32 - THE ALPHA'S BETA

Rayna trains again for only her fourth time. Surprisingly, she's already shown a lot of improvement since starting only earlier that week. She's started to enjoy it a little bit, as focusing on her physical form takes her mind off of everything that's been stressing her.

Afterwards, she takes a nap, as she's exhausted.

When she wakes up, it's already past 10 A.M., though luckily not by too much. She showers, gets dressed into a light blue button up, high-waisted black jeans, and black boots. She brushes out and dries her hair.

'What should I do with it today?'

She gets an idea and grabs her phone, texting Naomi.

Rayna

Can you come and do my hair?

Naomi

Sure! By right there

Rayna smiles and sits down on the bed.

Naomi knocks on her bedroom door a few minutes later and lets herself in, dressed in a cute plaid shirt matched with a plain skirt.

"Hey, Mimi," Rayna greets.

"Morning, Rainy," Naomi replies, sitting on the bed behind her. "So, what kinda hairstyle do you want?"

"Dutch braids," Rayna tells her.

Naomi nods and gets to work.

Rayna has never gotten into doing hair and makeup. She wasn't one to dress up as a little girl, but Rose loved doing her hair and makeup. She let her, as she was her only daughter after all. Once Rose passed, she never felt any reason to take up any of Naomi's offers to teach her.

"We haven't really been hanging out lately," Naomi points out.

"Yeah," Rayna agrees. "Do you want to hang out today? Actually, all of us should hang out soon."

"Wow," Naomi comments. "Rainy wanting to hang out with people? That's new."

"Y- Yeah," Rayna stutters. "I've felt a lot better since getting away from Johnathan."

"I'm so relieved that you've gotten away from that bastard," Naomi groans. "Too bad these rogue attacks are stressing everyone out right now."

"Yeah . . ." Rayna mumbles, a sudden wave of guilt washing over her. "So, you and Keane, huh?"

"Damn," Naomi curses. "We haven't even had a chance to talk about that yet."

The two girls giggle.

"Damn. It's really been a quick minute."

"It has. Anyways, yeah. Keane and I are mates. Such a coincidence, right? I wouldn't have met him if I wasn't your friend."

"I guess, yeah."

"Like I said when we announced it, he didn't tell me right away, and since I'm human, I didn't know. I only figured it out right before he told me. We're dating now, and I'm really happy with him, honestly."

Rayna bunds and smiles. She would have nodded if not for the fact Naomi is doing her hair.

"I'm really happy for you two."

"Thank you. How have you and Harley been?"

"Good," Rayna says. Naomi is her best friend, but she doesn't really feel comfortable talking about her relationship.

"Have you guys . . . ya know, 'done the deed' yet?" Naomi asks cheekily.

"N- No!" Rayna exclaims, her cheeks heating up.

"Damn. Keane and I have."

Rayna turns red,

"Why do I need to know that?!" she asks loudly.

Naomi chuckles. "Okay, okay. Calm down. I'll stop."

Rayna stops blushing. "Thank you."

*~*~*~*

Once Naomi is finished doing Rayna's hair, they decide that they'll hang out with everyone tonight and then spend as much of tomorrow together as they can. Just the two of them like they would before.

After Naomi leaves, Rayna heads to Keanes office.

"Come in."

Rayna walks inside, and Keane looks up at her and sighs.

"Again?" he asks.

Rayna's wolf doesn't like the disrespect, but she gets that they just have a lot of work to do, especially with all of the plans they have to make behind Harley's back, which goes against all of Keane instincts.

"Something else happened last night," she tells him.

"I'll call the guys back."

*~*~*~*

After she filled Keane, Emmett, and Calum in on everything, she heads to Harley's office.

"Hey, babe," Rayna greets, walking in without knocking.

"Hey, baby," Harley greets, giving her a short glance.

She walks over to him and leans on the back of his chair.

"Naomi and I were wondering if we could all hang out together tonight, like we did that one time," she says.

"I don't know, Rainy," he tells her. "There's a lot going on right now."

She straddles him, forcing him to look at her instead of his computer, and puts on a pout.

"Pretty please?" she asks.

He's speechless for a few moments.

"I- I already told you . . ."

Her pout intensifies, and she lets her sleeves fall over her hands and then brings her hand to her face, giving her sweater paws.

"Please, Kitty?" she asks again.

He groans.

"Stop it," he growls, pressing their foreheads together.

"Stop what?" she asks innocently.

"Stop pouting."

"I wasn't pouting," she agrees, doubling down and crossing her arms.

"Uh, yes you were."

"No I wasn't."

"Uh huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Fine. We can all hang out tonight," Harley tells her, giving in.

"Yay! Thank you!" she exclaims.

She wraps her arms around him and starts smothering him with kisses. He giggles and hugs her, holding her tightly. He smiles. Man, he's wrapped around her little finger. He'd do anything to see that big smile on her face.

"I love you," he whispers.

"I love you, too."

Rayna's heart sinks, and she frowns.

'I'm so, so sorry for lying to you,' she says to herself.

*~*~*~*

A little after seven, Harley, Rayna, Keane, Naomi, Emmett, Calum, and Savvy all gather in the leader commons for supper together. Mrs. McClain and Jade prepared a bunch of food for them, so there weren't any empty stomachs.

They start out the night by eating, talking, and watching Ace Ventura: Pet Detective in the living room. Rayna does her best to be apart of the conversation, which she ends up finding out isn't that difficult.

After the movie and everyone's finished with their food, they head downstairs,

This time, they explore the arcade games that they hadn't the last time. Harley and Emmett go head to head in a few heated matches of pinball, and Rayna and Naomi do the same but with air hockey.

Rayna's competitive side starts to come out, making Harley show PDA in front of everyone. No one minds.

Savvy and Calum play some basketball, and Savvy ends up winning. Calum shows off his PacMan skills, but then Keane out-shows him. They joke about it.

Then, Emmett brings out the drinks and sets himself up at the bar.

They play a couple card games, beer pong, and also pull out a Wii and have some fun with that. They play would you rather and end the night off with watching another movie.

They're drunk and laughing as they head to bed. Rayna and Harley change into pajamas and crawl into bed. Rayna had a lot of fun, but of course, before she can fall asleep, her anxiety comes back to haunt her.

Her heart beats fast. She tosses and turns in bed. She can't lay still.

Harley sits up.

"What is it, baby?" he asks softly, rubbing her back.

"I'm just anxious for some reason," she tells him, knowing damn well that she'll have to leave him tomorrow night. It'll only be for a day, but he'll be freaking out and have to be locked up in the dungeon because of her. She feels terrible about it.

"C'mere," he whispers, laying down and pulling her to his chest.

She sighs at the touch, but it does take a few deep breaths to get her heart rate back to normal.

"Maybe you should see a doctor? Therapy really helped me," Harley says.

Rayna shakes her head.

"M- Maybe in the future, but not right now."

"Okay, baby. It's your choice, but if you ever want to, just tell me, okay?"

She nods. "Okay."

Soon, she's falling asleep, snuggling into Harley's chest.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"Anytime."

*~*~*~*

The next day, Rayna wakes up from her nap at 10 o'clock sharp to Naomi shaking her.

"Wakey wakey Rainy!" she exclaims.

Rayna groans and sits up, pushing Naomi's hands away.

"I'm up, I'm up," she mutters.

Naomi is wearing just a sports bra and pajama pants with her hair tied up, showing that she hasn't gotten ready yet today.

"Our day together starts now. Go shower and shave," Naomi orders. "I'll pick out your outfit."

Rayna doesn't respond. She simply gets out of bed and walks into the bathroom, so Naomi heads over to her closet.

Rayna takes off her clothes and turns on the shower. She does her business as she waits for the water to heat up before she gets in. She wets her hair, then putting in shampoo. She washes it out and then puts in conditioner. She grabs the loofa and gets it filled with bubbles from her apple scented body wash.

She washes her entire body, loving the feeling of feeling clean. She then grabs her shaving cream and razor. First, she lathers the dream into her under arms and shaved them. Next, she lathers it onto her legs, shaving them as well. Luckily, she doesn't cut herself at all.

When she's done, she steps out of the shower, dries off, and wraps her hair up in a towel. Then, she looks at what Naomi picked out for her.

She is not pleased.

A few minutes later, Rayna walks out of the shower wearing a tube top and a short skirt, fuming. She sees Naomi sitting on the bed.

"Naomi," she growls. "What the fuck is this?" she asks, motioning towards her outfit.

Naomi breaks out laughing, and that's when Rayna realizes Harley is standing in the doorway. His cheeks are pink, but he's also trying not to laugh.

Rayna goes red and walks back into the bathroom, closing the door.

"Pick out something else!" she yells through the door.

"Fine, fine," Naomi says, still laughing. The door closes, indicating Harley left.

After a few minutes, Naomi hands her a different outfit through the door.

Rayna puts it on, and even though it isn't her exact style, she kinda likes it. It's a somewhat baggy, cute, light blue, long-sleeved crop top with a pair of black ripped jeans over fishnet leggings.

Rayna steps out, and Naomi smiles.

"So you do like that one?" she asks.

"Yeah. It's actually pretty cute," Rayna replies, showing it off a bit.

"Okay. Lemme do your hair and makeup now."

Naomi does her hair into a half bun with the rest straight and down. She then gives her a black smokey eye and blush lipstick.

After Rayna is ready, they head to Naomi's room, where Naomi showers and shaves, letting Rayna look through her closet for an outfit.

Rayna decides to give her a yellow outfit today, and first, she finds something right up Naomi's alley—a white tank top with yellow overalls—but then she decides to find something more out of her alley.

She ends up with a tight, bright yellow, long-sleeved crop top with a jean skirt. Rayna sets it inside the bathroom and waits for her on the bed.

After a few minutes, Naomi comes out wearing it. She struts around the room, showing it off.

"You have great taste," she compliments.

Rayna giggles. "And you look good is basically everything."

"What should I do with my hair?" Naomi asks.

"Hm . . . a reverse braid."

"Okay."

Naomi gives herself a reverse braid and ties her hair up into a bun.

"Makeup?"

"Hm . . . a natural/gold look."

Naomi does her makeup, and they obsess over how good each other look.

They then head into the Leader Commons kitchen for breakfast, where they see Emmett and Savvy.

"Hey, guys," Savvy greets.

"Heyo," Emmett says. "Why're you two all dressed up?"

"We're spending the day together!" Naomi explains. "We're gonna eat and then go shopping. We'll probably get a mani-pedi and stuff like that."

Rayna nods.

"Ooh cool!" Savvy comments. She then glances at Emmett. "Uhm . . . mind if we come with you?"

Rayna and Naomi look at each other.

"Not really," Rayna says. She then looks at Jade, who is listening intensely as she makes Naomi and her breakfast. "Hey, Jade?" she asks. "You wanna come, too?"

Jade smiles and nods.

Jade holds up a finger and grabs her phone. She opens up notes and starts typing.

"Can I have your number?" she asks.

"Oh, yeah," Rayna says. "I can type it in for you."

Jade nods and hands Rayna her phone. Rayna adds her contact, and then hands her phone back.

After Naomi and Rayna eat, they pick out outfits for Savvy and Emmett, help them get ready, let Jade get ready at her own house, and head out shopping.

Savvy ended up with a burgundy crop top, black shorts, and dark red eyeshadow. Emmett (willingly) wore a black crop top and white leather pants with eccentric black eyeshadow with white eyeliner around it, which he did himself. Jade wore a simple dark green t-shirt under a cute sweater and black leggings with a natural, light makeup look.

They went out to the mall, ate lunch, shopped for an hour or so, got mani-pedis, and then headed back.

Emmett went off with Keane and Harley to shoot some hoops, Savvy went to hang out with Calum, and Jade had to go, so Naomi and Rayna continue hanging out together.

They talk, watch TV, and even bake before supper rolls around.

*~*~*~*

Naomi walks up to Rayna, who just finished supper.

"What do you wanna do now?" she asks.

"Oh, uh, I'm really tired," Rayna stutters. "I kinda just wanna go to bed."

"Oh. Okay then. Have a good night, Rainy."

"You, too, Mimi."

Naomi walks away, and Rayna stands up.

"You're that tired?" Harley asks.

She nods. "Yeah. C- Could you come cuddle with me? So I can fall asleep?"

"Of course, sweetheart," he tells her, giving her a kiss on the nose, making her giggle.

They head upstairs to their room.