The Alpha and the Gift

Chapter 6: Warnings

“That's my Tommy with him," Glenna continued as she wrote out Fyn's order. “About a year ago, Tommy and I were camping when Tommy wandered off and got lost in the woods. Two days had gone by when nobody could find him. But somehow, Fyn did. He found my Tommy and brought him home to me. Tommy swears it was a wolf that found him. But he was so dehydrated and exhausted that he was hallucinating. However, Tommy has been obsessed with wolves."

“That's a really wonderful thing Fyn did for you both," Rowan replied.

She looked over at Fyn feeling her heart melt as she watched him talk and laugh with Tommy over a few other animals in the boy's book.

As if he felt her eyes on him, Fyn looked up, and they locked gazes for a moment. The heat passed between them once more, and this time it was almost palpable.

“He's good-looking, right?" Glenna interrupted their stare.

Rowan jumped and flushed, then returned her attention to the tickets in front of her. “Yes. Fyn is a handsome man."

“Lots of women in the town are wishing they could get on his good side," Glenna continued, not noticing that Rowan was trying to continue working.

There was an underlying warning in her tone that Rowan caught easily. Glenna was warning Rowan that Fyn was highly sought after, but none of these women had a chance with him. She knew, without a doubt, that Glenna was warning her away from Fyn. Despite the jealousy that Rowan was trying to shove deep in her gut, she gave Glenna a bright smile and shrugged carelessly.

“Well, I won't be one of them. I've sworn off men for a long time. I just want to fix these order tickets and call it a day."

Glenna's piercing brown eyes swept over Rowan's face, then relaxed a bit when she saw no sign of deception.

She gave a quick nod. “Good. I'll get their food to them and help you out."

Glenna quickly shoved a few plates on a tray. Then pulled out a thick piece of chocolate cake from the display case behind the counter.

She swept by Rowan with a wink. “I make the best chocolate cake in a hundred miles, and Fyn can't get enough of it."

Rowan forced a laugh before turning her attention back to the ticket that she could no longer read. Her ears strained to listen to what Glenna was saying. Even though Rowan was promising herself that she didn't care.

Fyn did seem excited about the chocolate cake. But if he noticed Glenna's flirtation, he didn't seem to think one way or another. He didn't even sound like he was flirting back.

Despite her insistence that she didn't care, Rowan found herself smiling and was finally able to concentrate on her order tickets.

Rowan pulled into her driveway and let out a huge, exhausted sigh. Her feet were killing her, along with her arms and her back. She had never felt this exhausted or sore in her life. Something about that thought made her feel slightly ashamed of her lifestyle before now. She had never realized how hard some people worked and how stressful it was.

If things ever went back to normal. Rowan thought to herself. She was going to make some changes in her life and never take things for granted again, like being able to buy food. Rowan looked over at the styrofoam container that held what was going to be her dinner tonight. Glenna had offered her some food to take home, and Rowan had jumped on it. She would love to eat something other than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The rumble of her stomach pushed her out of her car and towards her door. She realized as she walked the animals had finally come back after Fyn's visit earlier. The mice were actively scouring the fields. The squirrels jumped through the trees, hoping to find some seeds and nuts to replenish their storage.

The urge to speak to them and just to know the animals around her was so overwhelming that she had to stop and take a deep breath before her mind reached out to the animals. She had so many questions about the house, the people. But most importantly about Fyn.

But she pushed the feeling away. It was difficult to allow herself to let the animals in once more, especially after what happened with Mr. Mousekin. If she hadn't been able to communicate with Mr. Mousekin, he never would have told her about her fiancée, and she wouldn't have had to go on the run.

Rowan shook her head hard, reminding herself that it was not Mr. Mousekin's fault; it was Charles' fault! That slick criminal thought he could do whatever he wanted and not have any consequences! Rowan growled silently. But she was going to show him. As soon as she figured out how to take him down without hurting herself or anyone else.

She yelped and almost dropped her food as a sharp pain streaked through her foot up to her knee. She began hopping towards her porch, trying to see what she had stepped on, but there was nothing under her feet beyond her normal driveway gravel. She looked at the bottom of her shoe and realized nothing was poking through her sole. She sat down on her porch and pulled her shoe off to see what was going on. But there was not even a red mark on her foot anywhere.

The pain soon dissipated only to be replaced by a ravenous hunger that she had definitely never felt before. It was like she hadn't eaten properly in months and was getting desperate.

Rowan couldn't figure out what was causing these feelings. This was something new, something that had never happened to her before. She was still analyzing those feelings when she heard a whimper behind her.

Sitting right next to her door was a scraggy, skinny dog that looked so pitiful that it took a second for Rowan to realize that it was a dog. In a flash, Rowan knew exactly where these feelings had come from. She'd had this happen once before when she was a child. The cat next door had gotten into a fight with another dog, and Rowan can remember feeling as if she had been the one attacked by the dog. She had used those feelings to find the cat so that it could be taken to the hospital. As soon as the cat was helped, Rowan had felt better.

That was what was happening right now with this brown dog.

Rowan couldn't ignore or shoo him away. She put her food down and knelt on the top step facing the dog. He was whining and whimpering, then he scooted away from her.

“It's okay, sweetie," she called to it soothingly. “It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

She repeated it over and over again. She tried desperately to use her voice to convince the dog to come to her. But it wasn't working.

The poor animal was so scared and had been through so much that. Even though the dog knew he needed help, in his mind, he kept replaying all the abuse from his past. Whenever he had tried to reach out, he had been shoved away or worse.

-Oh, you poor dear- Rowan finally called to his mind. -I am so sorry. But I'm not going to hurt you. I am a friend.-

The dog stilled and looked at her as if she was an alien. The animal couldn't believe that she had spoken to in his mind. He c****d his head almost comically, not used to anything speaking into his mind. He slowly moved his head towards her and sniffed the air, then sneezed and shook his head in confusion.

-She smells funny- the dog thought to himself.

Rowan smiled and laughed. -Yes, I know. I've been told I have the soul of animals in the body of a person. I don't know what that means. But I know that it allows me to speak and understand you all. So as long as I'm not smelly, I'm happy with it-

-She understands dog?- the dog asked cautiously.

-Yes, I do. My name is Rowan.- Rowan introduced herself.

The dog's tail began to thump slightly, and Rowan recognized it as a sign that the dog was relaxing for her.