Alpha (Wolves Creek Book 1)
Samantha Horne
WOLVES CREEK, BOOK ONE
LAURA
"Great. Perfect! Is there anything else that wants to go wrong today?!" I'm not going to lie, I should not have asked that question. As soon as the words left my lips, the heavens opened and Mother Nature herself decided to teach me a lesson about tempting the fates.That bitch.
"Fuck!" Shouting in to the sky, I spun around and lashed out at my poor car, kicking the tyre and earning myself a very sore foot in the process. Yep, my stupidity really knew no bounds. Here I was, stuck in the middle of god-knows-where, being pummelled by rainfall and standing next to my car which had just decided not to go any further. It was almost like the car was getting the same creepy vibes I was from the surrounding woods and just went, ‘nope, I think I'll stay here!" After hours of driving through these strange woods with nothing but trees for miles, the only thing I wanted to go was get the hell out of there. I had a really bad feeling about the area and prayed that I would come across some civilisation soon.
I really was having just the worst day and in fact one of the worst months, of my life. In the past month I had celebrated my 25th birthday, got married, been cheated on and then ran away from said husband. Yep, busy July for anyone to handle, I think we'll all agree? But, that was a story for another time. What I'd gone through in the past month could probably be made in to a movie where we all laugh at the main character as she fails at absolutely everything in life. Yipee.
I looked around to try and figure out where I was but it was so dark, plus I hadn't really been aiming for anywhere in particular. All I'd wanted was somewhere far away from my husband and civilisation in general - somewhere I could ‘find myself', as cheesy as that sounded. I'd packed up the very few things I had and google mapped ‘places in the middle of nowhere' and just driven. I'm not even kidding, that is actually what I searched. You'd be surprised how useful a tool the search engine can be, even when you have no idea what it is you are actually looking for. Trying to figure a way out of the mess I was in, I pulled my mobile phone from my jeans pocket and lo and behold - no signal. Well, wasn't that just fantastic? Peachy. A few hours ago, the thought of vanishing in to the middle of nowhere where no-one knew who I was sounded like a brilliant idea. Now? Not so much. Now it sounded like something someone would do, who had absolutely no brain cells and was acting purely on their emotions. Probably not ideal.
Realising I needed help and beginning to shake from the cold of the rain soaking to my skin, I locked up the car and waved it a solemn goodbye. Ok, so I hated the piece of crap, but it was the only constant thing in my life right at that point and I did feel kind of guilty leaving it in the dark woods all alone, as stupid as that sounded. Throwing my handbag over my shoulder, I chucked my useless phone into its depths and started to walk, praying that I found someone who could help me soon.
After what felt like hours, but was in fact only around ten minutes, I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the welcoming lights of what looked like a pub in the distance. Getting closer I could see it was surrounded by trees with an eerie look to it, and I physically shivered as the water dripped off my long, dark hair and the cold breeze hit my sodden clothes. The thought of entering a warm and cosy country pub – however odd looking - had my legs moving faster toward the brightly lit doors. I looked up and scoffed at the sign hanging by the big oak doors. The Howl. Well, that was fitting for how unnerving the place was. All I needed now was a vampire and a werewolf and I'd set myself up to be in a cheesy horror movie! As I pushed open the door, I smiled at the warmth that instantly hit me and stepped inside, wringing my hair of water and trying to peel the wet clothes away from my body, so they weren't quite so skin tight. I'd worn a yellow floaty top, with a pair of skinny jeans but right now they had moulded to my body so tightly you couldn't tell where the top ended and the jeans began. Real sexy. As I walked in I noticed the dim lighting in the pub and the fact it was packed full of patrons enjoying an evening drink. I was quite surprised to see how busy it was, considering it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. I scouted around to try and find a friendly face to help me, when I noticed that every single eye in the room was on me. They weren't exactly welcoming stares, either. No, these were more like ‘stranger! What are you doing here?' kind of stares. I felt more uncomfortable every second I was there. Trying to ignore the suspicious and hostile looks being thrown my way, I walked over to the bar and the man who was stood behind it, leaning against the bartop and watching everyone with an amused look in his eye. He certainly looked the friendliest of the bunch.
"Hi, I was wondering if you could help me? I'm completely lost, and my cars broken down. I don't even know where I am!" I laughed and smiled in what I hoped was a friendly manner, despite the fact that my teeth wouldn't stop chattering.
The man looked at me with a curious gaze for a moment, before holding out his hand for me to shake. Humbled and grateful for a friendly gesture, I shook his hand and jumped back in shock at how hot he was to the touch. Looking down at my hand, my eyes widened when I saw that not only was I now warm, but the yellow top I wore was now completely dry, back to its floaty self. How was that even possible? Jesus, I've lost it.
"You okay, Miss?" The man looked at me with a tiny smile, almost as if he knew something that I didn't. I shook myself out of my thoughts so he didn't think I was totally crazy. The man looked to be in his forties, with a short beard and hands that showed he'd clearly done some manual labour in his time. His eyes were the bluest I had ever seen and I coughed slightly as I tried to remember what he had asked me.
"Erm, yes, I'm fine, sorry. My name's Laura."
"It's nice to meet you, Laura. The name's Logan. You mentioned some car trouble?"
Thankfully, he was still smiling and the friendly vibes I got off him were making me slightly more at ease in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. Looking around, I noticed how everyone was still gawping at me. There were a few whispered conversations here and there, but mostly everyone was just looking at me, their staring getting the point across that I absolutely was not welcome here. Message received loud and clear guys.
"Erm, yes, my car just stopped working. Piece of crap just broke down and I walked to the nearest place, which just so happened to be this lovely, warm and welcoming abode." I said, probably a bit too sarcastically, and I worried I had just offended my only ally in this place. It was soon clear, however, that no offence was taken, as Logan let out a full belly laugh which caused me to jump back quickly, as unexpected as it was.
"We're not used to visitors around here, that's all. Don't take it personally." He smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back in return. "I know someone who will be able to help with your car. I'll just give him a call. Can I get you a drink while you wait?"
"Thank you so much, that would be amazing. The car would probably make more money as scrap metal, but it's my baby." I smiled fondly as I thought of my poor little car and then frowned as I remembered where I had left it. "Just a coke would be lovely, thank you."
"Coming right up." Logan moved to grab a coke for me, passing it over at the same time as he walked towards a phone near the back of the bar. As I took a sip of my drink, I took stock of my surroundings and settled more comfortably on a vacant bar stool. My jeans were still soaking wet and I shivered from the cold, at the same time as being totally confounded as to how my top was now completely dry, as though it had never been wet. I guess there were some things in life that were just unexplainable. As someone with a pretty open mind I tended to believe even the wildest explanations, if only just for some excitement. Well, I'd left home to try and find adventure and it looked like I may have found one. Okay, breaking down and walking miles in the rain probably wasn't most people's idea of an adventure, but as someone who had followed every rule my whole life, I needed a change. I just wanted to experience life a little bit and start over somewhere where nobody knew my name, or my embarrassing history with men. I'd like to say that I was a lone ranger, content with going on my adventures by myself, but that was a lie. If I'm being honest, I craved human contact and the sense of belonging somewhere. I thought I'd had that with my husband, but I guess I was wrong. I had no idea what it was I was looking for when I hopped in my car and started driving, but I had a good vibe about the place I was in. As I looked around the pub I had a sudden urge to stay there, not carrying on with my journey. That's crazy though, I mean these people clearly don't like me. I didn't even know whereabouts I was in the bloody country.