Page 12 of Wynter Abandoned

Passing the stairs, I heard the chattering of my stepsisters. Their giggling was more jittery hyena than young women, but at least they were free.

“I can’t believe it. Did you see him?” Calla screeched to Violet. They danced around their room with dresses pressed to their chests, pretending to be at a ball.

“I did! He was so handsome, and you should’ve seen the way he looked at you. And an alpha!” The mention of the word alpha had both of them squealing and stomping their feet.

A shot of pure, raw jealousy ripped through me. I gasped but made it quiet. If they caught me eavesdropping, I might not eat for a week.

“Can you imagine? Being the alpha female of a pack? All those people at your command? You could do whatever you wanted, and who is going to say anything?”

I sighed. That was what it meant to her to become an alpha female? To tell people what to do and have a pack at your beck and call?

Why was I surprised? That was her life now. Telling me what to do.

“His dark hair, and those dark eyes that saw right into my soul. And his kisses…” Calla sighed and tossed the dress onto a chair.

“You kissed him? You didn’t tell me that.” From what I could see through the partially closed door, Violet was as skeptical as I was. Still, the thought of Calla kissing this person I’d never even met set my veins on fire and melted my marrow.

“I kissed him and, if I hadn’t been interrupted, I would’ve done more. He was goo in my hands. That man knows a woman of worth when he sees one.”

I really doubted this alpha’s existence at all if he thought Calla was a female of worth.

***

I’d worn my best outfit for the day. Jeans discarded from one of my stepsister’s piles because they were too snug on her and a heavy turtleneck sweater to keep the cold out. Calla and Violet had insisted on a car to pick them up and bring them to town. They didn’t want to seem pathetic and poor by driving themselves. So, at the crack of dawn, a car was there to pick us all up. I wasn’t getting ready for any big pack event, though, I was simply allowed to ride along to get the weekly grocery list covered and keep my head down. Keeping my head down was miles more important than the actual groceries for them. They lectured me on the way about not embarrassing them or causing them any trouble.

They were the ones who were embarrassing. They came to town dressed in nothing but their sateen bath robes and feathery slippers. They claimed it was because they didn’t want to mess up their hair or makeup, but I really thought they enjoyed flaunting their curvaceous figures in order to attract someone.

It certainly wouldn’t be their attitude or charm that did it.

“Go on and get the shopping done. You can have some money for yourself too.” My stepmother handed me the grocery money in one envelope and five bucks as my spending money. Calla and Violet got a laugh out of it, but that five bucks had promise. There was a small thrift store in town, and the owner seemed to like me. She would let me stuff a grocery bag full for two dollars.

A part of me wished I was with Calla and Violet, getting ready for the big pack party, but even if I was invited or had the gumption to go, it would only lead to more despair and introversion. I knew who I was and what my station was here in life.

I needed to stop all this daydreaming and fantasizing and learn to be content with my life.

No matter how much it sucked.

“That’ll be all for you?” the cashier at the counter asked me. I nodded and gathered up my groceries. The only things I bought from town was grains and sugar, along with some of the packaged things I couldn’t make myself. Also, some meat and seafood. Everything else they expected me to make.

With my thrift store bag in one hand and the groceries in the other, I left the store. When I exited, my stomach fell into my boots. The car was on the other side of the street, and my stepsisters and stepmom were exiting the salon.

“Hey.” A voice from beside me made me jump. “It’s you.”

“Huh?” I said, snapping out of my stupor. The man was a mountain. A beefy, tall bear of a man despite the scent ofwolf coming from him. I’d never met a male wolf, other than my father, but this man’s scent of honeysuckle and tangerines wafted toward me, pushed by some kind of supernatural wind.

I felt so small next to him, and I meant that in the best way possible. He could grab me up and steal me from this place. Keep me safe. Keep me warm.

“I said, can I help you with those?” In utter shock, I shook my head. No one had ever offered to help me with anything.

“Um…”

From the other side of the street, I heard my name called. Over and over in their shrilly, teeth-grinding voices. “Sister, get your…get over here. We are going to be late.”

Late for what, I didn’t know.

“What’s your name?” he asked. It took everything in me not to drop the damned bags and jump into his arms.

Gods alive, I needed to get better reading material.

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