Chapter 38: Six months later

The sun shone through the treetops as Althea slowly awoke in her wolf form. It's been about a month since Allan let her go, and things have been going well. Of course, she wasn't living life because she didn't have any money at the time, but now she has a minimum-wage job and no place to live. That's why she sleeps in her wolf form; wolves are built to sleep in harsh environments. The river takes care of her hygiene.

She shakes off the dirt and walks over to her bag of clothes and food. She then puts on her work clothes and walks over to the river.

She reverts to human form, changing into the clothes she despises, but not before rinsing. "Why do work clothes have to be so ugly?" she mused, rolling her eyes.

She sits on a rock, munching on the Pringles she's been living on for a few days. The minimum wage is insufficient to allow her to eat and save. Some may wonder why she didn't just return home, but she knows her family will reject her and likely turn her in. As for Anthony, she has meddled in his life enough; he has done so much for her while she has done nothing for him.

Her legs pick her up and she starts walking to work; it only took her 5 minutes to get there, which she appreciates. She didn't live in the woods.

She painted heavily on her way to work, knowing that being away from Allan had consequences. She's much weaker now, and her wolf rarely speaks to her.

She pushes the door open and walks into work, barely awake. "Good morning, Christina," Karl, a coworker who owns a portion of this restaurant, says. He spoke with a country accent, but he didn't appear to be from the country.

She changed her name to Christina when she moved to this town. Nobody seemed to recognize her; after all, this was a remote county. People are treating her fairly well here.

She put on her apron and began serving the few customers in this restaurant. They all ordered coffee and breakfast, the normal morning meal.

Her shift was over after twelve hours of work and one break, and it was time for her to return to the forest to rest and relive this day until she could afford a small, dingy place.

"Anyway, I have to go. Bye Karl," she says as she hangs up her apron by the door.

He smiles and says, "See you tomorrow," sticking his tongue out at the end. He's a silly guy who was fun to have around. It made her happy; he has one lucky mate.

She walks out of the restaurant and down the quiet street. A few cars passed by above her, probably on their way home from a late shift like hers. She then reached the forest's edge and transformed into her wolf, who stumbled a little as they walked to the area where they slept.

As clouds covered the moon, it gradually darkened. She lowered her head, not wanting it to rain. But, to her dismay, she feels the rain begin to fall. She growls and quickens her pace.

She rushes home and discovers that her bag is soaked from the rain. As the rain continued to fall on her fur, she covered it with her body and tried to sleep. There were no caves or thick enough trees to hide behind, and it rarely rained.

After a half-hour, her eyes slowly closed and she fell into a horrible sleep as the rain tormented her.

She awakens when she feels the tug of water on her. Her wolf growls, and they open their eyes to see the river right in front of them. She leaps to her feet and backs away from the flash flooding. It had rained so heavily that the tiny river had grown to at least twenty feet in width. As she sat back and watched the water flow, it roared.

Her bag was nowhere to be found as she looked around. Her wolf whines, knowing that all of their money and work clothes are inside. The sky thundered, and she collapsed on the muddy ground. Half of her body sinks, but she does nothing to stop it.

All of her efforts were washed away. Her life was falling apart, as was she. She was only getting weaker as her financial stability deteriorated.

She can try to pick herself up, but she doesn't know how her bosses will react if she loses everything tomorrow.

After another half hour, the sky clears and the moon glows down on the river, making it shine. If only the moon goddess existed, she'd ask her for extra help. Help her in becoming healthy and wealthy. Rich is a little ludicrous, but she can only fantasize.

She then rises from the ground, half of her body covered in mud. It was almost time for her to get out of bed and go to work. She needed clothes and needed to get a new outfit from them. "Oh f*ck! I hadn't thought about that, I don't have any clothes for when I switch back into my human form," she grumbled to herself. No, she must go to work as a wolf and request early pay and a favor.

She then returned to her workplace, dreading what was going on in her life. She wished it could be simple, with all the sweetener and sprinkles, but instead she got this pile of shit.

The walk seemed long, but it was just like any other day. People give her weird looks as she paws at the door. It was considered impolite to be a wolf in crowded places.

She didn't think that way because it degrades their wolves. Her wolf, if anything, towers over her. "Christina, you look messy, what happened? Are you okay?" Karl asks her, leaning against the door.

She rolled her eyes and pawed at her pants, implying that she needed to change. He quickly grasps the situation and rushes into the back while she waits outside.

She was very dirty, and she doesn't want to have a mess to sweep up later; besides, that was part of her job.

Karl returns outside with a large sweatshirt, which she cautiously picks up with her mouth. She went around the back and shifted, and the cold air strike her like a wave, leaving her cold. She put on the jacket quickly, disregarding the dirt in her hair. She also requires some underwear.

She then entered through the back door, not wanting customers and her other coworkers to see her in this state.

Karl raises an eyebrow and asks her to explain what the hell just happened to her the night before.

"I fell into a deep last night in the rain and the river flash swamped, taking my belongings away and leaving me in a muddy mess, and I also have absolutely no clothes and shoes or money to get garments, so I was wondering if I could get my paycheck for the time I've made," she sighs, her stomach growling. "Oh, sorry, I hadn't even had breakfast," she admitted, embarrassed.

"All right," Karl says, smiling, "I'll get you some clothes and make you something to eat because we can't have our workers starving-"

"No, no," she interjects, "I don't want to cause you any problems," she says, raising her hands in a no-way gesture. Karl frowns as he gets up to go to the refrigerator.

"At least this, and I'll get your clothing items just for today," he says, tossing her some ramen and a Coca-Cola can. "Don't be so hard-headed, a little help isn't a negative idea," he says, handing her a fork to eat.

She eats the ramen without questioning him. Karl, on the other hand, is wise or at least intelligent. He interprets her silence as a yes and stands up, leaving without even saying goodbye.