Hidden In Plain Sight

Living As A Human

I spent that first night crying until I couldn't keep my eyes open. While I slept, the events from the day before kept haunting my dreams. I would scream only to wake up, realize I was safe just to start the cycle all over again. By morning, I was exhausted and knew I needed more sleep. I knew I needed to put more distance between myself and the pack lands. I filled the gas tank and started back on the road we had been on. Now alone, hoping that they would not be coming to look for me. Hoping that everyone left back in the pack was safe and alive. Mostly hoping that I would survive wherever I ended up.

I drove all day putting a few states between myself and the pack. I drove into a small town. In the middle of nowhere. It seemed peaceful and I was hungry. I saw a little dinner and pulled in.

"Welcome to the Adult Swim. Have a seat sweetheart," a kind roman said to me when I walked in.

I only had enough for something small. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu.

"Is that all you're having honey?" The kind lady asked.

"I don't have a lot of money," I said, "and I still need to have a place to sleep or I'm sleeping in my car."

"I get off in a few minutes. Come home with me and I'll make you a home-cooked meal. We have a spare room you can sleep in," she said, walking away.

When she came back, I offered her the money for my meal. She shook her head. "Already covered, I get one free meal and I never use it. Come on."

I grabbed my jacket and followed her outside. She walked up to an old Ford. An elderly gentleman got out and kissed her. "Red, we have someone in need of our spare room."

Red took his hat off and extended me his hand, "What's your name sweetie?'

"Ja," I trialed off, "Marie, Marie Jade Matthews."

They exchanged looks and then looked at me, "Well, come on, you can follow me honey."

I followed them to a small farm just outside of town. When I stepped inside, it was cozy and warm. Nothing like the pack house. Maybelle, my waitress, began to busy herself around the kitchen. You would have thought she hadn't worked a shift at a dinner. Before long, we were sitting down for our meal. They reached for my hands and once we were all holding hands, Red said a prayer. I had prayed to the Goddess before but never to give thanks for food. It felt strange but somehow right. The food was nothing like I had ever tasted in my life. I felt like I could call this place my home.

"I don't know what brought you into our lives, Marie. Truth be told, we don't rightly care. If you want to tell us, we will listen. If it's not something you want to share at the moment, that is fine. Maybelle and I are just happy to have someone in our home again," Red said, looking at me.

Setting my fork down I thought. How much can I tell them? Would they understand everything if I told them everything? I finally decided to be honest. Just leave out the information that was hard to explain. I began my story.

"My family is one of the wealthiest known in our culture. Things became strained between my parents and my older brother saw it as a way to gain the power that was coming to him before he was due to get it. He helped a rival family take out most of the members of ours as well as my father's security detail. My brother promised me to the leader of the rival family as his bride. I don't want to be forced into a marriage not of my choosing or my father's. So I ran. It turned out that one of my father's security detail members wasn't killed, and he got me over the border into a different state. But he sent me on, staying behind to cover my tracks. I drove until I arrived here." There, just enough truth, so they hopefully won't ask more questions. My secret of who and what I really am still intact.

"You are safe hear sweetie," Maybelle said, taking my hand. " You can stay as long as you need."

They never asked again and never asked for more information. I began working at the same dinner as Maybelle, saying I wanted to help as my living there meant more food being consumed. I offered money but they never took it. Telling me to save it for my own place. I had been living in this small town for six months when we got a new cook at the dinner. I was tall a had dark curly hair, with deep blue eyes. Aside from the fact that he had glasses, he almost reminded me of Bela. Maybe that is why I fell in love with him. I couldn't have the man I truly wanted, so I found someone to replace him. When I told Red and Maybelle that he asked me to move in together, they were overjoyed for me.

We moved in and settled into life together. I finally felt at peace with everything. Then came the one thing I never counted on. I went to the doctor for a routine checkup. It was required by the dinner. The news I got almost dropped me to my knees.

"Congratulations, you are pregnant," the doctor said.

I stared at him dumbfounded. "How?" I asked.

"Are you sexually active?" he inquired.

"Yes, my boyfriend and I are sexually active. But we shouldn't be able to have a child together. I thought different blood types made that impossible," I said, trying to cover that I had thought only she-wolves who were mated could get pregnant.

"In the past, yes, but with our advanced tenology we can help you carry to term if you are afraid. Have him come in and we can run blood work to see if we need to worry," he replied to my concerned face.

I walked to my car not knowing how to tell him. I know we had talked about having kids, but this was something I didn't think was possible. I knew that wolves had mated with humans before. They were fated mated though. I had to tell him the whole truth. We had been together for a while so I could hide it from everyone else. But not him.

When I arrived home, I found him sitting at the table paying bills. "We need to talk," I said, sitting down.

Before he could say anything, I launched into telling him the parts I left out. To his credit, he just sat and listened. He didn't ask questions, just listened. When I finished by telling him I was pregnant, he finally reacted. Not in the way I expected him to. He hugged me and said, "We are going to have a family!"

"So everything I just told you doesn't matter?" I asked.

"I figured there was more to the story, and you would tell me when you were ready."

What I thought would be the end truly was the beginning. We told everyone we were waiting for the right time to say anything and that I was further along than they might think. They didn't know that wolves grow faster. We had no way of knowing how fast our children would grow. We welcomed a girl and a boy, twins, five months after I found out. I was overjoyed and could tell that they were wolves like me, they had that smell. For a short time, everything was perfect. Then, once again, my world would turn upside down.