A She Wolf's Longing

CHAPTER THREE- TROUBLE WITH A HANDSOME STRANGER

(THIRD PERSON’S POV)

The first thing Alina did was gather up her gown and dash through the city streets with a newfound sense of freedom, her excitement and disbelief making her blind to the weird looks she kept receiving from the many people that roamed the streets.

Oh, the human world was amazing!

Even better than she had imagined.

The strange machines she kept seeing? Cars.

The towering metallic structures that lined the streets? Skyscrapers… buildings that people actually lived in. She remembered the name now!

Can you imagine?

The young she-wolf was learning, and she was learning real fast, and for an engineer like her, you could best imagine that she was in literal paradise.

Her excitement was momentarily dampened when she caught her reflection in a store window, catching sight of her shabby forest green riding gown and her overall disheveled appearance and how she stood out starkly against the backdrop of casually dressed humans going about their day.

Damn it, but, she would need to find a way to blend in if she wanted to truly experience this world and get the help she needed to stay here permanently.

Just before she could think more on how she could do that, a pleasant aroma wafted through the air, making Alina's stomach growl.

She really hadn’t eaten anything today.

Following the smell, she soon found herself in front of a cute little café, with a sign that said, ‘Freshly baked pastries, Free Wi-Fi’.

Alina stepped into the café with a deep, shaky breath.

This was going to be her first real interaction with a human, so you should understand the nervousness, but all of that fear instantly died out when the warmth and the rich smell of coffee and pastries enveloped her, making her walk to the counter with confidence.

“Hi there, welcome to Philippe’s, what can I get for you today?” The barista asked with a friendly smile.

Alina froze for a moment, realizing she had no idea what to order.

But her curiosity and determination pushed her forward.

“Uh, I... I'll have whatever you recommend,” She said softly, trying to sound confident.

The barista nodded, seemingly unfazed by Alina's unusual attire. “First-timer, huh? How about a caramel latte? It's our specialty, you’ll love it.”

Alina nodded eagerly, watching in fascination as the barista operated the complex-looking coffee machine. When the drink was ready, she handed it to Alina.

“That'll be $4.50,” The barista said, making Alina’s eyes widen in surprise.

Money.

Yeah, she had forgotten about that.

Alina's heart sank.

In her haste to escape, she had forgotten about human currency.

But in her defence, she hadn’t really thought the portal thing would work in the first place.

How was she to know that she needed to prepare for all of these things?

She opened her mouth to apologize and tell the Barista that she couldn’t afford it, but the woman’s next words took her by surprise.

“Don’t worry about the charge, first time’s always on the house.”

Alina took the beverage gratefully, her eyes welling with tears of gratitude that she tried not to let spill.

Oh, humans were good and so kind!

She was certainly going to love it here.

Alina stepped out of the café, finishing her latte in one hungry gulp.

That would sustain her for a few more hours at least.

Now that she was thinking about it, when she had left home, it was nearing nighttime, but here in the human realm, the sun shone so bright that she was willing to bet that it wasn’t even noon yet.

Perhaps the alternate timeline change had affected the time of day too.

She wondered if the date had been affected as well.

Alina's eyes darted from one marvel to another as she dumped her now empty cup and continued to walk, her mind racing to process all the new information. The woman hadn't lied, the beverage had been very delicious.

She paused at a busy intersection, watching in awe as traffic lights changed colors, directing the flow of vehicles with excellent precision.

Wow.

At that moment, the Princess wondered why, despite all the progress the Werewolf realm had made in science and other advancements, they were still a pretty much backward world, living in ancient castles and homes, riding horses… dressing in old-fashioned clothes, not even having electricity in said homes…

You want to know the crazy part?

The fact that wolves of higher ranking actually knew of all the good, wonderful changes going on in the human world, and yet had no plans of integrating it into werewolf life.

Even she, was lucky to be privy to all the information she knew now, thanks to her father being Alpha… but other low ranking wolves were not as fortunate.

And Alina, for the love of her, couldn’t help but wonder what that was about.

The young woman was interrupted from her thoughts when a group of teenagers brushed past her, all of them giggling as they stared at small rectangular devices in their hands.

Smartphones!

She realized with a start.

She had read so much about them, but seeing them in live and in action like that was something else entirely.

Before Alina could even process what she was doing she snatched a phone from one of the girls, staring at the little device in awe.

Wow.

“Hey, b***h! Give that back!”

The girl she had taken the phone from pushed her roughly, taking her by surprise.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Alina apologised, quickly handing the phone back, “I just wanted to see what type of phone you were using,” She started to say, but then she trailed off suddenly at the menacing way they started to close in on her, their intent clear as day.

Okay, so maybe humans weren’t as kind and forgiving as she had initially thought.

She winced, trying to explain. “I said I was sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“You think you can just pretend to be cute and innocent and try to rob me? Well, you picked on the wrong person today.” The girl said.

“But I said I was sorry.”

“And you think that’s going to cut it? Maybe we should teach you a lesson about messing with people’s stuff.”

Before Alina could respond, the girl grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked hard, making her stumble.

The others laughed, some holding her down as she struggled.

Insults and jeers rained down on her, making her confused.

While she understood their initial annoyance, what was going on now was totally uncalled for, and one thing she wasn’t going to do was allow anyone to bully her for what was clearly a mistake.

Hell, being bullied into sumbission was the reason why she was here in the first place!

Anger bubbled in the princess’s chest as she yanked herself free from the hands holding her down, her wolf instincts taking over for just a second.

Without thinking, Alina pushed the girl—harder than she meant to—sending her flying in the air until she crashed onto the bonnet of a ridiculously expensive looking car, the impact leaving a deep dent on the vehicle’s sleek, polished surface.

There was a moment of stunned, terrifying silence.

A collective gasp escaped from the lips of the other girls, their expressions morphing from amusement to fear in the blink of an eye.

“Oh my God…”

“That’s his f*****g car—”

“Come on guys, let’s get out of here!”

Before Alina could even process what had just happened, the group had scattered, running as fast as they could, leaving her alone with the damaged car.

Wait, whose car was it?

Why were they so scared?

Matter of fact, they seemed even more scared of the dent in the car than at the fact that she had almost killed one of them!

Alina’s heart pounded in her chest, panic rising as she realized the magnitude of what she had done.

She took a shaky step backward, ready to bolt herself.

If she hadn’t even been able to pay for freaking coffee, was it this terrible damage that she could afford?

But before she could make her escape, a hand grabbed her arm—strong, unyielding.

She spun around to see a large, buff guy in a suit towering over her, his grip firm.

“Not so fast,” He growled, holding her down.

Alina’s breath hitched in her throat just as the car door opened behind him.

Slowly, a man stepped out, dressed in a crisp, blue tailored suit that screamed wealth and power.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and undeniably handsome—

More handsome than anyone she had ever laid eyes on if she was being honest.

His hair was dark, slicked back, his jaw sharp, and his eyes… Goddess, they were the most vibrant shade of blue she had ever seen, and they currently bore into hers, cold and calculating as they swept over her.

“Let her go,” He ordered the buff man holding her down, his voice calm and yet filled with so much power.

Alina wanted to take that moment to run, but she was currently frozen in place.

The man in question took a step closer, his gaze lingering on the damage she had caused to his car.

The dent was large... impossible to miss.

Goddess, she really had f****d up.

When he finally spoke to her, his voice was still calm, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

“Yeah you’re going to have to pay for that.” He drawled lazily, pronouncing the verdict.

Alina’s mind raced at his words.

Pay?

She didn’t have any money—she had just arrived in this world, for crying out loud! How was she supposed to fix this?

“I... I don’t have any money,” She stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

The man’s lips curled into a smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Is that so?” He paused, his gaze sharp, assessing her. “Well, I have an idea of how you can pay me back.”

Alina’s heart pounded even harder, her fear momentarily vanishing as anger quickly filled that void. “Yeah, you must be out of your mind if you think I am going to f*****g sleep with you just to pay for damaging your ridiculously expensive car. Who do you f*****g take me for? A prostitute?”

The man stepped closer, a chuckle leaving his face at her righteous indignation, “Easy, princessa… you sure do have a nasty mind for such an innocent looking face. But sleep with you? I’m not asking you to sleep with me.” He corrected, a devious glint lighting up in his eyes. “Though I do have something better in mind.”

Alina stared at him blankly, waiting for him to continue, but he seemed to be taking his sweet time with it.

“Well?” She pressed impatiently, “What is it?”

The man let out a lazy sigh, “It’s simple, really. You, princessa, will come work for me.”