Taken by the Ruthless Wolf

1. LYSSA “Oh my gosh, can you believe that? How cringe, right?” “Right? What was that? ‘Like wolves, we are pack animals, and it is our differences in strengths that make us better together.’” “Honestly, I think he just wanted to hear his own voice. Since when does a walk-through graduation mean your principal is practicing his furry fantasy?” “Oh em gee! I totally bet he is furry with all that wolf talk! Like I was expecting him to start howling at the moon!” “What did you think of that weirdness, Lyssa?” I nodded absently, hardly listening as my friends verbally eviscerated our principal. I couldn’t bring myself to care, my mind already planning the million and one things I needed to do. I tried to keep on top of things in my life, but sometimes my plate was so full that it felt like I was drowning. And I was in one of those times. My high school career was coming to an end, everything was getting more expensive, and I still didn’t have a job. “Hello! Earth to Lyssa!” I blinked, pulling my head out of my locker. “Huh?” “What did you think of our principal’s ten- minute diatribe about how we need to embrace our inner wolf or whatever?” “Uh… it was a little strange,” I offered before returning to my task. I didn’t feel like making fun of the middle-aged man for trying to be a little outside the box. As far as school administration went, he was a nice guy and had shot me money for lunch a couple of times without making me feel like a beggar. Thankfully, my friends didn’t expect me to be overly verbose, and the conversation kept right on rolling. “Hey, does anyone want to go out?” That was Sarah Jane, my bright and bubbly friend that I’d met freshman year. That whole thing had been a little weird. She’d marched right up to me while I was reading a book in the library after school, announced that we were friends, then slid me a soda. I was too surprised to tell her that wasn’t how things worked, and I would have been wrong, considering she was still in my inner circle four years later. Which was quite impressive, if I was being honest. I wasn’t exactly prone to trusting people. A chorus of positive answers rose from our group, and I kept myself busy pulling things out of my locker so I wouldn’t have to answer. I was broke as a joke and had so much to do, but I hated saying no to my friends. Not that they bullied me or anything. They were pretty understanding as far as teenagers went, but I always had a slight pang of missing out whenever I had to come up with some excuse why I couldn’t join in on their little outings. Sure, I supposed I could just ask one of them to spot me, but I wasn’t keen on that. Call it pride, call it whatever. I just preferred to keep my business to myself. “Oh, oh, I heard earlier today that there’s a party at Matthew Rigdon’s house!” That caused the jubilation in their group to stop awkwardly and Vanessa, the girl who’d been excitedly talking, blushed. “Did I say something wrong?” “Dude, that’s Lyssa’s ex.” I sighed because how could I not? Matt was indeed my on-again, off-again, on-again, and off-again once more boyfriend. I liked him okay, and he was cute, but we were fundamentally opposites as people. Not to mention that he wanted completely different things than I did. Probably because he was a rich kid with parents who supported and loved him while I was… well, me. He always wanted to be closer than I felt comfortable, always wanted our lives intertwined in ways I wasn’t ready for. We weren’t even in the same spot regarding s*x, so that had never happened between us either. “Guys, it’s fine. We’re still friends; we’re just taking a break to explore our options.” “That’s what you said the last time…” Sarah Jane pointed out in a sing-song voice, returning to cleaning out her locker. “And the time before that,” Stacy added. “Aaaaand the time before that.” “All right, guys, I get it,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You can give it a rest.” Sarah Jane popped her head back out of her locker, smiling broadly. “So, we’ll see you tonight then?” I paused for a moment, trying to mentally rearrange my schedule to see if I could do it. Logic said I shouldn’t, but my heart was fully on board. After all, since we were graduating, our time together wouldn’t remain the same. Everyone was moving on to the next phase of their life while I was still floundering, just trying to survive. We’d all go in different directions, and while we’d always be friends, I’d be stupid to pretend everything would stay the same. “Yeah, you’ll see me tonight. Could you remember to bring me your brother’s old cap and gown? I forgot to get my own before the deadline.” That was a lie. I just couldn’t afford it. But once again, that was my business and didn’t need to be proliferated around my friend group. “Yeah, sure! It’s no problem.” Not for the first time, I was incredibly grateful for how generous my friends were and that they didn’t ask too many questions about any of my requests. We all finished cleaning out our lockers and then made our way to the exit. While a couple of us walked, most of my friends had their own cars, or their parents picked them up, so the parking lot was our real goodbye spot. With a wave and some promises not to be too late, I headed off. But I didn’t head to where I was staying just yet. Instead, I went right towards the main shopping area, going into the first restaurant I saw. “Hello, can I help you?” the hostess said, all bright and bubbly. Maybe I’d be chipper too, if I had a job. But as a high schooler, I was having a hard time getting hired anywhere. “Yeah, I was wondering if I could speak with your hiring manager?” I knew that was unorthodox. Usually, people were supposed to ask for an application first, but I was eager to skip some unnecessary steps. “Uh, he usually doesn’t talk to people directly. Not without going through our online portal first.” I nodded, giving her what I hoped was my sunniest smile. “I know, but it’s kind of an emergency situation. You’d be doing me a huge solid.” The girl hesitated for a moment, chewing her lip, and I gave her my best puppy dog look. “All right, I’ll be back. But I’m not promising anything.” I clapped my hands together in a praying gesture, half-bowing. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” Maybe I was laying it on a little thick, but I was desperate for a job. Sure, I was pretty good at skirting the law to keep myself fed and in some form of shelter, but it didn’t mean I liked doing it. It would be a lot less stressful to be on the up-and-up. “You can wait in the booth over there.” She pointed to one near the corner that was in intense, direct light from a window. Yeah, it made sense that one would remain empty.I headed over, trying to sit straight and look like a model employee. What exactly that was, I wasn’t entirely sure, but maybe that was why I wasn’t getting hired. About ten minutes later, I was surprised when a tall, broad man with a ruddy face came out from the back.