CHAPTER 1

Flames and smoke. The scent of it hung heavy in the air, causing Jessica to drop the firewood she was told to collect. This couldn't be happening. Panic filled the young pup's heart as she turned and rushed back to the pack den. "Mama! Papa!" Jessica called out, ignoring the cold of the snow that crunched through her human feet. It was too silent. Far too silent, and Jessica couldn't reach her parents' minds; it was as if everything was an empty void when she reached out to them. She should have shifted to make it home faster. She should have listened to her other self's instincts that told her something was wrong. She should never left in the first place. "Alpha! Madame Alpha!" She brushed through the trees, her heart pounding in her head as she suddenly stopped her eyes full of pure devastation and horror at the sight that lay before her. The den, the manor that sheltered the entire pack, wasn't just burnt down to ashes and charred wood. Her friends, her family, and everyone lay dead in the northern snow, their blood staining the ice red. She covered her sensitive nose as she moved closer warily, fighting a battle within herself not to retch and not to cry. What caused this...? Who would do this...? A familiar smell wandered into her covered nostrils, making her snap her head toward it and take off into a sprint, "Maman?! Papa?!" She stopped, seeing their bodies that copied the others in their lifeless state. The tears that were fighting against her will finally win as Jessica fell to her knees at their limp bodies, "N-non... Maman...papa..." She reached out with shaky hands toward their bodies, scared to touch them in fear and denial that that was them, "Pourquoi? Pourquoi est-ce arrivé...?" As she touched their heated fur, she wiped the ash a little off her parents' pelts, her 10-year-old form shook violently against them before she leaned back and cried in agony. "POURQUOI?!?" Her cries echoed into the night sky as they soon turned into howls. ~~* 14 years later... "Now arriving in Jackson!" A man in the front of the bus bellowed, immediately waking Jessica from her sleep, her sensitive ears made her other self want to growl in annoyance. She lazily looked out the window, seeing the town and all of its surroundings for the first time. She inhaled deeply, blinking her orange-to-blue-grey eyes as she sat up in the winter clothes she had brought from Illinois. "...I should have stayed in Cheyenne," She thought to herself but quickly shook her head of the thought. She needed to get out of Wyoming—any mountain ranges—period. As a lone wolf, a young omega lone wolf, she couldn't risk being in such a place where she always had to have her hackles up. She brushed her dark auburn hair back, making sure the rest was safely tucked in her navy blue knitted beanie. She wrapped her matching scarf around tighter and put her backpack on. She really didn't need it as a wolf, but in January winter, it would look abnormal to be seen in summer or even fall clothes. As she exited the bus station, she looked around, sniffing the air once again, trying to make it look as normal to humans as possible without seeming strange or paranoid. If any packs were in this area, she needed to know. As a native werewolf from Quebec, she's traveled way too far to die now. Knowing if there were other wolves around would let her know if she had a few months or a few hours to get out of there. The only problem now was that she was nearly fresh out of cash. If she needed to leave, she would have to do so in her wolf form. However, that was far more risky than using human transportation and she didn't want another experience like before. "C'est guido," She thought as she let out a sigh of relief, the wolf inside her too seemed to relax finally after the 7-8 hour long bus ride. She hadn't smelt any wolves. Yet. She opened her wallet and checked. Only $127 left. Enough to get out of town, but since she didn't smell any wolves, right now would be a good time to start earning more money, just in case the next town or city had any. She walked through the town, taking in more of the surrounding sights and scents, looking for help and wanted signs. She slowed when she saw one in a small café. She gave a slight smile as she walked in, people chatting away, ignoring her existence past a curious glance to see who came in. She walked timidly up to the counter and sat down, trying her best not to look around and sniff the air again. A blonde and busty middle-aged waitress approached her with a smile, her tall frame seemed full of confidence and cheerfulness as she walked, "Can I get you anything, hon?" "No thank you," Jessica replied politely. Without a second look, the waitress turned on her heel. "Wait, ma'am," Jessica stopped her, "Actually I was...looking for a job here." "A job?" The blonde came back. "Yes, please. I'm a bit new to Jackson, and I was wondering if I can have a job at least for a while, or do you know anywhere that could hire me," Jessica told her. "For a while?" The blonde stared and then smirked, "You're gonna have to talk to the manager, hon. Sounds like you're unreliable." "I know. I'm sorry. Things have been a bit rough, and it's hard for me to stay in one spot for too long... Is he here? The manager?" Jessica spoke with a little tentativeness. "She is," The waitress corrected, leaning against the counter toward her, "...And we have been short a few hands... I'm sure she'd hire you. If you have any experience, and past employers don't have any complaints that is. Do you have a resume on you?" Jessica nodded as she then turned and reached for her resume in her backpack, handing it over to the waitress, "It's not too bad is it?" The waitress whistled as she looked through the pages, "You've been placed, hon. Haven't seen a res like this...well...ever. Where are you from?" "Around," Jessica shrugged a bit nervously, "I was born up north." "I can see that..." The waitress read through her resume pages, "Yep...I'm sure...she's going to hire you." "Really?" Jessica brightened up, "When might I be able to talk to her? Maybe schedule a meeting?" The waitress looked up and smiled at her, "She doesn't expect that much. I'm the manager, hon." The slight surprise on Jessica's face made the waitress laugh as she held her hand out to her, "My name's Kathy. Kathy Adams. What's you're name, hon?" "Jessica. Jessica Mint," She shook Kathy's hand. "Think you can start tomorrow at 7 a.m, Jessica? As I said, we're short a few hands." "Yes, ma'am," Jessica nodded, her smile on her face showing. "Now, now. I told you my name. I'm too young to be called ma'am," Kathy winked. "But old enough to visit a bar, little girl?" A middle-aged man raised his coffee cup. "Oh shut up, Tim. I wasn't talking to you, was I?" Kathy grabbed the coffee pot, feigning a pissed-off look as Tim started laughing, earning a few grins around their playful banter. Jessica smiled, thinking to herself, "What a tight-knit community." ~~* Jessica walked into the Motel 6 room she paid for and threw her backpack onto an empty chair wearily. She would need to pay for the place with her first paycheck or find a more suitable, temporary home, but for now, this would have to do. She let out a heavy sigh as she lay on the comfortable double-sized bed. She hadn't laid in a bed for nearly 3 years since she had a run-in with a pack in Minnesota. Even before then, she knew how hostile packs could get against rogues or lone wolves, regardless of their position in the hierarchy. Hell, she's seen how hostile some can be to their own. She's been on the run ever since she was 10, but she's been a part of two other packs since then, and both packs were hell. A pack in Ontario abused the shit out of their omegas and considered them expendable bodies. She remembered when a Theta male, a rank just barely higher than her own, vented his anger out on an omega male since he had lost at his challenge for a Delta position. The poor Omega was forced to stay put, unable and not allowed to defend himself as his mate and pup watched him get severely beaten and eventually killed in front of them, and yet, the rest of the pack ignored it as if that was a daily and normal ordeal. It wasn't until one of a neighboring pack's Betas mated one of the female Omegas from that pack and helped revolt against them did she escaped in the chaos. The pack in Pennsylvania was no better, as they treated their females like dirt as well. The only difference was they saw them only fit for breeding more male pups. She recalled all the times she had to get beaten for failing to comply with the males of her rank's needs, and when she watched an unmated female beta be forced to blow and be ravaged by a bunch of unmated Deltas like a piece of meat. That pack had less care about honor and pride in the ranks than the pack in Ontario; they were pigs, not wolves. How she escaped them, she didn't know or care to remember. When she nearly lost her life in a run-down in Minnesota, that became the final straw. She refused to ever again join a pack, despite how lonely and hard it was to be without one. She was going to find a place that was not only pack-free but had no other wolves in general. Somewhere inside of her, she and her wolf knew that that would be an impossible feat, but she had to try. Maybe she could go to Hawaii or another small island country of some sort. Madagascar? Who knows?