Shattered Ascension

Chapter Seven

She parked in the back lot, behind the building and she told herself if she didn’t find them right away, she’d sleep in her car. Sawyer approached the front of the building and saw a young woman leaning against the red brick. The girl looked over at her and smiled.

“Sawyer.” She waved. The woman had curly light brown hair and hazel eyes. She was short and her round face gave way to soft features. Sawyer waved back. “I’m Autumn.” She stuck her small hand out to her. “Your new roommate.” She smiled. “I’ve been waiting for quite some time. Corinne said you’d be here at five.” It was now seven.

She gritted her teeth. Freaking Reece. “Nice to meet you.” Sawyer took the girls hand. She looked roughly around her age.

“Follow me.” Autumn walked inside and up the stairs. “We live on the second floor.” She walked down the hallway and into the end apartment on the left. “Ma is waiting for us. She is making some of her delicious pies.”

Ma? Sawyer walked in behind her. The smell of fresh apples and cinnamon filled the air. Her stomach rumbled, it smelled amazing. The apartment was bigger than she expected. The kitchen was to the left and the living room was to the right. There was a hallway straight ahead that she assumed led to the bedrooms.

“Welcome,” Ma said. “I’m Mary Alice, but everyone calls me Ma.” The woman had dark skin and curly black hair. Her face was long, and she was only a few inches taller than Autumn. “I’m glad they sent someone who can reach the top shelf.” Ma laughed as she placed a pie on the counter. “I hope you like apple.” It was difficult to decipher how old she was, the smile on her face made her look in her mid-to-late thirties, but her eyes spoke of older times. When she drew closer, the grey in her hair became noticeable. There were subtle streaks of silver throughout her dark mane.

Sawyer nodded. “I do like apple. Actually, anything sounds good.” She placed her hand on her stomach. She didn’t regret not eating the canned soup, but she did regret not getting some food on her way home.

Ma paused and looked at her. “Have you not eaten?” She asked, her dark eyes trained on Sawyer.

“No. I didn’t get the chance,” Sawyer said, and she didn’t count Reece’s attempt a chance because that was a life or death situation.

“Child.” Ma chuckled lightly. “We have plenty of food in the fridge. Please, help yourself.” She motioned to the refrigerator behind her. “Eat until your heart is content, but make sure you save room for pie.” She smiled.

Sawyer nodded. “I will.” She didn’t feel comfortable calling her Ma. That title seemed exclusively reserved for her biological mother. Sawyer moved over to the fridge and opened it. It was overflowing with all different kinds of food; meats, cheeses, and an assortment of drinks. Her fridge was never this stocked.

A light knock sounded at the door and Ma laughed. “They probably smelled it.” She looked over at Autumn. “Come in.”

The door opened and Shayleigh stepped inside. “Hmm. Pie. Is it ready yet?” She asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Soon. You’re just in time to welcome our new roommate.”

Sawyer glanced over her shoulder at Shayleigh. She wasn’t sure how to read her yet. Shayleigh called her a mutt, but she didn’t say it with the same hatred as everyone else.

“We’ve met. She went on patrol with me this morning,” Shayleigh said as she walked over to the bar that separated the kitchen and living room before sitting on the stool.

Sawyer nodded, her attention focused on the contents inside the fridge. She pulled out bread, cheese, and turkey to make a sandwich. After she whipped up herself dinner and looked over at Autumn. “My room down the hall?”

Autumn nodded. “Come.” She waved her over. Sawyer walked behind her as they moved down the hall. “The bathroom is on the left and there are two room. Yours is at the end of the hall and mine and Ma’s is the first on the right.” Her hazel eyes looked at Sawyer. “We figured you’d prefer some privacy.” She smiled. “Most of your belongings are in there, we weren’t sure how you wanted it set. The bigger items, like the couch, are in the buildings storage units.” She handed a few keys to her. “The one with the number is the main building key, one is the apartment and the other is the storage key.”

Sawyer nodded. “Thanks.” She walked by Autumn and into the small room. Her bed was against the wall to the right and her dresser was to the left. That pretty much summed it up. They did put her TV on her dresser though. Her laptop and chargers were on the bed. It wasn’t that bad. She didn’t like the cream walls though, they were an eyesore; it looked like the walls were dirty.

“Sawyer, the pie is done,” Ma said.

Sawyer glanced down the hall. She hadn’t even finished the sandwich in her hand. “One sec,” she said before taking a bite. She moaned, it was so good, her hunger was getting the best of her. It wasn’t long before she polished off her dinner and headed down the hall.

“Ice cream?” Ma asked holding up a bucket of vanilla. “Goes great with pie.” She smiled.

“As if I could say no,” Sawyer said with a chuckle as Ma scooped her some ice cream onto a plate with her pie. Sawyer grabbed the plate and a fork. She hoped it tasted as good as it smelled. Even if it was only half as good as Ruby’s, that would be fine.

“You work at the bakery, right?” Autumn asked, glancing over at Ma. Sawyer nodded.

Ma’s eyes widened a bit as they met Sawyer’s face. “I’d love feedback.” She nodded. “Please. All I get from these wolves is ‘it’s good’,” she mocked.

“It is good,” Autumn said nodding vigorously.

“See?” Ma motioned toward Autumn. “That’s not genuine feedback.”

Sawyer chuckled before taking a bite of pie, without the ice cream. She had to test the pie’s crust without tainting it with the ice cream. It wasn’t chewy, which was a good sign nor was it too dry. Maybe a touch too much cinnamon, but the pies were softened to perfection. “My assessment is positive,” Sawyer said. “Maybe a little too much cinnamon, you don’t want it to outweigh the apples.”

Ma nodded. “That’s what I’m talking about.” She grinned. “Less cinnamon, got it.” She winked before looking over at Shayleigh and Autumn. “You could learn from her.” Ma motioned toward Sawyer.

Maybe not all of the wolves were bad. Autumn and Mary Alice seemed nice. Not once had they brought up her “mutt” status. They were friendly and outgoing, quite the opposite welcome she’d received earlier.

Shayleigh shrugged. “We can’t all be pie experts,” she said taking a bite.

“But a little bit of feedback never hurt anyone.” Ma narrowed her eyes at Shayleigh, who shook her head and laughed.

“Rumors have it that Reece wants to contest Quinn’s status,” Autumn said quietly. “Do you know more, Shayleigh?” Autumn raised her brow as she looked at the brawny wolf. Shayleigh’s attention darted over to Autumn before resting her gaze on Sawyer. “She doesn’t care.” Autumn waved her hand at Sawyer. “She’s cool.”

Sawyer took another bite of pie. She could be the fly on the wall. She didn’t care much for politics and that included politics within packs. Reece did seem rather angry whenever Quinn was talked about, but wasn’t Reece the younger brother?

“But he has no grounds,” Ma said looking at Shayleigh. “Six minutes is six minutes.” What? Six minutes? What did that time have anything to do with who is the next alpha? Ma looked at Sawyer and smiled. “The boys are twins.”

“What?” Sawyer croaked. Clearly, they were fraternal since they looked nothing alike.

Shayleigh sighed. “It wouldn’t stand. Quinn is rightful heir. Reece won’t contest it. Even if he did, he would lose,” Shayleigh said. “Technicalities stay in place; it’s how packs keep order. If they took it seriously, then all younger siblings could contest it. Things would spiral.”

“That’s crazy,” Autumn said. “Reece has always been so ambitious.”

Shayleigh bit her lip. “That’s one way to put it.”

The silence lingered in the air as the girls looked at one another. Sawyer hadn’t realized how engrossed she became until Autumn cleared her throat. She’d asked her a question, crap.

“Sawyer. You’re working with him now,” Autumn said. “Maybe you could find out more.”

Sawyer’s eyes widened. “Talk to him? I don’t even like the man.”

Autumn chuckled. “He really isn’t all that bad.” She shrugged. “It would only be for information.”

Sawyer furrowed her brow. “That sounds like a horrible idea.” She’d spent all day avoiding him, the last thing she wanted was to pry into his motives.

“Autumn,” Shayleigh said. “Sawyer just joined, give her some slack.”

Autumn nodded, her curly brown hair bouncing at each movement. “You’re right.” She sighed. “Sorry, I’m just a sucker for some alpha gossip.” The girl chuckled before a knock sounded at the door.

“Open,” Ma shouted as a couple guys stepped inside. Their eyes locked onto the pie on the counter.

This was way too many people for her. Sawyer placed her dish in the sink and washed it. “I’m gonna head to bed,” she said as she looked at Ma.

Ma smiled at her. “Good night.” She touched Sawyer’s arm. “I’m glad you’re here.” Sawyer nodded before retreating down the hall.

She felt like she was fleeing, but she couldn’t go very far. After she walked into her room, she closed the door. She had work in the morning and had no idea what other “pack” requirements would follow. She sighed as she began prepping her clothes. Hopefully tomorrow would provide her a sense of normalcy, a sense of the old life she used to have.