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Even my house no longer felt safe or homey. It was cold and desolate, holding no ties to me. I hadn’t expected to face that here, but the pack bond being severed helped make this so much easier.
Going through Meira’s things was hard. I only took the essentials and anything that held memories like our old photos, her favorite journal, and her collection of crystals. She swore by those things and it felt wrong to leave them behind for the pack to just discard.
My room was easily stripped, only clothes and books inside. I’d never been one for material things and it came in handy this time. In fact, within two hours I was finished and my truck was loaded. My entire life was reduced to a few photo albums, boxes of books, and bags of clothes.
As I started to climb in my pickup truck to leave my home for the last time, I glanced back toward the only home I’d ever known. No one was out at this hour, but the alpha stood on his porch. I couldn’t see his face but I watched him raise a hand in goodbye. Nothing stirred in my chest at the significance in this moment, I was numb to it all. Despite that, I returned the gesture before climbing in and driving off, ready to see what the world had in store for a lone wolf with more than a little trauma to her name.
ChapterThree
Vanya
Each mile I put between me and the pack, the stranger I felt. It was wrong to be here without Meira, it was wrong to be on my own, it was all just… wrong. I wish I could go back, forget the club, forget the drinks, forget my fucking birthday. But it was too late… this was my life now. Beef jerky from the gas station and Styrofoam cups full of Dr. Pepper were the only things keeping me going.
Speaking of… glancing at my gas tank I noticed the red line dipping dangerously toward empty, and this was the part of the interstate full of never-ending farms and fields, cities few and far between.
“Five more miles, old girl,” I told my truck. “Shit, talking to my truck is a bad sign.” It was one of those moments Meira would have jumped on, shooting back something stupid like “as long as it doesn’t talk back.” The thought sent a wave of grief through me, a choking sob coming out before my eyes blurred and it took my full focus to drive and not run off the road. Now that I had no one around me to prove my strength to, I finally let myselffeel. And honestly it fucking sucked. My soul ached, my heart was broken, and my emotions were too much to handle. I longed for the numbness that had surrounded me when I was leaving town.
The sun was already dipping down below the horizon, another full day of driving under my belt. When the next exit popped up with signs for hotels, motels, and a gas station, it felt like I won the lottery. Last night I just slept in my truck at a truck stop, not the safest but it worked since the nearest hotel was thirty minutes away and I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Plus, if anyone were dumb enough to try something, I had more than enough pent-up anger to maul them for their stupidity. I just hoped I found a place to shift soon, it had been too long, and my body needed it like it needed air.
After filling the tank and wishing I had more cash on hand, I glanced around at my options. There were the typical big chain hotels, but a motel would be better. It wasn’t the smartest as a lone wolf to cross territory lines, and out here in unfamiliar ground it was impossible to know where those were. Taking a deep breath, I relax a little at the lack of wolf scent in the air, and climb back in.
Nothing about the Crow’s Nest Inn looked inviting. The creepy, fading cartoon crow on the icon was downright sinister as it grinned down at me. The siding was peeling back and more than one of the shingles were missing from the roof. Gross, yellowish-brown windows blocked off the interior of the lobby from view, years of chain smoking creating a barrier of sorts for the owners.
Meira wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this, and I smiled to myself as I imagined the commentary that would be falling from her mouth. But this place would mask my scent and that was all that mattered at the moment.
The area was busy, but the parking lot was empty enough that my truck would stand out, and I didn’t want to leave all of my belongings exposed. It took a bit of luck as I played Tetris with my bags and boxes, but eventually they were all securely inside the cab. I locked the doors up before heading inside.
As I walked into the lobby, a wall of cigarette smoke assaulted my senses to the point I almost walked right back out in desperation for fresh air. My eyes burned—as did my lungs—and I wondered how anyone stayed here often enough to pay their bills.
“Can I help you?” the older woman behind the counter rasped as she took another drag of the cigarette hanging from her mouth. She was dressed in a black-fringed leather jacket and a matching cowboy hat, her Dolly Parton curls lifting it a few inches over her head. Dull-blue eyes studied me, like she was sizing me up for something.
“One night please,” I said quickly, pulling out my wallet so I was ready to fork over way more cash than this place was worth.
“Hundred bucks,” she said without skipping a beat. No ID, no questions, exactly what I was hoping for. I plucked out a hundred and handed it over and she slid a room key my way. It was an old-school metal one with an attached vibrant-blue keychain. “We don’t offer breakfast; checkout is whenever the fuck you want before three.”
“Perfect,” I noted, taking the key and bolting from the room. The fresh night air was almost intoxicating as I sucked in big lungfuls. How that lady was even still kicking was beyond me, with that kind of smog you’d think her lungs would have shriveled up and ran away. I wasn’t opposed to smokers, but that was beyond anything I’d ever had to endure.
The number on my key was sixteen, right at the end of the lot next to the tree line that surrounded the area. Not my first choice, but apparently she wanted me as far from the lobby as possible.
“It’s a bed,” I muttered as I unloaded the cab and went in. The room wasn’t much better than I expected. It smelled of stale air and lemon-scented cleaner, but at least it was a shower and a bed. Dropping my bag on the bed, I went and turned on the shower, making it as hot as it could go. While that was warming up, I double checked the chain on the door before grabbing my robe.
Of course the low-budget bathroom had no vent, the entire place so foggy I could barely see the shower among all the off-white interior of the room. The small bathroom window at least opened so I cracked it, suddenly thankful for the emptiness at the back of the lot. It helped vent some of the steam so the air was no longer oppressive.
Stepping up to the mirror, I swiped a hand over it. My appearance looked haunting, ocean eyes shadowed in dark circles, my usual healthy blond hair wind-tangled and dull as it hung around my shoulders. I’d lost weight as I recovered too, meaning I was an overall hot mess. My clothes had been hanging off my petite frame for a bit, but maybe life on the road would fix that, especially since I was surviving on fast food, gas station snacks, and fountain sodas.
The water was heavenly which was a nice surprise. The spray was powerful enough I felt some of the tension draining from my shoulders as I stood under the spray.
Then the flashback started, my mind being an asshole the moment I let my guard down. The beat of the club music filled the bathroom, drowning out the shower as I stood there, watching my sister dance beside me. It was different this time, my recollection failing already as the memory shifted to the street, screaming Meira’s name before being struck by the bullet.
“Stop!” I screamed as I slammed my fist into the tiled wall. It cracked slightly under the pressure, the sound loud enough to pull me from the awful memory. My entire body was shaking and I gripped the hand bar in the shower to keep myself upright. It took all of my focus to shove aside the pain and finish my shower. I was in a daze as I stepped out and wrapped the robe around myself.
Just as my hand touched the doorknob, a breeze blew in the room through the crack in the window. I froze at the scent that clung to the night air.
Wolves.
It was strong enough that I knew they were nearby. I was a lone female, and no matter how I twisted it, it wouldn’t be safe for me here, even for one night. Getting dressed haphazardly, I threw the rest of my things back in my bag and slipped on my shoes. Barely five minutes had passed before I had keys in hand and was bolting out of my room. I left the key on the bed for the proprietor and shut the door behind me, that was the best she was getting out of me.
The moment I was outside, I knew I was surrounded. A low growl, propelling me toward my truck, filled the silence as I strained my ears to listen for them. I turned the key and gunned it out of the parking lot with smoking tires and the loud roar of my old engine. My gaze flickered to the window where the woman watched me drive off, cigarette in her mouth and a smirk on her lips. She’d tipped them off, that was the only explanation. I guess not all humans were as oblivious as I assumed. That or the smoke masked her true scent from me. Either way, I had to get out of here.
