69. Rain

This chapter starts soon after Caleb leaves Rain to sleep.

**Rain**

I shift on the bed, from one side to another, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position. The bed seems big and cold without Caleb, but I don’t want to bother him, not when he has his own demons to face. Not to mention the Demon King and the Vampire Queen, who had not only put a hold on Bucharest but scared Caleb so much, he wants to send me away. But he can’t! I refuse to be separated from him. I don’t care if I sound pathetic or if people say I became dependent on Caleb, but I can’t be without him. Being alone in our room makes it hard for me to breathe. All I want to do is get up, go to the gym, bring him back here, bury my nose in his neck, and nap.

Maybe I am more anxious than before because of what happened at the Vampire Palace and for feeling the pain of betrayal all night. Not that I blame Caleb. Goddess, no! But I need him in a way I can’t describe nor fully understand because it is more than a physical need. And if Caleb sends me to that world, I will wither away like a plant. Like Padmé Amidala in Star Wars, I will lose my will to live and die. I touch my stomach. I would probably die after the baby is born anyway because there is no way I would survive the labor without Caleb after I had been deprived of his scent and presence the entire pregnancy.

I grab Caleb’s pillow and bury my nose in it. Maybe if I start building a nest, I will feel better, but after the last time, I am scared. I know it is stupid because I am safe in the pack, but as long as the Demon King and the Vampire Queen are still alive, I won’t make a new nest.

Hugging Caleb’s pillow tight, I close my eyes and slowly start to relax until I fall asleep.

A knock on the door wakes me up.

“Who is it?” I asked, annoyed.

“Hannah. I want to talk to you if that is possible.”

I want to shout at Hannah that she can go to hell for all I care and that not only do I not want to talk to her, but I want her far away from my pack. But that wouldn’t be very Luna-like of me to do that.

Safia growls in annoyance, not wanting to see Hannah.

“Sure. I will be out in a few minutes,” I say loud enough for her to hear me.

I could invite Hannah inside, but there is no way in hell she will put a foot inside my room. It is one thing to tolerate her presence in the pack—which I hope will be short, and another to permit her to pollute my room with her scent.

Leaving Caleb’s shirt on me, I put on my boots, grab my jacket and leave the room. Hannah is waiting for me close by, and I go to her.

“You look tired,” she says, uncomfortable. I shrug because I have no idea how I should reply. “Did the vampires do something to you?”

“This is why you woke me up? To talk about the vampires?” I snap at her.

“No. I actually wanted to apologize, but I don’t know how,” Hannah says; her scent tells me she is sad.

I never expected Hannah to apologize, but I guess there’s a first for everything.

My stomach is still upset, so I say, “Let’s go for a walk. I need some fresh air.”

“Is it the baby?” asks Hannah as we go down the stairs, and when I nod, she keeps talking, “After that night, when Alpha Jordan marked you as a cheater, I was sure no one would look at you anymore. And I was glad for it.” We get out of the Pack House, and I look at Hannah, and I wonder what I could have done to her to make her hate me so much. “For a long time, I wished you had disappeared or moved to another pack. Or died,” Hannah confesses, and I open my mouth to tell her to go to hell, but she goes on, “I am sure you know I have been in love with Kevin for a long time. He was my first crush, and I had hoped he would be my soulmate.” Hannah laughs a little bitterly, and I wonder what she is trying to tell me. We start walking, a few snowflakes falling from the sky, reminding me of my first date with Caleb. “Three years ago, I confessed to Kevin that I was in love with him. He listened to me, and while he told me he did not feel the same, he hoped we could be friends. I asked if there was another female, and he reluctantly told me he had feelings for someone and hoped she would turn out to be his soulmate. I watched him after that to see who that female was, and imagine my surprise when he looked at you as if you were the most precious thing in his life. You were oblivious to his looks and attempts to gain your attention, and I hated you, Rain, so much. I wanted to make you suffer the same I did. Until recently, I didn’t realize how stupid I had been. And I am sorry for making your life miserable. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I hope you let me stay in the pack. Holgan is my soulmate, and I want to be with him. I promise I won’t stay in your way; you won’t even have to see me. Holgan shares a house with a few other pack members, and I will stay inside most of the time,” Hannah says, her tone fearful.

In all the years I have lived in the Crescent Moon Pack, I never once suspected Kevin liked me and hoped I would be his soulmate. While Kevin never touched me, he too, called me names. Not as nasty as the ones Jordan used, but they still hurt—’ Rain, the cursed one,’ or ‘Rain, living in the old laundry room,’ or ‘Stinky Rain.’

Safia huffs at the memories.

“I don’t know if I can forgive you, Hannah. Not because I hold a grudge against you. Maybe I do, but you only realized how wrong you were only when you met Holgan. This doesn’t mean I won’t forgive you in the future, but I can’t forget you and Ruth trying to kill me. If not for Jordan and Mr. Smith....” I say, remembering the day after Jordan’s birthday. “But I can’t keep you away from your soulmate.” I am not sure if Hannah knows about the situation with the Demon King, but I am not so heartless as to have her leave the pack when I don’t know if they will see each other again. If Caleb is so scared of the Demon King and ready to send me away because he is unsure of the future, who am I to keep two soulmates apart? Of course, Holgan can choose to leave with Hannah, but he is a good male, and we need him in the pack. “You can remain here, but as you said, I don’t want to have a lot of contact with you. I won’t stop you from making friends or taking a stroll around the village whenever you want, but I want you to keep your distance from the Pack House,” I say.

“Thank you!” Hannah says and tries to hug me, but I move to the side.

“I know you are friends with Ruth, but tell her to stay away from this place. Because if she puts a foot inside this pack, I am not sure what Caleb will do to her!” I say before heading over to Sarah’s house. I knock on her door, but no one answers, and I wonder if she is still at the Pack House.

I start walking, debating about going to the kitchen to eat something, when I see a male and female leaving the clinic. He has his hand over her shoulders. The female clings to the male as if he is her personal anchor, and he brushes the tip of his fingers over her cheek.

I sniff the air, trying to catch their scent, when the male calls my name. “Rain!” he says, and I recognize Tristan’s voice in a moment.

I wave my hand at them. “Tristan! Emma!”

They head over in my direction. “And Caleb?” Tristan asks.

“After we found out about Bucharest, he is training with other pack members.”

“What about Bucharest?” Tristan asks. He sounds confused.

“Didn’t you see it on the news?” I ask, and then I remember Caleb let Tristan stay at the cabin, wherever that is, because I have never been there, and I don’t know if there’s a TV there.

“After breakfast, I went directly to the cabin to take Emma to the clinic. The female doctor, Rae Ann, came early in the morning. She just finished checking Emma.”

I was helping Caleb with breakfast when Rae Ann came into the kitchen with Reyes. While I knew about her from Reyes, I never expected a human. Rae Ann told us she had lived in a pack since she was a baby, her mother meeting her adoptive father, a werewolf, a few months after she was born. The next day, her mother and Rae Ann moved in with the werewolf.

“I hope all is well with you,” I say to Emma.