Restart

I hop on a bus and get off in front of a drug store, I was trained for this. If anyone learns who you are, change your appearance change your name. Aunt used to make me repeat it like a mantra while she and Uncle trained me in secret. "Guns are good for a quick kill but loud and can be traced," uncle would say, "so you need to learn how to kill a man without leaving a trace," and boy did I learn. Before I was deemed mentally unstable, I killed a man it was an accident sure, but no one ever learned of it.

The bell chimes as I step into the drugstore and head for the hair dye aisle. So many colors to choose from but unfortunately, I need to go unnoticed. I grab a box of black hair dye and a pair of scissors from the arts and crafts basket along with some toiletries.

The cashier a middle-aged man doesn't even look at me as he rings my items up. I hand him one of the bills I placed in the front pocket of the duffle when I was on the bus and wait for my change. He sighs the bills too big, but I can't risk pulling out anything else, so I grab a few chocolate bars and two bottles of water, and a hoodie that reads bleed me dry. The man shakes his head and rigs the items up before handing me my change.

I yank the price tag of the hoodie and throw it on. The bell chimes as two Vamps walk in one a petite blond the other a spike-haired redhead. They head for the liquor aisle while I head for the door. The rains turned into a drizzle, but the night has become cold.

When I was on the bus, I passed a motel 79 with a vacant sign that was barely holding on to its hinges. I start walking in the direction of the motel when a black SUV pulls over, "hey wanna party!" a drunk guy shouts, "come on don't ignore us, it'll be fun," the driver adds.

It would be so easy to snap their mortal necks, just as I'm about to tell them to fuck off the two Vamps from the liquor store appear.

"You would make a great meal," the redhead says.

"Just smell them not even worth the effort," the blond says.

"You're right Lia, how about we keep them as pets?"

"Not a bad idea Zia," Lia gives the mortals, a predatory smile fangs gleaming in the streetlights.

Rather than arguing they speed away, Lia laughs and turns her attention to me, "you're a wolf why not snap them in half."

"What?" remembering aunt bit me I pull my sleeves even lower, "I'm not used to confrontation."

"Well get used to it," Zia says, "next time you won't be so lucky."

I nod and watch as they head in the opposite direction. With their keen hearing, they probably heard what was going on. But why help a stranger?

The motel is exactly as I imagined rundown and dingy. The clerk hands me a key and has the nerve to tell me not to steal anything. What could be worth stealing in this place?

The room's on the third landing and overlooks the park. There is a tiny bed wedge between the wall and a small desk and blinking lamp, the bathroom's no better with its cracked mirror and door, less shower, not even a curtain. I make sure the door is locked and move the desk to block the entrance. When I try to lower the blind, I find it stuck and sticky. "Never mind," I mumble and head back to the bathroom, I strip and take out my box of hair dye.

"What the fuck, this isn't what I graved, " the girl on the cover has magenta hair. When did I switch it? It's too late to go back I combed my hair and read the instructions. After mixing the contents I dye my hair with the magenta mixture. While I wait for the dye to set, I carefully color my eyebrows and cut my hair down to my shoulders. Probably should have cut it before dyeing it.

I turn the water on and wait for it to heat up but after ten minutes I just step into the iciest shower I've ever taken. Who would willingly shower like this? Pinkish water flashes the walls and floor. At least the bath towel is clean I dry myself off and put my hair up in the towel. One towel seriously.

"Rebecca let me in!" someone jiggles the door handle, "come on Becca," the guy sounds like he's waisted he bangs on the door a few more times before someone tells him to, "shut the fuck up!"

I dress and sit on the bed eating my chocolate bar while looking over the content of the envelope. A passport with listing me as a werewolf named Irina Vallkoeve with no pack affiliations. There are two credit cards and a few bills in a separate envelope. I take the small instant camera that was inside the duffle pull the towel off and comb my hair then take a few pictures.

No matter which one I chose I look like crap in all of them. I clean the scissors and cut the less depressing photo out then carefully adhere it to the passport. Uncle taught me how to make fake passports when I was twelve. He said, "sometimes pack members have to go on assignment and can't let anyone know who they are, even if you don't become a wolf Zack will need your help."

I learned everything needed to be Alpha and Beta and just about everything else. Uncle Spencer was hoping to finally be rid of Roman's bloodline. See Roman's ancestors served Uncle's father and so forth. Generation after generation competing for a position they could never have.

"Good enough," I tuck the passport and into the front pocket of the duffle and toss the remaining pictures into the envelope. My new birth certificate lists me as the daughter of Salome and Victor Vallkoeve born in Cypress Valley 31st October 334 at least now I'm my age.

I set the documents down and turn on my new cellphone. The screen lights up a picture of a howling wolf is the screensaver. I pull up the search engine and look up the nearest airport. Sword & Moon International Airport is a forty-minute drive give or take. Where should I go? I don't know why I open the picture icon.

To my surprise, there are various photos saved. One is of a faun statue holding an arrow pointed upward. The other is of a cliff overlooking the vast sea. I guess their screen savers, except the fourth picture, is of Zack, Max, and myself on my twelfth birthday. The fifth is a picture of a picture, its Aunt Sonia, and my mom. The sixth is also a picture of a picture, Spencer, and Diego the caption at the bottom reads. Whose Diego?

The picture ends then I'm back at the beginning. I go through them again realizing the third image is of the howling wolf I guess it got cut off when placed as the screensaver since the picture also has the statue of a female with her hands extended towards the heavens. I feel like I've seen that image before, but I just can't place it.

"Sleep will help," I tell myself as I put my things away and crawl into a ball. Come sunrise I'll think of something. Nothings making sense right now.