Song: Jesus in LA by Alec Benjamin
Words: 1330
Published: July 20th, 2020
Third Person POV

"Babe?" Harley asks again, his voice soft. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I . . ." she stutters, slightly shaking. "I was scared."

Harley pulls Rayna into his chest, and they lay down on the bed together, cuddling. She takes a few deep breaths and calms down.

"What're you scared of?" he questions, cupping her face.

"O- Of you j- judging me," she whispers.

"Why? For what?"

"When I f- first shifted . . . e- everyone made f- f- fun of my wolf," Rayna explains. Harley holds her tighter, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I will never judge you, baby," he assures her. She nods. "No one ever told you what you are?" he asks, a little bit confused. He pulls away slightly to look her in the eyes.

"M- My mom said th-that I'm the Dahlia Wolf," she tells him, burying her face in his chest and clutching his shirt.

"Do you know what that means?"

"Not really . . ."

"What about that book you've been reading? About the Flower Wolves?" Harley questions.

"Mhm?" Rayna hums as a question, almost as if asking 'what about it?'

"What have you learned from it?" he clarifies.

"Uhm . . . I've only gotten to the history chapter . . ." she mumbles, a little embarrassed. You would think for having had this book for so long and that much free time, she'd have gotten farther. That's what she thinks.

"That's okay, baby. Tell me what you've learned from it so far."

"Well . . . It all started not long after the beginning of werewolves. The Moon Goddesses daughter, Flora—the Goddess of Flowers—wanted to out her love into her mothers creation. The two talked, and they decided upon the existence of a Flower Wolf. Each generation, there would be a new flower wolf, with a new specific kind of flower. Oh, they have special powers, too."

"That's right, baby." He kisses the top of her head, making her smile. "Do you know what powers they have?"

She shakes her head no.

"I h- haven't g- gotten there yet."

"That's okay. You want me to tell you?"

"S- Sure," she says with a nod.

"Each Flower Wolf has a single unique power just for them, but every Flower Wolf shares the same five powers. First, there's 'second sight'. It's the ability to the see the truth through physical contact. Basically, if the Flower Wolf makes skin-to-skin contact with someone, they will be able to see any secrets they might be hiding."

"Ooh," Rayna hums. Harley continues.

"Secondly is clairvoyance. It's the ability to read people's minds. Thirdly, there's concilium, also known as mind control. Fourthly is resurgence. That it the ability to bring something that is dead—people, plants, animals—back to life. Lastly is terrakinesis, the ability to bend nature to your will."

She nods. "Why are telling me all this?" she asks, lost.

"Rayna . . . by being the Dahlia Wolf . . . you're the next Flower Wolf."

*~*~*~*

The two woke up and had breakfast together the next morning a little after seven. Rayna was silent, thinking, and Harley soon went to work in his office. She was going to do something productive, but she ended up listening to the book about flower wolves all day long in his office. Maybe there was something that could help her, so she kept replaying certain parts.

Harley already wrote a letter explaining their predicament and sent it to The Council, asking them for their assistance. They don't know when Rayna's powers will surface.

"When will I be Queen?" Rayna randomly asks, taking out her earbuds.

"I don't know yet," Harley tells her honestly.

"What do I have to do to be Queen?" she questions.

"A Queen has to go through training with a past Queen and be approved by that Queen and the council in order for them to become Queen," he explains.

"When can I start that?" she asks.

"Well . . . the thing is . . . my mother doesn't exactly know about you yet . . ."

"What? Why?"

"If I told her about you when you first got here, who knows what could've happened? She can be . . . intense, and judgmental, and insensitive."

"Oh . . ."

*~* The Next Day *~*

Rayna didn't much sleep that night. All of the responsibility she would soon inevitably have was suddenly becoming all too real for her. A few weeks ago, she would be freaking out, but instead, she managed to tell herself that can do this and fall asleep.

Harley woke up at his usual time and went off to work. Since she took so long to fall asleep, she slept in a lot later than usual. It was nearly noon when she woke up.

She sits up, yawns, and stretches her arms. She checks the clock and is surprised.

She stands up, but she realizes her body feels weird when her legs are shaky. Her entire body felt oddly tingly, like a softer version of when Harley touches her, but everywhere all at once. She shakes it off and walks into the bathroom, doing her business and fixing her hair.

She starts to walk to the Leader Commons kitchen for some food, but she quickly realizes that that isn't a good idea. Instead, she makes herself a bowl of cereal in the Alpha Wing kitchen and eats in there, then heading back to the bedroom.

It wasn't long after closing the door that the weird feeling gets weirder.

She feels a burst of energy, and she starts heating up. She throws the covers off of her, which help a little bit, but her body only continues to get increasingly warm until she's sweating.

'Harley.'

'What is it, baby?'

'Something's wrong.'

There's a pause.

'I'll be right there.'

She huffs and lays back, wanting desperately to take off her clothes, but she knows that Harley will walk in at any second. Then, she gets that feeling in her core yet again, and she realizes what's happening.

Shit. I'm in heat.

When Harley walked into the bedroom, Rayna was laying on her back on the bed, sweat rolling down her skin and the covers kicked off onto the ground. The smell of her arousal filled the room and invaded his senses.

"You're in heat," he whispers.

She nods, biting her lip. She squeezes her eyes and tears spill from them.

"Hey, hey," Harley mumbles, walking over and crawling onto the bed. "Why're you crying?"

"I'm disgusting," she sobs.

"Hey, don't say that," he says, then reaching out to touch her. As his fingers touch her face to cup it, his vision is momentarily filled with the visions of Rayna . . . He whimpers softly and shakes it off. She sucks in a breath at his touch. "You aren't disgusting."

"I'm sorry," she starts repeating.

"Sorry for what?" Harley asks.

"I- I didn't tell you e- everything th- that first time," she admits. He pauses.

"What didn't you tell me?" he questions.

"Wh- When I was s- sixteen . . . Johnathan a- and his friends all g- got drunk and took me i- into the b- basement . . . Th- They took my c- clothes off a- and t- t- took t- turns with m- me."

Harley growls and pulls Rayna into his chest.

"Mine," he growls. She sucks in another breath, stopping herself from moaning at his touch. It cooled her down yet heated her up even more at the same time. She found it very odd. As he held her, more visions flooded his mind, making him groan.

He softly pushes her away and sits on the other side of the bed.

"What do you want to do about . . . this?" he asks.

"L- Like I said on our date, I'm ready to mate, but I don't really want to just because I'm in heat . . ." she mumbles.

"That's okay, baby. It's really difficult to control myself right now," Harley warns her with an awkward laugh.

"I mean, we can still do . . . other stuff," Rayna whispers.