Amy glanced at her watch. It was nearly 1am already. She would have to pick up her medicine and then head directly back home to sleep so she wouldn’t be late to work in the morning. It had been a long day; she had gone to the doctor’s office for an appointment, then took a drive to try to clear her head. It was hard to be in her position at times.
By the time she’d come back to town, she had forgotten she had to run errands, and she had run into an old friend who had insisted she have dinner at her house. Time had slipped by and before she knew it, it was too late to go to the pharmacy.
She would have to go to the 24-hour convenience store to get some over the counter stuff to help her out until she could pick up her prescription in the morning. Yet another reason she had to get some sleep. She hated not getting to work on time. She had always wanted to be reliable.
It wasn’t that Rich would be upset if she was late. She just didn’t want Eric to start hating her any more than he already did. It was hard to be stuck with the added responsibilities of another person, and there was a lot that Eric had to do while they were short-staffed and Amy was sick.
She was feeling better now. She had only been out of work for two days. She just wanted to try to pick up some of the slack for Eric. He deserved it.
Amy was relieved when she found what she was looking for swiftly and managed to check out quickly. At least she would be able to get home faster. She should have been more careful about the time. It had been a while since anybody had shown an interest in her though.
She was sick so often that most people didn’t really take her seriously, and she often lost friends and relationships because of it. It was a hard reality, but it was one she was used to at this point. So, when Sarah had invited her over, she had quickly agreed. Next time, she would be more careful. If there was a next time.
“There she is,” a deep, grating voice said suddenly. Amy tensed up at the sound of it, every ounce of her intuition screaming at her to run.
A deep growling noise froze her in place before she had a chance, and she clutched the small paper bag bearing her medicine tightly in her hands. She looked around for the source of the voice but saw nothing. Instead, she was jerked violently to the alley between the convenience store and the brick apartment building opposite it, and the growling grew far louder.
“What do we do with her?” the same grating voice asked. Whoever was speaking sounded scary as hell, and Amy finally caught a glimpse of him. Her heart began to pound wildly in terror. The man had wild eyes and even wilder hair, and was looking at the ground with a wicked smile spreading across his face.
Amy followed the man’s wild eyes fearfully, settling on the huge, hunched figures that were silhouetted all in black. The low growl that was released from the throat of the one closest to her brought a chill down her spine, and she glanced in terror at the man.
Another man who looked similar to the first appeared out of the shadows.
“The wolves. They will know what to do with her. They brought us here, after all. She is theirs to deal with now.”
“Fuck,” Amy managed to squeak, stepping backward. She needed to find a way out of there, but there was no way. She was just getting over one of her strange bouts of illness. There was no way she would be able to defend herself like this.
She felt a cool, wet nose against her hand and a surge of nausea consumed her.
This isn’t a normal wolf.
She didn’t know where the thought came from. It was more of an intuition. The wolf wasn’t just a wolf. There was far more to it. Something she knew but couldn’t quite articulate. Something that didn’t make any fucking sense.
“Look, they’re testing her now. They will be able to tell whether or not she is one of the Golden ones.”
“Yes,” the first man agreed, that same sickening smile spread across his lips. “Then we will know exactly what to do. A pretty little thing, isn’t she?”
Amy whimpered when the other wolf stood before her, its beady eyes flashing red as it measured her up. She had never felt more disconcerted in her life.
“What’s going on?”
A loud, clear voice suddenly rang out in the darkness and Amy’s heart thudded once again; this time, not out of fear but out of something else entirely. Relief, maybe? Gratitude? But there was so much more to it than that.
Everybody snapped their heads toward the source of the voice, and a tall, handsome man stepped forward, his dark eyes flashing menacingly.
“Be careful,” Amy said quickly, gazing at the man in a combination of fear and disbelief. It was hard to make out his features in the dark, but from what she could tell, he was astonishingly handsome. Then again, considering her present company, it probably wouldn’t be difficult for anybody to look good compared to them. “There are dogs.”
“Wolves,” the first man corrected. A shrill laughter pierced the air.
It was cut off suddenly by the sound of a blow striking the man’s face, and Amy’s bright blue eyes widened. The new stranger was fast. Powerful.
The wolf in front of her growled, baring its teeth viciously. It had apparently decided what it wanted to do with Amy, and she knew that whatever it was wouldn’t be good.
Her survival instincts kicked in then, surprising both Amy and the wolf as she lifted her knee hard against the wolf’s face. He was taken aback long enough that she was able to get her back away from the wall and sprint toward the alley.
But the other wolf was hot on her heels, and she let out a cry of surprise when she felt it trying to nip at her heels. She whipped around quickly, striking it with the bag of medicine. It seemed unlikely that it would faze the creature, but somehow, it was stunned by the blow. Amy stared at its dumbfounded face for a moment, her body alive with the adrenaline of the fight.
She turned her gaze to the new man, her blue eyes widening when she saw the short work he was making of the creepy men. Although he was outnumbered, he seemed to be able to deal with them easily; his powerful body creating a flurry of activity that left the men lying in pools of their own blood on the ground.
The first wolf that Amy had kicked was running toward them and the man let out a low barking sound that stopped it right in its tracks. The one nearest to Amy stopped as well, and she took the opportunity to strike it again before scrambling out of the alley once and for all.
She ran down the sidewalk, pausing only when she realized that nobody was following her. Amy’s heart was pounding in her chest and she closed her eyes, trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened.
“Are you all right?”
The same soothing, deep voice sounded suddenly, in front of her now. when Amy opened her eyes, her entire body reacted to what she saw. The man was standing in front of her, his full lips pulled into a concerned frown. He had beautiful, narrow eyes, light, probably blue, but she couldn’t tell in the darkness.
“I’ll be fine,” she said hoarsely. “We should call the police.”
“I took care of it,” he said gently. “But I don’t think that these are the kinds of enemies the police are capable of dealing with.”
“What?” Amy asked, confused for a moment. Then again, the police of Brookside were well known for their incompetence. They had gotten three innocent high school boys into a heap of trouble they hadn’t even deserved. It was all over the news.
“You were really impressive back there,” the man said, smiling kindly. “Is it all right if I walk you home? I’m concerned.”
“I’m not going to have to file a police report or anything?”
The man looked around uncomfortably and shrugged. “Wouldn’t you rather be at home safe than stuck in the police station for another six hours?”
He had a point. She had to work in the morning. That had been the whole point of being here in the first place. Take her medicine and let it help her sleep. Lord knew if it were up to her uncooperative body, she would never sleep during a flareup of her illness.
“Okay,” she said finally. “But I didn’t walk here, so you could just walk me to my car if you want to.”
The man nodded dutifully. Though something in his expression told Amy that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with this.
“My name is Carter,” he said, sticking his hand out stiffly at her. He stared at her intensely as he waited for Amy to take it, and she did so cautiously, shaking it carefully before releasing it.
“My name is Amy,” she said quietly. “I really need to get home. I’m very tired.”
“You are sick,” Carter said matter-of-factly.
“Yes,” Amy said. “I am often sick.”
Carter seemed to consider this with distaste. “Are you getting better?”
“For now,” Amy said. She waved the small bag of medicine in the air in front of him. “In the meantime, this will help. Come on.”
Carter nodded, and they began the trek to her car in silence.