Heart of the Auburn Wolf

Human among Werewolves

POV: Freya

Beep Beep Beep

I wake up as usual at 6 AM to start my duties. I have to help with the laundry, the food and then leave for work in the human city. It's been 5 years since I got my pendant that recedes my wolf, together with all of its wolven abilities, and no matter how much I tried, I cannot pull my weight inside the pack. Hence, one year ago I have taken a job in the nearby city as a waitress in a café, with the Alpha's consent, if you can call a waving hand consent. It's not like he really cares what I do, or what happens to me, for that matter. My father has ignored my existence ever since that incident, which I recall almost nothing about. I remember being at my favorite lake just a bit beyond the border when I got mind-linked about my little brother's birth. I wanted to get there as fast as possible so I sprinted towards it. But somewhere along the way, a strong pain hit my chest and my body got all hot and sweaty all of a sudden. I had dropped to my knees in pain and screamed for help. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the dungeon, cuffed to the wall, and scared. My mother was in front of me, together with another woman, dressed weirdly in a ragged black dress and a pointy hat.

"Freya, my darling, please don't be scared." My mother assured me, probably hearing my increasing heartbeat.

"Mom… what's going on?"” I ask with a trembling voice, after a useless attempt to free my hands.

"I’ll tell you everything, but for now, we're in a hurry. Let the woman do her job, alright sweetie?"

I didn’t even have time to nod, as my focus directed to the woman approaching me. She then crouched in front of me and began speaking:

"Little monster" she said, spitting the last word in my face, as if she didn’t exactly take pleasure in being here, "your Goddess seems to have deserted you."

Her breath made me gag, smelling like a hundred rotten corpses on top of each other. The woman took out a gold, shining round pendant with a ruby gem in the middle and put it around my neck.

At this point, my wrists were getting hot where the silver touched the skin, and I could feel a force pushing forward inside my mind, as if my consciousness was a door and a bear had just run into it with full force. My eye twitched and the woman seemed to have taken notice of this:

"Feisty one, isn't she? Your wolf. But we’ll put her in her place." And she let out a chuckle.

Then, with one hand on the pendant and another on the side of my neck, the woman begins mumbling:

Let thou become dull where sharp hath been, as claws and fangs recede,

Thy strength shalt become sapped, thou could not harm another of thy kind.

Upon this talisman, thou wolven sense of smell is to be stopped,

May thou never smell thine mate, and so shalt be true of the reverse!

When she finished, the hotness surrounding my wrists ceased, as the cuffs felt like cold iron. The woman took her hands off the pendant and my neck, looked into my eyes and told me in a grave voice:

"Do not take the pendant off your neck and do not lose it, little child, it's one of a kind."

And I never did, to this day. Basically, one could say that I am a human living among werewolves. Mom told me everything, just as she had promised, that my wolf had killed two patrols in a vicious attack, but nobody else knows. Other pack members believe that my wolf just never surfaced, using it as a reason to bully me. This used to hurt me a lot until I started working at the café, where I made human friends, that do not discriminate.

"Oh, good Goddess, the time" I think as I look towards the clock reading 8:30 AM. The café opens at 9 AM, so I am not late, but I'll have to hurry. Before leaving, I catch myself looking in the mirror. I used to be unable to look at myself in the mirror, hating my slim figure which is unbefitting for a werewolf, let alone the daughter of an Alpha. However, I started to accept the witch's words and come to terms with the fact that I will not fit in with my kind. The job at the café helps me not only pay my share in the pack, but also save up some money to move out, with the humans, where I belong.

Since I live in the basement of the Pack house, I make my way up the stairs and open the door.

"Frey-Frey!" Aiden shouts as he jumps towards me with his hands open. Seems like he's been eagerly waiting for me in front of the door.

I catch him mid-jump and hug him: "My little fire, you're already awake?"

"Father wants to go shopping for reunion." He says, pointing towards the door to the kitchen. My father then comes out with a lunch box in one hand. He notices us, but quickly averts his eyes and strolls towards the door, saying:

"Aiden, come." To which little Aiden pouts for a bit, but I put him down and usher him to go. I also begin to walk to the door, which Father slams closed before I could reach it.

I take it as a sign to put some distance between us. I sigh, and wait for a bit. I'm used to this kind of treatment already. Nevertheless, it doesn't make it easy to swallow. I spend this time to try and figure out what Aiden meant by reunion, but it could just as well be a mind-link announcement that I missed because I don’t have that connection with the pack. Due to this interruption, I actually arrive a bit late to the café. My boss, Lindsey, is already there, swiping the floor. She's the owner of the café and a widow in her thirties, with no children. Her husband had died of cancer before they had a chance to make a child and this café is the only thing she has left, treasuring it deeply.

"Good morning, Freya!" she says.

"Good morning, Lindsey. Sorry to be late! I had trouble waking up." And I chuckle to make the lie more believable.

"Oh, don’t worry about it. It's only been 10 minutes since the opening. I have already begun the preparations for today and displayed the fresh cinnamon rolls that we received. They're very tasty, I have a feeling that they're going to sell fast.”

"Haha, yea, they look delicious!"

And then we hear the cling of the bell announcing a customer.

"Welco- oh, it's just Nicholas! Morning!" Lindsey says, per reflex.

Nicholas is a man approaching his thirties, tall, with a slender but robust build, who has been a regular customer to the café, visiting it every day for the last few months. He had moved here from the north of the country, relocating for work purposes.

"Good morning, Lindsey, Freya!" Nicholas says as he takes off his coat and hat, putting them on the hanger by the door. "What do you mean by that? Am I not a customer deserving a welcome, Lindsey?"

Both me and Lindsey laugh, as he walks to his usual corner table. I quickly change into my work attire, pick up my notebook for orders and I head to Nicholas’ table:

"What can I serve you with today, dear customer?" I ask, holding back a chuckle. I already fully know that he's going to order a cappuccino with extra milk. It's an order easy to remember because after we add all the milk he requests, his coffee ends up looking the same color as his blonde hair, which always makes me and Lindsey laugh behind the counter.

"Ha ha, very funny, Freya." He replies sarcastically. "I'll have a cappuccino with extra milk, if you may." After which he smiles softly and winks in my direction. I return his smile with the same kindness and return to prepare his order.

Lindsey comes slowly near me while pretending to mop the floor and hits me with her elbow, even though she had already caught my attention. She gets closer to me and whispers:

"Psst, he was checking you out while you were walking back." And she raised her eyebrows a few times, trying to insinuate something.

Nicholas had always acted friendlier towards me, trying to make jokes and small talk every time I took his order. At first, I tried to avoid him and his woo, thinking that I shouldn't get close to a human male. However, as of late, I was starting to think that perhaps I should give him a chance, considering I will never fit in with my own kind.

I could feel my cheeks blushing after her remark and I hit her back with my elbow:

"Don't you have to finish mopping, Lindsey?" I whisper, followed by the sound of the bell. Three men enter the café, laughing and talking among themselves. They take a seat at a four-people table near the door. All of them are much more muscular than normal humans, and the atmosphere around them is alluring, all signs pointing towards their true nature: werewolves. I may not have the sense of smell to confirm it, but I've been around them long enough to recognize one on sight. I notice Lindsey getting her order notebook and I interrupt her:

"I'll take their order. Please finish Nicholas' coffee." and I give her no time to reply before I make my way towards them. To normal humans, werewolves can be charming, beautiful, luring humans in with their aura. Male werewolves use this to their advantage every time they want to mess around, so I'm trying to protect Lindsey every time I have the chance. Their charm doesn't work on me since I know better than to let myself be tricked by it.

At the sight of me approaching their table, the three of them go silent. I smile professionally at them and do my due diligence asking:

"Welcome to Sunrise Café! May I take your order?"