Chapter 37 - How I Met My Joe

Chapter 37 - How I Met My Joe
Raine

After Joe had revealed his mate, Raymond’s, name they sat in complete silence for what felt like hours. Holding each other tight. Raine continued to stroke his hair and Joe was glad for her comforting touch.

As they sat not saying a single word, Raine felt her heart breaking for her friend. A wolf’s mate was supposed to be the other half of their soul, the one person in the entire universe who was supposed to accept you and make you feel whole. But, unfortunately there was always an exception to everything and Joe’s mate was on this occasion the exception.

She felt so angry at how he never really gave their bond a shot and had made her Joe go through such awful and horrible pain. She wanted to set his head on fire just so he would be able to feel a fraction of her friend’s pain! Unfortunately, as neither of them had formerly rejected the other, she knew that harming Raymond would hurt Joe and his wolf. Not physically but emotionally, even if they weren’t fully mated.

But the fact that even Joe’s wolf had wanted to get away from their mate showed how much pain the bastard had inflicted on the both of them and how betrayed and hurt they both felt. Like Joe said, the wolf is normally the one who tries to get them to stay with their mates and it takes a lot for them to think and act otherwise.

She wished you could make everything magically better, but unfortunately her magic was not that powerful. All she could do was make sure that she was there for Joe and make sure that he knew that. She would support him however he needed it, whether it was holding him while he cried like now or being there for him when he came face to face with his mate.

When they did eventually pull apart from one another, Joe gave her a sad smile that made her want to pull him into her embrace again. But she held herself back, knowing they had to sort this out.

It didn’t look like Joe was going to say anything, so Raine took a deep breath and continued their talk.

“How do you know?” He gave her a confused look, so she elaborated. “That he’s here? That you’ll see him tonight?” She asked.

He sighed and began rubbing the back of his neck again, a nervous habit of Joe’s.

“I saw him…” He breathed. “The night you were spiked…again, I did come to the Basement like I promised. But right before you started to react…” He took a shaky breath. “I went to get a drink before I started babysitting.” He gave her an amused look which Raine did not return. She knew she did weird things when that bastard had spiked her drinks, but calling it babysitting was a bit much!

“Right when I ordered I heard someone call out my name, but it was so loud and stuffy in there it was messing with my senses! I thought it might have been one of us or Sigi or I don’t know!” He threw his hands up dramatically. “I turned around without even thinking and he was there…staring at me like he’d seen a ghost and I can’t say I didn’t give him the exact same look…” He took another shaky breath. “I didn’t know what to do! I froze! He slowly came closer and touched my arm; maybe to check if I was real, I dunno…But I felt them!” Raine cocked her head to the side to show her confusion. “The sparks… the mate bond still there, they ran up my arm and down my spine the moment his skin made contact with mine and I wanted to melt into him! But I was frozen, scared, the past came crashing back and I couldn’t deal with it so suddenly! I ran…again…” He mumbled miserably. “Some wolf I am…”

“You’re a great wolf!” Raine argued. “Only a fool would rush into battle without knowing his opponent!” This made Joe chuckle.

“He’s not my opponent though…he’s my mate…” Joe argued.

Raine forgot not all of her advice would be very fitting for someone like Joe. But she had to find something to comfort him!

“How would he know to come tonight? You don’t perform under the name ‘Joe.’" She pointed out, hoping this might make him feel better.

“One of the guys behind the bar yelled out ‘Lunarr’ when my drink was ready, I ran right after he gave me a confused look, knowing I had just been busted.” He mumbled before looking back at her. “That’s why I wasn’t there for you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay!” Raine shook her head. “I understand Joe and I could never be mad at you! Besides my stuff worked itself out and I got back here safe.” He still looked pretty upset, so she added. “Well, if you don’t count the jumping a total stranger and having my way with him, apparently.” This made him genuinely chuckle, which in turn made her smile.

“So how’d you know he’s gonna show up tonight? You do perform other nights too!”

“I found out he’s staying at Warrior Harpe with his Alpha and Beta.” She gave him another confused look. “He’s the Delta.” He explained.

“How do you know so much?”

“Jack went to deliver some document to Alpha Duncan and you know what he’s like, he came back blabbing about absolutely everything and everyone he saw. And he saw him…apparently he asked him about ‘Lunarr’ and when he performs…” He sighed. "And Jack told him to come along tonight if he wanted to see me so bad, the idiot!" He shook his head at Jack unconciously selling him out.

“I’ll be there!” Raine announced and took a hold of his hands again. “I’ll be there to support you…or act as bodyguard, whatever you need!” She smiled.

Joe chuckled at her again.

“Do you think you’d be able to take on a Delta wolf?” he asked curiously.

“I’ve taken on bigger!” She said, with a dangerous glint in her eye. “I usually prefer the element of surprise but it’s nice to change it up every now and then.” She winked at him, making Joe laugh again.

But despite his laughter, she could still see how nervous and afraid he was; clearly thinking too much about what would possibly happen later that evening. So, Raine changed the subject.

“Since we are still in story time…” She grinned up at him, grabbing one of her abandoned cushions from the floor and sitting on it for more comfort. “…tell me more about you.”

Joe cocked an eyebrow questioningly at her, but was smiling too.

“Like what?”

“Hmm, let’s see.” Raine playfully pondered. “How did you end up at Runagate? Jack said you turned up with Lulu, but I couldn’t tell if he was having me on or not.” Raine made a face.

“Surprisingly, that is true.” Joe chuckled. “I had been on the run for about two weeks. I just kept going, sometimes in wolf form and sometimes in human. I wasn’t sure where I was going, I just knew I had to keep moving to keep from thinking about…well, you know.” He swallowed. “I collapsed near a lake and I was sure I was gonna die from either exhaustion or exposure. But I woke up and someone had clothed me and had started a fire so I would stay warm and even dragged me into a cave nearby. I was so confused and then I saw her, Lulu was in the water staring at me.” He chuckled. “You have no idea how terrified I was! She slowly walked out of the water and I was sure I was done for, but when she got closer she didn’t touch me or even try to approach. She stuck some fish she caught in the fire and started cooking them, when she was done she offered me some.”

“That sounds like an odd beginning.” Raine laughed, though she could easily picture Lulu doing this. The dark skinned beauty was far too kind for her own good and was always putting others first.

“Tell me about it.” Joe chuckled. “I was wary at first but I very quickly realised there was nothing evil about her and she just wanted to help me and somehow we ended up travelling together.” He smiled at the memory.

“Ended up?” Raine asked, confused.

“Oh yeah, Lulu did not speak a lick of English when I first met her.” He guffawed with laughter. “I have no idea what language she spoke, but it sounded like it had a lot of vowels in it. We mostly communicated through pointing things out or acting them out.”

Raine couldn’t help but join in Joe’s laughter as she pictured the two of them playing a constant game of charades just to communicate. It was a comical idea.

“After about two weeks of us travelling together, we met Sigi.” He smiled warmly. “He said in all his long years of immortality, he had never seen a wolf and a snake happily travelling alongside each other. He offered us to come to Runagate. At first I was hesitant, but Sigi explained it was a place for people like us. People on the run who needed somewhere to feel safe, so I agreed. You should have seen me trying to explain and act out to Lulu what was happening though.” He laughed, shaking his head. “It took us hours and eventually seemed to understand we were going somewhere safe. Sigi is the one he taught her English and explained western culture to her. But, we still don’t know where Lulu actually came from.” Joe smiled.

Raine in took the information he had given her. She had only ever known Lulu after she herself came here and by that time she had already learned English and she had never heard her speak in her native tongue; though every now and again the hint of an accent would slip through.

She liked how Joe seemed to perk up after telling her about his meeting Lulu and Sigi, so she decided to keep the good memories rolling.

“Tell me about the day you met the light of your life, the angel in your world of darkness, twinkle of your eye!” She jokingly winked at him and instantly he burst out laughing.

“I can only assume you mean yourself!” He laughed.

“Of course!” She replied, fluttering her eyelashes.

Despite asking, she didn’t actually need Joe to tell that particular story. It was one she remembered very fondly, a day she would never forget. It happened a few years ago, right before she ended up at Runagate.

Memory ~

Raine and Sylvia were driving through a dusty wasteland on Raine’s motorbike. They had managed to finally get a sidecar attachment before Sylvia had managed to get them chased out of another town, so the Werecat was happily in her own seat.

“I can’t believe you!” Raine yelled over her bikes engine, knowing full well that Sylvia could hear her.

“It was nothing personal!” Sylvia chuckled.

“It was entirely personal! You walked into that museum and pushed over a priceless, thousand year old vase!” Raine screeched.

“Meh, it was ugly.” Sylvia shrugged.

“Ugh!” Raine knew there was no point arguing. Some cats just had bad habits like pushing thing over or shredding things with their claws. Unfortunately her cat was bigger than most and could be held very accountable as she did these things in her fricken human form!

“So where to next?” Sylvia asked relaxing in her sidecar. “I’m thinking somewhere near a beach, with lots of sand!”

Raine was about to give her hell, knowing exactly why she wanted to go somewhere with lots of sand when something caught her eye. They were driving along a long, straight dusty road with the entire landscape flat before them. There was no sign of life or anything green, but she had spotted something that looked alive but barely.

She instantly hit the breaks and heard Sylvia hiss as she nearly flew from her side car. She paid little attention to her as she leapt from the bike and ran to a collapsed figure in the middle of nowhere.

He was crumpled on the dry ground clutching his stomach. His clothes were covered in blood, which Raine could tell was half his and half someone else’s. He seemed to be badly injured; his face was covered in fresh cuts and was screwed up in pain. Her heart sank when she saw him open his eyes a crack, look at her with a look of absolute defeat and then close them as he passed out.

“Hey!” She called as she crouched down beside him. “You can’t go to sleep! You have to stay awake!" She cried.

Sylvia had jogged over to them at this point and sniffed the air around him.

“It’s a dog!” She sneered down at him. “Are we really gonna adopt a lost dog!?” She groaned, as she watched Raine start to drag him towards the bike.

“We are not leaving him!” She warned Sylvia and gave her a dangerous look.

“Fine!” She grumbled as she helped Raine put him in the sidecar. “But he better not get blood on my new seat!” She complained.

Raine rolled her eyes as they climbed on the bike; with Sylvia now behind her; and they drove off back down the road.

They were lucky enough to find a motel soon after finding him. Raine made sure to pay for the room and distract the manager as Sylvia dragged the unconscious man up to their room. Once inside, Raine laid him out on the bed and began to use magic to heal him. He had clearly been in some kind of altercation; there was a huge gash in his stomach which took three of her paper charms to heal to a satisfactory level.

He was unconscious for two full days. Raine was terrified he wasn’t going to ever wake up, whereas Sylvia was more concerned about the heat and the rubbish, cheap air conditioner they had in their room.

But he did awaken, mid-afternoon on the third day of their stay. Raine leapt up from her make shift bed on the floor and began checking his pulse. Once she was satisfied she sat by his bedside and explained to him how she found him and had taken him somewhere relatively safe and healed his wounds.

“Thank you, angel.” Were the first words Joe ever spoke to her.

His first words to Sylvia were as flattering as hers were to him, but sometimes cats and dogs just didn’t get along.

They stayed in the motel for a few more days before Joe could get out of bed. He contacted Sigi and the vampire soon arrived late at night to collect Joe. It was then that Sigmund had invited the girls to come with them and stay at Runagate. At first Raine was hesitant and Sylvia refused unless Raine was going to go too. But after Joe explained the club and Andromeda City to her, Raine realised it was a place where she could basically hide in plain view and agreed.

Joe helped her adjust to life at Runagate and they quickly became the best of friends and, eventually, duet partners.

End of Memory ~

She smiled warmly at the memory and from hearing Joe’s side of it as well.

He had been on an assignment that had gone awry. He managed to still end his target but he had been left gravely injured and had made it as far as the wasteland before collapsing from blood loss. The target had used weapons soaked in Wolfsbane, which slowed down his healing and left him dying in the state Raine had found him. It was the reason he was unconscious for so long, his wolf was doing his best to heal them from the inside while Raine had healed his outside.

He recounted how he could hear her the entire time he was out. He also joked about how confused he was when a blue haired girl appeared before him when he finally awoke inside the motel. It made Raine blush, she had seen a blue haired girl in a movie while they were stuck in the motel room and had tried it out on her own head, before realising she really did not suit non-natural hair colours.

They laughed and reminisced about their early days here at Runagate. How they had to house train a certain silver haired feline, how Raine was nervous about living in a mansion with so many strangers (before she got to know and love them all), about how nervous she was the first time she had to sing in Runagate; to which Joe joked she was more nervous about her first song than her first assignment which hadn’t seemed to bother her at all.

Eventually, the laughter died down and their smiles faded when they glanced at Raine’s clock and realised that it was time to get ready. Time for Joe to face the past he had been running from for years, only this time he wasn’t alone. He had his angel with him for good luck.