"What If It's Her?"

Jackson’s POV

I stand in front of my car, thinking, and can't figure out what to do with it. I've had all the minor scratches repaired on my car in the last month, but if you have last year's GMS, it can't have so many problems that you can keep having it repaired. Maybe it'll explode, yes, that's exactly what I can do.

"Hey man, drive your car to my place right now!" I demand of my friend Mateo.

"Good morning to you too. It's only six in the morning. What do you want with my car?" Mateo wondered, his voice was sleepy and I know that I actually woke him up early. Mateo has always loved to sleep late and waking up at 8 was already too early for him.

"Don't fuss, I need your car and if you want, you can use mine for that time." I urged him. I was so pleased with myself that I was able to come up with such a good idea.

“Okay, okay, I’ll finish my coffee and then I’ll come to you. You better have a good explanation for what you’re thinking now.” Mateo grumbled.

I threw the phone away and sat on the porch. I get to see her again today, my wolf and I were so excited about this opportunity.

A month ago, I was in a neighboring town because I needed materials from their library and then I needed to take my car to be repaired because my new car, my love, had started making strange noises lately.

I had just parked my car at the library when suddenly a girl ran straight into my arms. She was so upset that I had to help her stand up. At first glance, you could tell that everything was not well, she was in her underwear and covered in red paint. Before I could react, she was already gone.

Only her wonderful scent, mixed with the smell of paint, was on my clothes. This smell was simply captivating. My wolf demanded that we follow her. It was clear that something had happened to this girl. When I managed to get out of my fright, she had already left.

I tried to follow her scent, since there were so many people and her scent quickly dissipated. After looking around for a while, I decided to continue with my activities. I went to the library and after some searching I took my car to be repaired.

I could have sworn that there was a faint smell of her in the car repair shop, but that doesn’t make sense. What is a young girl doing in a repair shop? I was sure that the smell was on my own clothes or, at the very least, the girl’s family’s car in the repair shop. I brought my thoughts back to my activities and reminded myself that I didn’t need to think so much about a complete stranger.

Mateo drove up to me in his car. “Hey Alfa, why aren’t you sleeping and letting me sleep?”

“I’m taking your car to be repaired!” I said resolutely. Mateo looked at me like I was crazy.

“That’s why I needed to be at your place so early? Do you understand, man, I was at home in my comfortable bed. I had a nice she-wolf next to me and I could have spent some time with her in the morning after I woke up. But you only invited me here so you could fix my car! What’s going on?”

“Don’t grumble, I’ll let you eat anything from my kitchen. Let’s see if Matilda has already had time to prepare breakfast. When you’re full, we’ll drive to River Creek, to the car repair shop.” I put my arm around Mateo’s shoulder and pulled him into the kitchen with me.

Mateo calmed down, because as soon as he walked in the door the house was filled with the pleasant smell of freshly baked pastries. Mateo could always be calmed down with food.

In the packhouses, Matilda worked in the kitchen, smiling quietly. Matilda was an experienced and benevolent housekeeper in the main house of our pack. Matilda didn’t live in the house, but she really liked the job and sometimes, when she was in a particularly good mood, she would bake fresh pastries for breakfast. My favorite was the cardamom bun, but Mateo could never say no to caramel pastries.

Matilda noticed us and greeted us happily “Good morning, alpha and beta. You are unusually early today, but fortunately I have just taken the first batch of buns out of the oven.”

Matilda had already set out plates for us behind the counter and a pot of coffee ready. And before we arrived, a tray of pastries had been placed in front of us. When we had both finished our pile of pastries, it was time to go.

I couldn’t wait to see her again. Every day I learn more about her, although her life is very mysterious and I have a million questions that I haven’t been able to answer. The biggest of them is that there is no part of her life that suggests that she is a werewolf. Her life, her daily activities, give no hint that she is even aware of the existence of shifters. Her whole life seems like the life of a normal teenager, but yet she is a werewolf. I am 100% sure of it.

I have learned from Ben, the owner of the car repair shop, that her name is Loreen, but he calls her Lory. She is still a minor and lives near Ben. It seems that Lory does not like to interact with strangers, as I see her staying away from everyone, only with Ben does she interact freely when they are away from the others.

I have followed her a few times, I know it does not look good, but I just had to find out where she lives. The house where she lives has a total of 4 children and the mother of the family, Nancy. Her home smells of her and people.

It is strange, usually a werewolf does not end up living with people, it is almost impossible. The pack protects its members. If it should happen that a pup loses its parents, it will be found a replacement home in the pack or it will grow up in the packhouse under the watchful eye of the alpha family. What has happened in Lory's past that she lives with people? Does she even know that she is not a person but a shifter.

We had arrived. Mateo drove his car and I drove mine. We needed something to get us back home while the car was being repaired.