“Just go get changed.” She chuckled as she shook her head and turned her attention back to her little computer. I grabbed my bag and wandered into the bathroom to take care of the ever increasing facial hair that seemed to grow as fast as I could shave it. I shut the door behind me and groaned as I flipped on the light, slightly blinding myself in the process.
Ten minutes and one clean shaven face later, I rinsed off and took one last look in the mirror. The shadow was gone but at least I wasn’t left with a baby face to deal with. Men should look like men if you asked me but hell maybe I was biased. My eyes were a darker green than they were yesterday, deep set but even I had to admit they were kind. I didn’t have one of those chiseled faces, I thanked God for that. It was softer like my mom’s and a part of me was eternally grateful for that. I was only twenty five years old. I guess it wasn’t all that odd that I still had a boyish charm to me and if I was thinking right, it would be a few more birthdays before I grew out of it.
Did werewolves even age? I wondered to myself. There was a lot about this I was realizing I didn’t know.
Grabbing my things, I wondered out of the bathroom to where Cordillia sat at the foot of the bed. “You ready?” I asked as I slung my bag over my shoulder.
“I was ready before you were.” She smirked as she stood from the bed. “Besides I thought you weren’t in a rush?” She smirked.
“I’m not,” I smirked. “But I don’t know about you but I could eat a horse.” She raised her eyebrow at me and chuckled.
“Okay bad analogy but the fact still stands.” She laughed lightly and stood up, grabbing her bag from the bed behind her. She held out her hand and it took me a moment to realize she was handing me back my key.
“Oh hell thanks. I would have forgotten.” I smiled as I took it and slung my bag over my shoulder. She looked over at the broken table and my eyes followed suit.
“Let’s just do this quick and get the hell out of here.” I smirked and led her out of the room, locking the door behind me. I walked up to the front office and handed the old man his key. He looked out the front window to my sister who was now leaning against the hood of my truck and looked back at me raising an eyebrow and gave me an approving smile.
“Have a good stay, sir?” he spoke with a bit of humor in his voice.
“Sure.” Smiling, I knew that I didn’t have the heart to correct him. It would just make this more awkward than it needed to be. He ran up my total and I threw in a nice tip, I had to do something to make up for the mess I left behind. I made my way out to my truck quickly and froze.
“How did you get out here, Cordy?” I asked as I scanned the area and saw no other car but my own.
“I took a cab.” She smiled. “I paid him a little extra to bring me here. I figured if I couldn’t convince you to come back, I could make you drive me home.”
“Yeah and how would that help you any?” Cordillia shrugged as she walked over to her side of the truck.
“Would have given me just a little more time to convince you I guess.” She shrugged as she pulled open the door and crawled into the passenger seat. I could hear her stomach groan over the creak of the door as she shut it behind her and tossed her bag to the floor.
I jumped in, threw my bag on the floor with hers and started the engine. It was strange but I could swear my truck sounded happier this time as I pulled out of the old hotel and back onto the highway.
Chapter Four
“I spy with my little eye...” Cordillia was the first to break the silence. We were easily half an hour away from the hotel and I had yet to find a place to stop for food.
“Not this.” I glared out the front window as I raced down the highway. Normally I wouldn’t be so reckless but the need for food was becoming nearly unbearable. I looked over at her just in time to see her roll her eyes and huff at me.
“Do you have a better idea then?” She asked mockingly. I shrugged and turned my attention back to the road. After a few moments had passed she groaned and reached for the stereo. I kept my eyes glued ahead desperate for a turnoff, a truck stop, anything. I listened as she fiddled with the dial a lot longer than necessary and eventually gave up with an exasperated grunt. We were in the middle of nowhere headed out of California. Between straight static and some pop princess bleating out the word baby more times than needed our options were more dire than limited.
Chuckling at her attempts, I pointed to the black case lying at her feet. “Look in there, there should be something you like,” I said not taking my eyes off the road. She picked up the bag and shuffled around for a few moments before finding a CD buried near the bottom. She eyed me suspiciously and dropped the CD and the bag back where they were.
“What?” I asked with a grin.
“AC DC?”
“You know what, I’m starting to think you wouldn’t know awesome if it bit you in the ass,” I said with a smile. Before she had a chance to respond, a beautiful green sign like a saving grace, came up from the ground and pointed us toward salvation.
Truck Stop Next Exit
“Thank you GOD!” I shouted with a smile as I stepped on the gas and pushed my truck as fast as I could. Cordillia laughed as I took the turnoff and she fell into the door next to her. Looking back, I probably should have taken the turn a lot slower than I had but there were only a few miles between me and what I wanted and as I said before, I am not a patient person.
Following the narrow winding road, I pulled into a small parking lot outside a rather tiny silver diner and cut the engine. Saying nothing, I climbed out of the truck and waited impatiently for her to join me. I never did understand women. It didn’t matter how beautiful they were, they always needed to check and double check themselves before going anywhere.
It was hot but thankfully not humid outside as I leaned back against my truck waiting for her to make herself ready. One or two big rigs sat parked off to the side and the sound of the occasional car moving down the highway behind us filled the air. I loved the desert for one reason and one reason only, it was private. Here we stood out in the open, miles of nothing surrounding us and yet there was a lingering feeling of seclusion and peace. My thoughts were broken by the sound of Cordillia’s light footsteps crunching in the sand beneath her.
“Ready?” I asked as she stopped at my side.
“My stomach hurts.” She smiled as she looked over at the tiny restaurant. “Hopefully they have more than just road kill on the menu.” I chuckled and followed close behind as we made our way up the narrow dirt path and pulled the door open.
We walked in slowly and I couldn’t help but cringe as I took a quick look around the place. The building itself was small and looked like it had had taken decorating tips straight out of a bad fifty’s movie. Metal rimmed tables, red overstuffed seats and black checkered flooring included.
As we walked over to an empty table near the window lined wall, I scanned the restaurant and took a seat. There was a family in the large booth near the end. An older man sat reading a newspaper as a tired young woman with a desperate look about her tried to calm a small boy into his seat and a baby fussed in her high chair not far from where she sat.
“Dammit, Frank, you could help,” she barked at him so loud it didn’t take my ears to catch it. He just grumbled and went back to his paper. I felt sorry for her but that passed quickly as my stomach made its presence known once again.
As I slid into the booth opposite my sister, I noticed a man out of the corner of my eye. It’s not that I was looking but there was something about him that was hard to ignore. It’s not unusual to see people in places like these that are disheveled or look like they haven’t slept in days. But something about this man made my stomach turn. The first thing I noticed was the smell like he’d been running through the woods for years without so much as a bath. His hair was long and greasy and his face held the same signs of neglect offset only by the slight scabs and scratch marks that decorated his cheeks.
I could see the dirt un
der his nails as he stirred a spoon into his cup of coffee and the black scabs that littered his knuckles looked painful at best. He wore jeans and a light brown coat that went down to his ankles and didn’t seem to be in much better shape than he was. It was stained and torn and my God the smell, I just couldn’t pull myself away from that detail. Turning toward Cordillia, I tried to shake it off and hoped that she could find some way to distract me.
“I’m not seeing babies or human hearts.” She smiled as she peered over her menu. I thought for a second before a grin crossed my face.
“There’s one over there.” I nodded at the couple in the back. Cordillia looked both horrified and amused as she smacked me with the menu.
“Hello,” an unusually chipper voice came from next to me. “How is everyone today?” I turned to get a better look at the woman that had appeared out of nowhere and as I turned, I found myself taken back by her appearance. She was a husky woman with an older look about her; I couldn’t help but wonder if she decorated this place from memory. Donning a pink uniform and trademark horn rimmed glasses she stood patiently, notepad in hand waiting to take our order. “My name is Annie and I’ll be your waitress.” She beamed. “What can I get for you all?” I flashed her a smile and quickly gestured over to my sister.
“I’ll have the pancakes,” she chirped. “Blueberry and a side of bacon please.” The older woman wrote down her order surprisingly fast and turned to face me. I looked up just in time to notice her flash me a wink and a toss of the hair.
She batted her eyes at me and asked in a sweet yet unmistakably flirtatious voice, “And what can I get you, sugar?” She smiled and leaned closer to me as she readied her pen.
“I uh... do you have steak?” I asked pushing my menu to the side.
“We sure do, honey, they’re not very big though.” She added with a smile. I thought for a moment, not about what I wanted to eat but whether or not I wanted just a few steaks or the whole damn cow.
“In that case,” I spoke quickly. It was becoming increasingly annoying to have so much in between me and my inevitable and much needed meal. “Make it two, rare.” I added. “And I mean still bleeding. A side of eggs, double side of bacon, some pancakes and a couple of biscuits.” I watched her scribble as fast as she could and glanced over at Cordillia. Her jaw hung open and her eyebrow rose.
“Are you sure you can eat all that?” she asked with a smirk. I leaned over the table close to her and nodded.
“Want to put money on it?” She leaned back and thought for a moment before shrugging and reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a twenty and placed it on the table but I decided to make this fun as I looked up at the waitress and waited for her pen to stop.
“Is that all?” she spoke sweetly. I grinned at Cordy and turned back to finish my order.
“Make that steak three please. Also, a cup of coffee and that should be good, thanks.” I flashed her a smile, pulled out my wallet and placed another twenty on top of the pot.
“Okay then,” she chimed as she finished scribbling and placed the pad in her apron. “If you need anything else, you just ask.” Smiling up at her, I offered a quick thank you as she took our menus and walked back toward the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back in my seat. The stench hit me again, this time it was enough to turn my stomach.
“Do you smell that?” I asked Cordillia as I turned to take another look at the man sitting at the bar. She lifted her nose and took a whiff.
“I smell eggs and coffee. What do you smell?” she asked me, puzzled. I didn’t understand how she couldn’t smell that. It was sour and sickly with an undertone of decay. I shook my head and scooted over, anything to get as far away from him as possible. It wasn’t long before Annie returned with my coffee and flashed me yet another wink before she headed back into the kitchen.
The man at the bar let out a belch that was as loud as it was sickening. Everyone in the restaurant took notice. Even Cordillia had a disgusted look on her face.
“Jesus,” she whispered. “Manners are free you know.” She groaned as she turned to face me. My eyes were still on him. The smell was getting worse as he grunted and spit into a napkin. He turned his head back in our direction. His eyes were dark, that’s all I had time to notice before he turned his face back toward the cup in front of him. He couldn’t have heard her, I thought to myself. There was just no way.
Turning back to Cordillia, I lifted a finger to my lips and spoke quietly, “That may be true but that doesn’t mean we need to be rude.” I took a sip of my quickly cooling coffee. He grunted again and began to scratch at his head vigorously. Probably fleas. I chuckled as the thought crossed my mind. I smirked and turned back to Cordillia. Maybe if I didn’t look, the smell wouldn’t be so bad.
Cordillia and I began to talk and not long after, I heard Annie’s sweet voice as she placed a plate down on the bar. “There you are, sir. I hope this one is to your liking.” The way she said it, I was sure he’d sent his plate back before. I could smell the steak from here. Like copper and salt, it was rare and mouthwatering. I’d just hoped my order came back smelling so good. We continued our conversation, Cordillia laughed and smiled sweetly as she talked about school and the things she would miss. I heard him take a sharp whiff of the air, there was a short pause and that’s when everything went to hell.
A loud smash broke the silence of the diner as his plate hit the floor and shattered followed by Annie screaming as her feet were pulled around the counter. “Calm down, sir,” I heard her yelp in a shaky voice. Instantly, I looked over at them. He had her wrist in his massive hand, her fingers turning white from the pressure.
“You let me go now or I’ll have the cops in here I swear-” she started but he cut her off in mid-sentence.
“And how do you plan to do that?” his voice was barely more than a growl. He towered over the poor girl, his face inches from hers. I remembered his smell and my stomach turned at the thought of being so close to him. I remembered Cordillia and hoped for Annie’s sake she couldn’t smell him either. She yelped as he squeezed her wrist and I could see the pain on her face from where I stood.
“Stop it, you’re hurting her!” Cordillia screamed and I jumped. Somehow I had forgotten she was there. He turned to her, a sick satisfied smirk on his face as his eyes flicked between us.
“This doesn’t concern you, sweetheart,” his voice was deep and raspy, almost like he hadn’t used it in years. I caught myself wondering how someone could fall out of the habit of speech but the thought didn’t last long.
Annie yelped as he tossed her to the ground where the plate had hit the floor and almost immediately I could smell blood in the air. He bent down, grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her up onto her knees and that’s when I saw the deep gash that ran the length of her arm.
“Does that look like what I ordered?” he demanded “Does it!?” he yelled.
“I don’t know!” she yelled back obviously unsure of what to do. I jumped out of the booth and moved towards them, I wasn’t sure what I was doing but I had to do something.
“No, Ethan!” Cordillia called as I moved. I glanced back for a second before the man peered over his shoulder at me.
“Listen to your sister, Ethan,” he growled as he lifted Annie off of the floor. Before I could think, my body reacted and I took the final few steps between him and me. I reached out, wrapping my arm around his neck and pulled back. With a groan he fell into me, struggling against me before finally letting go of Annie and dropping to his knees. I stepped back and watched as he got to his feet and my stomach twisted itself in knots.
He took a step toward me and I braced myself, ready to fight but I found myself a little more than surprised when instead he spoke, “Watch it! You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.” He growled as he grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me onto the tip of my toes. I yanked his hand away and stared him down.
“I think it’s time you left.” I growled as he took a step toward m
e.
“Or what?” He smirked as he closed the space between us. I towered over him and yet I still found myself intimidated by the look in his eyes and the growl in his tone. He smirked before grunting loudly and spitting at my feet. “You got nothing.” He sneered as he stepped away.
Wolves among men Page 4
