurting,not just from the emotional stress he had suffered for years, but from not knowing how to deal with the other emotions he was having.It was apparent to all three of them that Rayn was struggling with how to deal with his mom's death, the fear of returning to the place of his nightmares and the annoyance of being pitied by outsiders.Through their mate bond Asami and Goddric were feeling all of this and so much more. Goddric unable to stand it anymore walked over to Rayn and pulled him into his arms before sitting down in the chair with him in his lap. The wave of emotions seemed to dim as Rayn relaxed into his mate's chest. "We will be with you Little one. We all can see that this trip and your mom's funeral is weighing onyou." Rayn couldn't say anything to Goddric's comment. It was true,he was all weighing on him and he wasn't used to the fact that they could feel this through their bond. He had always been used to being able to hide his emotions from those around him. "I know and I honestly don't think I could do this without you with me." Both Asami and Goddric's pride soared, hearing their little mate's honesty. "Its late and Rayn is exhausted so I will take him to bed while you too finish up the rest of the travel plans." Asami said as he scooped Rayn up from Goddric's lap. Rayn protested softly, but gave up quickly as it was more then apparent Asami was going to carry his no matter what he said.
"Rayn,love its time to get up." Rayn groaned at the person trying to wake him. Asami and Goddric chuckled. They had waited to wake him till they were almost ready to leave. "I know you want to sleep Little one but we have to go if we don't want to miss our flight." Rayn groaned again, but sat up. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stretched. "Its to early..." Their mate muttered as he scooted to the edge of the bed. "I agree, but you can sleep some more on the plane love." Asami told him as he handed him an outfit. Rayn took it with a grumble that had them both laughing. Rayn really wasn't a morning person. Rayn walked to the bathroom and soon they could hear the water of the shower. It was tempting to both of them to join him,pleasure him, but they both knew that if they did that they would no doubtingly miss their flight. Rayn had made its quick and when he exited the bathroom he found his mate's doing a final check of their things. "There is a breakfast burrito waiting for you in the kitchen Little one. Eat and while we load the car." "Are you sure Goddric? I don't mind helping." "I know you don't but I want you to eat." He said as he press a quick kiss to Rayn's forehead. Rayn rolled his eye and left the room to get the burrito. Goddric was a great cook, he loved his food, but Rayn also didn't like not being helpful and they both knew it.
They had made it to the airport with plenty of time. They also made it through the boarding process with minimal annoyance. Airport were not Asami's favorite place. Rayn got the sense that Asami much rather drive or ride in a crowded bus them fly. However for Rayn he was willing to put up with the displeasure if flying. Once they were seated. First class of course Rayn heard a sigh and felt both his mate's relax. "You guys really don't like flying huh?" Rayn asked innocently. "Its not the flying I dislike, its everything before.Its hard for even the oldest of vampires to deal with being around that many people." "Oh I didn't...." "Its okay Little one,for you I would do anything." Goddric reassured him with a gentle yet firm squeeze of their interlaced fingers. "I dislike flying in general, but being in a plane with heightened sense of smell is hard." "Yup" Goddric agreed. "To make my point, someone in economy class hasn't showered in at least a week and another is using way to much body spray." "Ew that is gross." Rayn said as he made a face like he just sucked on a lemon. "Indeed." Jeff piped in from across the row. Rayn gave both his mate's hands a squeeze.He was grateful to his mate's and they felt it clearly though the bond. The plane took off and the four of them filled the time with mindless small talk.
As they left the terminal Rayn was nearly bowled over by a woman,werewolf, that looked to be in her last 30's. Jeff had grabbed Asami and Goddric's arms when he seen his sister coming. "Hello to you too Sarah." Rayn chuckled as he gained his footing. Sarah was a touchy-filly kind of person so he had half expected this. She lifted him up in an almost bone crushing bear hug. "I missed you kid!"She said and then her attention landed on his mates who were uncomfortably watching her. They were fighting the need to pull their mate way from the she-wolf. "Oh, oh.... oh!" Her eye widen as the 'surprise' Jeff hinted at click. She pulled on the collar of Rayn's shirt. "Sarah, what the....." He wasn't able to finish his sentence before she let out squeal of joy. "You found your mates! I just knew that Goddess had a special plan for you!" "Sarah please let Rayn go, his mates are starting to get upset." Jeff half joked,but Goddric was really starting to become annoyed, but once Asami found out it was Jeff's sister he had relaxed. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I just got so excited." "They understand Sarah, they are just a bit..." Rayn was at a lose as to how to explain his mate's reaction to her. "We are protective." Goddric grunted. "As you should be. Rayn needs mate's that are protective, understanding and most importantly loving." Sarah said as she lead them to three cars that were waiting for them. Rayn recognized the drive of each of them and smiled. His mates felt him relax a bit more and that alone made them smile.
They arrived on the Silver Creek Pack lands after about a hours drive.Goddric and Asami had been less then happy when they couldn't ride with Rayn, but Jeff had reassured them that Rayn was safe and that he needed some time to talk alone with Sarah and her mate Amber. The Alpha, Mark, was waiting to greet them on the porch of the pack house. "Rayn!" Called his wife Mimi. "Its so good to see you again!" "Same to you Mimi. Also I would like to introduce you to my... um... my mates." Mimi's eyes went wide when Rayn spoke."Mates? Mates! You found your mates! Did you hear that Mark???""Yes Mimi, now let the boy's arm go before you shake it off."Mark laughed. Goddric and Asami stepped up beside him. Goddric rested a hand on his lower back and Asami rested a protective arm around his shoulder. They knew this pack had only good will and love for their mate but it wasn't their pack so they were still on edge. "Alpha Mark Luna Mimi, I would like to introduce my mate's Alpha's Asami and Goddric of the Teal Mountain River Pack." "Its a pleasure to meet you. As read say I am Alpha Mark and this is my mate and pack Luna Mimi." He said as he shook their hands. "Oh isn't that the pack that was the first in successfully integrate both werewolves and vampires?" Mimi asked suddenly her voice filled with excitement."Yes ma'am, that is our pack." Asami answered. Rayn could feel the pride rolling off his mates. It was a pleasant feeling. "Well lets go inside you guys have to be exhausted from your flight."Mimi said as she practically pulled the three into the house.
"Mimi is something else huh?" Goddric chuckled when they had finally gotten to the room they would stay the night in. Mimi had insisted that Rayn tell her about how they meet and then drilled them about how they planned to keep Rayn happy. "Yeah, after I came here I guess you could say she kinda became like a second mom. She was very protective for the first month I was here. She was the one that took care of me when I was at my lowest after my mom attacked me." Both Goddric and Asami could feel the love and sorrow roll off Rayn. "He really has been through so much, I am glad he found these people.They will make great allies." "Agreed. " They linked to each other before pulling Rayn into a hug. "You guys really like hugging huh?" "There's a lot we like Little one." Goddric replied and neither he nor Asami missed the sensual promise behind his words. It sent a shiver down Rayn's spine. "As much as I would love to do 'that'. We need to sleep. I have a feeling the next few days are going to be.. stressful." Rayn said as he pulled away and went to his suitcase to find some pj bottoms.
-General Point of View change – Rayn -
They had been driving for over four hour and the closer they got to the pack lands the more Rayn began to get restless. His mate's and even Jeff did their best to reassure him he was safe, but there was a still a fear there. Even the fact that Rick was dead wasn't helping."We are entering pack lands now." Jeff told them dryly. Rayn simply nodded, his throat felt like it was closing. He felt Asami's arm around his shoulders and the hand that Goddric hand resting on his leg squeeze reassuring him that they were there. Ten minutes later they were pulling up to the pack house. "You okay?" Goddric asked as Jeff killed the engine of the SUV. "Yeah. I think so."Rayn told him meekly. Before he too exited the vehicle. There was a serial feeling as he step out. He hadn't thought he would be back here again. Rayn was walking up the steps when the door of the pack house opened and Rayn's jaw dropped. Standing there in the door way was the new Alpha, and Rayn's only living relative. "Hey Rayn..." Was as far as the Alpha got before Rayn had pushed past Jeff and lunched himself into the man's awaiting arms. Leaving all three of the others stunned and lost. "Uncle..." Rayn hiccuped through tears. "Uncle?" The other three said in unison. "Lets move inside and talk. Okay?" The Alpha told them as he ran a loving hand up and down Rayn's back.