by Zoe Parker
"Are you alright?" she asks me, concerned because I've finished the entire contents of my glass in one gulp.
I put the cup down and smile. "I'm fine, Gray. I promise." I regain my composure when she gets up to refill my glass. In all my years, I've only been with a few women. They were more out of curiosity than actual desire, but with the way my body was reacting to Gray, I knew that I wanted everything with her.
She comes back with my refilled glass of water in one hand and a plate of food in the other. She lowers them both to the table in front of me. "I'll let you eat your meal in peace," she smiles and begins to turn back toward the counter.
"I'd rather talk to you while I eat, if that's okay," I say, making her stop in her tracks. She turns back around, a small smile on her face and nods. She slides back into her chair and looks at me expectantly.
I pick up my fork and scoop up some of the eggs. "How long have you lived here?" I ask before shoveling it into my mouth.
She chuckles. "Is it that obvious that I'm not from here?"
I shrug my shoulders and nod my head as I take another bite. The eggs are actually pretty good, so I finish them off in no time.
"My two sons and I moved here from New York City almost three years ago," she tells me.
"What made you move?" I ask. "I don't know a lot about other parts of the world, but I assume that New York City is a very different place."
"So different!" she laughs. "My friends thought I was crazy for wanting to move here, but the boys and I needed a change." I cut off a piece of sausage and popped it into my mouth as she continued talking. "My husband was from here, and Inuit." Her smile slowly fades, and I put my fork down to give her my full attention. "He, he died and we needed a change, so we moved to the place my husband was from."
"You didn't want to forget him."
"No, I didn't want to forget him, but we needed a change. He was teaching the boys the ways of the Inuit people when he was alive, and I can't do that, so we came here. Anik, that was my husband, has a sister and she offered to let us live here with her, so I took her up on the offer. I don't have any family worth speaking of, so here we are. And, now I'm rambling and telling you my life story." She chuckles and looks down at her lap as if embarrassed.
I sit back in my chair and look at her, the way she curls into herself when she speaks of her dead husband, I find myself jealous again. She loved this man enough to marry and have children with him. She is still in mourning for him. The sadness in her eyes all made sense, and I don't know what I can do to wipe it all away. How can I compete with a ghost?
"Gray, there's no need to be embarrassed," I tell her because even though my heart is breaking because of this, I don't want her to feel bad. "If I had more time, I'd tell you my life story as well." She looks up, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Maybe another time?" she asks, hopefully.
My eyebrows raise up on my forehead in surprise. "Of course. Another time." I hold out my hand, palm up under the table and create a two twenty dollar bills. I fold them once and pretend to get it out of my pocket before sliding the money partly under my plate.
"Gray, I should go." I rise from my chair, and she stands up with me, looking a little less nervous than before. "I'll see you soon," I tell her.
That piece of hair from earlier falls back in her face, and I don't hesitate to brush it behind her ear. She leans into my hand, and I realize that I don't want to leave. Touching her is just as wonderful as I imagined it would be.
The man at the counter clears his throat just as I take a step closer to Gray, and I decide to add another person to my hunt list.
"Gray, can I get a little more coffee?" the soon-to-be dead man asks with a slimy smile on his face.
"Sure, Mike," she replies without looking in his direction. "One second." She sighs, then talking to me, says, "I'll see you later, Oki." She turns, almost hesitantly, and walks over to refill the mug.
I watch her do this, and when she looks up, I wave before walking out the door.
I go back to the tree line behind Gray's house in my wolf form and wait for her to get home. As she gets out of her truck, she looks in my direction for just a moment before going inside. I wonder if she can sense me nearby. The lights turn off inside the house and I tucker down in my spot, keeping watch over her through the long night.
Gray
I worked the next three nights at the diner, and Oki comes in each night during the slowest part of my shift. Every night he comes in and sits at the same table, orders the same meal, and we talk to get to know one another better as he ate.
The first night he came in the diner and we got to talk, I went home, laid in bed, and he was all I could think about. It's been like this for the last few nights. He's all I think about and tonight is no different. I feel incredibly guilty because I really enjoy Oki's company. I loved my husband. He was the most wonderful person that I knew, but he was gone. He'd want the boys and me to be happy, living our lives.
Were we doing that? No. Here we are, living with his sister and grandmother in Alaska and I do nothing but mourn him and the life we had. He'd be pissed about how I've let our lives become like this. Yes, I needed the help when Anik died, but as I lay there, I become determined to find a new normal that may or may not include me dating another man. My future would not be dependent on it, but if I found someone I wanted to spend time with, like Oki, then I would. Anik would want that for the boys and me. He wanted our happiness above everything else when he was alive, and he would've definitely wanted that since he's not around to make sure of it anymore.
I decide from that night on, I would make an effort to get to know Oki and to let him get to know me too. I have an undeniable attraction to him, one I couldn't explain. I became open and friendly and, although I thought about Anik, I didn't let the memories guilt me into missing out on something that could possibly be wonderful.
I smile to myself as I park my truck along the side of the diner and lock it, stuffing the keys in my jacket pocket next to my cell phone. Oki and I hadn't exchanged numbers or anything like that, but I couldn't help but want to talk to him again. I'm so busy thinking about what our conversation would be like, that I didn't see James and two of his friends round the corner and walk straight toward me.
My smile drops when I see that the three men were maneuvering to surround me, James at my front and his friends, Adam and Von at my sides. My heart rate kicks up because I know that this is not a good position to be in. James was humiliated the last time I saw him and he's not the kind of guy to forget or forgive a thing like that.
"Hi James," I quietly say to him. I'm scared and it's obvious, but I want to try to diffuse the situation if I can. "How are you doing?"
"Well," James dramatically sighs, and runs his hand across his mouth, "Gray, I've been better."
"Oh? I wish I could help you, but I'm already late to work, so I should be going." I try to step around him, but he and Von move so I am completely blocked in.
"Don't you want to know why I'm not doing too well, Gray?" I try to get around him on the other side, but he and Adam move, blocking me in there too.
I take a step back and let out the breath that I'm holding while I try to make my escape. "No, I don't know why," I almost whisper. I slip one of my hands into my coat pocket and grab a hold of my cell phone.
"Well, you should!" he demands. "It's because of you, Gray, that I've been having a rotten time lately."
"Me?" I ask, trying to play innocent. I take another step back, but then Von wedges himself behind me so I have nowhere else to go. He grips my upper arms tightly and I wince from the pain.
"Easy, Von," James tells his friend. "I don't want to damage her." He then begins to laugh, making the color drain from my face. His laugh is almost maniacal, and the sound of it makes me more frightened than I've ever been in my life.
"Please let me go, James. Please, Von, Adam. I'd like to go to work then home to my boys. Please let me go," I plead. Tears beginni
ng to sting my eyes. James' laughter cuts off suddenly, and his smile turns downright scary.
"No, I don't think we'll do that, Gray," he says, taking a step closer toward me. "You see, I think you'll fall for me the more time you spend with me. So, I'm going to take you someplace that no one will find us, and you and I are going to spend some quality time together. Then when you agree that I'm the one for you, not your dead husband, not that giant you've been spending time with here at the diner, I'll let you go. I'll let you go because I'll know that you'll come back to me on your own."
He's completely insane, but I try one more time to get him to let me go. "James, I have two sons that need me," I tell him as a tear rolled down my cheek. "They lost their father, and if they don't know where I am they will think they've lost me too. Please, James. Please."
He looks as though he is thinking about it. But then he says, "No, I don't think I'll let you do that. If I let you call your kids, Jissika will call the police and say that I kidnapped you. No, I think we'll just go now."
James quickly pulls my hand out of the pocket that had my phone in it. He snatches it from my hand and throws it to the ground, stomping on it over and over again until I hear the case break.
"No!" I begin thrashing, trying to break free from Von's hold, but his large hands have a good grip on me, even with my heavy coat.
As I scream and try to get away, James leans down and picks up my legs, and he and Von carry me behind the building. I kick and scream, doing anything I can to get away from them, but there are three of them, and each is bigger and stronger than I could ever be, but I hold out hope that someone will rescue me or that I can outsmart them.
I know my attempt to escape in vain when Adam opens the back of a large SUV, and the other two men throw me in. Once they let go of my limbs, I try to scramble out, but a strong hand catches me before I could get all the way out of the trunk. Then, out of nowhere, something large comes down onto the side of my head, making my world go black.
Chapter Six
Oki
Gray is even more amazing than I ever imagined. I couldn't wait to see her tonight, so I decide to come by the diner a little earlier than I normally do. I walk into the diner and my eyes scan the room, but I don't see her anywhere. I know she's supposed to work because she told me she'd be working today. Her truck wasn't parked at her house, so she has to be here.
I sit down at the counter and continue to look around, but she's still nowhere to be seen. The lady that was working with Gray the first night I was in here, approaches me with a tired smile.
"Hey, handsome. What can I get for you?" she asks.
I don't answer her question, but ask, "Is Gray here?"
"No. She didn't show up tonight. Now I'm going to have to work a double shift because I can't get ahold of her."
I immediately go on alert. Something has to be wrong if she didn't even let her boss know that she wouldn't be coming to work this evening. "Did you try to call her?" I ask.
The woman closes her eyes and slowly nods. "It goes to straight to voicemail every time. It must be turned off or something." She picks up a pot of coffee from behind her and fills the cup for the person beside me.
I don't know a lot about technology, but I know that is not normal. "Have you talked to her family?" I then ask, standing up beside my stool.
"No, I can't get a hold of her sister-in-law, Jissika, and Jissika's grandmother doesn't talk on the phone, so I wouldn't be able to get in touch with her if I wanted to."
I take off running as soon as the words are out of her mouth, knowing she would be of no further help to me. I race through the front door and out onto the sidewalk. I'm running faster than a normal human, and I don't care if people find it strange. Something is wrong. I know it.
As soon as I get out of town I transform mid-stride into my black wolf and take off toward Gray's house. I'm much faster in my wolf and Keelut forms than I am as a human. It takes only minutes to reach the treeline behind the house, where I stop and quickly transform back into a man.
I take a deep breath and walk toward the front door of the house. Gray's truck isn't there, just like it wasn't there when I checked earlier in the night. There is only a worn patch of snowy grass where it should be.
When I reach the door, I knock three strong knocks and take a step back. I wait only a few moments before the younger of the two women, Jissika opens the door. She squints at me and I can tell that I woke her up.
"Can I help you?" she asks. The older of Gray's two boys pops his head under her arm to get a good look at me. "Jackson! Go back to bed!" she harshly whispers to him and swats him back into the house.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," I say in my most non-threatening way. "My name is Oki and I'm a friend of Gray's. Is she home? She isn't at the restaurant, and they haven't heard from her tonight."
Jissika stands upright, as if she's finally awake and alert, and shakes her head. "No, she's supposed to be working. What do you mean she isn't there?"
She walks into the house, leaving the front door wide open. I take it as an invitation to come inside, so I wipe my feet and take a couple of steps into the living room. Jissika pulls a bag off the back of a chair and looks through it, coming up with a cell phone. She turns it on and sighs. Pressing a few buttons and holds the device up to her ear.
I wait while she listens to a recorded message, her face becoming worried, and she hangs up. "She really didn't go into work," she murmurs. "That's not like Gray."
"Attak, where's my mom?" a little voice calls from down the hall.
"Mav, go back to bed. It'll be okay," she calls back, but the little boy, the one I let pet me when I was in my wolf form, walks into the living room.
"I want my mommy," he rubs his tired eyes, looking sad.
The older boy, Jackson comes to stand beside his brother and takes his hand. I can tell that he's worried. He's old enough to remember losing his father. I'm sure those memories are running through his head at this very moment.
Jissika is frantically trying to call Gray, but then finally puts the phone down on the table. "She not answering," she sighs and puts her hands on the back of a chair, her head hanging down.
"Keelut," a soft, voice says from behind the boys. Everyone looks back to see the elder Inuit woman slowly walk into the room, stopping a foot away from me. "Why are you here, evil one?" she asks.
My eyebrows scrunch. I've never heard someone call me that, but I can understand why she might. What I'm made to do may seem evil to people, but I still don't like the name.
"I'm looking for Gray," I tell her. "She wasn't at work tonight."
"I heard that," she replies, "but why are you here?"
"I'm a friend of hers and I'm worried about her." I take a gulp because this woman makes me nervous.
"Keelut not a friend to anyone," she snaps. Her eyes blaze with fury and determination.
"Anaanatsiaq, I am not evil," I tell her, "no matter what your legends say about my kind. I only want to help."
She takes my hands and pulls me down into a chair, and I let her. She may be knowledgeable about the legends, but she doesn't want to harm me. Not that she could. I can tell that her intention is pure because her soul is pure. She's strong-willed and determined to protect those in her circle, but she's not malicious.
"Anaanatsiaq, what are you doing?" Jissika asks her grandmother. Yuka is staring into my eyes as if she's looking for the answers to the universe, but doesn't answer her granddaughter, or even acknowledge her.
"You love her," she finally says and lets go of my hands, taking two steps back.
"I will find her," is all I say in response. I look to the two boys, their hands holding onto each other tightly. Maverick begins to cry and I feel something crack inside me. He can't lose his mother. I won't let that happen.
I get up and approach the boys and kneel in front of them. Jackson gives me a look that shows strength and bravery when I know he's feeling anything but. He's exactly how Gray described hi
m, and I become even more determined than before to find her. He doesn't need more heartbreak in his life either. "I promise, I will find her," I tell them, solemnly. "I am the best hunter there is, so do not worry, little wolves. I will find her."
Maverick throws his arms around my neck, hugging me tightly as his tears fall. I return the gesture and look to his big brother. He just nods to me like the young warrior he is.
"I promise." I gently remove Maverick's arms from around my neck. He wipes at his eyes with the back of his arm and goes back to stand by his brother. As I rise, I look to the two women. "I promise," I say one more time and head out the open door.
I look back toward the house to see that Yuka is standing in the doorway watching me. I hesitate for a moment, but then she nods one time as if to tell me to go ahead. I change into my black wolf and take off into the night.
I decide to take Gray's normal route from her home to the diner and see if I can find any clues. There's nothing along the roads except for a bit of fresh snow, so I can barely see the tire tracks, but that's it. As I approach the diner, I begin looking where Gray normally parks her truck along the side of the building. Her truck is nowhere to be found, but I do see fairly new tire tracks on top of the newly fallen snow.
I sniff around some more and see a spot near the tire marks that indicate a struggle. Where there should be a clean blanket of snow, I see asphalt as if it had been kicked up, and it's not a small spot. I don't like what this could mean, so I open my senses even more and search for more clues as to what happened to Gray.
Footprints from the area lead around to the back of the building where there are more tire tracks and another sign of a struggle. Realizing that this is my best lead, I decide to follow the tire tracks before the falling snow covers them completely, making the only lead I have go cold.
