CHAPTER 4

 She could hear them sniffing the area when they breathed, and out of the corner of her eye, she felt their gaze focus on her. She dare not look up. She dare NOT look at them. After she took the current table's order she turned, trying not to walk too quickly, but not too slowly so they could see her legs shaking in utmost dread and uneasiness. As she walked behind the counter and placed the order down, Kathy came from around, carrying empty plates. Jessica gulped and cleared her throat before approaching her, "Um, Kathy?" "Hm? What's up, hon?" Kathy stopped and looked at her, not catching her nervousness. Good. "W-when is my shift over?" Jessica tried to keep the fear out of her voice and keep the politeness in. "Oh," Kathy put the plates in the sink before coming back before her, looking at her wristwatch, "Well...we don't close for another half-hour..." "Please," Jessica caught herself from sounding hasty, "I-I have some important things to do. I'm still looking for a stable place to live." That was the truth, but at the same time, underlying was the fact that she was looking TO live. Kathy stared at her for a while in uncertainty, thinking about it. She then huffed out a sigh through her nose, "....Fine." Jessica felt relief and her chest seemed to relax a bit of the tension she knew she had, "Thank you so much—" "But before you go, please serve those gentlemen over there. Thanks, hon." Kathy pointed at the very objects of her despair. Before Jessica could opt for a way out, Kathy had passed her and left already to clean up a table. Jessica's lips quivered and her body shook. She wanted to cry, she was so afraid. She was going to die. Not here in the café maybe, but she was going to die. Why had she not followed her wolf's instincts—again—when she left Cheyenne and just made her way to Texas? "P-pourquoi, Déesse de la Lune?" She thought to herself, trying to fight the dread and tightness in her chest as she turned and walked toward them most calmly and humanly as she could. Who was she fooling? If she could smell them, they could smell her. It was obvious that they had. There were indeed four men sitting down at the table. The one on the edge that was facing her looked up at her first, his light brown eyes serious, making her wolf whine again, but she did her best to maintain composure. The one that stared at her first was a blonde, and even with him sitting down, she could tell that he was a big guy. Taller than the other three? No. Taller than her 5'6" height? Most definitely. The one next to him was a brunette and taller than the blonde, but though he didn't look like he carried a lot of brawn on him, he looked like he could kill her himself if she gave him a chance. The other two had light brown, almost dirty blonde, hair and from what she saw, they looked thicker in muscle than the other two; the one that sat closest to the window looked like he'd be the strongest of them, and would most likely be the leader. Either catching the blonde's gaze or sniffing the air—neither mattered—made all of them turn their attention to her, their eyes seemed to burn into her skull, ready to eliminate her, this unfamiliar female. Jessica swallowed again, but she kept moving forward toward them. As she stopped in front of them, all was silent as she took her pen and pad out from her apron, trying to avoid shaking or dropping anything. She forced herself to speak out without showing any signs of fear, "Can I help you, gentlemen?" Without meaning to, her last words started to dip off into silence. She fought furiously against the desire to just turn and run as the silence progressed. Still struggling not to show panic and tremble she spoke again, this time watching her words carefully, "Can I help you, gentlemen?" Another bout of silence broke out. The mere presence of these wolves alone drove her wolf crazy with whines, her ears down and her tail between her legs, and Jessica was combating a losing battle with her quivering legs. "Please.....just order something," Jessica thought, mentally shutting her eyes and tears rolled down her face, something she was holding back on the outside, "Please....just do that..." "....We'll have four beers. Coors Light," The dirty blonde closest told her finally, sending a chill down her spine, but she forced herself not to flinch, jump, yelp, or any action of that type. "Coming right up," She told them with a small nod before turning to go around the counter and into the walk-in freezer, taking out four Coors Light and going back to their table, doing all this without trying to run. "Here you are," She tried placing the beers down steadily, but the vibrations that came from the bottles making contact with the table were proof that she wasn't just nervous around them, she was blatantly terrified. They're eyes stared at her intently as she sat up, the shivers starting to break through. She swallowed slightly before backing up a bit. "Excuse me," She spoke, once again her voice was dipping off. She then turned to go to the back room and grabbed her coat, beanie, and scarf. Sadly, there was no backdoor for the employees to use. She'd have to go through the front. Right past them. She bumped into Kathy on her way toward the door. "S-sorry, Kathy. I'll see you tomorrow." She told her. "Y-yeah. Are you alright, hon?" Kathy asked, now seeing her anxiety. "I'm fine," Jessica said a little too quickly again, "I'll...I'll see you later, Kathy." Before Kathy could say goodbye, she turned and walked out the door and into the winter night air as calmly as she could. But she wasn't—in fact—she was nowhere near out of harm's way yet. She walked just as evenly as she rounded the corner, still easily seen through the glass window of the café. The moment she passed it, and was out of sight, she booked it. The cold air didn't faze her; she just knew the need to run as fast as she could away from them. She was thankful for her werewolf speed and the fact that it was dark out. However, the lack of human bodies was something she wasn't grateful for. As she turned another corner, she heard the sound of footsteps, the sound of running footsteps behind her. She whimpered in fear, tears starting to come pouring down her face, and her heart beating in her head. "I don't want to die..!" She thought to herself as she ran. She regretted not buying and bringing any vinegar with her. Wolf's noses were so sensitive and that scent was so strong, it could have easily knocked them off her path for a while. She also mentally kicked herself for deciding to stop in such a rural place. If only she was smarter. The sound of the footsteps closing in snapped her from her mental count of regrets, reminding her she had to focus now. Don't stop. Don't stop running. She ran across the street into Jackson Town Square through the archway. She nearly tripped over something in the snow but caught herself as she continued to run. That near trip was her downfall. Her heart stopped beating and her thoughts went blank when she felt arms grab her and trip her down onto the snow.