I quickly got ready for my early shift at the café and jumped in my car to drive over. I knew Lucy was working that day and groaned to myself at the thought. I had managed to avoid her for the entire week, but I’d finally have to face her. It would be even worse knowing what I had done with her boyfriend yesterday.
I entered the café at five, performing all the opening tasks. Valerie had hired a new girl named Liz to bake all the pastries early in the morning. She stocked the glass case while I worked. Her shift was normally short, ending soon after we opened. She never talked much. I was relieved that we wouldn’t have to make strained conversation, and I could be left to my own thoughts.
At six, I flipped the sign to Open. As customers began slowly filing in, Liz slipped out. Valerie came in at seven thirty and took my place at the register while I prepared the drinks. Lucy was late, as usual, running in at eight.
“Half hour late today!” Valerie yelled, shaking her head. After Lucy dropped her things off and put her apron on, she replaced Valerie at the register. But something was off. Lucy wasn’t her usual flirty self. She barely even spoke as she took customers’ orders. I felt dread in the pit of my stomach.
“Good morning, sweety.” I saw one of the regular customers address Lucy.
“Hi, Americano and chocolate chip muffin?” Lucy replied, pulling a muffin out of the glass case to put into a to-go bag. This was not like her at all. He looked disappointed at her response. She kept her back to me the entire morning rush. There was no question that Luke had told her and didn’t even inform me that he had done so, leaving me completely unprepared for the tension that penetrated the air between Lucy and me.
After the rush ended and the restaurant was practically empty, Valerie came out from the back. Lucy stayed with her back turned, leaving me paralyzed, unsure what I should say or do.
Valerie broke the silence. “Well, don’t just stand there, go clean some tables! This place is a mess. I’m surprised we don’t have rats yet.”
Lucy grabbed for the spray bottle and a clean rag. Without even turning to look at her, she said, “You must be blind, Valerie. There’s a huge rat standing right next to you.”
“That’s not fair, Lucy!” I retorted.
Lucy turned to look at me, murder in her eyes. “What part isn’t fair? The part where you didn’t tell me that my boyfriend is your mate or the part where you fucked him behind my back yesterday?”
I stepped back, clasping my chest in shock. I couldn’t believe that Luke had confessed everything to her, leaving me completely blindsided. How could he do that and not even let me know? I became light-headed, wondering what exactly he had told her, not knowing where I stood. And that’s when I felt it again—the contractions in my chest, my breathing becoming shallow and the whole world crumbling under my feet. I knew I wouldn’t be able to control it this time. I ran out of the café, just as I shifted into my wolf form, shredding my clothes, and sprinted away into the woods.
I ran through the forest, allowing myself to succumb to my wolf, delighting in the smells of wet tree bark, moss, and decomposing leaves. My paws pounced off the dirt as the wind blew through my fur. I had to have run for at least two hours before I stopped and rested, not far from the border of our pack, not ready to reenter. I wondered if I could just stay in my wolf form and live as an animal in the forest. I’d never spent more than a few hours as a wolf, but I was now tempted to just remain in this form. Everything was simpler as an animal. Only my instincts mattered. I found a brook and drank deeply from it, savoring the taste of the cool water on my tongue.
I finally allowed myself to come back to reality, knowing I’d have to face what happened at some point. I tried to force a link to Luke, hoping that I wasn’t too far from him. I was relieved to see that it was able to go through, the link clicking into place.
“What exactly did you tell Lucy?”I asked him.
“Shit, I was going to tell you.”
“When were you planning to do that? It would have been nice if I could have at least prepared before I had to work with her.”
“Shit. I’m really sorry, Jasmine.”
“At least tell me what you told her so I know what’s going on.”
“To be honest, I didn’t tell her much. I just told her we were mates.”
“And that we fucked yesterday?”
“I didn’t tell her that.”
“So why did she accuse me of that?”
“She probably assumed the worst. I wasn’t even planning on saying anything to her yet, but she came to the packhouse yesterday while I was out and smelled you all over me when I got home.”
“Great, just great.”
“I’m really sorry, Jasmine. You don’t deserve any of this.”
“Can you at least please help me with something? I had a panic attack and shifted while I was still dressed, and now I’m stuck in this form while my house keys are at the café. My parents are probably home, anyway, and I don’t want to go home naked.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get your keys. Who else is working at the café?”
“Valerie.”
“Okay, I’ll mindlink her so she can meet me and Lucy doesn’t see me taking your stuff. I’ll also get you some clothes from my sister’s house. Meet me in the woods behind the packhouse in a half hour.”