chapter one

CHAPTER 1

MARA’S POV

As I breathed in the scent of the morning dew, I was filled with pure joy: finally, the chance to let Gretel run wild freely. Stripping down, I changed into my wolf form, Gretel and I surrendered to the thrill of racing through the trees. I glimpsed the reflection of my wolf as I dashed by a stream, a sense of freedom enveloped me, even as Gretel howled out her excitement at our run. I felt guilty at keeping her caged most of the time.

I wanted to bring her out but I barely even had time to sleep as I was always rushing to one part time job or the other.

As if on cue, my phone began to ring.

"Not again?! You promised to let me run today" Gretel whined

"I'm really sorry Gretel" I said, "but we are broke right now and we need a LOT of money"

Gretel groaned in frustration," fine" she said before turning to sprint back in the direction we came from.

I had changed back to my human form and dressed up as fast as I could before carrying my bag and rushing off to work. Thankfully I got to work on time. There were a lot of customers there already, most of them patronized to gain favor from the Beta who actually owns the restaurant.

Mara!” A sharp voice called from behind me, startling me into almost dropping the cup I was holding. Save for my quick reflexes, I would have added another item to my list of expenses.

“Mr Bowman? What can I do for you?” I answered, turning to him with a fake smile plastered on my face.

“Why is the inventory I asked you to restock not done?”

“Sir, I started it but you asked me to drop it and go serve the customers since the store was busy.” I answered, stopping myself in time from rolling my eyes.

“Excuses! If you were half as good as your sister, I wouldn’t have to tell you what you can and can’t do. You would be able to manage your time and get your work done. Such a pity she isn’t here anymore.”

What the fuck did he just say ? Did this pig say that on purpose to insult me ?

This wasn’t the first time I was being compared to my sister .

Still, I couldn’t let him see that it affected me or he would keep on mentioning it just for fun.

My fists clenched in frustration and I was itching to give him a punch, but since I know how it was going to end I just held myself back and replied him with my head bowed, "I'm sorry sir, I will get it done now" and turned to go to the storeroom.

I closed the door behind me, run my hand through my hair as I leaned against the door, trying to push my thoughts to the back of my mind.

Calm down Gretel, we really need this job I said trying to calm my wolf.

Ding.

I heard my phone ringing. I picked up my rustic secondhand phone to go through the new email.

Dear Miss Mara Wilson,

We are sending you a message to remind you that the deadline for the payment of tuition is in three weeks, February 28. Failure to pay means automatic forfeiture of your admission. We hope to hear from you at the soonest date.

The registrar,

Crescent University.

Staring at the phone that I saved money for a long time to buy , I sighed , again .

How could I have saved so much money before 28th?