Page 68 of The Lone Wolf Café
I understood Rowena’s motives. I couldn’t imagine how much pain Wisteria Grove had suffered, both with losing Aster and living next door to beings that turned into killers every full moon. But that didn’t erase the fact I was one of those beings. If Rowena, or anyone else, found out I was a werewolf, I would be dead.
Rowena.My heart ached at the thought of her. Every smile, every touch, every embrace came flooding back like a tidal wave, drowning me in both longing and misery. I knew she wanted me as much as I wanted her. This wasn’t just some hormonal fling – we had truly bonded in the short time I’d spent in Wisteria Grove.
A future with her had once seemed so palpable, so limitless. I imagined us spending our days together in the café and going home to a little cottage at night. Maybe we would’ve taken a few trips, going to see the world like I’d always dreamed of. But no matter what happened, no matter where we had ended up, wewould’ve always had each other. I could’ve come home to those deep brown eyes and that dark-lipped, sly smile every night.
If I weren’t a werewolf, it could’ve happened. It could’ve been possible.
But I couldn’t change what I was. And even if Rowena could somehow look past my monstrous identity, I wasn’t willing to risk her safety every full moon.
Which only left me with one option.
I had to leave.
As soon as possible.
The sky was a deep indigo, and it was time for me to head to the café and get started on the day’s pastries. I was still lying on the floor, with my blanket crumpled over my lap and my pillow lopsided beneath my head. After a few hours of panicking during the night, my anxiety had calmed enough for me to shift back into my human form.
Although it had taken another hour after that for my ears and tail to go away.
I rose, lifting my head and upper torso from my pillow. Going back to the café was an enormous risk. I’d already had my ears and tail pop out several times while working there, and I was fortunate enough to have my cloak over my head during those outbursts. It still seemed like a miracle Rowena hadn’t noticed by now.
I’d toyed with fate the entire time I’d been in Wisteria Grove. I lulled myself into a false sense of security, believing Rowena’s feelings for me would override the truth. That she cared for me enough she wouldn’t turn on me when she found out what I really was.
But now, I knew the truth. If my ears and tail popped out, I’d end up in that iron cage, muzzled and chained, awaiting my inevitable death.
I couldn’t just flee. I convinced myself that disappearing would make Rowena suspicious, and she’d track me down with her werewolf hunting accomplice. But I knew the real reason I wanted to spend one more day at The Lone Wolf café – I wanted to say goodbye. To have some semblance of closure, so leaving this town wouldn’t completely tear me apart.
I could tell Rowena I was ready to move on. Collect my last paycheck. Say goodbye to Fritzi and Mavro, and to the villagers of Wisteria Grove.
And after that?
I had no goddamn idea where I’d go.
A light breeze prickled my arm. Aria was awake; she had been most of the night. But now that I was back in my human form and it was time to leave for the café, she wanted to know what happened.
“I promise I’ll explain it all later,” I sighed, lovingly patting the little elemental’s airy head. “But I have to leave. Tonight, after work. I…”
My words caught in my throat. I’d bonded so closely with Aria. We believed in each other when the rest of the world didn’t. She had chosen me, back when I didn’t even know what bonding was.
She was my companion. My friend.
“…I understand if you don’t want to come,” I continued, sadness thick and heavy in my throat. “I know this is your home. You can break the bond and stay here. No hard feelings.”
I swore Aria’s non-existent eyes narrowed. She gave a defiant squeak, grabbed my finger with her little paw, and squeezed it tight.
“So… you’re staying with me then?”
Aria nodded.
I let out a surprised, relieved laugh. Even when everything was falling apart, Aria was still there for me. Like she always was.
“Okay then, little mouse.” I sat upright, tucking Aria into my front pocket. “We need to go to the café and say our goodbyes. We’ll work one more day, collect our final paycheck, and head out.”
From within my pocket, Aria poked her head out and looked at me expectantly. I knew what her question was. She wanted to know where we were going after we left Wisteria Grove.
“I don’t know, girl.” I chewed my bottom lip as I rose to my feet. On the other side of the cottage, the old front door loomed eerily in the darkness. As if there were some horrific monster waiting on the other side, like the old faerie tales my father told me when I was a child.
I could even see faint, pale lines etched in the wood from the night before. When I desperately scratched at it with my wolf claws, trying to turn the lock that didn’t even work.
