Chapter2
1222 Words
Jamie had run out of excuses.
It was 6:30 p.m., and the diner had slowed to a lull. Most of the customers had already left, leaving only a few scattered tables occupied. The other servers were relaxing, scrolling through their phones, stretching their legs after the evening rush.
Jamie, however, was tucked away at the side of the building, arms wrapped tightly around herself, staring at the concrete ground.
She should have gone home. She should have used this moment of quiet to disappear before anyone noticed her.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was coming. Something bad.
‘I could smell your heat from across the room, little one. You can’t run from me.’ The words in that paper were permanently etched into her brain, even after she’d sneaked it into the fire.
The back door swung open suddenly and she flinched.
“Jamie.”
She forced her trembling hands to still.
It wasn’t Brianna or Kaycee; it was the manager.
“Get inside.” His voice was sharp. “Now.”
Jamie hesitated, her pulse jumping. “I…”
“Now, Jamie.”
She knew better than to argue. Keeping her head low, she moved past him, stepping into the dim light of the kitchen.
And froze.
Brianna, Kaycee, and two other girls were already there, waiting.
The moment Jamie stepped in, she knew she’d walked into a trap.
Brianna leaned against the counter, idly wiping her nails. Kaycee smirked, arms crossed. The other two girls, Kiara and Eliza, watched with barely concealed amusement.
Jamie’s stomach twisted.
Stay calm. Don’t react. It was her mantra.
She forced herself to walk toward the storage shelves, pretending she hadn’t noticed the tension crackling in the air.
It didn’t work.
“Going somewhere?” Brianna’s voice was light, but the threat in it was unmistakable.
Jamie’s fingers curled around the nearest shelf. “I have work to do.”
“No, you don’t.” Kaycee stepped forward, blocking her path. “You have explaining to do.”
Jamie swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Brianna tilted her head. “Really? Because from where I was standing, it looked like you were throwing yourself at our Alpha.”
She closed her eyes. “I wasn’t…”
“You weren’t?” Kiara cut in, her voice mocking. “Then what’s this?”
Jamie barely had time to react before Kiara grabbed her wrist, yanking her forward.
Jamie gasped, struggling, but Kiara’s grip was like steel. Before she could tear herself free, Eliza reached into her pocket.
And pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.
Jamie’s stomach dropped.
No. How stupid of her to have assumed they hadn’t also seen the paper. They were wolves for crying out loud.
‘You burned it’, she reminded herself but the panic was still there. What if…?
Brianna snatched it, her eyes scanning the paper.
Her expression went cold.
“You kept his bill. Why? What did he say?”
Jamie’s breath came in shallow, panicked gasps. It had fully escaped her mind, and now she was going to pay for it. At least, it wasn’t the original paper though.
The glint in heir eyes scared her.
She had to get out of there.
She took a step back.
“Don’t even think about it.” Kaycee said, suddenly behind her with her fingers wrapped around her throat.
Jamie choked, her hands flying up to claw at Kaycee’s grip, but the werewolf barely seemed to notice.
“That’s it,” Kaycee murmured, pressing against her pulse. “Feel that?”
Jamie whimpered.
Eliza leaned in closer, her tongue darting out to lick her own lips. “She smells divine.”
Jamie’s entire body locked up.
They were werewolves. How could she have forgotten? It was why she always endured their insults. Human fear was like cattnip to them.
And she had given it to them. Further proof that she was guilty.
Stupid.
Brianna suddenly stepped forward, a cruel smile curving her lips while Jamie’s lungs closed up. “I think that’s enough, don’t you? Little Jamie has probably learned her lesson, right?”
“Yes,” she tried to say but her vision was already wavering.
Kaycee let her go, and she staggered, barely managing to stay upright.
For a second, she thought it was over.
And then Brianna’s hand shot out, grabbing a fistful of her hair.
She screamed.
Gasping and with tears running down her face, she was shoved to her knees, and she felt another hand ground her face into the ground.
“You slut. Thought we were done, right?” Brianna shouted, grounding her face into the sand with each word.
She couldn’t even say a word. She struggled but the only thing she achieved was to cut off her air when a hand grabbed her by the throat. She was shoved upright and suddenly released, hacking with each breath and trying to blink back the sand from her eyes as she fell back down.
She cried out when a foot was shoved into her back.
And hen, she was jerked back upright again by her screaming hair follicles. She could see the hand coming for her face when she finally heard movement from the door.
“What in blazes is going on here?” someone shouted.
The person holding her pushed her aside and she slammed her knees into the shelf. She heard her scream as if from a distance, but she didn’t stay down.
She staggered upright and for her efforts, was shoved back down.
She struggled, unnatural strength cutting through her terror. She got up.
Without waiting to see if the voice belonged to a savior, she ran.
She was dazed, in pain and half blind from the sand she hadn’t gotten out, but she pushed. She just needed to leave the territory; she'd be safer out in the wild.
She had started flagging a few metres out when a hand grabbed her.
She screamed.
“Stop it, it’s me.”
The voice was low, familiar.
No.
She knew that voice.
Lucas.
Panic surged through her. She thrashed against his grip, but it was useless.
“Let me go,” she choked out.
His fingers tightened.
“I told you not to run, didn’t I?”
Jamie went still.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
Lucas leaned in, his voice a whisper against her ear.
“We have unfinished business, little one. You can’t leave until I say.”
Jamie couldn’t breathe.
Her lips trembled.
“Where were you going?” he asked.
She sniffed. “Away.”
Something flickered in his eyes, but her eyes hurt too much to keep it open longer.
“Alright, then.”
He led her forward, and before she could think, she heard the door of a car open.
Her body moved on autopilot. She slid into the seat, her whole body trembling.
The door shut.
A moment later, another opened.
Lucas slid in beside her.
The car started.
She knew she was abandoning one agony for another unknown, but she had no other choice. She'd seen the glint of claw on Brianna's hand.
She wouldn’t have made it through the night.
Lucas’ possessive hands on her waist told it’s own story. She hoped she’d live to tell the story.
- Writer
