Song: Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin
Words: 2569
Published: June 22nd, 2020
Third Person POV
Rayna

Rayna, Naomi, and Savvy are all in Savvy's Jeep on their way to the nearest mall. Savvy took the credit card from Harley, and Rayna hasn't dared touch it, nor does she plan to. When she was out with Naomi for her birthday two days ago, it was different. She felt like that was okay. That was a friend treating her—someone who is never treated. This? This is too much. She doesn't deserve this. She decides she won't get anything. She can't just waste someone's money like that.

Naomi and Savvy had tried to get Rayna to change into different clothes before they left, but she didn't see what was wrong with what she was wearing. She's still wearing her hoodie and athletic shorts while Naomi is wearing a white, long sleeved crop top with high waisted light blue jeans, and Savvy is in black denim shorts and a cute retro tank top.

Naomi and Savvy are chatting away in the front while Rayna is silently laying in the back, looking out the window with her hand in her palm. She's listening to their conversation.

It turns out Savvy is actually Savannah Harbor, originally Savannah White. She's twenty-two-years-old and met her mate, Calum, (the Gamma,) three years ago when she was Rayna's age at a mate ball. It started off rocky but they're fully mated now, and to the human eye, husband and wife. Of course, Savvy is also asking questions about Rayna and Naomi.

"How did you two meet?" she asks.

"She was being bullied, and I was the only one to be nice to her," Naomi tells her.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. How long ago was that? How long have you two been friends?"

"I dunno. Like, thirteen years now?

"Wow. That's a long time," Savvy comments in awe.

"Yeah. We just really click, ya know?"

Savvy nods. "Yeah. Uhm . . . How long have you . . . known about werewolves?"

"Uh-"

Naomi pauses and looks back at Rayna. The brunette gives her a look she knows all too well. Answer the question, but that's all.

"Let's just say a while. It's a touchy subject, so like . . ."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay."

Naomi and Savvy continue to converse. They'd already made it out of the forest and into civilization. Rayna takes it in, as she was asleep the last time she went through here. She doesn't entirely know where they are, as she's never really been educated on where the castle is, but it seems really expensive. She guesses that would make sense, as the castle isn't far off and the Alpha King lives close.

It takes them about fifteen more minutes to reach the mall. It's huge. Rayna's been to the Mall Of America before: this isn't it, but it's just as big and even more luxurious. Of course, it doesn't have the same space for rollercoasters and legos as the Mall Of American does, instead having more and bigger stores.

"C'mon, let's go," Naomi says enthusiastically, opening her door. Rayna sighs quietly and does the same. Naomi and Savvy walk happily up to the main doors, but behind them, Rayna instead walks cautiously.

"Where do you wanna go first?" Savvy questions, looking over her shoulder at Rayna. She only shrugs, so Savvy turns to Naomi. The ginger says the name of a store she's always wanted to go to, so Savvy starts leading them that way.

It only takes a minute after entering for Rayna's anxiety to spike. She looks around, trying to take in everything so big. There's so many floors, so many people. The mannequins in store windows are dressed is such fancy, high class clothing. Adult men and women walk past in handsome suits and pretty dresses, giving her looks and glances and stares. They're judging her.

Everything is so clean and exquisite. This place is so big. There's so many people and places and sights and smells. She can't process everything.

Her heart skips a beat when she realizes she was falling behind Naomi and Savvy, nearly losing them in the crowds. She runs back up to them, getting lost the last thing she wants. Even so, she keeps hearing loud noises and sees flashes of things out of the corner of her eyes. Her breathing is labored enough with everything scaring her, but she continues to fall behind and has to speed up to stay close, causing her to lose her breath even more.

This only continues to repeat until she's getting excruciating side pains. Even so, she doesn't say anything or do anything to get the girls attention. She just deals with it.

They finally make it to the store. Once Naomi and Savvy pause to look at clothes, Rayna tries to even out her breathing and put pressure on her pains (to make it feel better) without it being noticeable.

"You good?" Naomi asks her, a bit concerned.

She gulps and nods. "Yeah," she breathlessly replies. She smiles weakly, trying not to let the searing pain in her side show. Naomi warily nods off and turns around the see the shirt Savvy is holding up to show her.

Savvy shops for herself a bit, and even Naomi finds some stuff she wants for herself. Savvy convinces her to get it, even telling her she'd pay. Then, the two start searching for stuff for Rayna. Luckily, her pain has mostly dissipated by then, but it doesn't go away, because she continues to walk between Rayna and Savvy as they show her different things.

Naomi tells Savvy her sizes, and she quickly gets an idea of Rayna's style when she sees what Naomi is showing her. The ginger is going out of her best friends comfort zone, but trying to stay in sight of it. Rayna ends up shaking her head at most of the articles of clothing they show her, knowing she would never touch them if they were in her closet.

She kept trying to ask the price. Maybe if it was cheap enough, she could reason with herself it was okay. Naomi and Savvy refused to show her the tags, only asking if she liked it or not. When they get to the counter with the few bits she actually liked, she's hesitant.

"Guys, I- I don't need this-" she tries to argue.

"Yes, you do," Naomi interrupts, swiping Harley's card for her. She cringes, but she doesn't want to make anyone upset or cause a scene. She feels like she's about to throw up when she sees how much the clothes were.

She's mentally and physically exhausted by the time they leave that store, but they had only just started.

*~*~*~*

Seven stores, a Chick-Fil-A, Starbucks, and four hours later at a little after two in the afternoon, Rayna has started to feel lightheaded. Her body has somewhat adapted to her surroundings, but she continues to have side pains and be out of breath. She doesn't want to tell Naomi or Savvy. They're having so much fun, and she doesn't want to ruin it for them.

As they're dragging her to another store, she finds herself having to pause and lean against one of the walls for support.

"Rainy?" Naomi asked, her tone concerned and a bit frantic. She walks back and tries to help her, but Rayna pushes her away. "Are you okay?"

"I'm . . . fine," Rayna manages.

"Uhm, no? You obviously aren't. Let's go sit down, okay?"

Naomi takes Rayna's arm and helps her walk across the hall to a bench. Rayna sits down and just tries to breathe.

"I'm just lightheaded," she mumbles, holding her side again.

"Are you sure that's all?" Naomi asks.

"I mean . . . I'm also getting side pains."

A minute or so passes, Naomi staying with her and Savvy grabbing her some water. She drinks half the bottle.

"Guys, I'm fine," Rayna says for the umpteenth time, standing up. That's all it takes for her to get a huge head rush and pass out.

*~* Harley *~*

Harley is sitting at his desk in his office in the castle, working. Well, trying to, at least. He can't get Rayna off his mind, every few minutes thinking about the sparks he feels with her and how adorable she is, already once or twice having thoughts of . . . dirtier things, as well. He tries not to, knowing that Rayna is too innocent for him to taint just yet.

He's also had this odd, growing, sinking feeling in his chest, making him anxious.

Suddenly, Savvy mind-links him.

'Harley!' she exclaims, frantic. He instantly freezes. 'Rayna just passed out!'

He stands up, growling.

'What?! Why?'

'I don't know.'

He clenches his fists and walks out of the office, fuming and scared. He runs through the castle to the garage. He grabs his motorcycle to get there fast and mind-links a pack member to take a car there for him to get back and take his bike back. It only takes three minutes for him to be out of the doors and on his way to the mall the girls went to.

In seven minutes flat, he's parked by Savvy's Jeep. He runs inside, Savvy mind-linking him directions as to where they are. Once he catches his mates scent of nectar and pollen, he doesn't need any directions.

He finds a small group gathered in a circle in the hall around his precious little mate. He doesn't notice her just now waking up and instantly turns to Naomi and Savvy.

"How the hell could you have let this happen?!" he growls, towering over them. He doesn't have to worry about growling here, as the entire city is made up of just werewolves—his pack. Naomi starts crying, and Savvy is scared half to death.

"My mate, your future fucking Queen, could've gotten hurt because of you two dumbasses!" he yells.

Harley was too angry to realize Rayna was conscious and on her feet next to him.

"St- Stop," she stutters, grabbing onto his forearm. He instantly goes quiet, closing his eyes at her touch. The touch he has been craving ever since she left a few hours ago. The sparks calm them both. She lets go of a breath she didn't know she was holding, and his entire posture relaxes. He turns and wraps her in his arms, breathing in her scent.

"A- Apologize," Rayna softly demands. That action makes most of the bystanders collectively gather in shock. No one has ever told the King to do anything, and they have never met this girl before. She's half his size and can't say a word without stuttering. How could she dare tell her King to apologize? It's still setting in that the King called her the future Queen.

Harley turns back to Naomi and Savvy. "I'm sorry, girls."

He picks Rayna up and carries her out of the mall. At the front entrance, he recognizes the pack car parked there. He looks at the spot he had parked his motorcycle. Of course, it's gone, just like he had asked. He mind-links the pack member to thank them, having ignored their message when they told him they did it.

He opens the passenger door and tries to set Rayna inside, but she refuses to let go of him.

"Sweetheart, you gotta let go of me," he says softly. She looks up at him with her big blue eyes. "Don't worry. I'll just walk around to the other side so I can drive us back to the castle."

She hesitantly nods and lets go. He gives her a kiss on the forehead and walks around the car to the drivers seat. He hops in and turns the vehicle back on. He looks over at Rayna, who is blankly looking up at him.

"Is something wrong, baby?" he asks.

"I didn't wanna use your money," she mumbles, hiding her face with her hoodie sleeves. He reaches over and takes one of her hands.

"It's okay, Rayna. I wanted you to, and I told them they'd be in trouble if you didn't get anything."

"Why?" she questions, her eyebrows furrowing.

"'Cause. You need more clothes."

"No I don't," she mutters, but she doesn't argue otherwise, and Harley shrugs it off.

"Did you like shopping?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "No."

"Why's that?"

"They walked too fast, and there was too much going on. I couldn't breathe and my side hurt and I got lightheaded." She feels her eyes moisten for some reason.

"I'm so sorry, Rayna. Why didn't you tell me you didn't wanna go shopping? Why didn't you tell the girls that you were in pain?" Harley presses, concerned. If she doesn't talk about how she feels to the point she passes out, what else could happen?

Rayna just shrugs. "I- I felt like it didn't matter."

"I need you to promise me something, okay?"

"What is it?"

"From now on, you'll tell someone when you're in pain. Do you promise?"

"Oh . . . O- Okay. I promise."

*~* Rayna *~*

Rayna sits in the bed, redrawing some of the stuff she has in her sketchbook on her tablet. She's also given herself a cute flower tattoo on her ankle. It's already nearing 4 o'clock, and she hasn't been allowed to leave the bed besides to go to the bathroom ever since she got in it. She's snacked and hydrated and tried to nap per Harley's orders, though he went up to his office again over an hour ago. She had a nice talk with Mrs. McClain and Jade when they delivered her food.

She's getting really bored.

She tries to remember what rooms Harley showed her yesterday. Wasn't there a library? She isn't at the best at reading, with her dyslexia and all, and so she's never really enjoyed it. Regardless, she might be able to find something for her. Maybe an audiobook. Even if she doesn't find the library, walking around couldn't hurt.

She gets out of bed, turning off her tablet and setting it on the nightstand with her sketchbook. She exits the bedroom and starts down the hall. She gets to the leader commons, which is easy enough, and then tries to get to the library.

Goddess, this place should have signs or some shit.

Eventually, she reaches a set of wooden doors she remembers specifically. She opens them and finds herself in a large room full of books. There's two stories of just books. She's the only one there.

She starts browsing titles. She finds the history books, and one in particular catches her eyes.

"The Flower Wolves"

What does that mean?

She pulls it off the shelf and rereads the title. Yeah, she read that right. She opens it up, and starts reading.

Soon, she's deep in the book, sitting in one of the many comfortable chairs in the library. She continues to get frustrated with her reading, but she doesn't think to check for an audio version and is too enthralled to give up. Apparently there's a line of a rare subspecies of werewolf called Flower Wolves. There's been so many . . .

After a half an hour, she has fallen asleep. She wasn't able to take a nap earlier, and the exhaustion has finally taken over. The comfy chair didn't help any either.