Wednesday, December 20th, 2017, 7:15am
Rei's POV
I glance at Zaine again.
I feel a smile forming on my lips, and quickly try to force it down. I look down, focusing on my bowl of cereal as my body shakes with suppressed laughter.
It has nothing to do with Zaine's appearance, or what he's doing. No, it's just that looking at him keeps reminding me of the bizarre dream I had last night.
We're sitting at the table having breakfast, and I'm trying to not burst out laughing.
"What is it, Reina?" Clove asks, smiling. "Why do you keep laughing when you look at Changeling?"
Her words use me to glance at Zaine again, and I have to suppress another grin, quickly looking away again. I can feel everyone looking at me as I try to calm myself.
"Nothing, just this dream I had," I reply.
"What was it about?" Killian asks. "Clearly it has something to do with my boyfriend."
"Tell us!" Rhea says.
"Yeah, tell us!" Zaine pipes up. "It was about me, I wanna know."
Another round of suppressed laughter hits me and take a few deep breaths.
"I don't remember everything about it," I begin, "but we were in some sort of basement, full of dust covered furniture, couches, chairs and that. And for some reason, there was this baby pig we had been told to take care of."
"Baby pig?" Clove questions.
I nod. "It gets better. Strange, you were asking me how we were gonna raise it, and then Flash, you come up and suggests this spell you found in an old magic book. We didn't even know what the spell was, but we cast it, and the pig disappeared. And we find that the spell caused Changeling to become pregnant, with the flipping pig."
I can't contain my laughter anymore. It escapes past my lips as I grin, watching the others laugh too.
"That's even it yet," I say. "Once we found out, Flash was acting all proud and excited, something about him wanting to be a dad. So the sentence 'Changeling's pregnant with a baby pig' has been circling my mind all morning, along with the image of him with a big stomach."
(A/N This is a true story, I actually dreamed this, that Zaine somehow got pregnant with a pig, and I was thinking that sentence over and over. I was suppressing a smile during the national anthem at school, making my friend across the room look at me weirdly.)
Everyone is laughing, Zaine laughing the hardest.
"Oh my Satan, that is gold," he laughs, gasping. "Pregnant with a pig... A flipping pig."
He rests his forehead on the table, looking down, his body shaking with laughter. A while later, he looks up again, grinning. His eyes glow and his nose changes to look like a pigs. It reminds me of that scene of Tonks doing the same in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Chase and Rhea giggle, watching Zaine. Killian puts one arm around Zaine's shoulders, chuckling. Clove is chortling beside me, grinning.
"What goes on inside your head, Reina?" she asks.
I shrug. "Thinking. Planning rogue attacks. Oh, by the way, the attack on the orphanage last night was a success. The abusive caretakers are gone, and all the orphans have chosen groups to join and, it seems like they're happy and doing well."
Clove nods. "That's good. I'll never understand why people choose to hurt kids. It's just not right, I mean, they're kids. Humans seem to fret more over an animal hurting someone once, but what about the people who're abused or bullied daily?"
"Yeah," Killian agrees. "Which is why we have the Queen, the Royals, and the rest of our rogues. To save people from abuse, and all the dark emotions that come with it. Because the pain doesn't go away when the abuse or bullying stops. You have to deal with all the emotions caused by it, and that could take a lifetime."
I notice Zaine looking down, biting his lower lip, his nose back to normal. Killian notices too. He tilts Zaine's chin up so they're looking at each other, and kisses him softly. They kiss for a few seconds before Killian pulls away, keeping one arm wrapped around Zaine's waist.
There's a knock on the door. Clove stands up and heads over to the front door, opening it and being greeted with two of the pack caretakers, Sophie and Grace.
"Hi," Clove says, smiling.
"Miss Ranger," Grace replies and a nod, a warm smile on her lips.
"Chase, Rhea, you two be good," Zaine tells the twins. "If you're bad, do you know who comes for a visit?"
"Who?" Rhea asks, tilting her head. "The bogeyman?"
"No," Zaine whispers, grinning. "Much worse."
"Dark Vader?!" Chase cries, his voice excited and nervous at the same time.
Zaine shakes his head. "Nope, not Darth Vader. Though that would be awesome if he came to visit."
"Who?!" The twins shout in unison.
"The tickle monster!" Zaine cries, pointing at Killian.
Killian grins evilly, raising his hands and wiggling his fingers. The twins squeal and run over to Clove by the door. They grabs their coats and boots, putting them on.
"Ready to go?" Sophie asks.
Chase nods and looks back at us. "Bye bye!"
"You'll come get us later, right?" Rhea asks.
"Of course," Clove says, patting her younger sister's head.
Rhea smiles and both her and Chase walk outside and off to the pack house with Sophie and Grace.
"Seven thirty-five," I say, looking at the clock. "We should start cleaning up, knowing how long it'll take us to get ready."
"Yeah," Killian says. He looks at Zaine, "quick shower together?"
Zaine smirks. "Sure. I'm horny, and we haven't made love in a while."
"Don't take too long!" I shout as they run upstairs, towards the bathroom. "And don't be too loud for my poor not-so-virgin ears!"
"You call me Flash for a reason!" Killian shouts back. "We won't be too loud, but there's no guarantee Changeling won't be limping!"
"Was there ever any guarantee on that?!" Clove yells.
There's a small pause before both Killian and Zaine shout back, "no!"
Clove and I look at each other, smiling and shaking our heads.
Clove chuckles. "That's our OTP."
➵
Around 45 minutes later, we're leaving the house and heading to school.
Killian is complaining about not wanting to go while helping Zaine, who has a barely noticeable limp. Clove is levitating a frosty red leaf above her open palm, making it spin in fast circles. I watch as she stops using her power, letting the leaf twirl down to the ground.
There's a push in my mind, a spirit wanting to talk. I can feel it's Lyria, so of course I let her in, opening my mind to let Clove, Killian and Zaine listen too.
Run, she says. Run, and listen closely. Riley.
Then she's gone. I look at my friends for a second, then start running. I do my best to keep my footfalls silent, listening carefully to the sounds around me. Clove, Killian and Zaine are behind me, running with me, Killian pretty much carrying Zaine.
Suddenly I stop, and strain my ears. Did I hear a sob, or was I just imagining it? I wait a few seconds, and hear it again. A soft, pain-filled sob. I know the others heard it too.
I take a few steps towards the place the sound came from, looking around.
"Hello?" Clove calls gently, "who's there?"
"We just want to talk," Zaine adds, taking a step forward.
No answer.
I heard a quiet gasp, Killian says, his eyes glowing. He points in front of us, a little to the right, that way.
Lead the way, I say softly.
Killian nods and starts walking in the direction he pointed, Clove, Zaine and I trailing behind him. I hear a quiet sniffle, and I'm starting to catch the scent of vanilla and this sort of woodsy smell that reminds me of the pack house. It's mixed with blood, and tears, making my eyes widen.
"Hello," Killian says softly. I blink and see someone peeking around the trunk of one of the trees. "I'm Killian, this is my family. What's your name?"
I see hesitation in the blue eyes gazing at us shyly.
"...Riley," I hear the person whisper.
"Riley," I repeat, smiling. "I like it. Why don't you come around so we can see you? We won't hurt you, if that's what you're thinking."
Riley hesitates, then slowly steps out from behind the tree. His blonde hair is messy, his blue eyes red and puffy from crying. His face it wet with tears, and red from the cold. He doesn't have a coat, just a thin looking light blue sweater that doesn't look very warm. Even though he keeps his head up, his eyes never meet ours.
He's an omega, I can sense that small, innocent feeling aura coming from him.
"My name's Autumn," I say. "This is my sister Clove, and my friend Zaine."
Riley nods. "They were talking about you, all of you. Kia and her followers."
"Of course they were," Zaine says. "How couldn't they, we're fabulous."
A small smile appears on Riley's lips, but it fades quickly. "Uh... I'm guessing you... Want to know why I'm out here dressed like this... And crying."
Clove nods. "We want to help."
"Are you experts on abuse?" Riley asks ruefully.
"Actually, yes," Zaine says. "We've helped hundreds of people who've been abused... Or bullied, or rejected, or disowned, or anything."
I see a little bit of hope shine in Riley's eyes.
"Who's abusing you?" Killian asks, his voice hiding the anger I know he's feeling.
"The pack," Riley whispers, looking down. "Not the Alpha, or his friends. It's... Some of the adults, the ones that were close to Alpha Leon, or Beta female Brianna. Kia and her followers too."
I grit my teeth, hearing my mother's name. "Does Asher know?"
Riley shakes his head. "No... They only abuse us on weekdays, when there's no one around... No one who will report to the Alpha, at least. I think it's because we're omegas, and they think we're easy targets."
"'Us?'" Clove repeats, anger lacing her tone.
"Yeah. Me and the other orphan or disowned omegas. I know what they're doing to us isn't right, but I just don't have the guts to go up to the Alpha and tell him about it. He's always with his friends, and I don't see him a lot either."
"Would you like to come with us and talk to Asher?" Zaine asks, slowly, gently reaching out and putting a hand on Riley's shoulder.
Riley hesitates again, then nods slowly.
"You know what else we can do?" I say. They all look at me. "We can see if Asher will let the Unity group come here. The choir could have some new members."
"Choir?" Riley repeats, his voice laced with curiosity, and interest.
"There's a choir I've formed," I explain, "meant for people who need a sense of family."
"Really?" Riley whispers. "I like singing, I'd join. I know some of the other omegas would too."
"Then we'll ask," I say. "We should probably get to school, it's been ten minutes since class started."
➵
"What?" Asher growls, his eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"
"Asher, don't scare him," I say, seeing Riley tense.
It's lunch, and we decided to eat in the hall by Raiden's locker. I found Riley and asking him to join us, deciding to let Asher and his friends know what's been going on in the pack.
"Sorry, Riley," Asher says, his voice calmer. "But really? They've been doing this to you, and to the other omegas, behind my back? For how long?"
"About one year," Riley answers. "They started last year in September, a little after Alpha Leon was killed."
I notice Asher's eyes saddened slightly at the mention of his father. I see Raiden's do too, as well as Scott's and Dean's. I growl mentally. If they knew that he was having an affair, they wouldn't miss him so much. They mustn't have found out about the affair when I left. So either Raiden didn't question Brianna, or she lied. She probably lied.
"I'm calling the pack for a meeting before dinner," Asher growls. He looks at Riley, "can you have all the omegas on or beside the stage in the pack house backyard at say... 4:30 this evening?"
Riley nods. "I can do that, Alpha."
"Please, call me Asher."
Riley nods again, blushing slightly.
"Oh, and Asher?" I say.
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering... My family and I have some friends, they're all in a choir, and I was wondering if they could come visit. They've all been through some dark things, and they found a sense of family in the choir, so I thought maybe the omegas would like it."
"It sounds nice," Asher says, nodding. "How many would come?"
"Seventeen," I reply. "Nine orphans and eight adults to watch over them and protect them. The rogue world is a dangerous place, that's why we came here for a while."
"Right..." Raiden muses, sounding a little sad. "A while..."
I don't think he wants us to leave, especially not Clove.
"Would they be alright in the pack house?" Scott asks. "And maybe sleeping with one or two others?"
"I think so," I reply. "They're not too picky with sleeping arrangements."
"Just food," Zaine pipes up. "It's best to give them a buffet to chose from at meal times."
Clove scoffs, hitting Zaine lightly on the shoulder. "They're not that bad."
"Keyword, that," Zaine replies. "Not that bad. You can admit they can be a little picky, Strange."
Clove huffs but begrudgingly nods.
"Hey, do your nicknames have anything to do with your abilities?" Dean asks.
Killian glances at me before looking at Dean. "Yeah, except Autumn's. Clove's, Zaine's and mine are based on what we can do."
"Lunch is almost over," Raiden says, looking at the time on his phone. "We should get our stuff for next period."
We all stand up, grabbing our garbage to throw out.
"Riley, 4:30, got it?" Asher asks.
Riley nods, and heads off down the hall. Scott and Dean walk off together to get their binders and stuff. Clove, Killian and Zaine have their lockers open.
"Oh, uh, Autumn?" Asher says timidly, smiling sheepishly.
"Yeah?" I say. "What's up Asher?"
"Gas prices," he replies, his smile becoming less nervous. "Uh, will you go on a a date with me? Tomorrow evening?"
Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, Raven begs.
Slowly, I nod. "Sure. What time?"
Asher grins, his nervousness disappearing. "How's 5 o'clock? I'll pick you up for dinner?"
"Sounds good," I reply.
The bell rings, telling us there's only five more minutes before class starts.
"I'll see you later," Asher says.
He turns and walks away to go his locker. Killian and Zaine say bye and head off to their math class, leaving just me, Clove and Raiden. Both of them are smiling at me.
"What?" I ask.
"I'm surprised you agreed to go on a date with him," Clove says. "After what happened last time... Last time you tried dating."
"Last time?" Raiden asks, his smile fading slightly.
"I... Don't have the best experience with relationships," I reply.
"Oh," Raiden murmurs. "Well, I know Asher won't do anything to hurt you." He looks at Clove, "and I won't hurt you."
"You better not," I warn.
As we walk towards our English class, I think of what just happened.
And I just agreed to go on a date with Asher Myers.