That perks my interest. “You live in a shifter town?” How much humans know about shifters and our world is a mystery to me. Just like the idea of shifter towns. No one in Winthrop knows about us, or at least that’s what I thought but Jenny seems to know an awful lot. Gus had also let on that he knew more than I expected he would.
She nods. “I do. It’s a good place. Safe, good food and people, real cute. And let me tell you, the shifter men walking around there?” She lets out a low whistle. “Like a bunch of superheroes had babies with models. Abs like washboards, shoulders as broad as doors, you feel me, girly?”
I laugh and follow Jenny out of the bathroom. “Yeah, I feel you, Jenny.” Shifter males are attractive. I can’t deny it.
“You know that shifter you were with, hewouldbe handsome. Like a real prince charming type if he wasn’t acting like an asshole stalker. Some people like that sort of thing. Not me, though.” Jenny marches over to the magazine rack and starts perusing the glossy covers. She must need a new weapon. “How’d you end up involved with him? Sweet girl like you, something you hate to see.”
Jenny’s question makes me pause because that’s when I realize she doesn’t think I’m a shifter. Gus didn’t seem to either. Interesting when they picked Keiran out so easily.
I hesitate at correcting her and in the end, I don’t. Hello my old friend—rejection. What if Jenny and Gus are only nice to me because they think I’m one of them? I shouldn’t care too much. I’ll never see them after this but…I do care.I care an awful lot.
I bite my bottom lip and give her a shrug. “Just happened,” I say softly and pick up a magazine. It’s full of endless pages of cozy decor and pretty furniture. I pause on a two page spread of a bedroom. It’s softly lit with candles and a crackling fireplace in a stone hearth. The bed looks like a fluffy cloud piled high with blankets and pillows. I’ve never seen something so decadent. Doors open to a patio, green curtains blow in a wind I wish I could feel. I don’t know what it is about the magazine that pulls me in but I’m hooked. I lean close and look at the woven carpets on the stone floor, the art on the walls, oil paintings it looks like, some landscapes and others of people, all of them beautiful in their own way. The paintings rest in gold frames and fresh cut flowers sit cheerily on a trunk at the foot of the bed. Maud’s hut is cozy and homey but most of her things are functional. There’s nothing like this in the shared dorms the unmated females live in. Everything there is practical and sparse.
I’ve never seen a home decorated for the sake of comfort and comfort alone. I’m utterly transfixed by the magazine pages.
“You into interior design?” Jenny asks me.
“I think so?” I say, because it’s true. I don’t know if I am into whatever interior design is but I do know that I like this magazine and the photos of cozy, beautiful homes full of furniture that looks like it's meant solely for pleasure and beauty. I flip through the magazine and listen to Jenny chatter on. We both get fountain drinks and mine is electric blue. I’ve never eaten a single thing that looks this color but it’s addicting from the first sip. When it’s time to leave I take the magazine up to the register to purchase it. Jenny has a whole stack of them, she’s not too picky about the magazines she buys. I see flowers and cakes on one, beautiful women in fancy dresses smile back at me from another and there’s cars on yet another. I only buy the one magazine, plus a candy bar. In for a penny, in for a pound, right? I’m already up a blue soda so why not keep going?
I keep my magazine tucked close, shoved under my hoodie to shield it from the rain on our way back to the bus. Jenny waves bye to me as I head back to my seat and the steady routine of Gus performing his checks calms me while I page through the magazine and munch on my candy bar. Maud wouldtskat me for my chosen dinner but the sweet sugar singing through my veins has a smile on my face. It’s when I’m looking at the seventh room, this one a kitchen all done up in yellow and green, that I understand why I bought it.
The homes give me hope. Beautifully decorated and serene. They look like safe places to be.
One day, I vow to myself, I’m going to have a safe and beautiful home like this. No one to tell me what I can and can’t do in it. Somewhere safe and quiet. Peaceful.
I page through the magazine until Gus turns off the lights and starts the bus up.
Chapter
Thirteen
CORDELIA
We drive for another two days before Oak Fast comes into sight. I’m restless, have been for the past hour since we made our last stop.
“Just another hour before we’re in Oak Fast. It’ll be nice to get off this bus, don’t ya think?” Jenny asked me while we bought cinnamon buns at the small bakery next to the gas station we’d stopped at.
“Oh yeah, can’t wait.” I forced a convincing smile on my face for Jenny but the truth was I wasn’t ready for Oak Fast.
The cinnamon roll I choked down with Jenny sits like a rock in my stomach. It’s hitting me how close we are to our final destination. When we pull into Oak Fast, the routine that I’ve found comfort in will be gone. No more coffees with Gus or fuel stops where the kind bus driver methodically gets us ready to go on the road. No more shared meals at stops with Jenny and a few of the other passengers who have made sure to stop by and say hello. My heart feels heavy at leaving this behind. I knew it couldn’t go on forever but it was sweet while it lasted. The shared time on the road, knowing that no matter what I didn’thave anywhere to be or anything to do other than sit right where I was. I’ve never had that before. I’ve also never had friends and I’d like to think Gus and Jenny are my friends now. At the last stop, Jenny was offering to drive me to where I’m going when we get to Oak Fast.
“Wherever you need, I’ll get you there. We’re friends now. You know there’s wolves out here. Feral ones out in the woods and I don’t want you getting mixed up with them. It’s not safe.”
I still haven’t found the heart to tell Jenny that I’m a wolf and most likely heading off into the woods to join the ferals she’s talking about. She’d probably not want to be my friend if she knew. I lean back in my seat, foot tapping and leg bouncing as I watch the forest roll on by.
Slowly ever so slowly the trees start to thin and when the road curves we end up in a valley with a town opening up in front of us. Jenny was right. The town is cute. It looks picture perfect. I lean closer to the window, face pressed right up against the glass to get a better look at the town. I bet the homes in Oak Fast are filled with rooms that look just like the ones in my magazine. It’s rolled up safely and under the satchel of herbs and salves Maud packed for me.
Since I got it, the magazine has become a touchstone for me. Almost like if I stare at the pages hard enough I can see the future. Can imagine what my life would be like in such a bedroom or kitchen. Going to sleep in a veritable palace or cooking breakfast in the most perfect place I can imagine. Not even the Alpha’s family has homes as nice as the ones in the magazine.
Everything in Alpha Ashford’s home is heavy wood and stone, everything seems like it was built to suck the light and life out of the room. I’ve only been there to clean but cleaning gives you the time you need to really look at a place and as “nice” asit was, the Alpha’s home only ever seemed like a prison. A really fancy prison.
I pull my bag into my lap and give it a squeeze while Gus drives through the quaint little town.Why not stay here?My brain whispers to me. I could reach out to Maud’s sister if I decided to and Jenny lives here. I’d already have a friend built right into my fresh start. It’s easy to imagine what it might be like to stay in a place like this. There are restaurants and bars, a library, and a little bookstore that flashes by on the right. A coffee shop catches my interest. There’s a sign painted to look like a crystal coming out of a coffee cup, Barista Witch.
Interesting.
I wonder if Jazzy might be in there. She’s got to be a witch too, just like Maud. Maybe she runs it.
We drive for another minute or so before I see the bus station up ahead. Like everything in Oak Fast it’s sweet looking. Red brick facade and gleaming windows with gold paint filigree proclaiming it as the Oak Fast Bus Terminal shine in the afternoon light. Behind it, the trees pick right back up. I can see the tops of mountains peeking out from the evergreen treetops. According to the map Gus gave me, that's the direction I need to go.
