She buried her head in her hands, a sob escaping. “This can’t be goodbye.” Her voice was muffled until she lifted her head again. “You’ve been my best friend since we were pups. I mean… Come on, Mera. Think about what you’re giving up.”
Fuck.She was destroying me.
“What about Dannie?” she said. And now we were bringing out the big guns. “You don’t even want to say goodbye to her?”
Simone was not going to let me go without a fight, and I was already so worn down from fighting. “I’ll sleep on it, okay?” I said, trying my best to lighten my tone. “Maybe I can last another month. I mean, what’s a month in the great scheme of time?”
She swiped at her eyes, nodding a few times. “Yes. You can make it another month. I’ll keep you safe. I can do it.”
Reaching across the car, I wrapped my arms tightly around her, just breathing in the faint scents that Simone always carried with her. Lavender from the flowers in her front garden, and aniseed from the licorice she secretly loved. I’d miss that.
When we were done with the emotional sob fest, Simone got her car going again, taking me right to my front door. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, examining my face. It wasn’t a question. She was telling me I better be here tomorrow or she’d beat my ass.
I nodded, forcing a smile. “You got it, babe.”
With one final look at her beautiful face, terrible braid, and kind eyes, I sent out a silent hope that one day I’d be strong enough to return here.
And she’d forgive me for what I planned on doing.
5
“Lucy, order’s up!”
It had taken me a couple of weeks, but I was finally answering to my fake name: Lucy Jones. Leaving Torma was the best decision I’d ever made; the second-best was heading for a town without any pack, deciding I was going to risk it on my own.
The freedom of waking up without fear was everything, and my only negative thoughts these days were about how many years I’d wasted in Torma when I could have been free.
Hurrying over to the counter, I grabbed the heavy tray with three burgers and about fifty tons of fries. In these parts, truck drivers all but fell into the diner, starving after being on the road for many hours. This tray of food would be gone in no time.
“Here you go,” I said with a smile, lowering the tray to dish out the three plates, with the shared fries in the center. “Need me to top up your drinks?” I asked, noticing they were halfway empty.
“Nah, all good, love,” the burliest man said, his salt-and-pepper moustache quivering as he bit into the burger. The other two were shoveling the food in, too, so I let out a chuckle.
“Alrighty. I’ll check back in a few minutes.”
I rounded out a few more tables, filled drinks, dropped orders off, and all the while, I had a genuine smile on my face. Sure, life wasn’t perfect. I missed Simone and Dannie and knew they’d be upset at my sudden disappearance. Not to mention the stress over my first shift next week—I hadn’t really figured out what to do about that yet. But I’d take these small, dark moments over the lifetime I’d been living before.
“How long have you been in Hood River?” salt-and-pepper moustache asked when I popped back to refill his soda. “I’ve been stopping here on my route for twenty-odd years, and I’ve never seen your pretty face before.”
He was a harmless flirt. I enjoyed those the best.
“Not very long. I was passing through and this place won my heart over, so I decided to stay.”
It was the abundance of greenery here, a veritable sanctuary for my wolf, who would want nothing more than to get lost in the forest. Even better: no official pack for a hundred miles in all directions.
Hood River had a lot going for it.
“You’re too young to be stuck in a boring-ass town like this.” One of the others scoffed. He was younger than moustache, and he clearly enjoyed more of a nightlife than was available in this small town.
I shrugged. “Boring is kinda nice these days.” Lifting their empty plates, I shot them all another bright smile. “Can I get you gentlemen anything else?”
Moustache shook his head. “Just the check. Thanks, sweetheart.”
I nodded, turning to leave. Just as I took a step, the front door slammed open, and the resounding bang echoed across the diner. In that moment, I lost my sense of happiness, as the fear I’d lived with for most of my life flooded back in, and I all but hit the floor.
“Sorry,” an older, grey-haired man said, stepping farther inside. “Wind caught it.”
I couldn’t really explain the way my body reacted to unexpected situations. I’d been preyed upon and hurt so many times that I was conditioned now to expect pain. Usually, I hid it better, but judging by the way the three truck drivers were looking at me, this time, I’d failed at that. Averting my gaze, feeling the heat in my cheeks, I hurried off to get their check.
