Song: Out Of Love by Alessia Cara
Words: 2658
Published: June 29th, 2020
Third Person POV
TRIGGER WARNING

You already shouldn't be reading this story if anything I mentioned at the bottom of the blurb triggers you, but I will say it again here, as this is where it really starts. If you are sensitive to mature themes such as gore, abuse, suicide, and rape, THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU. STOP READING, OR READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. Thank you.

*~*~*~*

6:05 A.M.

Rayna wakes up to the sound of the bathroom door shutting. She groggily gets up, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She figures Harley is in the bathroom, since she's alone in the bed. She stands up and walks over to the bay window. She pulls the curtains aside, squinting as the sun hits her face.

Their window faces west, so they get the sunrise. They'd have to go to the front of the castle to see the sunset.

After a few moments, the bathroom door opens.

"Oh. You're awake," Harley says in slight surprise, seeing Rayna in the bay window.

"Yeah."

"Did I wake you up?" he asks, walking over.

"I guess," she answers, keeping her eyes out the window. "Do you always wake up this early?"

He nods, sitting down next to her. "Yeah. I'm sorry for waking you up."

She shakes her head, looking up at him. She opens her mouth to speak, but she quickly shuts it when she sees him. Her cheeks turn pink, and her eyes widen. He was dressed in a hooded sports tank and a pair of black athletic men's shorts. His muscled arms were on display, and the sleeves were cut to halfway down his torso, revealing some of his chest as well.

"I- It's okay," she stutters, turning back to the window.

"I was gonna go train. You wanna come and watch?"

She blushes harder. Watch him train?

"N- No thanks. I- I think I'll st- st- stay here and draw th- the sunrise," she stutters, flustered. He smirks, knowing what he did, and chuckles.

"Suit yourself." He stands up and kisses her forehead. "I'll be back by eight, and we can eat breakfast together."

"O- Okay."

Harley walks out of the room, and Rayna grabs her new tablet. She should thank Harley again for it. She loves it, and it's perfect for her drawing. She grabs the chair from his desk in the bedroom and places it at the foot of the bed with a perfect view out of the window. She gets to work.

Harley heads outside to the training grounds. The others there pause and bow to him. Looking around, he admires everyone's skill and the diversity there. There are large males and smaller females. Smaller males and large females. Here, you are not valued for mere size or strength. It is skill, and how you can use what you have to your advantage. He walks to his own private space and gets to work.

*~*~*~*

Rayna is experimenting with colors on the tablet when Harley walks back in.

"You're back," she says, quiet but with a smile. She looks back to see him, but she pauses when she does. Her wolf, still nameless, rises and sends an odd sensation through her body.

He was no longer wearing a shirt at all, and beads of sweat were running down his skin.

'He's hot,' Rayna's wolf comments in her head. She blushes profusely and looks away.

'Shut it,' she internally growls at her wolf. The being just giggles.

'We share the same mind, Rainy. You're thinking it, too.'

With that, her wolf retreats back and becomes unresponsive. Rayna lets out a huff of anger.

"Are you alright, Rayna?" Harley asks. Rayna's eyes widen when she realizes Harley is bent down next to her. His attractive scent surrounds her, making her feel that weird feeling again.

"Y- Yeah. I- I- I- I'm fine," she stutters, confused.

"You sure?" he questions further, standing up.

She nods harshly. "Pl- Please j- just go shower."

His eyes widen, and he backs away. Her own scent reaches his senses, and he realizes what was happening.

"Oh. Sorry," he mutters, grabbing a pair of clothes and walking into the bathroom.

Once the door shuts, she feels like she can breathe again. Oh Goddess, that was terrible. She stands up and opens the window, letting the fresh, outside air flow in. She sits back in the window with her tablet and keeps working on the colors and such.

As the minutes tick by, she wonders what's taking Harley so long. She's never taken a shower longer than ten minutes. It usually only takes three, yet he's been in there for nearly fifteen. She shrugs it off. Luxuries.

Harley is in fact taking his time, thinking deeply. What is his mate hiding? She did lose her mother at a sensitive age, so she might be suffering from depression. She seems to have anxiety as well. She's scared of guys. She lived with four, though, and she seemed fine with the one brother he met. How could that be? He tries not to jump to conclusions, but thinking back to how Johnathan had treated her right in front of him, he gets the idea she was abused.

He only gets out from under the steaming water once he manages to calm Hollow down. He dries himself off, gets dressed, and does his hair before exiting.

"Are you hungry?" Harley asks. He can feel that his own stomach is empty.

Rayna stands up, nodding. She doesn't take any steps, though. She just stands there, looking down at the drawing on her tablet. She bites the inside of her cheek, debating on whether or not to show it to him or just set it on the nightstand.

"Is that your drawing, baby?" Harley asks.

She nods, glancing up at him.

"Can I see it?" he asks softly, walking around the bed to her.

"Mhm hm."

She turns the tablet and holds it up to show Harley the screen, and he's instantly in awe. It's a beautiful drawing of the sunrise from their window. The bay window framed it, with the tree line at the bottom. She added beautiful colors, birds, and even flowers growing up on the sides of the window.

"Whoa . . . That's so fucking good," he comments.

She blushes and turns the tablet off before setting it down on the bed.

"L- Let's go eat."

"It really is," Harley reinforces as they exit the bedroom.

While he was working out, Rayna changed into a pair of black denim shorts and a dark, rusty red t-shirt. She tucked the shirt into the shorts, and it has a fairly low v-neck. Harley himself changed into a similar black t-shirt with dark jeans.

In the kitchen, they greet the McClains.

"What do you want to eat, baby?" Harley asks, sitting down at the counter. Rayna sits next to him.

The kitchen had an odd structure. There were two entrances—one the stairs and the other the living room—with two halves. One half had a dining table in the middle, then with tons of counter space and cabinets. The other half had the kitchen appliances on the side closest to the living room, and two bar counters on either side of the other half. Harley and Rayna were seating at the bar counter facing the appliances, where the McClains were cooking.

"Uhm . . . t- toast," she replies.

"I'll have two omelettes," Harley adds, and then the McClains get to work.

"S- So, M- Mrs. McClain," Rayna stutters.

"Yes, dear?" the older woman questions, glancing over her shoulder at the brunette.

"Y- You have a m- mate, right?"

"I do. Yes."

"Wh- What do they do?"

"My mate, Conor, works in construction out in the city."

They continue to talk, and Rayna finds out a lot. Apparently, there's both a city and a town. She's only seen the city, but surrounding it is a nice town. Mr. and Mrs. McClain live in the suburbs, while Jade lives with a couple friends closer to the castle.

She also finds out that Jade is mute, which is the reason she doesn't talk. She had a traumatic brain injury when she was little and after surgery, she wasn't able to speak. They aren't sure if she ever will again, as she hasn't for the past fourteen years, but there's always a chance.

Jade is only twenty, a year older than Rayna, and has not yet found her mate. She communicates through sign language when she can, but otherwise has an interpreter, uses the notes app on her phone, or carries a pad and pencil.

Once the King and Queen eat their breakfast, the two red heads disappear, leaving the mates alone together.

"Rayna . . . I have a serious question to ask you, and all I want is for you to answer honestly," Harley tells her, somber.

Rayna's heart instantly speeds up, and her mind starts racing.

"O- Okay . . . Wh- What i- is it?"

Harley sighs. He already knows he probably won't like the answer.

"What were you treated like at your old pack? You had a nightmare last night. You had a panic attack yesterday. You thought someone was going to beat you. Please, I need to know what happened there."

Rayna goes quiet, slowly turning to look down at her lap, causing her hair to fall and cover her face. She fiddles with her fingers.

"Y- You really wanna know?" she asks in a whisper.

"I do. I know I may not like the answer, but I want to help you, Rayna."

"I wish I could just forget about it all," she starts, her stutter goes away, replaced with slow, gentle, clear, thought out words.

"Ever since I was little, I've been bullied. They said I was a rogue, and I didn't belong in their pack. Naomi, being human, has always been my only friend."

Already, Harley is clenching his fists, but Rayna doesn't look at him.

"My mom always tried to help me and stop the bullying. Johnathan would always tell her he'd do something about, but . . ." She shakes her head. "He never did. I guess that his wolf just never accepted me as his child like my moms did."

In the back of his mind, Harley entertains himself with fantasies of slowly and painfully torturing Johnathan to his death.

"What about Alpha Daniel?" Harley questions. "What about the Gamma? The Delta?"

Surely, neither of them would allow such behavior.

"They all followed Johnathans lead by turning a blind eye. Their mates were bullied into it, too."

Harley closes his eyes, adding the other leaders to the royal dungeons in due time.

Rayna decides to skip over the story of her shift.

"I already told you about my mom. I just left out some stuff . . ."

"Like what?" Harley asks.

"Afterwards . . . I was blamed for her death."

"What?" Harley comments, his tone ice cold and solid. "That is the stupidest fucking shit I have ever heard! You were fourteen. There was nothing you could've done! It was in no way your fault."

She continues, ignoring his words.

"Without her to stick up for me . . . Everything just got worse," she starts to mumble, tucking her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself.

"What do you mean?" Harley asks, on the verge of growling.

"Not only was everyone able to bully me without any repercussions, but Johnathan was free to do whatever he wanted to me," she tells him quietly, still not looking at him, her face blank. She just feels so numb to everything.

"What did he do?" Harley asks, his voice breaking.

"You aren't gonna like it . . ." She looks at him, and he nods, telling her to continue. She sighs, and turns back to looking at her hands.

"I had to do everything he or my brothers asked, and if I didn't, I would be beaten or starved. Hitting was pretty normal, but if I really messed up, he'd put me in the basement and bring out his 'toys'."

That's it. That's Harley's breaking point.

He growls loudly, making Rayna snap her head to look at him. He stands up in a single motion, throwing his chair back and breaking it. She's frozen, staring at the shattered chair on the floor.

Harley begins growling and yelling and destroying the kitchen, his words not entirely comprehensible. He throws things off counters, grabs objects and throws them onto the walls or the floor, breaking them. Rayna can't help but shake and cry at seeing him so angry.

One sentence she understands.

"Why didn't I get there sooner?"

Of course, the racket gathered attention.

Keane and Emmett rush in on Harleys rampage from the living room. Rayna turns to face them with a worried and concerned look, but she doesn't freak out and get scared of them.

"What happened?" Keane asks, his tone on the edge of being frantic.

"I- I told him some things . . . about my past," Rayna admits. "He got upset."

Keane simply nods and walks over to Harley. Emmett follows closely behind as backup.

"Harley," he says.

The Alpha turns around, his eyes flickering between black irises and complete black. He growls at Keane.

"Dude, it's me. Calm down."

Harley bares his teeth and approaches him in a threatening manner.

"Don't you fucking tell me what to do," he growls, clenching his fists. Rayna gasps when she sees blood dripping from them. Emmett notices the blood as well, and her reaction.

"Bro, you're scaring your mate," he points out, motioning towards Rayna. "She's worried about you."

Harley relaxes for just a moment, looking at her. Keane takes it as a chance to get him under control, which he notices. The King takes it as a threat, so he grabs Keane and throws him to the ground.

Keane lets out a "hmph", getting winded. Harley gets on top of him, and Emmett gets involved, not about to let his best friend kill his other best friend. Even two against one, Harley was so pissed, and he was overpowering them. After a few minutes, Keane and Emmett manage to get Harley on the floor with his hands behind his back.

"Rayna!" Keane yells. "We need you. You're the only one who can calm him down."

"Mate!" Harley roars, struggling but overpowered.

Rayna stands up, shaking her head. "N- No. I- I can't"

"Please," Emmett begs. "Just try."

She sighs and walks closer. She bends down on the floor next to Harley.

"Uhm . . ."

"Just talk to him. Say something that'll snap him out of it."

She takes a deep breath. Her wolf rises a bit, giving her more confidence.

"Harley," she says, like Keane had earlier. He instantly freezes and looks at her. "Please, calm down," she starts. "I'm okay now. I'm with you. Right? You told me no one's gonna hurt me ever again. You can protect me now."

Harley's eyes start to fade from black back to hazel, and he relaxes. Rayna smiles, proud of herself. With this surge of confidence, she caresses Harley's cheek and gives him a soft kiss on the forehead. He hums in contentment, closing his eyes.

After a few moments, they open again, now completely back to their normal hazel.

"Thank you," he whispers to Rayna. She smiles. "Okay, guys. You can get off of me now."

Keane and Emmett unpin him, allowing him to stand up, which he quickly does.

"Are you okay?" Rayna asks.

She doesn't get an answer, as Harley swiftly pulls his mate into his arms, elongates his canines, and sinks them into the soft, delicate skin in her neck. She gasps in shock, and then lets out an odd sound from her throat. That odd sensation from earlier comes back again, now much stronger and spreading throughout her entire body, and is quickly followed by darkness.