4 - THE ALPHA'S BETA

Rayna closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths. It's okay. She's safe. It's just Jamie.

"Y- Yeah, come in," she says.

The door opens slowly and Jamie peaks his head in. He gives her a soft smile.

"Hey, sis," he greets. She smiles back, sitting back down.

"Hey, Jamie."

He walks the rest of the way in, closing the door behind him.

"No one else is home, so you can do whatever you want," he informs her. She nods.

"Thanks."

Jamie walks over to her desk and takes a seat, while she bends down to pull some stuff out from under her bed. She grabs her phone and starts playing some music.

She likes music. More so slow and emotional songs. She believes they can send the same emotion as drawings, though she doesn't think words can truly describe stuff or have the same impact as visuals can.

"Got any new sketches?" Jamie asks.

"No, but I have some ideas."

"Oh, right, you've spent a long time working on those cards," Jamie thinks aloud.

It took about twenty minutes to finish each card, and with 39 cards to make, that would be thirteen hours straight if she did it all in one sitting. She had started working on them last Thursday, doing an hour each day, before she realized she wasn't doing enough and spent six hours on them last night. She didn't get the math right.

"Yeah."

"Anyways, what ideas do you have?" Jamie asks. She pulls out her sketchbook from the desk compartment.

"I want to draw Mom," she says softly. She has so many sketches of roses in her honor. She's tried to draw her before, but she never felt like she got it right.

Jamie nods.

"I can send you a picture," he offers. He doesn't know as much about Rayna as Naomi does, but he still knows a lot. He knows she has a phone. His number is in it.

"Please. Thank you."

"It's no problem," he tells her with another smile. She hands him her sketchbook. "You know these are absolutely amazing, right?"

She feels her neck heat up. Usually when she gets compliments, she brushes it off. When it's from Jamie, though, she's not used to the male approval.

She's never had a boyfriend. Even the humans tend to stay away, or she accidentally pushes them away. She's especially not good with guys.

"Sure they are," she says in a sarcastic tone.

"I'm being serious. By the way, Dad—I mean, John—is having Jayce and Danny over tonight. Thought I'd give you a heads up on the extra mouths. Also, I suggest making steak."

Rayna nods. "Okay."

"Oh, I haven't seen this one before," Jamie exclaims quietly, looking down at a page in the sketchbook he stopped on. Rayna looks down and gulps as she sees the page.

It's a sloppy sketch of a little boy crying. The wall behind him is white, but fades to a harsh darkness. The little boy has his palms pressed against his eyes and his knees tucked up to his chest, sitting up and leaning back against the wall.

"Is this supposed to be someone?" Jayce asks. Rayna softly shakes her head.

"No. It was a few weeks ago. I just got this strong feeling . . . And that's what ended up on the page," she explains. Most of her drawings are thought out, though emotions pour through from her to the pencil to the page. Some are just raw, pure emotions.

Jamie nods.

"You're amazing at this. Drawing, I mean. You really know how to give it meaning."

"Thank you, Jamie."

"You know, this reminds me of-" Jamie starts, but he gets cut off by the sound of the front door opening. Jamie stands up. The two sniff the air.

"It's Hazel," Jamie says with a smile. He sets the sketchbook down on the desk and heads out of the room. Rayna turns off her music and slips her phone under the covers, smiling to herself as she hears Jamie greeting his mate and kissing her cheek.

She stands in her doorway to look at the couple.

"Hey, Hazel," she greets. Hazel looks over and gives a smile and wave.

"Rayna, is it cool if Hazel eats with us, too?" Jamie asks. He always asks her, since she's the one cooking.

Rayna nods. "Yeah, of course. Hazel's always welcome," she replies with a smile.

"Thank you," Hazel tells her.

Rayna just gives a nod before heading back into her room and closing the door. She hears Hazel giggle, and then the two head into Jamie's room.

Rayna sits down at her desk, looking at the open page.

*~*~*~*

Rayna places down the last fork, standing back to look at her work.

The family eats at 6 o'clock sharp every day. Rayna has prepared enough steak for an entire family reunion with sides of green beans and sweet potatoes. The average werewolf eats about the same as an average adult, plus half. Leader wolves (Alphas, the leader of the pack; Betas, the second in command; Deltas, third in command; Gammas, the one who watches over the pack,) eat at least twice as much.

There's only six people eating, but for werewolves, that means you need enough to feed roughly nine humans. There's an Alpha Blood and four Beta Bloods, though, meaning she needs enough to feed at least twelve humans.

She freezes when John walks in the front door. She stands "properly", with her feet together, her hands clasped in front of her, and her head down. Johnathan taught her this and demands that is how she stand around him. There's multiple rules ingrained in her head.

Stand properly. Avoid eye contact. Don't speak unless spoken to. When asked a question, answer quickly and honestly. Always do as told. No talking back. No asking questions.

"You are dismissed," Johnathan announces, waving her off. She scurries to her room.

In this house, she feels the safest in her room. It's a false sense of security. She knows she isn't safe anywhere in this town. If she had a real safe space, it'd have to be Naomi's house. Even there she feels somewhat on edge, at least after the time Johnathan banged on the door, drunk, for her.

Mr. and Mrs. West called CPS, but when humans get involved with supernatural things, the supernaturals always take care of it. Rayna's never even thought of going to the police. It'd be useless. The only hope she'd have is if she could get to another pack that wasn't allies with her pack, not get caught before then, not get killed on the spot by said pack, get to the alpha, get the alpha to hear her out, and have said alpha care enough to do something for her.

She's tried and failed previous run away plans in the past. All of the surrounding packs are allies with hers, so it was no use, and she's always too weak to get past them. Those were some of the worst beatings she's ever endured.

Sometimes she wishes that she wasn't a werewolf and didn't heal so fast. That way, her suffering would end.

She pulls out her sketchbook, but she sits on the floor between her bed and the window, so that if John walked in, he wouldn't know what she's doing. She has no doubt that he'd throw out all of her sketches and beat her for being happy and having an outlet.

She opens up a new page and starts up a new sketch. This one is a side view of a girl. Her. She has wings, but they're drooping and bleeding. There's figures in the back.

She hasn't gotten into details yet when she hears John yell for her. She shoves her sketchbook under her bed, checks for any marks on her palms, and heads out to meet Johnathan.

"Get the dishes done," he orders.

"Right away, sir," she says softly with a nod, standing in position, before clearing the table. He slapped her until she stopped calling him "Dad" and does if she doesn't call him sir or Johnathan around others unaware of the abuse.

They have a dishwasher, but after large meals, Johnathan likes to have her do the dishes by hand.

Danny and Jayce already headed back to the pack house. Hazel and Jamie went to her apartment. Jake went back out with friends.

That leaves just Rayna and Johnathan.

She's scared.

Luckily, once she finishes with the dishes, Johnathan heads out somewhere.

She's safe tonight.

She heads back into her room, crawls under the covers, and unlocks her phone. She puts her earbuds in and listens to music and texts Naomi.

Rainy

Heyo

Mimi

Heyy

Rainy