06

Peyton

"Sorry, we aren't hiring." The receptionist tells me after doing a once over at my appearance in distaste.

"What about a kitchen assistant?" I implore, eyes red with frustration with a tad of Hope in my heart.

And she shakes her head in disapproval.

Letting out a low groan, I turn away from the receptionist and start heading towards the exit doors as I sulk at my ill-stinking luck.

It's been seven failed job attempts so far in one day, and I don't have any cash on me at this point which makes things even more complicated.

There are few vampires here with their pale skin and dark eye circles selling them out. They're five in number, three boys and two girls dressed in all black like rock stars, but they seem to be monitoring everything going on in the cafe, perhaps looking for a human who they'd feast on later.

I bite down on my bottom lip because I don't want to think about Alvin, the vampire who killed Lancelot. But somehow it has made my paranoia towards vampires stay the same, even though they mix with humans. You can never trust them because they have the power of compelling. They can compel a human, or a fragile Omega wolf like me to stay still, while they suck out all the person's blood.

And to add to my distress, some werewolves immediately barge into the cafe, averting everyone, mostly the vampire's attention to them.

One of the wolves halts and stops the others with his hands as he begins sniffing around him.

"Smell something, guys?" He asks them, and they too start sniffing.

My heart skips a bit.

"Maybe Calhoun didn't wash up after having sex with some bimbo. Smells like stale cunt huh?" One of the guys snickers jabs the next guy in the shoulder only to get glowered at before he earns a whack at the back of his head.

"You don't go about telling people they smell." The short girl who had smacked him points out with a frown.

"Guys! It's a feminine scent." Confusion washes through the face of the first boy and then hits back on seriousness. "Like a countryside wolf." He deadpans.

The rest of the werewolves stop talking at once with their eyes widening in horror.

And I freeze.

With my head down, I scurry away from the wolves and out of the cafe as fast as my legs can carry me so they won't know it's me.

On reaching outside, I decide it's enough for job hunting today even though I have just bread and water, and my wolf craves fresh meat that she has been deprived of, for some days.

Last night I slept on the hard cold floor without a mattress so the stranger could feel warm on my bed.

I wonder if he's still asleep by now because when I left the house five hours ago, he was still deep in sleep. And maybe if he's hungry, he can help himself with some of my bread.

The walk back home takes half an hour, and when I push my door open, I find my bed empty.

"Hello?" I call out, taking casual steps towards the tiny bathroom because I have a feeling he's washing up, but there's no sound made. After knocking on the bathroom door in three rows, I slide it open and find no one inside.

"He didn't walk out naked, did he?" I narrow my eyes as I ask Freya, my wolf, this.

Probably shape-shifted into his wolf and left. Freya replies.

I am still uncertain, so I wait and hope for him to pop out from nowhere, but he doesn't. And when it's nearing evening with still no sign of him, I conclude that he's gone and never coming back.

Mildly relieved that he's finally out of my space, I decided to forget about him and just considered myself to have helped in saving him from dying.

                                  ***

It's been two days since my encounter with the stranger whom I treated. Two days since I've been indoors, and a day since I ran out of bread.

I get out of bed, determined to work any job even as a janitor at public toilets.

I am brushing my teeth and staring at my birdnest hair in the mirror when I hear the sound of my door being broken down.

With my heart pace growing pace and anxiety welling up inside of me, I stare at the mirror in horror, with my jaw-dropping as the toothbrush slips out of my mouth and falls into the sink.

Three werewolves come into my view, and two forcefully start pulling me out, while the one who I suspect is their head, walks ahead of us.

"What's happening? Please let go of me." I implore, kicking my fist in the air and trying to break free from their hold.

"You, young lady, would be punished for treason because we received some information that you're an exiled wolf from the Crimson pack. And the Alpha's approval is needed before you can stay here." The tallest of the men explains calmly, as the rest of the men drag me out of my apartment.

Knowing I am heading towards my doom, tears start welling up in my eyes.

"Don't hurt me please." I plead, trying so hard not to break into sobs as I am being led to the Range Rover car parked outside.

"There's nothing we can do at this point, miss. Your presence is needed at the town's pack council." The man tells me, eyeing me with contempt. 

My heart drops because running away from my pack wasn't a good option after all. The wolves here already see me as their enemy.

And as they put me into the backseat of the car and sit side by side with me so I won't escape, I begin to wonder if it's the stranger who I helped that gave them the information about me or those teenagers at the cafe from two days ago.

With my heart in my throat, and my body shivering violently due to anxiety, I stay silent as the car drives out of my surroundings, taking a road I am not familiar with.