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ONE
REIKA
The morning sun reflecting off the San Francisco Bay had steadily become Reika’s favorite part about living there. Getting used to city life amongst the humans had been a bit of a challenge when she first relocated. It wasn’t like they … humans as a whole … were particularly difficult to be around. Even if that was the rumor that had been fed to her all her childhood.
Much like her pack back home in Muir Woods, every human had a certain way about them. Each with their own lives and stories to tell that always seemed to fascinate Reika whenever she got to talking to them at the cafe.
It was just a different lifestyle than the one she’d grown up in with her family. Pack dynamics were always strict and rigid because they had to be. It’s what kept everyone in line and working toward keeping their family safe and fed.
Of course, moving here to live among humans had been hard on those habits she’d developed since she’d been, well, alive. Even if she never exactly felt like she belonged on either side of the spectrum.
But she’d eventually fallen into a routine. Getting up as the sun rose to watch her side of the city wake slowly. Coming alive much like her pack did, in gradual moving parts until the entire machine had been well-oiled and ready to go.
It helped on days when she didn’t feel like walking to work but needed to in order to get herself out of her apartment and to not stay cooped up all day.
Her daily routine kept her comfortable, even if it was a little boring now that she’d been doing it for so long. She’d never really been the adventurous type, just wanting to live normally as a human and not have to worry about pack dynamics, forced mates, or any of that stuff.
Reika had never really considered herself closed off, but some days were better than others, and lately, she’d been feeling restless, which made her wonder if she needed something more in her life. Something that gave her a sense of wonder, like when she’d first arrived at the bay.
It made her ponder if she was starting to miss being home. Thinking of her family and the friends she’d made while living there had given her a pang of nostalgia. Some days it hurt worse than others but going back wasn’t an option.
She didn’t want her heart to yearn for them anymore and hoped to forget about the life she’d had in Muir Woods. It wasn’t healthy to dwell on the past, nor was it beneficial for living her new life if all she ever did was feel bad about doing so.
It didn’t really help anyone in the long run, especially herself. She needed a distraction.
Sitting at the two-chair table in her small kitchen, Reika rummaged through her stack of mail she’d yet to go through before reading the local paper.
She’d never been one to look through the classifieds or even skim them while she was eating breakfast when she was with her pack. Why would she care about what humans were doing, as long as they stayed out of her pack’s way?
But now that she’d been living in the city, it had become a daily routine for her to scan through, looking at the different world events she had barely ever paid attention to before.
Reika folded her leg over her other knee, set her coffee cup next to her on the table, and snapped the rubber band off the rolled-up paper. Spreading it out onto the small table, she pressed her finger along the seam to smooth it out.
There had to be something local going on that she could go to. Today was her first day off in over a week and a half. Her schedule had been hectic lately at the cafe, with Leda quitting and the summer season coming into full bloom.
She never minded the work, though. It kept her preoccupied and out of her apartment long enough to feel the sunshine on her face and give her the vitamin D her body craved now that she was no longer doing runs with her packmates.
Flipping through the paper to the local entertainment section, Reika ran her eyes over the ads, noticing there were actually quite a few events going on tonight. She turned in her chair and looked at the clock above the sink, seeing it was barely brunch time.
She shook her head. Her mother had always teased her about being early to everything, even her own birth. But it was better than being chronically late, something Reika could safely say never happened.
She turned to the table and folded the paper back, tapping her finger on the ad for the Outside Lands Festival at Golden Gate Park. That seemed like it’d be fun to see. Especially since tickets went on sale at noon.
“Perfect,”she said to herself.
Standing, Reika downed the rest of her coffee and headed into her bedroom to get dressed for the day.
TWO
OWEN
Wiping a hand over his sweaty brow, Owen tugged on a pair of loose-fitting sweats he’d stashed at the base of one of the oaks and made his way through the backyard of his family’s home.
He’d been running with a few of his other packmates since early this morning. They were supposed to have been checking their borders to make sure no one … humans usually … had wandered into their territory unsuspectingly.
It wasn’t a common occurrence but happened often enough where daily checks were necessary, even if it was a huge time-waster. There were so many other things he would’ve rather been doing, like lazing around the lake soaking up the full sun. On some days, that’s what he did instead, but today the guys had been racing to see who was the fastest. Being the biggest, he wasn’t the fastest, but he could run the longest. The distance was nothing when it came to his stamina.
But now, he had to report to his father. Being the son of the current alpha and next in line for the title, Owen had to keep a strict schedule for when he eventually took over. It had been one of the many outdated things his father had drilled into him since day one.
