"Where the…." Looking around I couldn't find anything I was actually looking for. "Fuck…" I mumbled again under my breath, very much aware that I was talking to nobody. Even Miles, my beloved Chow Chow Husky mix, was nowhere to be found in the small little apartment. Which meant he was up to trouble. I abandoned the search for an extension cord to turn a lamp on in search for my trouble-making dog.
I found him in the closet in my bedroom with his face in a box full of shoes.
"I don't know what you think you're doing!" I said and he startled before looking anywhere but me. "You little shit." I murmured but couldn't fight back the small smile that was coming. I headed back out into the main room that acted as a kitchen, dining room, and living room all in one. There is only so much space in a 650 square foot apartment, but at least with what little furniture I had, it wouldn't look so empty.
The shock of moving so quickly at least wasn't a complete culture shock. I was moving a little farther west of Seattle, coming from a town up north called Everett. Granted, the circumstances of the move were terrible but the physical move wasn't too bad. Staring at all the small boxes I had laid around in no order made me think about how I packed them and how they were packed so quickly that I had no idea what was in what box. That line of thinking was what leads down negative paths and I wasn't trying to go down that hole right now. I had an apartment, I was nowhere close to the hellhole I came from, and I was pretty isolated that I didn't think he would ever have a chance to find me again.
When you're a child and your parents or friends read you stories of monsters and ghosts you get scared for a short amount of time and then carry on with your stress-free childhood because they are just stories and not at all true. Well nobody told me that when I grew up I was going to be in a real life horror story with a real life monster. And the monster I encountered makes the ones in the fairy tales and books seem tame.
Nobody ever tells you how to deal with the monster that manipulates and controls your every movement. You can't cover yourself with a bed sheet and pretend it went away. Someone you love chipping away at your self esteem and basically holding you captive in your own brain is more terrifying than any monster ever thought up for a children's story. That was behind me though and I was onto a better chapter in my life.
I spent the whole day putting everything away from the little boxes I had. Miles just walked around the small unit with me, probably waiting for me to drop any form of food. Unfortunately for both of us, I had none. For either of us. When I looked down and saw his sad eyes (he probably knew I had no food), I sighed and decided to search for a store. I pulled up the maps on my phone and found a small grocery store not too far from me and decided to head there to buy us both some form of dinner.
The map took me to the next town over to what looked like a reservation of some sort. I parked my beat up SUV and headed inside with what little money I had left after making the deposit on the apartment.
I headed inside and walked up and down the few aisles they had looking for dog food first. I eventually found the small pet section and picked up a bag of food that I knew wasn't going to last me long but something was better than nothing. I then held it against my hip like a small child and moseyed around thinking about what I was going to eat for myself.
"Shut the fuck up! I don't need to hear those details!" Someone loudly shouted from what sounded like an aisle over from me. I rolled my eyes assuming it was group of guys dicking around. I made my way over to the cereal selection and figured dry cereal would be able to last me a couple of days. I was peering around the selection when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a couple of guys turned down the same aisle. I didn't pay much attention and continued looking around at my options.
"Seriously, I'm happy you're happy and all but I don't give a shit about the personal details of your life" One of them said, obviously not caring that their conversation was being overheard.
"Can we just pick up what we came here for and be on with it?" One of them said and I finally looked over to see three very large linebacker looking guys. Like, steroid doped up, probably way too into body building, guys. My eyes widened before I quickly turned back to the cereal pretending like I didn't notice them.
"Let's grab a case of beer while we are here too!" One of them said, way too loudly.
"Jacob has enough beer at his place, we don't need any."
"No such thing as too much beer, Paul."
I felt intrusive for listening to their conversation so clearly but for whatever reason my brain just could not focus on the cereal boxes in front of me. I finally threw manners aside and turned to look at them again. They were being loud so they brought it on themselves, right?
The three of them all had similar builds and were all very tan with darker features. I suddenly remembered that I was near a reservation and they were probably natives to the area. Being the history buff that I was, or used to be, a small part of my brain was tempted to start asking them questions about the history of the area. They all looked like college linebackers who could beat the shit out of anything and anyone. They even made me feel short and I was 5'11 so I was used to being the taller one. Two of them were wearing shorts and cut off shirts while the other was in shorts and a normal tshirt which I thought was odd since it was mid September and it was getting far too chilly for shorts.
"Just grab a fucking case then. I don't-" I made eye contact with one of them and he stopped mid sentence. "Oh, sorry ma'am."
I felt like a deer in the headlights. I didn't even know which of the three were talking to me. The one in the middle's eyes were so dark and so captivating that I couldn't look away. Something in his expression too held me in what felt like a locked position. I seemed like time paused for a while before one of the trio broke out in a very loud, and I mean very very loud, laugh.
"Oh shit." The other one said but I barely registered that there were other people here. I finally snapped out of whatever mental block was happening to me and straightened up a bit, suddenly aware of how heavy the dog food was getting even though it was a smaller bag.
"Didn't mean to be rude!" The one who apologized earlier broke whatever weird aura had just happened to all of us.
"Oh! Uh…It's fine." I tried to smile but I'm sure it was this awkward grimace. I turned and looked back at the cereal still not really seeing it. I was mostly just hopping they would leave the aisle and go back to whatever they were doing.
"I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new to the area?" The one laughing earlier asked and my brain started sending red flags out. Why would they ask such a question? I was very aware that I was one girl and there were three guys at the moment.
"Just passing by." I said and turned to look like I was fully invested in the cereal section. Maybe I didn't even need cereal. Let's see what other foods this store has to offer. I gave them a fake smile and turned and walked down the aisle hoping to forget this weird interaction. I ended up looking at canned goods thinking of maybe getting a can of soup. I ended up grabbing and can that had a pop-top on it since I didn't have a can opener and moved on. I eventually made it to the tiny little corner that sold alcohol, mostly beer, in the store. A bottle of wine sounded pretty good. Or even a six-pack of beer. I settled for a six-pack and as I was reaching for it, being mindful of balancing the food, I heard those guys again.
"We meet again!" One of them said and I definitely gave a obviously forced smile.
"Small store." I mumbled and made sure everything was balanced before straightening up.
"Leave her alone, Jared. You're making her uncomfortable." The handsome one with the eyes said. Those eyes. I once again caught myself staring at them.
"Ah, my bad." The one, I'm assuming Jared, raised his hands in a mock surrender.
"Uh…oh. It's okay." I stumbled over my words. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew they weren't trying to make me uncomfortable but I was always wary of new people.
Two of them moved to look at the wall of alcohol and carried on like I suddenly didn't exist.
"Sorry about them. They are obnoxious." Handsome one rolled his eyes.
"It's…fine." I mumbled getting ready to make my leave and put this odd shopping trip behind me. I had a loving man to return to. And that handsome man needed his kibble before he decided to eat my apartment.
"I'm Jacob, by the way. We live out here on the rez." He mentioned and I remembered thinking about the reservation when I entered the land.
"Nice to meet you." I smiled. If that's what the three of them looked like, then what the fuck was in the water out here?
"And you are…?" He trailed off and I debated for half a second on giving him a fake name. I already lied and told them I was only passing by. Should I carry on the farce?
"Baylee." I finally admitted, seeing no point in giving a fake name. "And it was nice to meet you but I have to get going." I sidestepped him and headed to the register where a very bored looking teenager sat.
I paid and scurried to my car like I was being chased, which was a ridiculous notion. I just wanted to get back to unpacking and hanging out with my main dude, Miles.
Back in the store, three wolves watched as the taller dirty blonde woman rushed out of the store.
"Didn't see that one coming!" Jared laughed and clapped Jacob on the back.
"Oh man, I can't wait to tell everyone! You finally imprinted! Maybe now you can finally get over that emo ass phase of yours and get on with your life!" Paul joined in.
"Seriously! It's been years and you still are hung up on the leech loving bit-" Jared didn't finish his sentence before he received a punch in the gut from the leader of the trio. "Okay, okay!" He coughed out.
Jacob's mood seemed to sour significantly in the last minute. He never thought he was going to imprint. Some people go their whole lives without it happening to them and now he had to imprint on some stranger who he wasn't even sure lived in the area. What the hell was he going to do now?
Closer by Kings of Leon was the inspiration for this intro.
I'm going to put a trigger warning on this story from here on out. Probably won't get too heavy for a little bit but just a warning for those who might be upset by some of the topics. My OC Baylee is going to have a bit of a troubled past few years. Normally I don't think you need this for character development but in this case I think Jacob needs to be the savior. He never got anything like that with Bella fully enough and I think it might help him feel more self fulfilled if he can help save someone, even if it's from themselves. All characters are around 20-23 years old. Set in the future of the twilight-verse. Life goes on for the werewolves even if it pauses for the vampires.
I gew up hardcore team Edward until I had to be an adult and live on my own and then I guess I slowly became team Jacob and how he seemed like the more healthy option. Still have a special place in my heart for the whole series and just want to see Jacob get his happy ending.
I DO NOT own anything Twilight and it all came from the creative mind of Steph Meyer. I do own my OC (and my OC doggo) and that's about it.