6. Raya
RAYA
H arsh breaths blew out of me as I pumped my arms in time with my strides, determined to complete my run quicker than my previous time.
I’d had to leave early this morning, not long after Bodhi left for the compound for training, to avoid the bustling people of the Outer Ring as they worked.
The early morning was crisp today, my face burning from the prick of the cool air against my skin as I rounded the last corner and prepared for the dreaded last leg of my run. The shortest leg where I would pass the two prisoners of the Haven. It was the most exposed area of the entire Outer Ring. My steps faltered as she came into view, still kneeling, still with her head held high. My anger rose.
Today would be the day for bravery, and it was up to me to ensure she got out.
With the shield thinning so soon, I no longer had a choice, and now would be the perfect time to act with so few people about, only the guards remaining.
Bodhi also wasn’t around to stop me.
I sprinted forward, determined now as I passed quiet, sand-covered houses, the only sound being my shoes scraping against the pathway. Not that it would last long. It was why I had to be swift. Every Alpha would rouse if they heard any commotion.
Heads swivelled my way as I drew near, two guards for either criminal and the two guards just beyond the gate in the hedge dividing the city’s two residential rings. They bristled in response to my steely gaze, their hand drawing across to their weapons. I knew how painful they were, and I’d only been touched by it once, by accident.
I stopped myself just short of them, leaving a few feet between us as I addressed the same guard from two days ago, the one who had been somewhat kinder to me. However, even that rationale was laughable. They were never actually kind unless it served them.
“I will pay the punishment for her crime.”
The other guard beside him tipped his head in curiosity. Offerings like mine happened on occasion in the Haven, depending on the circumstances. None had been granted, but none were as stubborn as I could be.
“You know you cannot.”
I licked my lips, wetting them, my frustration and desperation evident.
“This city revers Omegas. She is one. Her sentence will be longer than two weeks because she will be taken.”
My mother’s head lifted towards me, her eyes narrowing threateningly.
“Raya,” she began but was cut off.
“Criminals do not speak!” another guard yelled as he pulled on her chains in warning, causing her to fall to her side.
I clenched my teeth when she winced, her palm smacking into the dirt.
I could take all of them out if I wanted to. The people in the Outer Ring seemed to understand the threat of my power, even if they all believed it was uncontrolled. Yet still, to the Inner Ring, I was both defective and weak, hardly a problem worth worrying about.
“I need an audience with the Supreme, then. I will pay a different punishment if he commands it.”
The guards all laughed, loud and mocking. “You will not get an audience with the Supreme.”
I heaved out a shameful breath. I had to do something that would truly get their attention in the way I needed, something impulsive and reckless that Riley and the others would condemn, but ultimately something that would force a reaction. I was desperate. Time was running out.
So, I dematerialized and portaled right towards the guard still laughing. I materialized in front of him, watching as he choked on his laughter. He stepped back, whipped his gun from his side, and pointed it straight at me, his finger poised on the trigger.
“Stop.”
“I will do worse,” I informed him as I swallowed the lump of spit sitting in my throat and tried to ignore the terror sloshing around inside me. This was bad, even I knew that.
The guard’s hand shook and then steadied again, his jaw ticking the longer I held my ground. Even though this was a small display of my power, which I rarely ever exercised, it was uncomfortable to witness, as if using it made them finally understand how easily they could be beat. I had always been unnerving. It was why I struggled to connect with Alphas and why Bodhi’s friendship was so valuable to me. They didn’t need to know my power had a limit.
“I will consider your wish, but know that it may not be granted.”
My eyes flicked towards the guard who had spoken. Rarely did they consider anything at all that an Outer Ringer requested. But my mother was an Omega, even if she had done the wrong thing.
I nodded once but didn’t move. I hadn’t thought too much about the specifics of after I demanded to pay her punishment. I didn’t want to make the wrong move.
“Leave before your punishment becomes additional to hers.”
He jerked his chin towards my mother, who had a bleeding cut on her arm. He didn’t know it was punishment enough for me to walk away whilst she was still injured.
But I knew I must.
So, with one last look at each of them, I walked backwards, keeping my eye on them until I reached the first house and could edge around the corner. I turned and ran back towards my own, praying that for once, they may show mercy.
T he workday had flown, despite the sun’s scorching heat making my job difficult and more uncomfortable, worsened by the fact that I was working back up on the cliffs for extraction of pigments.
Still, its damage paled in comparison to the worrying thoughts that had occupied my mind for the duration of the day, only intensifying as I walked the path back home with my head downcast in thought.
Vaguely, I noted bodies passing me as the light began to fade from the sky above us, my skin still warm and tingly, likely burned from my long exposure to the sun’s rays.
My thoughts swung from the thinning of the shield to darker worries and plans if the guards didn’t take my request to the Supreme. There was little left except deviance if he declined, and I didn’t want it to go that far.
My lips pursed.
“Raya.”
I knew it was Bodhi before I even lifted my head in acknowledgement as he jogged over with a relieved smile. Rarely did people search for me out here, not with the cliques already present amongst Alphas, their kindred.
Immediately, my lips lifted, my worry easing fractionally when I instinctively shifted towards him, ready to move my hand to take his until I abruptly stopped myself, though only just, as I instead chose to wave awkwardly and dropped my hand.
Embarrassment flushed my cheeks. Friends at our age didn’t hold hands all the time, and I don’t know why instinctively I reached for him. I suppressed a groan.
“How was work today?” he asked, slowing his pace to walk alongside me.
“Hot. Long. But we mixed a new paint colour today, a purple that glitters when the light hits it. Took me hours. How was training?” I was glad he moved on and said nothing about my earlier fumbling.
He smiled down at me, sweat still glistening on his forehead. It was almost annoying how it seemed to enhance his good looks. I had never looked good sweating.
“Long. Hot,” he began, and I rolled my eyes.
Quickly, he grabbed my hand to kiss it before letting it fall to my side. I barely contained my shock, instead choosing to go the usual pathway of ignoring it. That option was far safer for me, though something wonderful bubbled in my gut when he did things like that.
“The days feel like they are getting shorter and harder the closer it gets. The new recruits are terrified, as they should be, but I’m not convinced they are going to do well. I’m worried for them and their families.”
I frowned and looked over at his expression. “Because they are not good fighters?”
He winced. “Yes. This new batch has hardly had time to train, and they’ve barely come into their Alpha abilities.”
“Hey Bo,” a voice called out, and we both whipped our heads towards a female Alpha I’d seen often in our ring. When I looked at Alphas in the defence, I often wondered about what they could shift into. Only others on the team knew of that, and none of them ever spoke of it. Well, at least Bodhi never did. Nobody else outside of them shifted, ever. Shifting was primitive according to our goddess Omni, as enforced by our Supreme. Therefore, it was punishable. Not shifting kept them safe, just the same as not displaying my power had kept me safe. Until now. I’d blown it.
But still, it didn’t stop me from wondering when I looked upon Alphas like her, with her cropped blonde hair, sharp green eyes, and angular face.
Her body was lean. Hmm, maybe some sort of bird?
“Klarissa,” he replied, and my eye twitched that he allowed her to call him Bo just as I so often did.
That name was mine.
“You left so quickly, I thought you were staying tonight for dinner with the team?”
I stared at her; she didn’t even bother to acknowledge me, which I’d decided was more irritating today than it had ever been before. Like a typical Alpha, she was strong, fit, and naturally commanded your attention, suddenly making me feel slightly inadequate in my dirtied clothes and sweaty, messy hair.
“I was thinking about it but decided against it for tonight. I’ve got some stuff I want to do tonight at home.”
She ever so briefly glanced towards me, though she didn’t smile.
“Oh,” she said, her face falling, which seemed to satisfy me until she brightened and spoke again. “I’m heading home too, just to grab some things before I head back. I’ll walk with you.”
Bodhi glanced across at me before smiling at her, that same warm smile that sucked you right in.
Not for the first time, I rolled my eyes and began to walk away.
I couldn’t watch whatever this was between the two of them. It wasn’t any of my business anyway. It couldn’t be. Better to walk away now.
So, I did swiftly, managing to get a few paces ahead so I could breathe again. Until Bodhi quickly caught up again, with her clinging to his arm beside him.
Clinging to his arm?
I cast a furtive glance across to them, which she saw as she shot me an oily grin. Damn it.
Her hands were in fact wrapped around his arm, her body tucked in close to his as my eyes quickly flicked up to his contented face. My chest burned at the sight of them.
He didn’t shake her off either, merely walked alongside me in silence, though I could hear her efforts to engage him in conversation, all about how sorry she was about Tia, my mother , and what they could do to protect her.
I blinked rapidly, my throat thickening.
I dipped my head to the floor as I walked, desperate to get away from them. I would have to learn to tolerate this if I wanted to keep him as my friend. Maybe in the future, I might have more than just him, if only I tried.
Eventually, he would partner with someone. I would simply have to learn to accept them, and maybe, another shifter in this community might also learn to accept me in return.
That prospect alone kept me walking, kept me listening and nodding in engagement, though nothing they said fully registered.
But beneath all that, a niggling awareness had become more apparent as I realised how vastly different Bodhi and I were and how well he connected with another Alpha.
Logically, they made sense.
Because at the end of the day, Alphas would always connect with Alphas through shared experiences of life. So too would Omegas.
And me?
I was the only Gifted in the entirety of the Haven. There was no other like me, and therefore, I didn’t fit anywhere, no matter how desperately I wanted it.