7: Living with Strangers

Quincy St. Martin

Five days of traveling. I did everything that Jorden taught me to do to throw them off my scent just in case they decide to send trackers after me. I took three different buses, stopped at nineteen different bus stations. I took subways and lost myself in the crowds.

I spent most nights on buses, except for the third night. I spent that night at a cheap little motel for a shower and a good night’s sleep on a proper bed.

It was scary and exhausting, yet exhilarating. The taste of freedom is heady. On the fifth day, I finally arrive at the bus station and give my cousin Jonah, whom I haven’t seen in six years, a call. It’s just after 4 p.m. on a Friday evening.

“Jonah would love to have you there.” I clearly remember Jorden saying that to me before I climbed into the bowels of the Greyhound bus.

The person standing before me now doesn’t look like someone who ‘would love to have me’ anywhere. If anything, he looks pissed off. Scary, too, with tattoos, corded muscles, and piercings. And he’s tall. What is he? Six-three? Six-four?

I don’t remember him being this tall six years ago. My five-foot-eight frame feels like a waif next to him.

“What are you? Six-four or something?” I say.

~My God, my filter is truly broken~!

I slap a hand on my mouth as soon as those words come flying out.

Jonah doesn’t answer me. He just harrumphs and mumbles something under his breath. I’ll take it. At this point, I’m thankful that he doesn’t intend to kill me…yet. Maybe. With my broken brain-to-mouth filter, who knows what’s on the cards?

Jorden informed me before I got on the bus that Jonah had managed to secure me a place at the school, but the dorm is full. That means I will have to stay with Jonah for the time being. I plan to pay rent. I have to find a job right away.

Jonah hauls my luggage into the back of an old red Jeep Wrangler. Then he wrenches the door of the driver’s side open and hops in without waiting or saying anything to me.

He starts the engine, and I clamber into the passenger side before he leaves without me. He just might, right? He looks tempted enough to do it.

He starts pulling out even before I can close the door properly. He drives in silence, and I watch our surroundings then I watch him.

I’ve never seen anyone quite like Jonah back in our pack. He has the same dark brown hair as Jorden, but while Jorden’s hair is an unruly mop of curls, Jonah’s is cut short on the sides but long-ish at the top.

He has a full tattoo sleeve that looks like an eagle and a dragon or something snaking up one arm. It disappears into his dark blue wife-beater shirt. He has pierced ears, a barbell on one eyebrow, a lip ring on the left of his full bottom lip.

Jonah actually looks a lot like an older and scarier version of Jorden with dark eyes, dark hair, and almost the same facial features. I think that thought helps me feel a bit more comfortable around him. He glances at me, and his scowl deepens when he sees me studying him. I quickly flash him a big smile.

That doesn’t help.

My God, he’s like a bear with a sore head! Is he always like this? My mouth is itching to say something, but I don’t. I’m mighty proud of myself when I manage to keep quiet for a whole ten minutes.

I gaze around at our surroundings again. This place, open space, palm trees, houses and buildings with stuccoed walls, certainly looks different from where we came from.

“Wow! This is very different from Philadelphia, huh? We’re definitely not in Loup Noir Pack territory anymore,” I comment.

Of course, I can’t keep my mouth shut indefinitely.

He keeps his eyes on the road and continues as if he didn’t hear me. The only indication that he heard me is the hardening of his eyes.

“Sooo, you heard anything from Jorden? He’s okay, right?” I just have to ask him.

So many times during those five days of traveling I was tempted to give Jorden a call to find out if he and Trey were okay, but he warned me before I got on the bus not to call him.

He didn’t want anybody to suspect anything and to find out where I was heading. So I didn’t, but I was still worried about them. I don’t know what I’d do if the pack found out and they got into big trouble for helping me escape.

Jonah doesn’t say anything for a full minute. I thought he wasn’t going to answer me, but he finally says, “He’s fine. Nobody knows.”

We turn onto a small quiet street, lined with old brick houses. They all look similar, although some look neglected while some others appear reasonably well kept. I don’t think we’re in a bad area, but we’re not in the affluent part of the city either.

We stop in front of a single-story house. The small front yard has a tiny lawn where the grass has recently been cut. A motorbike and a bicycle are parked close to the front door.

Jonah carries my luggage inside, and I follow him like a lost puppy.

There are three other people living in the house. Two of them are werewolves. So much for my dreams of living among humans. The she-wolf, Lana, seems to dislike me on sight. The other werewolf, Isaac, on the other hand, seems to like me on sight. Only too much.

He flirts and holds my hand a bit too long during the introduction. Jonah gives him a hard stare. The human girl, Layla, is pretty, originally from Ethiopia, but she grew up here. She seems nice, which is a good thing since I’m supposed to be sharing a room with her.

She’s also going to the same college, but she’s in her second year.

The house is an open plan and small but clean and clutter-free. The living room consists of a comfy-looking black suede chair, a loveseat, a sofa, and a wooden coffee table in the middle.

There is a forty-inch TV mounted on the wall facing the sofa. The windows have no drapes, but they do have simple white blinds for privacy.

The living room opens up to a tiny kitchen. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms in the house.

“The sink in the bathroom at the back is leaking, Jonah,” says Lana.

The she-wolf looks at me like I was gum beneath her shoes, but her tone of voice when she talks to Jonah is sweet and annoyingly whiny.

“I’ll take a look at it,” answers Jonah.

Jonah leaves my luggage in a bigger room with a single bed on each side of the room. There are two study tables by the headboards near the windows. The walls are painted eggshell white like the rest of the house.

I guess this is the room that I’ll be sharing with Layla. She’s sharing the room with me to save on rent money, and I’m all for saving money.

“Is the room okay for you? I hope you don’t mind sharing,” says Layla.

Okay? This is like The Ritz or the Four Seasons for me, compared to my windowless tiny room back at the pack house.

“This room is great! Sharing is awesome,” I tell her.

I guess I said it with too much enthusiasm because she gives me a funny look. Okay, let’s dial down on the weirdness, Quincy. You’re scaring the normal human! The only normal human in this house, apart from me. Yeah, I’m totally normal.

***

Jonah, Lana, and Isaac leave the house together around 6 p.m. I have no clue where they’re going off to, but secretly I’m relieved. Call me crazy, but I don’t really enjoy having one woman staring at me like she’s planning on taking me out as soon as my back is turned, and a man who keeps checking me out like he wants to eat me for dinner.

I got used to those kinds of looks when I was at the Loup Noir Pack, but it doesn’t mean that I’ve grown to like it. Layla and I spend time talking for a bit before she has to leave for work at 7 p.m. She works irregular hours some evenings for a cleaning company.

I don’t know how much Layla knows about werewolves and stuff, but I like her already. I think we will get along just fine.

After she leaves, I spend my time alone in the room putting my things away, which doesn’t take much time at all. Then I take a much-needed shower. Afterward, I take my backpack with me to the living room to sort out all the stuff while munching on a chocolate bar I found in there and trying to watch TV—all at the same time. I’m awesome at multitasking.

Jonah comes home around 9 p.m. with some burgers, fries, and two cans of Coke. My mouth waters at the smell. He drops everything onto the coffee table in front of me.

He takes a burger and a can of Coke out, then shoves the rest to me without saying a word.

Suddenly, I don't feel hungry anymore. I’ve never felt more like a charity case than I am right now. I’m grateful that he’s helping me and all, but I’m tired of feeling unwanted and a burden to those around me.

“Look, Jonah. You don’t have to feed me,” I tell him. “I’m grateful for everything that you’ve done for me, truly I am, but I know you don’t want me here. I know you’re mad at me or hate me for whatever reason, but I’ll get out of your hair very soon. I promise I’ll move out as soon as I find another place to stay.”

I don’t know how or where, but I’ll sleep on the street if I have to.

For a moment, he looks stunned. Then he starts to frown again. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying here where I can keep you safe,” he huffs.

He takes a huge bite out of his hamburger and starts chewing with a big scowl on his face.

Well, at least it wasn’t my head that he’s chewing on. I start to make a mental list of positive things.

He sighs and tosses the rest of the hamburger onto the coffee table. “I don’t hate you. I hate how those people treated you,” he says. “Now eat before I lose my appetite.”

He stares at me pointedly until I take a burger out. He picks his burger back up only after I take the first bite, and then we both eat in silence.

“Did he ever touch you?” he suddenly asks, his jaw taut with tension.

The question takes me by surprise, but I immediately know who he’s talking about.

“Um… He…uh. Yeah, no…sorta. Not that way…not really,” I answer.

He tilts his head to the side for a while as if mulling over my answer. The way a muscle in his jaw ticks reminds me so much of Jorden when he’s pissed off.

“Alpha Maddox is an asshole,” he finally says.

No argument from me there.

“Yeah, he’s a fucking asshole,” I agree.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to swear.”

“Why? You swear,” I tell him, but I reach into my bag and take out my swear jar.

I fish around the bottom of my bag and pull out a penny, two nickels, and a quarter. I hold the jar out to him after I drop the change in.

Surprisingly, he reaches into his pocket and places a dime in.

“You need to put in more than just a dime. I heard you swear worse than a trucker when you were fixing the sink this evening,” I say, shaking the jar in his face, and the coins rattle.

He ignores me. He drains his Coke then stands up and steps outside into the warm night. The next minute I see him bending over, under the hood of his Jeep. I hear some clunking noises and him muttering something about Nana and her damn swear jar.

Then he swears some more when he drops his tool and hits his head against the hood.

I’m impressed with his very extensive list of swear words. I see a bright future for my swear jar.

***

Jonah and I get along much better after that first night. I understand him better now.

He doesn’t talk much. I think my cousin was born grumpy, and you can’t take it personally. Underneath that tough exterior, he’s not bad. He took me out for a drive around the city on Saturday and helped me buy things for school. On Sunday, he’s gone all day, along with the other two werewolves, Lana and Isaac.

I didn’t mind since I got to talk and watch movies with Layla.

Monday morning and I’m getting ready for school. I’ve missed my induction week, which is not a big deal, according to Jonah.

I might have to find the student support coordinators for information.

I’m wearing my nicest jeans, my Converse, and my favorite off-the-shoulder summer top. The top is light and white with tiny pink flowers, and I think I look pretty in it.

I brush my hair till it shines and swipe some lip-gloss over my lips. It's time for this normal human girl to get some education and meet some normal hot human man!