Chapter Three
Tawny
I arrived in town with nothing.
Literally.
People talk about having only the clothes on your back, but I would have given a lot to have anything on my back besides fur.
Not that I lacked gratitude for my wolf’s rescuing me from a fate I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
But when I’d asked her where we should go, and she said anywhere, she didn’t have the worry of being arrested by humans for public nudity.
And yet I had nothing but gratitude for her courage. She didn’t completely understand how my world worked, but she’d done everything she could to save me from a horror even I barely could believe could happen.
We traveled cross-country and emerged in a field outside a town I’d never seen before—a good thing. Even the name, Pleasant, rang no bells. And still, she trotted along, finally coming to a stop in an alley, where she curled up and went to sleep. Not ideal, probably, but we were both exhausted.
“And who are you?” I opened my eyes to find myself looking up at an older woman wearing jeans whose holes did not look fashionable but earned. She held a pink cardboard box.
Shivering, I pushed to stand, only then recognizing that sometime while I slept on the hard ground, my wolf had ceded control.
And here I lay, naked, freezing, and facing a stranger who had not yet called the police on me.
“I’m”—for a moment, I considered giving a fake name, but the lady had kind eyes, and I was probably going to need to ask her for a favor—“Tawny. I’m Tawny. ”
“And, I’m guessing you’re…a wolf?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, hurry up and come inside.” She was unlocking a door right next to me as she spoke.
“It’s a friendly town, but mostly run by humans, and there are laws against sleeping outside naked here.
Vagrancy with public nudity, or some such nonsense, we’d have to talk a police officer out of citing you for. ”
I followed her because what else could I do? My wolf, for all her lack of knowledge or interest in how two-leggeds operated, had left me at the door of a thrift store filled with clothing and other things I might need.
I love you so much!
She didn’t answer, but I knew she heard.
“Now, I’m Janis, and this is my shop. The first thing we need to do is find you an outfit.
Why don’t you look around and— Wait! The front windows will not give you much privacy.
” She tripped out into the store and came back with a wild caftan in a swirl of bright colors.
“Put this on while you find something else to wear. Anything you like. Get dressed, and I’ll make some coffee. Unless you prefer tea?”
I hadn’t said a half dozen words yet, but this kind lady, Janis, was like a whirlwind, sweeping in and taking care of things. “Coffee is fine.”
“Good, and I have some yogurts and things in the little refrigerator there. Hungry?”
I nodded.
“I find that no matter what my raccoon eats, it doesn’t leave me full when I shift back. Is that the same with wolves?”
Nodded again.
“Excellent, hurry and find something you like and don’t worry about the cost. This is my welcome gift to you, but I open in an hour, so we don’t have much time.”
I pulled the caftan over my head and trotted out into the store, looking around me in amazement at the variety. The town near our pack lands had a secondhand store as well, but it was much smaller and most of their stock had little life left in it.
“We only sell gently used items,” she said, appearing from the back holding a coffeepot. “I hope you find something nice.”
“This store is better than the boutique in my old…I mean, it’s all very nice.”
Having already said more than I was positive I wanted to, I pushed clothes along a rack, focusing on selecting a pair of jeans and a shirt.
“Shoes,” she called. “And a sweater or hoodie. The underthings are new, so you don’t have to worry about old panties or bras. I got them from a store going out of business in the city.”
I ducked into a dressing room behind a curtain and changed, returning holding the caftan. “Thank you so much. I don’t know how I can thank you.”
“You can sit down here at my little table, have some coffee and blueberry yogurt, and tell me as much as you feel comfortable saying about how you wound up outside my back door like that. It was just lucky I went out for donuts this morning, or I would have come right down the inside stairway and not seen you at all. Oh, have a donut.” Janis opened the pink box and revealed a dozen assorted treats, frosted and filled, round and long.
Powdered sugar dusted in a couple of cases. “I had a craving.”
I wanted to say no, she’d already done enough, but she pushed it closer to me. “Come on. If I have to eat them alone, I’ll feel guilty.”
She poured coffee and insisted I get a yogurt to offset some of the empty calories, and by the time we were on our third donut each, I’d told her how I had to run away from an unwanted mating. Not a lot of detail, but she didn’t press me for it.
“What we need to know then is, first whether you want to stay here while you get on your feet?”
“Here?” I looked around the room.
“I told you I live upstairs, didn’t I?” She hadn’t, exactly, but had mentioned the stairs. “Anyway, I have an extra bedroom. And you’re welcome to stay as long as you need to. That’s decided, then.”
“I-I can’t impose like that.”
“You’re not imposing. I have a helper coming this afternoon for a while, so that will be a perfect time to get you some ID, and do you have any funds anywhere?”
I was relieved to tell her about the dowry.
“Why don’t we open another account and transfer it over, just to be safe.”
I hadn’t thought beyond how to get an ID and access it, but she was so right. Janis had done this before, helped lost omegas. She didn’t have to spell it out. Somehow my wolf had brought me to the exact person who could assist us.
Wolves were very smart beasts.