Page 51 of Wolf's Gambit

Opening my cabin door and slipping inside, I locked it and stood in the small space, my heart racing. For the first time since coming to Baywater Creek, I didn’t shift that night. Instead, I took a long shower, washed my hair, and went to bed, hoping my sleep would be deep enough to forget the fact I’d been jumping at shadows.

Morning came too soon with mixed emotions.

My wolf wasn’t content that she’d been kept from running last night. She was used to being free nightly now, a far cry from living with the pack, and her restlessness had meant my sleep had been broken.

On the other hand, I did sleep, and despite my disgruntled wolf, I felt quite rested. Getting dressed in my usual jeans and T-shirt, I noticed my hair color was fading, and my blonde roots were threatening to show.

Lottie was making eggs when I entered the main cabin. Maggie’s warning that very first day had proven to be accurate. I’d thanked her for telling me not to try Lottie’s cooking. I don’t know how her guests swallowed down what she served them.

“Are they supposed to be brown?” I teased Lottie, taking a seat near the breakfast bar.

“Wretched girl, they are golden,” she corrected, waving her spatula at me.

“There’s golden, and then there’s that,” I said with a grin. Resting my elbow on the counter, I propped up my chin. “I think that may be more burnt orange than the golden you’re aiming for.”

A bagel narrowly missed my head. Hopping off the stool, I bent and picked it up off the floor. Tearing a piece off, I popped it in my mouth.

“That was on the floor,” Lottie said with disgust.

“Five-second rule.” I chewed quickly. “Plus, I clean these floors…you can eat your dinner off them.” And I’m a wolf, we don’t care about these things, I added silently.

“Just because you can eat your dinner off the floor doesn’t mean you should.” Lottie tapped the box from the bakery the bagels were from. “Take another.”

I retook my seat, eating another piece of the dropped bagel. “Best leave these for the guests. I know the eggs aren’t supposed to be that color.”

“Hush,” she scolded, lifting the pan off the heat. “Fetch the bacon,” she added.

Wide eyes and with a mournful soul, I pulled the pan of bacon from the oven. What was once brittle and crisp was now stale and leathery. What Lottie could do to bacon was a sin against stomachs everywhere.

“Biscuits too.”

Biting my lip, I pulled the hard bricks from the warming drawer.

“Are you having breakfast?” Lottie asked, transferring the eggs into a large serving dish.

“Never.”

“What was that?”

“I can’t,” I said hastily. “I need to get to the drug store.”

Lottie sniffed dramatically at the rejection. Armed with my half a bagel, I left her to poison her guests with breakfast as I headed into town.

I left my pack four and a half months ago during my first heat when my brother had set me free. Alone and free, my heat had faded as quickly as it came. It hadn’t been fun, but I had controlled it. My human body had kept a regular cycle, but I knew from the uncomfortable scratchiness that seemed to be under my skin that my heat was returning.

Unsure of how this would play out in a town of humans, I was eager to take precautions. As I walked down the track, I kept looking at the trees. My wolf was restless that she hadn’t run last night, but I kept a tight hold on her as we walked.

I didn’t need her shifting right now. I knew why she was restless.

Something dark and spicy teased at my nostrils, and I hadn’t realized I had stopped walking until I turned a full circle.

Was that cinnamon? Inhaling, I sensed the scent again. Cedar? Licking my lips, I took a step toward the trees.

A car driving past broke my trance-like state, and I realized I had been zoned out in the middle of the road. Blushing at my foolishness, I hurried to the drug store, trying to push the enticing scent away.

As I waited in line, three girls not much younger than me came in, each carrying a pumpkin spice-flavored coffee. I’d smelled cinnamon earlier and a woody smell—nutmeg? Of course, I was scenting everything pumpkin spice. Laughing to myself, I got what I needed and went to the town library.

The library had two computers, and each townsperson could book use of the computer for an hour every week. It didn’t matter the whole town, except me and I think Lottie, had a computer, I was still only allowed one hour of usage. But it was more than I had ever had, and in the almost three weeks I’d been here, I’d been trying to teach myself to be more computer-literate.

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