“Our fries are now free to refill and we have a new burger called Fire Burger. Also, our shakes are on sale for our jumbo size. Would you like any water to start you off?”“Um,” I examined the menu. “No thanks. I’ll go ahead and order my drink which will be a large coke and small sweet tea.”“Alright,” the girl unnecessarily wrote my order down. “I’ll be right back with that.” As the girl walked away, I could tell something was off about her but decided not to think about it. She may have been ready to leave work.I scanned the menu and chose a steak burger with fries with a side of corn along with a dessert of a hot fudge sunday. I relayed my order and dug into my food minutes later. It was delicious. I finished everything. Not one scrap on my plate nor drop in my drink. I placed three dollars on the table as a tip and went to pay for my food. Afterwards, I only had thirty five dollars and thirty six cents left over.I pocketed the money and walked down the sidewalk until I was hidden
“Graphic design.” He answered after a long pause. I assessed him. He worked in a store like this, dressed like a punk and was interested in graphic design? Sounded like a gamer. I had two second cousins who were twins and they were somewhat like Michael now that I thought about it. “Do you want to create video games?” I watched him carefully hoping he wouldn’t get mad at me again.“Something like that,” was all he said before cursing at his laptop.“I’m gonna go change.” I pointed out the door and left without waiting for a response.As I got dressed, I went over the store inventory and what my job entailed as well as self-loathing the fact that I didn't do that on the way here. I hoped there wasn't a test. Today would hopefully be a good day and I could keep myself in high spirits as I worked knowing that each day I was closer to my freedom. The very thought got my blood pumping and I quickly forgot about the incident this morning as well as any thought of being completely exiled fro
“How do you dry off? Don’t you get cold at night? How do you get food?” Michael was very into this topic.“Customer,” I answered seeing two girls walking into the store on the camera, their arrival also announced by the ‘ding dong’ sound at the shop entrance.“Hey!” Michael frowned. He wasn’t done with the conversation, but I was. Who the heck wanted to learn how a girl dries off after emerging from a freezing stream? Shaking my head, I moved to greet the customers.Michael and I slowly grew closer day by day. He was less tense and smiled more. I hated that this budding friendship was going to end soon. I even bought a one-piece swimsuit and brought Michael to the wood’s for a swim on our day off-turns out there are two other employees, Drake and Hailey. We had a blast but we were shivering really bad afterwards. After he left, I let my fur warm me as a wolf while I sunbathed.Besides being with Michael, I watched the motel when I could to pass the time. The hairs on the back of my nec
“Uh , this is Riverdale, yes?” I nodded to confirm the girl’s question. “I’m looking for a city hall that looks like this. It says the photo was taken in Riverdale but I can't seem to find it.” She pushed a printed copy of a court house at me.I leaned over to examine the picture and froze. That was my hometown’s court house! I wasn’t about to let a pack enter my alpha’s territory. I snapped my attention back up to the girl and she shied away at the sudden movement.“That’s in Horsedale,” I lied as convincingly as I could. Horsedale was three hours away. To me that was still too close.“No it’s not,” the boy with purple eyes joined the girl at the counter. He had to be six feet tall. I didn’t let his stern glare intimidate me. My protectiveness of my pack overruled any fear I did or should feel.“Then I can’t help you,” I returned to working on the hangers angry that the boy and girl still stood there.“Oh, yes you can. I know what you are.” I glanced sideways at the boy seeing the sil
I jiggled the handle. It was unlocked. Removing my hand, I contemplated my next move. If I left, who knows what I may not learn. If I entered, maybe I could see if they’d truly left and search for anything suspicious. Another part of me was warning me that it was all a trap. I was playing into their hand but as a lower ranking pack member, I could take the blows. If I could fight a rabid wolf almost twice my size then I could handle this, right? Deciding, I cracked open the door. It wasn’t empty. Suitcases were piled against a wall and a cup of four toothbrushes sat on the sink.The two beds were messy and the lamp in between them was still on. Walmart plastic bags were strewn across a circular table with candy wrappers practically hiding the bags from sight.I wrinkled my nose at the sight. I didn’t even want to look in the bathroom.Quickly, I searched the room. Under the bed, covers and mattresses, behind the tv, VCR and DVD slots and amongst the garbage around the table. I wasn’t
There! A lynx. It stood on a rock almost completely blending in. It was staring at me in challenge. I twitched my right ear. There were lynx here? I waited for it to make its exit and it vanished up the mountain side.My hackles lowered and I sat, realizing how numb my paws were. I lifted one to examine it. A tad sore and red but thankfully not cut. I cleaned each paw as best as I could and rested under a tree-which didn’t really help keep me dry. Before I knew it, my head was on my paws and my eyes drooped shut.A bird chirped, awaking me. I yawned, extending my front legs. While it felt like I’d slept for hours I could tell by the position of the sun that I’d only slept thirty minutes.“Dang it,” I stood, all my joints stiff. I lost precious time. I should rest in my den, not here. Still a bit tired, I decided to walk instead of run. My thoughts slowly turned to Alpha, Draugluin and Lyall. Oh, what would they think? My steps slowed but I made them move faster. Was I scared? That was
Draugluin , the next alpha, was trusting me to keep silent which was a strange mixed of terrifying and exciting. I nodded slowly and solemnly.He led me behind the first, big boulder and wedged behind were two other boulders with a steel door. With great expertise, Draugluin used something in his hand to pick the lock and opened the door with ease. I searched behind me before being ushered inside, just now realizing that he'd picked neutral colored clothes to better camouflage us from any unwanted attention.It was damp inside and I could hear water dripping somewhere within. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and I saw crates come into view along with an unlit lamp and large, wooden chest.Draugluin sat on a crate before lighting the lamp. The flame gave the place a soft glow but cast foreboding shadows. I hurried and sat on the crate across from Draugluin . Not even a creak from the wood.“I’ve been doing research for a long time now,” Draugluin whispered. “There’s been something d
“Thank you, Alpha,” I nodded my thanks to Alpha who now had his nose in the book again.“You are dismissed,” he waved a hand and Draugluin shut the doors.There was silence as Draugluin , Smiley Ermengarde and I just stood there looking at each other. “I’d better go,” was Draugluin ’s reply before he made a quick exit. I watched him leave with too much interest. Maybe it was because of our earlier conversation in the cave or how he slowly seemed aloof again now that we were home.Ermengarde suddenly exhaled and took in big gulps of air. “Are you alright,” I bent down, my hand hovering over her back unsure of what to do.“I feel so nervous around boys,” she began laughing as if it were the funniest thing she’d heard of. All I did was blink. Twice.“You feel nervous around guys?”“Boys our age specifically,” Ermengarde straightened up with a smile before extending her hand. “I’m Ermengarde, a Theta.” I took her hand and shook it. “You’re quite popular around here now. Some people barely