1

~Thea

I swing the dog's leash back and forth as I walk, watching the fake leather gleam in the dull light. Above my head, vicious clouds swoop in, looming over me with threatening shadows in it's wake. It makes me sigh irritably.

The Devotion Pack is situated centrally within the Pack Quarter. It can get warm here, but the weather remains typically gloomy and dull. It doesn't put you in the best mood when you look up and see a darkening cloud overhead that never results to anything.

I've decided to return June's stupid dog today. Might as well do it today and walk home in the daylight. After last night, June made me walk home with the small dog she thinks is protective. I decided to take the long work through the town, rather than delve into that forest. I nearly lost Squiggles...or whatever she calls it.

The village is pretty small. There are other townships within the Pack, but they are all miles away and desolate like our own. It's so tightknit, no one leaves, and no one comes in. At least, not since people started believing in Phantom's again.

Too scared to step foot out of the village, most people have accepted a simple life away from any other civilisation. Many people, including myself have also accepted the idea of never finding our mates. It sucks, but in some people's eyes, it is safer to stay away from where Phantom Wolves are said to lurk.

I just won't leave because my dad won't. And as a nineteen year old living with her father, who works part time at the local diner, I don't see myself doing anything else anyway...

The little Jack Russell June calls her guard dog skips ahead on its little legs. I'm not sure if dogs are allowed on streets this close to stores, but no one is really around to question it. It's a Monday, so the little amount of children in the area are at school, and everyone else is working.

"Maybe it will actually rain one day," I muse, not sure if the dog really listened to my mindless words. It cocked an ear, but that was it. I just listened to its claws click against the concrete, wishing my life was as simple as his.

Maybe it is as simple. I don't go anywhere. My boyfriend will probably have to mark me on the grounds that neither of us are likely to find our own mates. My dad works most days. My friend is a crazy lunatic sometimes. And I don't have enough money to move out...Okay maybe it isn't that simple.

I stare into the store windows as I pass by, wishing I could afford some of the nice clothing and what not. Instead, I am left looking at my own hazel eyes, and frumpy clothes.

I need a miracle...

Suddenly, my eyes catch on something taped to the store window of a second hand clothing shop. It has my sneakered feet finding a stop, my eyebrows raising past the line of mussed brown hair that swoops over my forehead.

A piece of paper, newly printed with bold text, with a photo vibrant that's surprisingly eye catching. But not as eye catching as the title it is.

"Missing Person"

My heart rises in my throat, as I assess the name under the familiar photo. "Jessica Holmes."

I went to school with her. She was the epitome of an introvert-kept to herself, always drawing in her notepad or reading some high fantasy novel. I think she was better friends with the town librarian than anyone in our year.

I stare at the long mass of curly auburn hair that tumbles down her shoulders. She was quite pretty, if you look past her thick rimmed glasses, and her eyes as cold as chunks of ice. The traits she has, she shares with most of us in this Pack. Dark hair, hazel eyes. Average.

But she had gone missing. Missing? No one ever leaves this town.

I am a very curious person. I can't ignore it. I used to read thriller novels before I got a job, and ever since the slightest sign of a mystery has my heart racing. And since nothing ever happens here, I am instantly intrigued.

With a jingle of the bell atop the door, I stroll into the store, the poster in hand, having left the dog tied to a pole outside.

The clerk at the desk glances up as I walk in, probably not expecting someone to visit at this time of the day. Since everyone knows everyone here, I don't have any trouble identifying her as Ms Morris. Elderly, cheerful, but the worst gossip in town.

And her partner in crime shifts clothes around on a nearby rack. That is Ms Slater. Both mateless. Both probably the biggest entertainment in this town.

"Thea dear! What a lovely surprise!" Ms Morris chirps, clapping her hands together at the sight of me. I force a toothy smile onto my face, wishing I was as optimistic about life as these two. I can't imagine how they lived so long all on their own...

"I saw this in the window," I tell her, getting straight to the point so that I don't have to be stuck talking about how boring my life is with them.

I slide the piece of paper across the countertop, giving Ms Morris a perfect view of the missing person poster. The moment her gaze touches the paper, her face pales, and her mouth form a tight line. I have never seen her without a smile..

"Ah yes. Poor Jessica," she says solemnly. I feel Ms Slater stroll up behind me, thick heels clicking against the linoleum floor. She leans over the counter as well, drinking in the sight of the young girl.

"The poor family," Ms Slater muses, smacking her pink tinted lips together. "I can't believe she would do that to herself."

My heart stops. "Do what?"

The two ladies exchange glances. They look so similar, I realise, as they contemplate whether or not to tell me about Jessica. Both have the same fluffy white hair and sun damaged eyes. They dress the same, and even put on the same makeup everyday. I don't judge though, because it's familiar. I grew up thinking they were sisters.

"She killed herself. She walked straight into the Phantom Forest and those wolves killed her," Ms Morris exclaimed. My jaw clenched.

Just like the rest of this town, these women are one drumstick short of a picnic basket. No one has ever seen a Phantom Wolf, and here they are convincing themselves that they do actually exist.

"Did they find the body?" I ask, wondering why there would be a poster up otherwise. The women shrug at the same time.

"No...But she was a little bit strange, so we don't doubt it was a suicide-"

I want to roll my eyes.

"And we think the wolves are getting closer to town. Maybe she got scared and gave up," Ms Slater assumed. This isn't the first time I have heard their ridiculous assumptions.

"Do the police know about this?" I ask, my index finger tapping impatiently against the countertop.

Glances are passed again. I mean, our police force consists of two men. A father and a son. There job is hardly necessary in this town...Well, until now I suppose. The son, my boyfriend.

"No...But we can't think of any other way," Ms Morris informs me. It takes my entire being not to sigh at the batty old women.

I could have gone anywhere in town and found reliable evidence, but instead I made the mistake of coming on here.

"She might have just left home. She was old enough," I muse.

"Can't be. The librarian saw her leave, and her parents never saw her come back. She was either taken, or she killed herself," Ms Slater stated, trying to confirm the lack of information.

I take a few steps backward, leaving the poster. This is stupid...

People don't leave. Ever. And if people don't leave, then people don't mysteriously go missing. In assumption is that she left home, simple as that.

Leaving the shop, I grabbing the dog and started on my way again. My detective work for the day is over, and I decide as I walk, I'll keep it to myself.

Because I know exactly what June would think, if she found out about the missing girl, and the idea of it maybe being a Phantom.