Song: Let Me Go by NF
Words: 2586
Published: June 26th, 2020
Third Person POV
It's already far past six o'clock by the time Harley finds Rayna in the library. He got a bit worried when he didn't find her in the bedroom, but it wasn't hard to follow her scent and find her.
At least she got sleep, he thinks to himself with a visible shrug.
He cocks his head to the side when he sees the book in her hands. He grabs it softly and reads the title. "The Flower Wolves." He's already read this. Twice, actually. He's also listened to the audiobook. He sets it on a table and decides to wake Rayna. Supper has been ready for half an hour now.
"Hey. Rayna, baby. Wake up," he whispers, shaking her softly.
She grumbles a bit and rubs her eyes when she wakes up.
"Hm? What?" she asks, sitting up.
"Supper's ready," he tells her.
"Oh."
Rayna stands up, stretching a bit. Harley can't help it as his eyes wander over her body. He wishes the hoodie would ride up enough to expose more of her skin, but it was too oversized. So, instead, he roams over her legs. He can already imagine spreading them apart . . .
No. Stop it, he internally growls at himself. Hollow growls back.
Most men of royalty would have taken their mates by now. The longest recorded wait time for a King was three weeks, and that was only because his mate was heavily pregnant and they had to wait for the baby to be born before mating. Even Calum admitted that it only took three days for him and Savvy.
He meets Rayna's eyes again. She feels her breath being taken from her body as she looks into his hazel orbs. She blushes and looks away, but that gives her a few moments to look over his chest and legs. She blushes harder and hides her face in her sleeves.
"You okay?" Harley asks, walking closer and putting a hand on her forehead.
"Y- Yeah. I- I'm okay," she stutters.
"Okay . . ."
Harley takes her hand, and they walk out of the library. He leads her back to the Leader Commons, heading towards the kitchen.
"There's some people I'd like you to meet," he tells her nonchalantly. Rayna's heart skips a beat before speeding up. She gets anxious, her legs feeling weak.
"Wh- Who?" she questions, squeezing his hand.
"You'll see," he says passively. That doesn't help. She gulps. "It's okay. They'll love you," he attempts to assure her. She nods weakly, her legs shaking.
At the entrance of the kitchen, Rayna hides behind Harley before she can even get a glimpse of whoever's there. Without looking, she can sense multiple very strong presences. The dominating power makes her shrink and clutch onto Harley's shirt.
"Hey, it's okay," Harley tries to assure her, still holding onto her hand and glancing over his shoulder to give her a smile. "She's shy," he tells whoever else is in the kitchen. "Come out, Rayna. It's okay."
She steps out to Harleys side, and she's instantly paralyzed with fear.
In front of her stands three males, all in their early to mid twenties between 6'8 and 6'6. She's aware that Harley is seven feet tall and twenty-five, but for some reason, he isn't intimidating to her, so she isn't scared of him. She could be intimidated by a 5'5 guy that's the same age as her, so these three males are absolutely terrifying.
She can tell when Harley starts talking, but she can't hear him clearly. The sound of her heartbeat, blood rushing through her head, and her heavy breathing make outside noises sound garbled.
One of the guys suddenly move his hand, making her flinch, even though it was just a waving motions since Harley had just introduced him. Her mate tries to reach out for her, but all she sees in a movement in the corner of her eye, so she jumps back.
She can see his lips moving as he looks at her, but she can't make out what he's saying. He tries to walk closer, but it only makes her back up even more. She yelps when she sees one of the other guys move, and she trips, falling backwards.
Her lip trembles, and tears start to escape her eyes, blurring her vision. She realizes she's screaming, but she can't hear what she's saying. She doesn't know what she's saying. She yelps again when she feels her back hit a wall. She realizes she's cornered and closes her eyes tightly, wrapping herself in a ball to try and protect herself. Her screaming dulls down to mumbling.
After a few moments, she can hear again.
"It's okay, Rayna. You're okay. I got you. You're safe," Harley whispers on repeat into her hair. She can feel herself engulfed in his warm touch and snuggles deeper into him, tears still streaming down her face. She wishes she could drown in the tingles.
She slowly opens her eyes to see herself wrapped in Harley's arms. He's seated on the kitchen floor, his back against the cupboards, with her in his lap. The three guys have already left, leaving them alone.
"I- I'm sorry," Rayna mumbles with a sniffle, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. He kisses the top of her forehead, rubbing her arm.
"What happened, baby?" he asks, genuinely concerned.
"I- I don't know. I- I got r- really sc- sc- scared," she explains, still sniffling and wiping her red eyes.
"What got you so scared?" he questions.
"Th- Those guys . . ."
Harley is silent for a minute.
"Why don't we get you back in bed, hm? We can eat there together, and you can rest more. Today has been really exhausting for you, hasn't it?"
Yawning, Rayna nods. She wraps her arms around Harley's neck, pulling herself closer to him, and buries her face in his chest. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he whispers to her.
"It's okay," she whispers back, subconsciously kissing his chest through his shirt. He instantly heats up, his neck going pink.
He swallows his urges and places Rayna in a way that he can carry her. He stands up, holding her bridle style, and carries her upstairs to their room. She's basically asleep again when he places her in bed, but she growls softly and refuses to let go of him when he tries to walk away.
He gives her a soft smile, admiring her beauty. He caresses her cheek and leans over to give her a kiss on the forehead. He attempts to pull away again, having more work to complete, but she growls for the second time. This time it's louder, and he can feel her claws beginning to sprout from her nails.
"Shh." He tries to calm her down. Her wolf must be scared, too, if she's having this reaction. She's probably surfacing. After a few moment, she goes quiet and relaxes.
"Don't go," she mumbles, not entirely awake.
"I have more work to do, baby," he tells her softly. Her eyes open, and she gives him the cutest look he could possibly imagine. Her bright blue eyes look up at him as her brown hair messily falls a bit.
"Stay," she quietly demands. He knows full well that he's under her spell when the thoughts of work or even leaving this bedroom completely vanish.
"Okay," he agrees, grabbing her hand and kissing it. He crawls over her and into bed. He sits up, making her roll over to look at him. "You wanna nap again or eat first?" he asks.
Her stomach growls, so she sits up. "Eat," she replies. He nods and mind-links the McClains to bring them their supper.
Forty minutes later, Harley has easily cleaned his plate, and Rayna is passed out again, a good three fourths of her food gone. He's shocked when she rolls over and cuddles him in her sleep, but he smiles and pets her hair.
Slowly, his thoughts once again wander off to things he knows he shouldn't think about, but he can't help it. He bites his lip and clenches his fist, restraining himself from peeking. She's sleeping, for goodness sake. Unfortunately, his boner refuses to go away. He gets up, making sure to not wake Rayna, and walks into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. In there, he releases himself.
*~*~*~*
"We'll show you what a man can do to a weak little girl like you."
"Rayna!" Harley tells for the umpteenth time. Rayna's eyes snap wide open, and she sits up in a flash, screaming in horror. Tears stream from her eyes down her face, and she can't breathe. She scratches at her skin, trying to get rid of the dirty feeling of their hands on her.
"Hey, hey, look at me," Harley says softly, softly grabbing her wrists and pulling them away from her body to stop her from hurting herself. He takes them both in one hand and sets them in her lap, using his now free hand to cup her face and force her to meet his eyes.
It's two o'clock in the morning, and Rayna had a flashback in her sleep.
She remembers that she isn't with Johnathan anymore. She isn't in that cold, dirty basement, or on that disgusting old mattress with those creepy men. She's with Harley. He's her mate, and he won't hurt her.
"Breathe. In . . . and out," Harley instructs closely, breathing with his instructions. Rayna starts to copy him, and he wipes the tears off her cheeks as she regains control of her breathing. Once her heartbeat is back to a normal pace, he stops to give her a kiss on the forehead.
"What happened, baby?" he questions.
"I- I- I . . . I was h- having a n- n- n- nightmare," she lies. It wasn't a mere figment of her imagination—as much as she wishes that's all it was—but rather a memory. She shivers, realizing she's drenched in sweat.
"You wanna talk about it?" Harley asks, holding her to him. She wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his chest.
She recalls exactly what happened again.
"N- No," she whispers. She pulls away. "I- I wanna t- t- take a shower."
"Okay . . ."
Rayna crawls out of bed, grabbing a new pair of clothes and locking herself in the bathroom. She strips and looks anywhere but the mirror, unable to lay her eyes on her own disgusting, tainted body. She steps into the shower and turns the water on full blast, trying to keep it not too hot. She grabs the loofa and body wash and scrubs her body raw, cringing at the sight of it. Once she's cleaned herself, she turns the water off and steps out. She dries off and gets dressed. She now wore a long sleeved white shirt, underwear, and sweatpants. She ties her hair back and steps out.
She sniffles, standing in front of Harley, who sits on the edge of the bed. He wore a loose, long sleeved black shirt and boxers. He opens his arms to her, and she walks closer to him, he pulls her into his lap and rubs her back.
"I'm sorry," Rayna apologizes.
"Why? What for?"
"I- I'm weak, a- and I woke you up," she stutters, thinking it was obvious.
"Hey, look at me," he says again. Blue and hazel meet. "You are not weak. You are so, so strong. Don't let anyone ever tell you any different. Also, you can wake me up at any time for any reason. Okay?"
She softly nods.
"Remember those people I wanted you to meet?"
She nods. "Yeah."
"Those were my leaders," he explains.
"Oh . . ."
That's why they were so scary.
"A lot of people get intimidated by them, but I thought you'd be okay with it since you aren't scared of me." He chuckles. "You know, since I'm seven feet tall, muscled, and the Alpha King."
She giggles. "Yeah, but you aren't scary."
He pouts, looking down at her. "Yes I am."
She giggles again. "No you're not."
"How am I not scary?" he asks, lifting her up and laying them back under the covers.
"I don't know. You're too sweet and cute to be scary," she replies without thinking, poking his chest. She freezes and turns bright red only moments later when she realizes what she said. Harley just chuckles and holds her tight.
"You think I'm cute?" he asks.
"Y- Yeah."
"Well, thank you. I'm glad to know my mate thinks I'm cute. You are too."
They're quiet for a bit, Rayna's skin returning back to it's normal shade.
"C- Can you introduce me t- to your leaders . . . w- without b- being with them?" she asks hesitantly.
"Sure." Harley grabs his phone to pull up a picture. After a minute, he finds one of the four of them all together. It was taken about a month ago when they all went out to the bar.
He points towards the guy on the far right—a dark skinned male with dark brown hair in a white t-shirt. "That's Calum. He's Savvy's mate, my Gamma," Harley explains. She nods, interested. "He's a momma's boy if you ask me. He's a bit quiet at first, but he's really nice and kind. Just ask Savvy, and she'll go on and on about how sweet and thoughtful he is. He's just a year younger than me—twenty-four."
He actually does seem nice, Rayna thinks to herself.
He points to the one between him and Calum. A dark skinned male with shaggy black hair in a tank top. "That's Emmett, my Delta. He's twenty-three and a goofy asshole. He can be a bit loud and get a bit annoying from time to time, but he can make anyone laugh. He hasn't found his mate yet, but he's very optimistic."
Rayna nods again. He seems genuine.
Harley then skips over himself and points to the blonde, fair skinned male on his other side. "That's Keane, by Beta. He's my best friend, and we've been like brothers ever since we were babies. He's just a few months older than Calum but still twenty-four. He also hasn't found his mate yet, but he's really independent and patient."
He seems good for him, Rayna thinks, smiling. Harley is exceptionally happy when talking about Keane compared to the other two.
"I still want you to meet them in person, baby," Harley tells her softly, rubbing her back gently.
"I know. I will," she mumbles.
"How about meeting them individually, instead of all at once? You think you'd be okay with that?"
She nods. "Yeah." She can't help the yawn that escapes her afterwards.
"You tired again, sweetheart?"
She nods, snuggling back into Harley.
"Okay. Let's get some more sleep."
He leans over to set his phone back down and turns off her lamp, but Rayna tugs him back. Reading her face, he knows she's scared.
"Wh- What if I have a- another nightmare?" she asks, her voice trembling.
He cups her face and kisses her forehead.
"Don't you worry about that, baby. I'm here to protect you from anything. Nothing can hurt you."
He turns off the lamp, and they cuddle.
"Th- Thank you."
He kisses her hair.
"You're welcome."
"Night night," she mumbles, quickly falling asleep.
"Goodnight," he whispers, also falling asleep.