Eventually, I came to the outskirts of a little town and just stopped. I was on the side of a mountain and looking down over the ledge as the sun was rising. The view of the town with its cute little houses and town square reminded me of a real-life Stars Hollow that my mom and I had always talked about finding. I felt a pull that was urging me to go down into the town, but I wanted to be cautious. Things weren’t always what they seemed.
I watched the town from above for most of the morning. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I was too nervous to just run down there. Further into the afternoon, my tummy rumbled with hunger yet again and I took that as a sign to get moving. The little bit of hunting I had managed to do hadn’t been nearly enough to replace all the calories I had burned while traveling on foot for so long. I had been too afraid to stop much for human food, limiting myself to vending machines and backroads gas stations that didn’t look like they could afford a good camera system. If my pack was still looking for me, I didn’t want to do anything that would leave a trail.
I scoured the wooded area on the outskirts of town, searching for the faintest signs that other wolves might have been here. There weren’t any scents from wolves or humans, so I felt comfortable shifting back to my human form and taking a dip in the river before slipping back into my clothes. I had bought a cheap bar of soap from one of the gas stations, and I had used that to wash away layers of dirt, sweat, and grime. I pulled my hair up in a ponytail, but without good conditioner and a handful of hair product it just stuck out everywhere in a frizzy mess. I braided the ponytail, then wound the whole thing up in a bun.
I was still nervous about going into the town, but my stomach was growling even louder now. It had been almost a full day since I had last eaten, and my backpack was empty of supplies. If I wanted food, I was going to have to go into the town.
I walked along the main road that led into the picturesque little town and jumped when the first person that I saw gave me a warm hello as if they knew me. I gave him a startled wave but forced myself to keep going. Everyone that I passed gave me a nod or a smile and I started to relax. It seemed like this was just a friendly town. I was glad that I had traveled mostly in my wolf form, so that my one outfit still looked presentable.
I hesitated outside of the first grocery store that I came to. There was a large parking lot and I could already see the cameras that covered the entire area. This store would have even more cameras inside. Reluctantly I walked past it, searching for something a little more nondescript.
I found what I was looking for in a little corner store. It was small enough that there were only two aisles and the older gentleman working the register had a visual on everyone in there. This looked like more of a mom-and-pop operation. I went into the store and started grabbing things like crackers and beef jerky. I was so hungry that I wanted to just tear into them and start chowing down, but I used all my self-control to walk up to the counter to pay first.
“Hey there, little miss.” The shopkeeper gave me a smile. “I never seen you before. You must be one of them kids from the fancy school up the road.”
I just nodded at him in agreement, it would be easier if I went along with what he said instead of trying to make up my own fake story.
“Y’all don’t usually come up here,” he said curiously as he started typing on the old-fashioned register. I was glad to see that I was right about the lack of technology, because his register looked like it belonged in the 1950s.
“I’m just here for the summer program.” I stiffened up at the stupid words that came out of my mouth. Summer program? Would he buy that?
He nodded sagely. “Must be tough, being cooped up in them walls all the time.”
I sighed in relief, he didn’t look suspicious. “I just wanted to get out in the town and experience life for a little bit,” I told him cautiously, still waiting for him to shout at me for being a liar.
He grinned at me. “Us townsfolk don’t mind. We could use some of the money that y’all got.”
I shrugged in embarrassment. “That’s one thing that I don’t have a lot of.”
“Ahhh,” he said with a flash of understanding. “You on a scholarship? My niece went to one of them fancy colleges on a scholarship. They don’t treat her right because of it.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s tough being the scholarship kid.” I felt bad lying to this guy because he seemed so nice, but if anyone came looking for me it was better if he remembered me as a scholarship kid and not a traveler passing through.
He gave me the total and I handed over some of my money with a sigh. Three hundred dollars might have seemed like a lot to begin with, but what was I going to do when it ran out? It wouldn’t last much longer.
The shopkeeper must have picked up on my hesitation to part with my money because he gave me a grin. “You know, Mr. Reaven is looking to hire an ice cream girl for his shop. You tell him that Petey sent you and I’ll put in a good word for you.”
I looked up at him with a combination of surprise and hope. “You would do that for me?”
He gave me a warm smile and patted my hand before giving me my bag. “I can tell that you’re good people, you remind me so much of my niece.”
I gave him a broad grin. “Thanks, Petey.”
“On your way, now. You don’t want one of them other girls gettin’ your job.”
I left the corner store a lot happier than when I first came in. I had a little bit of hope that things could get better. I glanced at myself in the windows of the next shop I passed and grimaced. I had done some basic cleanup in the river with a cheap bar of soap, but Mr. Reaven would have to be insane to give me a job with the way that I looked right now. Petey must have some bad eyesight.
I thought about how much money I had left as I walked around to explore the town. If I kept living on the brink of starvation, it would last me a couple weeks, but investing in some clothing and toiletries could help me get a job that could feed me for much longer. It didn’t take me long to walk around the town square and get an idea of all the shops that were there. There were some nicer clothing stores, but the one that I was looking at was a second-hand clothing store. I could probably find everything that I needed there.
An hour later, I was a proud new owner of what I hoped was an ‘ice cream girl’ outfit. I was incredibly lucky, because the owner of the shop had been promoting the local YMCA and mentioned that they were doing a free trial week. My next stop was the Y to see what I needed to do to get in there.
Turns out it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The guy who signed me up was pretty excited about me being ‘one of those kids from Hollow Crest Prep’ and gave me a pass after I filled out a form and he took a glance at my fake license.
He gave me more than a few odd looks when I scarfed down a couple sticks of beef jerky while I was waiting on him to fill out my pass, but I just ignored him. I wasn’t interested in the fitness center or the pool or the daycare. What I wanted was a complimentary towel and access to the showers. Not only did I get those, but he also gave me a locker with a combination.
I showered, dressed, and hid my bag of food along with my backpack in my new locker. I stopped at the mirrors and gave myself one last look before heading out. I looked a lot less like a homeless person now that I was clean and didn’t have that desperately hungry look in my eyes. It was time to see if this ice cream shop would hire me for cash and not leave a paper trail. I headed out of the Y and strode confidently into what I hoped was going to be a fresh start on my new life.
Chapter 4
Lori
I licked along the edge of my ice cream cone while I walked so that it wouldn’t drip on my uniform. Today, I had a vanilla cone covered in sprinkles and I planned on savoring every bite of this little bit of heaven. I walked away from the ice cream shop where Mr. Reaven had given me a job almost a week ago, looking for a good spot to devour my treat.
I moved slowly so that I could lick away all the drips before they fell
on me while I searched for an empty bench in the town square. I liked to sit there so that I could watch all the townspeople as they went about their day. Everyone who visited the ice cream shop loved to gossip, so I had learned a lot about this town in the week that I had been here.
I was grateful for a job, but I wasn’t sure how long this was going to last. I was one of several girls hired for the summer, so I would probably be out of a job once the weather got cooler. The job itself wasn’t so bad. The other girls liked to stay at the window or the little dining area and chat with their school mates or boyfriends. But I was content to work in the back. I took out all my anger and frustration by scrubbing dishes, hauling boxes of supplies, and heaving bags of trash into the dumpster.
I finally came to an empty bench and plopped down in the middle to discourage anyone from trying to join me. It seemed like everyone in the town liked to gossip, and I had been the talk of the town for a couple days. It had made me so nervous that I considered running, but no one had questioned the ‘scholarship student’ story.
I had tried to check out the school that they all thought that I was from, but it was several miles away from town and had a huge fence and gate that stopped me from getting close enough to see anything through the thick woods. The good part was that apparently no one ever came to town from the school. So there would be no one to point the finger at me and expose my lies. The only thing that the townspeople knew was that it was a college prep high school attached to a private university, both sealed behind a large set of iron gates.
I felt guilty about lying to the people who had been so kind and given me a chance here, but I didn’t have a choice. My pack would be looking for a lone female traveler, not a local girl.
I bit off the top of my ice cream and savored the sprinkles as I swung my feet from the bench. I had chosen a bench in the shade, which helped keep me cool on this hot summer day. I looked around to see who was braving the heat along with me.
Mrs. Roberts was wrangling three of her kids and trying to get them to follow her into a wine store while they begged to go to the toy store across the street instead. She was the wife of the mayor, and always tried to use her husband’s title to get free or discounted stuff from everyone in town. There were tons of rumors flying around town about why Mr. Roberts would rather work late than go home, and why Mrs. Roberts made weekly trips to the wine store.
Mr. Gumping was heading across the street to go into the diner, the same place he went every evening. He was an older man with a full head of white hair who always dressed in a three-piece suit and carried a pocket watch. He was long retired and had lost his beloved wife almost a year ago. Since then, he spent all his free time over at the diner to avoid his loneliness.
A couple of middle school boys were carrying skateboards and eyeing the sidewalk. They knew they weren’t allowed to skateboard here, but would always try their luck when they thought no one was looking. Inevitably, someone would chastise them, they would run away, and then be back the next day to try again. One of them took the chance and glided down the street on his skateboard. Nothing happened, so the other one followed along and they did some of their tricks, grinding their way down the iron handrail of some stairs.
The first boy landed at the bottom of the stairs with a loud clack as his wheels hit the cement sidewalk. The second one wasn’t as lucky, he lost his balance and his board went flying one way and he the other. I sat up in alarm when he didn’t move for a second after landing, but he jumped up quickly enough when Mrs. Wright, the librarian, yelled at them. They both ran away as if everyone in town didn’t know exactly who they were. I chuckled and went back to my ice cream.
I had eaten my way to the cone and started to nibble on it as the street emptied. It was usually a lot more crowded, but today was hotter than usual so most people would probably be staying inside. I hopped up off the bench and decided to eat the rest of my cone while I walked to the Y.
I took the longer way because I wanted to pass by one of the new shops that everyone was talking about. So few people ever moved to this little town that the newest addition was making huge waves. Four young men from out of town had purchased the old fire station and had been converting it into a garage. At least, that was what all the gossip said. I hadn’t actually seen any of the guys yet.
Up until now, there had been only one place to get your oil changed or your car worked on and that was at Gus’s auto shop. I had walked by Gus’s a couple of times and it was old and run down, much like Gus. Gus wasn’t shy about wearing shirts that were grease-stained and let his beer belly hang out. Rumor had it that he also wasn’t shy about having a beer while he worked on cars.
Half of the town seemed relieved to have a more reliable option opening up to them, but the other half seemed angry that these newcomers were going to try and take Gus’s business. After all, Gus was one of them, who did these newcomers think they were?
I peeked at the fire station from across the street and around the corner, but I didn’t see anything different today. There still wasn’t a new sign or anything advertising when their business was going to open. I sighed in disappointment, but it was probably best that I stayed away from them anyway. I didn’t want to attract attention from anyone that might have ties outside of this isolated little town.
I popped the last bite of my cone into my mouth as I came to the front door of the Y. I wanted to put my uniform into my locker before making a stop at Petey’s corner store. Petey had been the one to get me this job, so I stopped in to see him every day to pick up some snacks for my den and give him the little tidbits of gossip that I might have picked up on throughout the day. Nothing made Petey’s eyes light up like a juicy piece of gossip.
The street was empty as I made my way down to Petey’s shop. I popped my head into his store, but he looked like he had his hands full with a couple customers. I didn’t have anything good for him today anyway, so I just gave him a wave and continued on my way.
I had found a little cave on the outskirts of town that was just big enough for me and my stash of snacks. During the day, I kept my food in my locker and only brought enough to my den for the evening. Living in a cave in the middle of the woods wasn’t something that a human could do, but it was something that a wolf could do. I kept two changes of clothing in my locker along with my work uniform, so I just had the one crappy outfit I was wearing now out here. I was just going to hide out in the woods and get myself dirty before heading right to the showers tomorrow morning, so I wore the cheapest clothes that I could find at the thrift shop.
Living out here as a homeless person definitely wasn’t ideal. The ice cream shop paid me less than minimum wage, so I barely had enough money for food and toiletries. And even if I had the money, renting a room in town would poke holes in my story of living up at the school for the summer. So I just sighed, checked around the woods to make sure no one had followed me, and undressed so I could shift.
At least it was summer, so I didn’t have to worry about freezing in the cold. I had a pretty warm coat as a wolf, but I had never tried living outside in the winter before. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that I could do it.
After I was in my wolf form, I picked up my bag of clothes and snacks in my mouth and trotted off towards my den. I would tuck my clothes in the back and then curl up to take a nap until the sun went down and it was cool enough for me to go out to hunt for dinner.
I got as comfortable as I could in a small cave made of dirt and rocks and rested my head on my front paws. This was the worst part of my day. While I was at work I could keep my mind on the different tasks at hand. I worked hard to keep myself from thinking, which was quickly endearing me to the boss. Who wouldn’t want a hard-working employee with a laser focus on getting work done?
But when it came to times like this when I was completely alone, I felt the pain of losing my mother and the crushing weight of my loneliness. Tears leaked out of my eyes and I tried to focus on the positive. I was free and I was b
uilding something new for myself.
My positive thoughts never lasted long and it was only a few minutes before my reality drowned out my daydreams. I was completely alone and living in a cave in the woods. I had no friends, no family, and no pack.
Doubts crept into my mind. What was I even doing here? Working at an ice cream shop? Hiding out in a cave? What did I think was going to happen when winter came? I cursed myself for every decision I had made that led me here now. If I had just accepted my place in the pack and accepted my fate, my mom would still be alive. My selfishness is what killed her. A part of me hoped that my old pack would catch up to me. Maybe I deserved to die.
Not for the first time, I eventually cried myself to sleep in my sad little cave.
Chapter 5
Grayson
I froze when the faint but unmistakable scent of a female drifted towards me on the breeze. I turned to punch Wyatt in the shoulder, but I could tell that he had already caught the scent.
“Did you smell that?” Wyatt asked me with wide eyes.
We had been walking back home from putting up some flyers around town to spread the word about our grand opening in a couple weeks. Wyatt, his twin Corey, Kannon, and I had purchased the old firehouse station after the town decided to build a newer, up to code, model.
The building and the location were both perfect for the auto shop business that we were starting. We had converted the garage into a space where we could work on our customer’s cars and the building had already come with built in living quarters upstairs.
The firefighters had been really cool and had left anything that they didn’t want to bring with them to their new station. Which was awesome, because all of our money had gone into the building and the business. We had nothing left for frivolous purchases like beds or a kitchen table. Wyatt had been smart enough to set aside a budget so that we had enough money for food until the customers started to come in, but things were tight.
New Beginnings: Hollow Crest Wolf Pack Book 1 Page 3