Rain&Ashes

A sketch I have been working on lays forgotten on my lap as I watch the fireflies dance in the air while I sit in my favorite tree. Usually, at this time of the night, bonfires are lit and pack members usually sit together talking, eating, drinking, partying. But I am not usually invited. To be honest, I am never invited. Period.

Why? Because I am the Omega that survived a fire when I was only three years old. The same fire that killed my parents. Even if the house I was in with my parents burned to the ground, the fire did not harm me. When I was found in what was left of the house, pack members swore that fire surrounded me and my eyes were glowing red. Once the fire that surrounded me disappeared, my eyes turned to their natural color-green. Also, my once black hair turned red, and on my left shoulder, a tattoo of a crown of flames appeared. Since then, my pack, the Crescent Moon Pack, thinks that I, Rain Blackwater, have been cursed by the Moon Goddess. And they avoid me like I am the plague. Well, except for the long hours I have to work for the pack and they order me around.

I don't mind working, because it gives me time to be alone and just think about all the things I will do once I will turn eighteen years and leave the pack. My problem is my small stature, only 5'4, and all the hard work I have to do around the Pack House. I am the one to cut the wood for the bonfires and the one to make sure they are ready to be used in the evenings.

I am also the one that cleans the Pack House, all four floors, by myself because I am the Omega. The only Omega in the Pack.

And if I don't do the work that the pack demands of me, they will throw me out and I will become a rogue. The problem with it is that Omegas goes into heat and being a rogue Omega in heat is not something I want to experience. With a bit of luck, I still have years left until I get my first heat. And when that happens, well I will deal with it when that time comes.

Fortunately, I am not asked to work all the time, and from 9 PM to 5:30 AM the time is mine to do as I want. And what I like to do is to draw. And I am pretty good at it. The art teacher, Mr. Smith, a Gamma in the pack, says that I should study Arts at the University. He is also the only one that believes I am not cursed.

My thoughts are interrupted by a pair laughing very loudly. I look over to the bonfires and sniff the air in the direction of those that are laughing. Lavender – that is my cousin, and oranges – that would be Jordan, the future Alpha of the Pack. I see Jordan laughing at something my so perfect cousin, Ruth, said. I try so hard not to roll my eyes because I see Jordan practically drooling all over Ruth. Like I get the fact that she is like some sort of walking Barbie– at least that's what I am told because I have prosopagnosia and thank the goddess I am a werewolf and I can recognize the others from their scent – and that she has an entire fan club in the pack, but I think that sometimes she tries too hard to get the attention of the others. And especially the one of Jordan. Unfortunately for Ruth, she can never be Luna, because only the soulmate of the Alpha can become Luna. And even if Jordan is almost twenty-two, he still hasn't found his soulmate.

My wolf, Safia, send me an image of Jordan with a female with red hair at his side, and Ruth crying. I laugh. And then I arch an eyebrow. Red hair?

Like me, Safia is different. While I suffer from face blindness, Sefora can't speak, like all the other wolves. So she uses images when she wants to talk to me. We even have a code, since I can't recognize faces. So, Jordan has an orange above his head. Ruth, a bouquet of lavenders. And since I struggle to recognize emotions, Safia has to get creative. For crying, she uses a raining cloud, for anger a burning cloud, while for happiness a rainbow, and so on.

Safia shows me once more the image of Jordan and the red hair female, and this time she adds an apple with caramel above her. And that would be me because I smell like apples and caramel.

'Ah no! That will never happen! Just because you have a crush on Jordan's wolf, Titan, that doesn't mean I have a stupid crush on Jordan,' I say to Safia. 'Besides, Jordan is just like all the others. He thinks we are cursed, and you know how bad he treats us.'

Jordan likes to kick the bucket of water I use when I clean the floors of the Pack House or pushes me around whenever he feels like it or enjoys calling me names. And so many more things.

Safia sends me an image of a dark red wolf and a grey wolf running in the forest – Safia and Titan. I roll my eyes so hard at her. And she whines.

'I know you want to find our soulmate, Safia. I want that too! But our soulmate is not Jordan! Our soulmate will be kind, and he will love us.'

But Safia is not listening to me. My crazy wolf is lost in her dream of Titan and her. And I let her be. After all that it happened to us, she deserves a little daydreaming. And daydreaming about Titan won't hurt anyone.

I put my sketch in my little backpack and get down from the tree. It had been a long day for me, cleaning the Pack House for the upcoming birthday of Jordan. Only two more days and then Jordan will be twenty-two. Two more days in which I have to make sure that the Pack House is spotless.

As I head to my little room, I get too close to the spot where Ruth and Jordan are sitting. Other werewolves are with them, but I don't focus on their scents, because I realize my big mistake. Ruth is my number one tormentor and I do everything I can to avoid her.

"If it is the bane of the family," Ruth says when she sees me. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to make sure everything is ready for Jordy's special day? Am I right, Honey-Bunny?"

Honey-Bunny aka Hannah, aka Ruth's BFF and shadow.

And also Jordy? Gag me! How does she come up with these names?

"You are always right, Ruthy!" Hannah, I mean Honey- Bunny says.

"I am in my free time, Ruth, in case you have forgotten," I simply say.

"I was not aware that you have free time. People like you should not be allowed to have free time," Ruth says.

"People like me?" I ask.

"Cursed by the Goddess!" Hannah said.

"I don't even know why we are speaking to her!" another female says, and from her voice, I think it is Ariel, another of Ruth's friends. When I smell vanilla and chocolate, I know it is her. "What if the Goddess curses us because we speak to her?"

Before I have a chance to say to Ariel how absurd she sounds, someone takes my backpack from me and I turn to see who it is. Well, to sniff who it is – oranges! Crap!

"Can I have my backpack back?" I ask.

"Only if you ask nicely," Jordan says.

I grit my teeth, "Please!"

"For someone that lives out of the charity and the goodwill of the Pack, you should work more on your 'please'," Ruth says, but I ignore her.

It is no secret that I wear old clothes from that the Pack out of the 'goodness' of their heart gave to me. The old shirt and jeans I am wearing have been patched and fixed so many times, I can't even remember.

I try getting my backpack back. It is an old thing that I had to fix a lot of times, but it is the only one I have and it is where I keep the art supplies Mr. Smih gave me.

"Tell you what. I will take a look inside and then I will give it back to you," Jordan says.

I want to protest, to say he can't, but Jordan already opened it and took my sketchbook out.

"What is this?" Jordan asks as he drops the backpack as his attention centers on my drawings.

"Nothing! Give it back!"

Jordan looks at me with an expression I can't identify.

'Safia?' and my wolf sends me the burning cloud. Crap! Making Jordan angry is something I don't want to do. The last time I made him angry, I didn't get food for two days. And I do like food, thank you very much. Even if the food I get is the Pack's scraps.

"I will give it back, only if I want to!" Jordan snaps at me. He flips some pages and says, "And I am keeping it."

And he walks away. With my sketchbook. I am so furious right now. I feel like – breath, Rain, breath.

I try to keep my calm in check. Only three more weeks and I turn eighteen and I am so out of this nightmare pack – I already made the arrangements with another pack to take me in once I am eighteen. I can do it and not lose my temper. Safia snorts and shows me an image of the Pack House burning down. And me next to it, with a rainbow above me.

'Do not tempt me, Satan!'

"Way to ruin the party with your presence, mongrel!"Ruth says and rushed after Jordan. "Jordy wait!"

I pick up my backpack and head to my room. It is not a normal room; it used to be an old laundry room of the Pack. It is small and cold, but it is mine. And old mattresses covered by an even older quilt are in a corner. A broken coffee table – that I fixed – is next to my 'bed'. I don't have a closet, so I hang my clothes from the pipes on hangers. And that's pretty much my room.

I put my backpack on the table, take my old sneakers off and crush on my mattress and pull the quilt around me.

'Three more weeks' I say to myself while I fall asleep.

When I woke up, it was raining. One would think that I love the rain because of my name, but in reality, I hate it, because it means more work for me. Werewolves come inside the Pack House with their boots full of mud, getting the freshly cleaned floors dirty around thousand times in a day.

And here I was, on the second floor, on my knees, because the Pack loves seeing me like this, scrubbing the hallway floors – floors that I cleaned fifteen minutes ago. I stop for a moment to look out the window. I sigh when I see it is still raining. When will it stop?

Someone stops next to me and his scent lets me know who he is – Jordan.

"What do you want?" I ask, and I don't even look at his face because I am too busy looking at his shoes full of mud.

"Making sure you are working hard for the pack," he says.

"By bringing more mud into the Pack House?"

Jordan says nothing for a minute, time in which I try to clean some part of the new mud. When he doesn't move, I stop and look at him. I forget to breathe for a moment when I see my sketchbook in his hands.

He looks at me with an expression I can't see, but lucky for me, Safia sends me the image of a grey cloud, meaning that he is irritated by something.

I wait for Jordan to reply to me. Or to move. Or to do anything.

He takes out a cigarette from a pack and lits it and starts smoking.

I hate the smell of tobacco. I never understood how some werewolves smoke.

"I have looked at your drawings," Jordan finally says, after he smoked about half of the cigarette and let the ash fall on the floor. "Not too bad. But I wouldn't call it good either."

I don't care what Jordan says about my drawings. I know I am good. Mr. Smith told me a lot of times I have real talent, and I believe him.

He opens my sketchbook and takes out a drawing of a wolf I have been working on for some time. While some people with prosopagnosia have problems recognizing animals' faces, I can see them very well. It's human faces that I don't see. And right now I wish that I could see faces because the wolf I have been working on is Titan. I have been drawing it for Safia. I wonder what expression he had on his face the moment he saw the sketch of his wolf.

"Titan says that this drawing doesn't do him justice."

I don't care what Titan says. I am not drawing it for him!

"I am sorry he doesn't like it. Can I have my drawings back?" I ask, hoping that he will give them back. I have worked a lot of time on them, and I don't want to lose them.

Jordan smokes some more, letting the ash fall on the floor. I so want to make him eat that cigarette. Maybe then he will think twice before smoking in my presence.

"I will give your sketchbook back if you agree to meet me this night at the waterfall. Let's say around 9:30 PM."

I frown because I don't want to go to the waterfall. And why does he want to meet up with me later today?

He starts walking towards his room, leaving a trail of mud behind him.

I said through gritted teeth, "I don't have to meet up with you later so that you can give me back my drawings. You have them with you."

Jordan keeps walking as he says to me, "I will see you later, dark witch."

I hate when he calls me a witch, especially a dark one. Not that I have something against them. I never actually met a witch, but from what I read there are dark, light, and nature witches–also known as druids. A dark witch uses her power to harm others. And the pack thinks that I am the one that started the fire that killed my parents. Truth be told, I don't know what happened that day, I was only three. There are many times when I do believe that I am to blame.

Safia sends me an image of a heart and a hug and I inhale deeply.

"I love you too! And thank you for always being here for me. You are my best friend," I tell her.

She sends me an image of both of us eating chocolate.

"You do realize that chocolate is like a poison for wolves?" I ask her.

She whines.

And then Safia sends me an image of Titan and her at the waterfall.

"You really need to get over your obsession with Titan," I tell her and chuckle.

When she sends me an image of Jordan and me holding hands, I refuse to further talk to her.

I continue to work inside the Pack House all day long, making sure the dining hall is spotless for tomorrow. Then I arrange the tables and the chairs for all two hundred pack members. Thank the Goddess it is a small pack, otherwise, I would have ended up staying awake all night to get everything ready.

By the time I finish everything, it is already 9:05 PM and I decide to go to the kitchen to see if Mrs. Marian, the Gamma in charge of the food, has some leftovers for me.

Normally, the Omegas are the ones that make sure that the pack is fed, but my pack doesn't trust me with the cooking. They think I will try to poison them. Who knows? Maybe I would, if given the opportunity.

"What do you want?" Mrs. Marian asks me when I step inside the kitchen.

"I am hungry," I simply say.

"You are always hungry! All you do is ask for food. And then ask for some more food," she starts with her usual bickering, and I don't even listen to the rest. It is the same thing day after day.

When she is finally done, Mrs. Marian gives me a plate of spaghetti. Just the spaghetti, with no salsa.

"Can I have some tomato sauce?" I ask.

"This is all you receive! You either eat it or leave it!" she says in a tone full of poison.

I sigh and start eating the food. Safia sends me an image of ice cream.

"Once we get out of here, we will eat the ice cream we want," and I feel Safia's happiness.

After I finish the food, I go to take a shower. I use a small bathroom with only a sink and a toilet. To wash, I have to put a hose to the sink. And the water is always cold. I don't even remember what a hot shower feels like.

Ever since my parents died, the pack had me sleeping first in the basement, next to the boiler. It was always dark in there and I often woke up crying because I had a nightmare. And no matter how much I cried, no one ever came. In time, I stopped crying, even if the nightmare continued. When I turned ten, they gave me the old laundry room. My nightmares finally stopped when I turned eleven.

When I am done with the shower and I am dressed, I look at my watch–Mr. Smith gave it to me when I turned fifteen. It is already 9:35 PM. Crap! It takes ten minutes to get to the waterfall. I doubt Jordan will wait for me.

I put my hair in a ponytail, grab my backpack and rush out the door.

I run all the way, hoping Jordan is still there.

"You are late!" he says, the moment I stop next to the waterfall. "I said 9:30 PM, and it is 9:42 PM."

While I try to catch my breath, Jordan continues speaking, "I am going to keep one of your drawings, so that next time you make it in time. And each time you are late I am going to keep one more drawing."

Next time? There will be no next time because I am going to get my sketchbook and return to my room.

Jordan moves in front of me. He looks at me with his turquoise eyes – Safia once sent me this color when I asked her about his eyes – and he inhales deeply.

"I never realized how sweet you smell. Apple and caramel," he says.

"What does my scent has to do with my drawing?"

"Everything, little black witch."

"Can I have my drawings back?" I ask and look at his face. "And stop calling me a witch!" I say in an angry voice.

Safia sends me the image of an angry cloud. Crap! I don't want to make him angry, because Jordan has a bad temper when he is angry.

"I can call you whatever I want! And if I want to call a black witch, then that's how I am going to call you!" Jordan snaps at me.

I look at the waterfall.

"Do you understand?" he asks me and I nod. "Look at me!" Jordan says, and I turn my head to look at him.

When Jordan moves a hand towards my face, I flinch. He chuckles and left his hand down.

"I am not going to hurt you."

I don't believe him. I hope that will give me back my sketchbook so that I can leave as fast as I can.

"I am going to give you one sketch each night."

"What?" I ask in a disbelief voice. "You can't do that!"

"I think you forget who I am," he says.

"You are the future Alpha," I say automatically.

"That's right. And like I was saying, I will give you one drawing each night. We will meet at 9:30 PM each night. Except for tomorrow, since it is my birthday."

I want to throw something at him and hurt him. Bad! Or I could just – calm, Rain, calm.

"And to make things more interesting, we are going to play a little game," Jordan says, and Safia sends me the image of a white cloud. He is smiling.

"Game? What sort of a game?" I ask and narrow my eyes.

Moments like this make me hate the fact that I have prosopagnosia. I want to look at someone's face and to be able to recognize emotions.

Safia sends me the image of a cloud with the sun, and I know that Jordan is smirking.

"For each drawing, I want something in exchange. It is only fair."

"But – but I have nothing to give you! Did you forget I live from the charity of the pack?"

Jordan smirks again – I am glad that Safia sends me images fast to keep up with all his mood changes.

"For each sketch, I want a kiss!" he tells me.

"A what?" I ask in disbelief.

"A kiss."

I have never kissed someone before, and I don't want to give my first kiss to him.

"I will never kiss you!" I say.

"Then I guess I am keeping your drawings. And I will do what I want with them," he says and starts walking away.

I can't believe him! And I can't let him go, he still had my sketchbook! But I don't want to kiss him.

An idea occurs to me and I mentally high-five myself.

"Wait!" I say.

"Yes?" Jordan says and turns to look at me. He smiles.

"I agree. One kiss for one drawing."

Jordan looks at me for a few moments, then says, "I am waiting for my kiss."

I take a few steps until I am standing in front of him. I tilt my head back to look at him. He is tall. And his scent tickles my nose.

I stand on my tiptoes, but I can't reach his face.

"Can you bend a little? You are too tall!"

Jordan chuckles but does as I ask.

I move so that I can kiss his cheek. He never said where I have to kiss him, only that I have to kiss him.

I almost kiss his cheek, when Jordan suddenly turns his head and my lips lock with his mouth. My eyes go wide with shock, while he moves his lips on top of mine.

My first kiss.

With Jordan.

I take a step back, "You kissed me!"

He licks his lips, "That was your first kiss?"

"You had no right!" I say, and I feel how anger boils inside of me.

"Oh, little black witch. I had every right."

I turn on my heels and walk away. I am so angry at him!

"You forgot your drawing!" Jordan yells after me, but all I want to do is to put distance between me and him.

When I get inside my room, I can still feel his lips on top of mine. I touch my mouth with my fingers.

Why did he kiss me?

When I fall asleep, I still think about it.

Soon after I fall asleep, I start dreaming. And it is the same dream I had ever since I was little.

I am in a room made of stone. A throne is in the middle of the room, and on it sits a woman with long golden hair. She wears a white dress.

She looks at me and starts talking.

"Fire and Ice. Ice and Fire. Two elements that are not compatible. Two elements that should not love each other. But it is only when Ice burns for Fire and Fire melts for Ice, that they will become Alpha and Luna Supreme. For it is their combined power that can seal the portal that connects the two worlds. They will fight the Demon King and send him back to his realm."

While Rain flees from me, I lick my lips once more. I can still taste her. Peaches. I'm afraid I'll become addicted to her sweet little mouth if I'm not careful. That is something that should never happen. Because she will be nothing more than a plaything. A sweet little plaything.

I pull a cigarette from my pocket and start smoking.

"You're a jerk," Titan declares.

While I enjoy fooling around with females, Titan doesn't. He never understood why I enjoy the company of females. He always said that we should wait for our soulmate. But he'll understand when we're older and mated to whomever the Goddess chooses for us.

I've never understood why I can't choose a female with whom I want to spend the rest of my life because I want to, rather than because my instinct tells me she's my soulmate.

To make matters worse, I won't be the Alpha of the pack unless I find my soulmate.

What if I don't find her for another ten years?

Or how about twenty?

Or never?

"We already talked about this. Until we find our soulmate, I am free to be with whomever I want to. And now I want to fool around with Rain," I say.

"I told you time and time again that Rain is special."

"You got that right. She is special. Did you notice that she never looks into someone's eyes when she is spoken to?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"That she has that disease... What's it called? Autism?"

"You are retarded. Autism is not a disease. Besides, Rain doesn't have it," Titan says.

I snort.

"Rain is not normal, and you know it. She is lucky that I even look at her because no one will."

"If you make her suffer, one day you will regret it, asshole," Titan says in an angry tone.

"The only thing I regret is listening to you talk about Safia all day long. She can't even speak. What do you see in her? Can you even speak to her?"

The moment Titan starts thinking about Safia, I can feel his adoration for her. And I instantly regret saying the name of that she-wolf.

"You won't understand. Safia is the most beautiful she-wolf I have ever seen. She is perfect the way she is. And one day, she will be mine."

"You are delusional, Titan. The only she-wolf that will be yours is going to be our soulmate. If we ever find her."

Titan stops talking, and I finish my cigarette. I take Rain's sketchbook and leave.

On my way to my room, I pass next to the bonfires. Pack members love to gather around them almost every night.

Some pack members are drinking or making out. Or both. And in most cases, the party will continue in a quiet place.

Werewolves are very sexually active, and we are not ashamed to express our desires and needs.

My best friend and future Beta, Kevin, stands from a nearby bonfire, comes to me with a beer in a hand, and gives it to me.

"Where have you been? I have been looking for you!" Kevin says.

I shrug and drink from the bottle of beer.

"Just down to the waterfall. I need some fresh air."

Kevin points at the bonfire, and I see Ruth making out with Andres, one of the Deltas. He has his hand up her skirt.

"Ruth agreed to come to my room tonight."

I take another sip from the bottle, "And Andres?"

Kevin grins, "I get to fuck them both. Wanna join?"

"As much as I love you, Kevin, but I am not into males. But have fun," I say.

Kevin laughs, "That's why I invited Ruth over, so you can join the fun."

While I might be a jerk and an asshole, as Titan says I am, but once I have my eyes set on a female, I am loyal to her until our relationship ends. That means I won't fuck other females. And especially not Ruth. I can't even remember how many times she tried to get into my bed. There is something that I don't like about her. She is beautiful, with long legs, blond hair, and blue eyes, and I know that most unmated males in the pack dream about her, but not me. Every time I look into her eyes, they are so cold, it seems that they could freeze my heart.

The only female I want in my bed right now is Rain.

"You know Ruth is not my type," I say.

"Ruth is everyone's type," Kevin says to me.

When I say nothing and I drink from my beer, Kevin looks at me and grins, "Oh, I see how it is. Who is the lucky female this time?"

I shrug, and say, "No one important.'"

Kevin laughs, "No one important? If she got your attention, she is pretty important. So, did you fuck her yet?"

I choke on the beer.

"Do you ever think about something else?" I ask.

Before Kevin can reply, I hear Ruth calling my name. Well, her version of my name, that I totally hate.

"Jordy! I didn't see you coming!" she says and comes to stand next to me.

"It is Jordan, not Jordy. And you didn't see me coming because you were busy having Andre's tongue down your throat."

Kevin laughs so hard it sounds like he is howling.

"I would much prefer to have your tongue down my throat," Ruth says and tries to kiss me, but I move before she can touch me.

"Don't you ever try that again!" I growl at her, and she takes a step back.

I look at Kevin, "I better go before someone really pisses me off."

"But –" Ruth starts to say, but I am already walking away.

"Later!" Kevin says, and I wave a hand at him.

As I walk, I finish the beer and put the empty bottle on a table before entering the Pack House.

Before I reach the stairs, my father, Alpha Ben, comes out of his office and sees me.

"Son! I was looking for you!"

"You were?" I ask in a surprised voice.

He nods and opens the office door.

"I would like to talk to you. Come in."

I sigh. I would rather do something else. But I have learned from an early age that if my father wants to talk to me, I have no other option.

"Yes, sir," I say and follow him inside the office.

I look around the familiar office – an office that one day will be mine. I hope.

A big oak desk with an office chair. Two armchairs are in front of the desk. Close to the window is a cabinet with drawers, where all the files of the pack members are kept, along with other files. A sofa, a coffee table are placed close to the door. On the floor is a big rug.

"Sit," my father tells me, and I sit in one of the armchairs.

I put Rain's sketchbook over my knees and look at my father, curious about what he want's to talk to me about.

He stares at me for a long minute before he finally decides to talk.

"Jordan," my father starts, "tomorrow you will finally turn twenty-two. I would like to retire and to leave the pack in your hands. But without your soulmate, to stand as the pack's Luna, you can't lead the pack."

"I know, father. And I have looked for her, but so far I haven't found her."

"You have to try harder, Jordan! You know that your mother is sick, and when she is gone, I will follow her. But I can't leave the pack unprotected. Not with that rogue werewolf that has his territory so close to ours. What is his name? Carl?"

Fourteen years ago, my mother has contracted a disease that affects one in every thousand werewolves – Slow Death. And as the name suggests, it is a slow death for the werewolf that has it, because not only that, it affects the human, but also the wolf. Some werewolves die within months after they become sick, while others, like my mother, can live many years, but the sickness makes them very weak and most of the time they can't even get out of bed.

Slow Death was created around seven hundred years ago by the black witches in an attempt to kill the werewolves. But it didn't go as the black witches planned.

Unfortunately, my mother is getting weaker with each passing day. And this disease not only affected my mother but my father as well. He is half the male he used to be.

"Caleb Black," I reply.

"That's what I said, Carl."

I try hard not to snort.

Caleb Black is the most dangerous rogue from Romania. Not because he is strong, but because he has united rogues from all over Europe under his leadership. Not only that, but he also created a rogue pack called Black Ruby Pack. Crescent Moon Pack and Black Ruby Pack share the same forest – the Mociar Forest, in Transylvania, the oldest forest from Romania.

"I am not worried about Caleb Black, father. So far he hasn't been a threat to the pack, father. We have the support of many packs –

"Find your soulmate, Jordan. That is the only thing you should worry about."

"Yes, father."

He looks at me for a few seconds, then nods, "You can go now. And go see your mother before you go to bed. She wants to see you."

"Alright. Good night, father," I say before leaving.

When I get in front of my parent's room, I stop and stare at the door for long minutes, before knocking and entering.

My mother is laying in her bed, with a tablet in her hands. She is so pale and thin. It hurts to see her like this.

"Jordan! Come here!" my mother says when she sees me.

I go to her, put the sketchbook on the bed, next to her tablet, and grab her tiny hand between my big ones.

"How are you feeling?" I ask her.

"Like dying," she replies and gives me a weak smile.

"Is there something I can do for you?" I ask.

"Not for me, but for you, Jordan. Find your soulmate. You need her to lead the pack."

I nod.

She looks at the sketchbook.

"What is that?"

"Nothing," I reply.

"It doesn't seem like nothing to me, since you are carrying it with you."

"Just some drawings Rain did," I tell her the truth.

"I don't like that girl, Jordan. You know that I got sick two months after her parents died. You should stay away from her. I want nothing to happen to you."

My mother is convinced that she got sick because Rain is cursed. Since then, my mother always disliked Rain.

"Don't worry, mother. Nothing will happen to me," I try to reassure her.

"Tomorrow is a big day," she says, changing the subject. "Come see me in the morning. I have a gift for you."

"Of course," I say.

I spend a little time with her before going to my room.

Once I am in bed, ready to sleep, I look at the drawing that Rain did on Titan and smile. Maybe she will draw me next. Naked.