RAY HOOK
Year 2014
(Summer, The U.R.T., Crescent Bar)
"Hey, where are you going? Your phone's still here!"
The girl grabbed his wrist but Ray wiped her hand off him and rushed after the scent.
Kate. Kate's here. His mind kept repeating as he charged past the security, who exchanged curious glances with each other behind those shades but said nothing, and re-entered the club.
A veil of darkness cloaked everywhere. But his eyes adjusted almost immediately, and they started searching. Like a detector, they locked in on everything in sight—every silhouette, every face, every movement—and scrutinised for a match.
Her scent was disappearing, and Ray got more frantic. If only he was less human, he would see her in an instant; he would hear her from a distance; he would have caught up with her right at the entrance. If he was less human, he wouldn't be standing here like a pathetic mutt, not knowing where she had gone.
"Fuck," he chided himself and sped off in the weak trail of her scent.
Kate… His heart pounded with desperation. Please, let me find her. Kate. I need to tell her. I want to stay with her. I can live as a wolf for the rest of my life.
Ray pushed through the dance floor, wading across a pool of sweat wrapped, smoke covered bodies packed skin to skin swaying and bobbing like waves, and emerged on the other side, where the standing tables are.
The scent was gone.
He had no choice. He had to search manually once more. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. Kate's appearance was frozen in time. He should be looking for someone older, but all his mind was telling him is to look for a thin girl with long fiery hair wearing the biggest coat.
Where is she? Where are you, Kate? His voice kept chanting in his head. He couldn't even hear the music now. His concentration was at its strongest, dedicated only to scrutinising every detail of every figure until he located… that fiery locks.
It was dim but Ray was certain that was her. That shade of red was unmistakable. It was hers alone. He remembered how they glowed under the morning sun. Yes, that must be her.
He took a step forward and the smell of the freshest snow on roasted swarmed in. Confirmation couldn't be more delightful. He broke into a smile, his breathlessness completely forgotten.
Kate.
She looks older, her movements wiser. She had chopped off a good length of her luscious red locks, and her hair now tucks obediently behind her ears, the ends of it willingly remaining below her earlobe to display her independence and strength in that slender jawline.
Ray moved closer and caught a summary of how the years have treated her: that proud nose and playful curves of her mouth were preserved but enhanced with experience and make-up.
She drew a sip from the glass and smiled across the table. Then, she leaned closer as she swallowed to catch something more clearly, her brows knitting slightly in the process, displaying the agility of her mind. Abruptly, she turned.
And Ray found himself staring at that set of exquisite emerald eyes. He finally got to see them again. This time, they weren't melting; they weren't glowing with rage, or spitting blame, or spewing curses. They just watched him—just as she used to. And Ray could almost feel the tender brush of her fingers through his mane.
She blinked and squinted in puzzlement, and Ray went frantic.
Like a schoolboy on a date with his crush.
Then, reality dropped on him in a giant tug.
"What the fuck—Ray-ster!" His uncle's face was an inch from his, scrutinising like a helicopter parent. "Can you hear me?"
Ray removed that hand on his forehead and groaned, "Stop that. I'm alive." He pushed the block of wood aside to get another glimpse of Kate and find the right means to talk to her, but the block of wood swiftly slotted himself back in, covering all corners of his view.
"Why are you back here? Where's the girl?"
Ray tried again. "Get out of the way." Maybe he should just pretend to take their orders. Wait—no, he's out of the uniform; she might think him a drink spiker.
The block of wood finally caught on but slotted himself back in just to tease the young nerves. So the young Alpha stepped away from him to check the table.
"Who's that, huh?" His uncle was now against him, left elbow propped in his shoulder to trace his line of sight and locate that object of his sudden enthusiasm. "The girl?"
Ray sighed at the empty table then swivelled a killer gaze to his right.
His uncle grinned knowingly. "Kate?"
And Ray's useless blush roared in celebration as he stammered like an idiot. "H—how—how did you know?"
A series of chuckles broke through and the same elbow hooked around his neck. Ray was pulled closer to listen carefully as a lowered voice offered. "Wanna join me for a movie?"
Ray knew that 'movie' is the CCTV footage that rolled continuously twenty-four hours, and jerked back with worry. "That's illegal."
The ex-Delta rolled his eyes. They can't be more alike, he remarked silently before dragging the teen towards his private office.
******
Ray watched Kate on the screen dancing with her friend, a girl around her age, in clothes less than hers, showing more skin than her.
His uncle turned to him with a look of horror. "That's Kate?" The extremely rare smile on the Alpha's face answered his question, and more disgust crumpled his face as it swivelled back to the flat-chest nun flinging her arms about like a retarded jelly-fish. "My God. This is worse than your depression. That's your version of an angel? What the fuck did Rose teach you?"
"Please, shut up." Ray leaned closer to the desktop screen, his eyes glued to that tiny figure amidst the heaving crowd, the corners of his mouth lifting to his ears.
The uncle was relieved to see a genuine smile on that face again. The Alpha King and his Queen would want to see this, the thought jumped at him and quickly—but stealthily—he took a snapshot.
Then, to hide what he had just done, the ex-Delta propped his right elbow on the table and rested the right side of his forehead on his palm. "So what are you gonna do now?" he asked in the most casual tone he could conjure.
And Ray suddenly backed away from the screen. "What do you mean?"
His uncle scoffed in disbelief. His finger tapped at the jelly-fish on the screen and repeated, "Aren't you gonna talk to her?"
Confidence drained from Ray as fast as the blood from his face, and the sullen teenager was once again that timid, stammering young prince of the Howling Five Kingdom. "She doesn't know me," a tiny voice mumbled, and the older face plummeted to flatness.
"Introduce yourself."
"I can't." Ray twisted one finger with another.
"Why not?"
And Ray burst out like a tearful seven-year-old. "She'll find out that I'm Snowy. And–and she'll know that I'm a werewolf! I'm a monster!"
His uncle narrowed his eyes to an unimpressed line. "She's probably forgotten all about 'Snowy'. Because 'Snowy' is a fucking coward who abandoned her." Seeing the boy crushed back into his distressing form, he flipped his face upward and shook his head in exasperation before switching to a bright smile.
"But Ray Hook will be the brave soul who keeps his promise and stays by her side after he introduces himself to her."
Without a word, the young Alpha bolted through the door and out the club.