18. Raya
RAYA
“ L ucky last meal,” I announced as I handed over the last of Mum’s cooking to a small child whose mum was too sick to cook for the pair of them.
Grubby hands reached out and took the bag from me as the young Alpha called out her thanks before racing off to join her friends.
I smiled as I watched her leave, though anxiety simmered beneath my skin, which had only increased the closer we got to the second thinning, now tomorrow night. I hadn’t realised how significant it would be for others that I won that additional food for our family, or how much my mum would thrive in sharing her love of cooking for others.
She turned towards me and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek, her face red from toiling away in the kitchen all day. She’d been there every single day for the past week since we received the additional food, making dishes for the elderly and sick within the community to give back in whatever way we could. I’d enjoyed watching her fuss about and greet those who came to our door requesting food for their family. However, I couldn’t shake that impending sense of doom that lingered every time something good happened. This week had felt too good to be true, and I knew better than anyone that good things rarely lasted in the Haven.
Clothes brushed up against me as I stood in the doorway, turning my head towards Bodhi, who I’d also successfully dodged over the past week. He’d thankfully relented enough, given we had training for most of the day at the compound, and I’d enjoyed seeing the shift in mood in our house since we had gained the additional provisions. I’d been too tired from work and training to do anything else. I hadn’t even touched my paints. My fingers hadn’t itched for it either, too fatigued to bother.
“Should we head off to the compound now?” he rumbled beside me, and I sighed, resigned. I didn’t want to train as much as we had been anymore.
He chuckled beside me and gripped my shoulder, dragging me into his body as we continued to stare out towards our street. “We aren’t running drills today.” His breath ruffled my hair.
I still couldn’t be bothered to move. I considered myself to be fit, but the relentless drills we had run were causing me so many aches and pains in areas I didn’t even know could hurt. I’d had to self-massage every day this goddess-damned week.
“I’ll change anyways, just in case,” I grumbled as I turned and took off to my room to get into my usual training get-up of black leggings and a singlet. Riley and I had always worn the same black outfit for training. Even now, when I didn’t see her as often, if at all, I didn’t stray from it. Some things would just always be, no matter what came between us.
I haphazardly tied my thick hair up into a ponytail, spying the box containing the cuffs on my bedside. The thinning was tomorrow night, and I still hadn’t decided if I would wear them. For some reason, they only added to my stress.
I turned away from them and moved downstairs, eager to get this session over with. Bodhi stood where I’d left him, just outside the front door, stretching his long legs on the pathway. He glanced over at me, a challenge waiting in his eyes.
“Race you there?”
I smirked and energy flooded my body. I loved the competition, and I especially loved beating Bodhi.
The smug asshole honestly thought he was better than me. Granted, he had won this kind of challenge every time thus far, but I was never one to back down.
I lit up beneath his gaze, walking with a confident swagger towards our usual starting mark.
He laughed, though I could see that eager glint in his eye when I prepared myself beside him. We bonded well over our love of competing, and the laughter between us was endless when we did.
“Are you ready to lose?” he taunted, hopping from foot to foot, loosening up and readying himself to go.
I scoffed my reply. “Never.” I hated losing.
I shifted into a runner’s stance, and he mimicked the movement beside me. Winning was serious business.
I surveyed the streets around me. It was dusty today, the wind picking up the sand from the desert and dragging it across our community. Squinting might work against its onslaught, I supposed. My clothes, however, stood no chance. Neither did my lungs.
“2, 1, GO”. I tuned in on the back end of the countdown as Bo took off at a sprint far ahead of me. Damn, his legs were long.
Kicking into gear, I pumped my arms and began the dash through the city to beat him to the compound. Bohdi was fast, really fast, but I’d recently been experimenting with a shortcut.
I watched him take the usual path straight through the main roads, veering off to the left up ahead and cutting out of view. Pushing my legs further, I cut a sooner left and headed straight towards the tube, not bothering to follow him to the underpass on the other side. I pushed forward, spluttering on the sand carried in the air.
My lungs burned, but that sweet, sweet win would be worth it.
The tube rushed closer, my pace unrelenting as Alphas dodged me. I didn’t care, not with victory within my sight. I kicked off the ground and portaled to land on the roof of the tube in a crouch, bracing my hands on it as it sped towards its next stop.
With the wind whipping my ponytail around, I took in the outskirts of the city as the tube completed its circuit. The smell of spices hung heavy in the air, a signature of our hard-working community. One mega billboard was visible even from the desert of Zander and Riley modelling for a new clothing designer. It was the most outrageous display of wealth and an unnecessary slap to the face of those who couldn’t afford it.
There were so many things about this city that made me a bitter woman. The mines ran near the cliff dropping to the ocean, which marked our back, but the majority of the environment that surrounded the Haven was desert, barely sustaining the life that it grew. Yet, the Inner Ring was rich and green, as if Zander was siphoning the life force of the land and hoarding it where he chose.
Even though I’d seen another, more genuine side of him at the dinner I’d attended at his home, there was still so much I resented. Nothing I did was for him.
I stuck my palm out and held my middle finger up behind it, just in case anyone was watching. I felt triumphant in my weak action of defiance against the Haven’s order. I suppose the best part about Zander was his overconfident arrogance. He didn’t believe in monitoring society heavily with technology. It wasn’t something he needed to do anyway, not with how well he had trained the community to worry about others betraying you first. He had always gained information freely and easily.
The tube began to slow as it neared its next stop, and I readied myself to launch. I jumped off the roof with a thud, my feet sore from the impact. From here on out, I couldn’t use my power. If Bohdi saw me using it, he would label me a cheat, and I desperately needed to win, even if it was just once.
Though visibility was poorer today, I still managed to spot the location of the compound in the distance, a corner of its roof visible against the blue of the sky. I pulled my shirt up to cover my mouth in an effort to protect my lungs from the particles hanging in the air before taking off at a sprint towards the finish line.
Harsh, arid terrain spanned out in front of me as my legs kicked up more sand. The sun scorched down onto the landscape, my skin glistening with sweat beneath its heat.
My lungs screamed for relief, my shirt an ineffective filter to the air I inhaled. I pumped harder, forcing my legs to kick up a gear. I’d likely be dead by the time I got to this place, completely unable to run drills.
Finally, the building was entirely visible, my body surging with energy knowing that the end was finally near. In the corner of my eye, coming from the opposite direction, a black blur moved behind a swirling haze of sand.
Seriously ? That bastard was too fast for his own good.
I pumped my arms and legs manically, propelling myself forward, giving everything I had left in the tank to beat him. My breathing picked up speed, desperately trying to flood my system with the oxygen it demanded from my exertion.
I was so close.
I dived to touch the steps marking the finish line at the exact same time that Bohdi powered on past and up the few steps to the entrance.
I spluttered out the sand that had entered my mouth and swiped at my eyes to clear them. Bodhi threw his head back and roared with laughter for the second time in half an hour.
“That was an entertaining and dramatic ending, Ray.” The bastard was mocking me, but I didn’t care, just so long as the win was mine.
“Win’s a win, Bohdi.” He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
“You think you won?” he asked, blinking furiously at me.
“I know I won.” I damn well knew I’d won that. I would not have voluntarily choked on the sand and destroyed my lungs to come out with a loss. Absolutely not.
He jogged back down and held his hand out to haul me up. I quickly smacked my leggings, singlet, and arms to get as much sand off me as possible. In a few swipes, a fountain of sand came out of my hair and off my face. I knew I would be an absolute vision rocking up like this. The sand and I were well acquainted at this point.
Ever the gentleman, Bo reached out a hand to help me wipe some of it off, his mouth pressed tightly together to contain his laughter.
“We can call that a tie, as I think you need to be rewarded for the effort,” he joked, and I scowled. I wanted the win, but I knew it had been close.
“I don’t think we can do much about that hair. You will need to wash it.”
My scowl deepened. I knew I would, and he didn’t even consider it a clear win for me. At least nobody would notice when my cheeks reddened with embarrassment when they started to bag me out. I sighed. It’s not like I could turn back; Zander would know of my non-attendance, and I didn’t know how that would go for me.
Together, we walked forward, entering our code twice over in our descent. The distinct change in temperature as we trekked downward was wonderful for my searing skin, but the stairs did little to help my aching legs. Today would be long.
Bohdi pushed open the last door, and I prepared myself for the incoming humiliation.
“Late arrivals, as usual,” Klarissa drawled pointedly. I jolted in response to her commentary, the huddle of Alphas in the middle of the room already a surprise. I stayed behind Bohdi, using him as a shield from everyone’s view as we moved to the back of our small group.
Apple and Hayden both turned to greet me, both their eyebrows reaching their hairline as they checked out my dishevelled appearance. Apple brought a hand up to her mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to snuff out her laughter.
Then, it all went wayward. All eyes were on me as the room erupted into laughter.
I folded my arms across my chest, emulating confidence despite it, though my cheeks did redden beneath the sand coating them.
“Get here okay, Raya?” Hayden jested, Apple cackling along beside him. Even the stoic Klarissa was laughing amongst it all.
Bohdi gripped my hand and brought it to his lips for a soft kiss. “Still beautiful,” he murmured, and butterflies took flight in my belly. He released my hand from his grip before I even noticed I hadn’t yanked it away myself. He’d also done that in front of everybody. Secretly, I enjoyed the simple, brief moment far too much.
“Enough,” Klarissa commanded, breaking through the joy and embarrassment of the moment. “We are fortunate enough to have a guest with us today who is hoping to view some more of our sessions moving forward.”
Everyone looked around, trying to suss out who the guest was. By the looks on the others’ faces, this was an extremely unusual occurrence.
Weird. I followed the other’s movements, looking around the room to identify today’s so-called guest.
We waited in silence and confusion until the lock clicked over on the door that lead to the surface. A dark-haired, blue-eyed guard stepped into the room, followed by my delicate older sister.
I shielded my confusion from the others’ eyes when they turned to look back at me, likely wondering whether I knew what this was about. The sad thing for me was, despite us being family, I hadn’t known a thing. I rarely saw her anymore, and it was frustrating to have her here, so close to me but still so inaccessible.
The guard eyed us with interest, coming to a stop directly in front of us all. Riley positioned herself beside him, quite close, and smiled broadly at everyone in greeting.
Ugh, now I was even more embarrassed. Here I was, the feral younger sister, covered in sand whilst my sibling stood proudly in front of everyone in all her glory, with her unmarred skin, styled hair, and perfect makeup. Not even her white dress had a speck of anything on it, which confused the hell out of me.
“The Rose has a keen interest in meeting and getting to know our role here within the Haven. She will likely be attending a session a week with us, simply to view and understand what it is we do to prepare.”
Riley dipped her head in agreement, her eyes inspecting the space before resting for half a second more on me.
“Today, I want to discuss tactics and what we’ve learned about some of the regular infiltrators. Most specifically, I want us to share information on the silver-haired male, the dark-skinned shifter, the hawk shifter, and the brunette female, as they seem to be most problematic for us.”
Hayden was the first to speak up.
“I have names for the first two. I managed to catch them when they called each other. Funnily enough, the silver-haired is literally called Silver, and the big guy they refer to as Raid. He’s some sort of upright-walking lizard shifter with yellow slitted eyes. Scary as fuck, brutal. He knocked me out cold the last round of defence before I could even do any decent damage. His shifted skin is seemingly impenetrable. I landed a few decent bites, but not even my fangs could penetrate his skin.”
Lizard shifter. Interesting. But impenetrable skin? How the hell would we combat that?
I took the opportunity to contribute next, even though I looked like a fool. “I did a lot of damage to the Hawk shifter at the last thinning. He is rash. We could handle him if he returns.”
Apple looked over at me with a grin and a thumbs up, and I laughed low in response.
“The female, I’ve dealt with once. She shifted in and out quickly. She’s a bull but struggled on the sand, so I’ve never seen her shift outside that one time. She’s an incredible fighter, though, I’ll give her that. Packs a powerful punch, doesn’t she, Hayden?” Apple teased as Hayden rolled his eyes. Clearly, he’d been one-upped by her at some point.
Bohdi interrupted their banter, injecting seriousness back into the discussion. “Silver, we don’t know much about. He is new. I observed him briefly before he knocked me out with something. He is stealthy and more considered in his approach, quite a good anticipator of our movements.”
For all of Bohdi’s humour, I appreciated how serious he was on this matter. The abduction of Omegas was abhorrent and deserved our full attention.
“Agreed. I had one run-in with him. It’s like he knew where I was going to land when I materialised, managing to sidestep me as if it was no trouble.” I paused and frowned before continuing. “I’ve never experienced that from anyone, not with my power.”
Bohdi looked over at me in contemplation, the others mirroring his expression.
“Has anyone ever seen him shift?” I asked, looking around the room. “Something seems unusual about him.”
Bodhi shook his head, and others followed suit.
“He doesn’t smell like a Dominant to me,” Klarissa replied as she studied me. “I’ve been close to him a few times before, albeit fleetingly. If anything, Raya, he has a similar underlying scent that I often smell on you now that I’m more familiar with your gift.”
I couldn’t help but look to my sister then as everyone else looked towards me. Riley’s usually composed expression pinched at the eyes, a minor twitch, invisible to those who didn’t know her, but entirely obvious to me.
The extent of Silver’s abilities was still unknown, something I needed to draw out. Another Gifted like me? I didn’t know whether to be excited or afraid.
I didn’t dare tell them the rest of the details about how they had wanted to take me. I didn’t want to cause havoc in already strange circumstances with Riley present.
Maybe tomorrow night, things would be totally different, though that anxious feeling that now lived inside me roared higher in objection to that thought.
I decided then and there that I’d be wearing those cuffs tomorrow night.