Bolting upright, tears scrolled down Ashlynn's cheeks. The dim morning light filtering in through fogging windows while white powder pressed an inch up the glass, had her clenching her eyelids closed for mercy. Cool sweat drenched her back as she rolled to the edge of her bed and rested her feet against the scratched wood floors. The rent was cheap, but this was not the way she saw herself living.
She had family once. Her parents were divorced, but supportive none the less. Her mother and father had both showed up to the gallery opening, and had enough self-control to be civil. She celebrated Thanksgiving every year with her father and his boyfriend, Christmas was with her mom. Now, even a letter or an email seemed to risky. This underworld she had fallen into, was unknown and she had no idea who was watching. She couldn't even call and explain; a picture from her high school yearbook showed up in a newsletter of missing person reports every once in a while, but she doubted anyone looked twice at her most days.
Rolling out of bed, her feet hit the beat-up floor resentfully. She couldn't go home, not while those monsters were still out there. This is your home now, she prompted, get it through your thick skull. Getting dressed for work, she pulled long blonde curls away from her face into a careless ponytail and wriggled into the same blue uniform dress she wore every day, she had more than enough cause to stay away from onlookers, and in diners you rarely made more than a 50 cent tip on a two dollar coffee.
She drew on a pair of tights and boots and prepared to face the snow. Glancing at the clock, she groaned and wiggled a toothbrush in her mouth a few times before gathered her purse and keys and jogging out the front door. An old familiar sense of responsibility kept her from remembering, that no matter how late she was, the world would keep turning.
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Climbing into his silver sports car, Hayden was feeling pretty damn grateful for the seat-warmers as revved the engine. He almost felt bad watching her shiver at the bus stop, but based on the look of fear she had when walking home last night, he had a feeling she wouldn't welcome help from a stranger. Besides, Blaise would be more than happy to warm her up, soon enough.
His phone vibrated, and he dragged it out of his pocket. "Hello," Hayden said, keeping a close eye on the girl. "I'm ten minutes out, Hayden," Blaise stated from the other end.
"Yeah, I'm at the bus stop a block away. She's heading to work, and I've got eyes on her Boss. she really is something special," Hayden said, giving the tiny blonde woman an appreciative gaze. Even dressed in a heavy coat, with her untamed hair looking ready to stage a rebellion, he could see what had attracted his boss to the girl. What he had yet to pin down, was why she had been untraceable up till now. She was certainly sloppy enough, he noted, as she sat on the empty bench, and one of her gloves slid out of her pocket onto the snow. She didn't even seem to notice as the bus pulled up and she hurried on.
"Believe me, I know. Keep me updated on your location."
The line went dead, and Hayden waited another long moment before following the bus. He followed until her watched her get off in front of an old run down diner. Remmy's Diner had seen its better days almost ten years ago, the paint cracked and peeling, and old neon, tacky on the front signs. Ashlynn's eyes were holding a staring contest with the ground as he pulled up into the nearly empty lot and watched her make her way inside.
Hayden texted Blaise the address, and weighed his options. Hunger tended to be an excellent motivator though, and as his stomach growled, he climbed out of the car, clicked the beeper and wandered into the diner. Ashlynn was just tying on her apron as he walked in.
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If it weren't for her recent luck with men, Ashlynn would have to admit that this morning's newest client was quite easy on the eyes. Thick brown hair, wide jutting cheeks easing down into a scruffy jaw. It was the amused curiosity in those big brown eyes though that had her heart melting at 6 in the morning. Then there was the leather jacket surrounding the kind of biceps that used to leave her daydreaming.
"Hello, what can I get you?" Ashlynn surprised herself by smiling as she approached the new guy.
He smiled back easily. "Pancakes, eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, and maybe some fresh fruit if you have it. Oh, and coffee," Hayden offered, listing enough food to feed a platoon.
Smiling back easily enough, she nodded and clicked her pen back down. "Sure thing, handsome."
Spinning on her heels, she blushed like a school girl heading to the back. God, she wanted some of that in her life. Lord knew she hadn't seen much more than dime store romance novels in the way of action lately, and in her younger years she had never been in a drought this long. Besides, making yourself scream in ecstasy just never has the same heat. In other words, what she wouldn't do to see a little of what he was packing.
"God, if I was still young, what I wouldn't give for some of that," Marlene said, from the coffee pot behind the counter as Ashlynn posted the order in the window.
"What is a boy like that doing here?" she asked, trying to avoid the issue as she glanced over at her manager, an older woman, with a grinning but worn face.
The older lady smiled, the look that put Ashlynn at ease the first time she showed up looking for a job. She must have looked like a nervous wreck, but one look and Marlene had taken her under her wing like an injured baby bird. "One thing I've learned in all my years darin' is that you never question how you got lucky, only thank god that you did."
"Oh, I thank God every day. I thank God I found you," she said wrapping an arm around Marlene's shoulder. "But I have terrible taste in men and I don't trust yours," I said winking.
"I heard that," Gordon growled affectionately through the window. A big hulking man, red faced and sweating appeared in the window, smiling like a mob hit man. Lord only knew what Marlene had first seen in him, but they truly were an adorable couple, as she lit up, even after thirty-some-odd years of marriage.
"You know I love you," she said, grinning at him.
He smiled, and softened like putty, "I love you too, Muffin," he said turning back to the grill.
Ashlynn bustled around helping other customers, and when Hayden's food showed up, she took a deep breath before walking over with a tray. He grinned up at her as she made herself busy. No longer questioning what had enthralled Blaise all this time, he was almost considering making a pass at her. Even when she wasn't trying, there was something alluring about her.
"Anything else?" she asked, finally looking at him. He jolted, startled.
"Yeah, I have a friend on his way, could you drop off a cup of coffee?" he asked, offering a smile, trying to look casual.
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Hadyn honestly had no idea what to expect from her when Blaise arrived, because since she had left, he had been a wreck. He had been away working for a neighboring pack, when everything had happened, and knew only what he had been told. From what he'd been told, Blaise had been the one to carry Ashlynn to the hospital. He'd paid her medical bills, and visited her bedside daily, but she had been severely hurt, and remained conscious for long enough that they thought she might not make it. Blaise rarely left the hospital, and otherwise managed pack business from the hospital waiting room.
She eventually awoke, and months passed as she went through recovery and rehabilitation, and he stubbornly kept to her bedside, even as she tried to push him away. Eventually he'd managed to convince her to finish her recovery with him, and he finally had his precious mate on pack lands.
For two months she had stayed, and healed. Hayden could not help, but wonder how far it had gone, but from the smell of her, he knew they hadn't mated. Regardless, she had more than broken the guy's heart. One morning he had woken up to find her gone. Nobody had seen her, anywhere.
Blaise had been a mess, snapping at people, starting fights, and his wolf had been out of control. The guy had not slept in months, wasn't eating; he was near a snapping point and Hayden was afraid for him. The stupid dogs in them, game them fierce power, but at a price: slaves to instincts and hormones. Blaise's ferocity had always been to his benefit, before this girl, and all because she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Now here he was; the better side of an inevitable outcome. Even as his senses jolted from the approaching aura of the pent-up alpha, Hayden understood why this girl had run. He wasn't negligent, and it certainly was not for lack of compassion. When the bell on the diner door rang, he had half a mind to run, and avoid seeing the inevitable crash of that pretty smile.
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Ashlynn felt him enter the building like a full on collision. Every nerve ending on her body lit on fire, lust rolled down her spine setting her shivering. She was trapped between the desperate need to run and the instinct that told her to let him take her where she stood.
"Ashlynn," he growled and her knees shook, struggling to hold her upright. When she turned, those eyes called up images of thick verdant forest and a wolf chasing her breathlessly down. Her knees quaked and Marlene hurried to her rescue. "Emily, sweetheart. Are you alright?" Marlene asked, patting her head.
"He came," she offered, shaking as she looked up and caught the gaze of the barely controlled wolf staring her down as if he might leap the counter.
