The petite blonde waitress at the town diner came over to my table and placed my receipt down in front of me. I looked at it and put down a bundle of bills. Her eyes lit up as I told her to keep the change.

“A ten-dollar tip?” she asked, a coy smile spreading on one side of her face. “You in town long? Haven’t seen you in these parts before.”

I studied her more. She couldn’t have been more than twenty, and by the way she was flirting and looking at me, I could tell she most certainly hadn’t heard the rumors about my obsession with Lewis. She was far too young to know the story anyway.

“I’m leaving in the morning,” I whispered, keeping my voice low.

“That’s too bad,” she said, scribbling her number down on my receipt. “I was kinda hoping to show you around.”

“Why? Is there lots to see in this town?” I asked, pretending to be intrigued.

She laughed and leaned closer to me, lowering her voice.

“Who said anything about the town…”

I sat looking at her for a moment, wondering what it would be like to be with a woman. Would it be as simple as in, out, and roll over, or would it be a case of struggling to finish? She was a pretty girl. Even being gay, I could see that, but was it enough? Would frolicking with a woman fill the void that Lewis had left by leaving? Was experimenting with her going to make me feel better?

“Suzy!”

She turned around at the sound of her name being called.

“Got to run,” she giggled. “Call me though.”

I stood up, leaving the receipt on the table.

“Thanks, but I’m old enough to know that won’t be a good idea.”

She looked at my hand.

“I don’t see a ring?”

“It’s all up here.” I pointed to my head and she nodded as I walked away, past the tables and out into the cool, dark night, proud that I didn’t make the wrong choice. She wasn’t worth word getting back to Lewis, no matter how much I wanted to make him see how he’d hurt me.

I pulled my jacket tighter across my chest as I crossed the road and headed down the street. I saw a taxi crawl past me, but I wanted to walk. I had to clear my head.

Every second since I’d watched Lewis drive away, I’d thought of nothing else but him. I thought about the way his lips felt on mine, the sounds he made when I touched him, and I even tried to imagine what he was doing and who he was with. Not that it mattered anymore. He’d gone. He’d made his choice, but it didn’t stop the hurt that I’d experienced as I watched him go. Tomorrow though, I’d be gone back to the city, and it was better that he didn’t know. Goodbyes were hard at the best of times, but this time, it was forever.

If he wanted to get married to Faye, I couldn’t be a part of that. I couldn’t sit around and watch the one person I’d only ever truly loved marry someone else, especially not her.

I turned down the street headed for the motel, wishing I’d taken the taxi after all, just as a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me backwards.

“Max, right?”

I turned to look at the owner. Alphas. A group of several men and a couple of boys no older than sixteen standing behind me.

“Who wants to know?” I asked.

One of them rushed forwards and pushed me so hard it took a moment to get my breath and balance back.

“What the hell do you boys want?” I asked, straightening myself up again.

“Boys?” Another laughed, punching me in the stomach. I fell to my knees momentarily before using the railings to pull myself back up, wincing as the pain seared through me.

“What the hell do you boys want?” I spat again. I was from the city now; these country Alphas didn’t scare me in the slightest.

One went to punch me, but I knocked his hand away, pushing him sideways.

“Bastard!” he cursed glaring at me.

“Did Faye set you up to this?” I asked, fists poised ready to fight. “Answer me!”

One of them stepped forward, trying his hardest to look menacing, but I recognized him and knew his family. They lived on the same road as Lewis. He’d been class valedictorian. Everyone in his family had.

“You don’t have to do this Jamie,” I said to him, playing to the good I knew he had deep down.

“Don’t pretend to know me, Max,” he snapped. “It’s best for you and everyone here if you just went away. Just leave, okay?”

I looked at him and his group of misfits. Little did they know that I was already leaving. I was going to get the hell out of Grayson and never look back, but I didn’t want them to think it was their idea. I wasn’t leaving because a few Alphas had threatened me; I was going because there was nothing left for me here. Lauren’s funeral had been what brought me there, and Lewis was what had been keeping me.

“You should all just go on your way,” I said pointing to the road behind them.

Some of them looked back, but Jamie took a step closer to me, lowering his voice.

“Thing is, you’re not going to like us when we get angry, Max. I think your best bet to avoid any… mishaps would be to leave. Now. Tonight. You need to go.”

“And what if I don’t. What’s it to you?”

I didn’t get a response as one of the larger ones from behind came forward and punched me in the face. I staggered onto the ground, partially into the empty road.

My hand flew up to my face automatically to check for blood, and it took me a moment to gather my thoughts together.

“What the….”

Another blow, this time a kick landed in my stomach, and I was almost sick, but it wasn’t going to defeat me. I wasn’t going to let them win. I tried to pull myself up, my head pounding.

“Want more of that?” he laughed, psyching himself up, and I tried through the pain to judge where he was going to hit me next, hoping to grab hold of him and throw him down. Years of self-defense classes my parents had forced me to go to finally became useful, but I didn’t have to use it, as when I looked up, all of them including Jamie were backing away.

“Steady,” he said, his arm outstretched. “We’re just doing what we’ve been told.”

At first, I thought they were talking to me, but I realized they were looking over my shoulder.

I turned slowly to look, coming face to face with a large grey wolf.

“Shit!” I tried to back away too but tripped over my own clumsiness and fell to the floor.

“Stop!” Jamie shouted, “Okay? We’ll go! Stay back!”

He looked down at me.

“I promise you, you haven’t seen the last of us.”

The wolf snarled, and for a moment, I thought they were in some kind of negotiation with it. Was it protecting me? Had it come to save me? I crawled backwards, keeping my eyes locked on the animal and planning for a moment when I could get up and run, but it kept edging forwards.

“Come on guys, let’s get out of here,” I heard Jamie tell his group, and I heard their footsteps as they ran away.

I was alone with the wolf, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get up in time. That was it. I was done. It was over.

It came closer to me, and I was sure at any moment it was going to attack, but it stopped inches from my face, its eyes staring deeply into mine, and then just as quickly as it appeared, it turned and ran away.

I stayed on the ground for a moment, still in shock and still aching from my blows, until I knew for certain it had gone. I looked around the empty street to see if anyone else had seen it or witnessed my attack, but as usual, it was deserted. Shaken, I stood up, brushing my clothes down and bringing my hand back up to my face checking for blood. Nothing I couldn’t deal with back at the motel, so I staggered back the way I’d come from, back to the main street to hail a cab. I wasn’t going to take any risks with a wolf on the loose, even if I got the distinct feeling that it had in some way saved me from the attack I was about to get, and even though deep down I knew that was ridiculous, I was forever grateful.