chapter one

CHAPTER ONE

 Hailey's POV

"Thief!! Someone stole my bag!!" A shrill wail resounded in the vicinity and almost immediately, an uproar resounded among the surroundings patrons in the market.

My eyes widened in alarm and I immediately reached for my body, searching left and right to see if my own property wasn't stolen too. This was too much of a common occurrence to take a chance.

I heaved a loud sigh which drew the attention of those around me after confirming that my things were intact. Shrinking into myself, I shuffled through the crowd to the now distraught man who was still shouting, his face filled with panic.

"Hey. Calm down man." I started, placing my hand on his shoulder, a look of sympathy all over my face as I tried to comfort him.

The man shook my hand off him harshly.

"The fuck you mean, I should calm down! What will I tell him about the pack..." He started but trailed off as a weird look crossed his face.

I raised brow at him, my face contorting in confusion.

"Tell who? What are you on about? What pack?"

"Tsk! That's none of your business, twat." He said dismissively. "Stop yapping and find who stole my freaking bag, damnit or I'll take out my anger on you, bitch." He warned waving his fist in an intimidating manner. 

He tried to look intimidating and it would have worked if not for the panic written all over his face at his lost item.

Why did he look so scared? What exactly did he get stolen?

Whatever! I didn't want to provoke him so I acted like I was scared as I shrinked further into myself.

"W..w..what does the thief look like?"

The man froze.

"Ummm. I'm.. I don't know damnit. Just look for the bugger who stole my bag."

How unreasonable!

Despite hating this disgusting scumbag, I still nodded. "Alright. You go there and I'll go the other way. If I see any suspicious person around, I'll raise alarm."

The crowd that had formed had already begun to scatter, obviously not too keen on helping the man.

The man nodded and then we both sprinted in different directions.

I ran for a while before I ducked into a dark alley speedily, my steps agile and effortless, a stark cry from the previous clumsy and scared appearance I showed.

I turned another corner, and then another until I was sure I was very far away from the bustling market.

I straightened and then cracked my neck left and right before I languidly pulled on my hair, removing the brunette wig on my head to reveal my natural redhead. I tossed the wig aside and then slowly peeled off the mask on my face to reveal my real appearance.

I pulled out a compact mirror and then checked to see that there was no trace of my disguise on my face anymore.

My lips curved into a smirk as I raised my hand to rake it through my hair.

"What a fool." I muttered as I pulled out the bag I had previous nabbed from that man earlier.

I guess he would have never expected that the same person he tried to intimidate into finding his stolen items was the one who nabbed them.

I would have loved to gloat about his misfortune but time was not on my side and besides, I couldn't blow my cover.

In haste, I shed the miserable looking clothes I wore, revealing a right leather crop top and pants beneath it.

I crouched besides a crate near the garbage dump and then dug out the jacket I had previously hidden there and then I donned it. I dug into the bag and then once I felt something, my eyes lit up as I shoved it into my jacket pocket, I then tossed the bag aside, not caring for the stacks of cash in it.

That was not what I was here for, at least not today. If I took it, there was no mistake that I might get caught.

That man worked for someone in the dangerous market so I didn't want to bring any attention to myself.

My job was just to steal and deliver.

With that, I walked out of the alley and unto the streets, merging into the crowd like I belonged there.

I took a different direction from the market because although I was sure that the man would not recognize me, I hated taking chances.

I strutted through the crowd, ignoring that few catcalls I got till eventually, I reached a dingy and worn looking pub that barely had customers.

I pushed the door open and then walked in. Ignoring the few patrons by the counter, I walked passed them and towards the back.

This was a place I frequented, so none of the staff cared to stop me. They also didn't acknowledge me as they looked like they hadn't gotten a days rest before. For people who weren't aware of what they did, it would come as a shock seeing the state of the pub. Sadly, I was in the know.

They were into all sorts of shady deals that did nothing but make them worse for wear.

"Hailey." A gruff voice called out startling me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see a tall yet stubby man who was no stranger to me, smiling at me with his grimy looking face.

"Dennis." I didn't even care to smile as I removed the item from my jacket pocket and then tossed it at him.

He caught it with a speed that was shocking for his size but I wasn't suprised either, after all, the man was an Alpha.

What I tossed to him was a small pouch which he used a dagger to tear open slightly before he checked it's content.

I looked away, unwilling to watch this process which I had done a million times over.

He was my hirer and my job was to nab this substance off people and deliver it to him. 

Whatever he used it for, I didn't know and I didn't care to.

After a while, Dennis nodded with a big smile.

"Just like everytime, You always deliver Hailey."

I rolled my eyes at him. "That makes us even."

With that, I turned to leave not even waiting for a response but I should have expected that Dennis wouldn't be so easy to deal with.

"And who said so?"

I growled and then swiveled to face him, my eyes sparking with anger.

"The fuck are you on about? We had a deal. Take on twenty jobs for you and my debt is fully settled. This is the last one."

"Deal shmeal. Who can testify that such a deal was discussed, unlike your debt. It's written in plain black and white. So, you're stuck with me until I tire of you." His lips was curved into a devious smirk at this point making him look even uglier.

My eyes widened and my heart dropped.

"How can you do this Dennis?"

He leaned back and let out a deep bellyaching laughter.

"Why can't I? Who asked you to be a freak without a wolf? If we go to those in charge, who do you they'll believe? I who has a reputable business here or you, a freak who is... Wait... A thief!!!"

I gritted my teeth as I glared at him with all the hatred I could muster. My fists were clenched tightly until they turned white.

I should have never trusted this bastard.

I opened my mouth to refute him but I jumped when a loud heart wrenching scream echoed in the air.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

I cowered into myself and this time, it was a real reaction.

"We're under attack."

My heart immediately stopped.

I didn't even acknowledge Dennis and how he dashed away like a psycho. I stood there rooted to the ground unable to move while the sounds of growls got closer.