Werewolf Boyfriend: Nestor (special preview)

Hearthway Hollow is a threat, or at least that is how my boss is treating it. Our pack is smaller, but it is one of the oldest in the country. My boss, Aubin, takes offense to Hearthway Hollow and its pack of docile, fat, dogs. How this is a threat, I’m not certain.

Most of my life has been spent with this pack, and we’ve been all over this country. We’ve seen lots of packs trying to adopt this way of life that Hearthway Hollow has. Sure, it seems nice at first. Everyone is so comfortable and at peace with everything, it seems like the perfect set up. But Aubin says that’s not how life should be for werewolves. Our lives are built in the forest, in the shadow of the moon. Werewolves were created from the evil of centuries past, and as such, we should harbor that spirit within us. Never still, never peaceful. 

I was selected to go into Hearthway Hollow and learn their ways. Aubin wants me to infiltrate the pack, discover their secrets and weaknesses, and report back to him. I’ve been given money, along with a fake ID, and a task to work for the Alpha of the town, a man named Adam.

Adam owns and operates a butcher shop in the town, which was nice. I’ve always had to hunt for my food, having it right there seemed like a sort of treat. Adam didn’t seem like any sort of threat either, but I knew werewolves weren’t always how their human guise appeared. Adam offered me a job trimming meat in the back. I had to go through a lot of training, which seemed weird as it was only cutting meat. Meat was meat, or so I thought. I was taught about the different cuts that meat has, what they’re good for, how they’re each different. It was kind of fun learning. I’d never been to school, aside from my folks teaching me some things like reading and stuff. 

Aubin said a good pack member was a stupid one and that’s why he liked me so much, I just needed to learn how to stop asking questions.

I was living in a tent in the woods, which was great. Usually, we just slept outside around the fire, having a tent with a roof and everything was nice. I took baths in the river, and sometimes, I used the money I got at my job to get food in town, rather than have to hunt. I’ve also come to really like coffee, so I stop by the cafe a few times a day.

One day I’m going into the cafe for my usual, coffee and donut. I guess I was so excited I wasn’t looking, and right as I walked in, I slammed into what I assumed was a child. They were tiny, maybe a runt who hadn’t died or something. Only thing was, they were holding a coffee, and when I bumped into them, their coffee cup busted on my stomach.

“I’m so sorry!” She blurts instantly. “Are you hurt?” She jumps back and starts using her scarf to try and mop up coffee on me.

I take off my shirt right there in the middle of the cafe. “It hurts a little but I think I’m okay.”

“Don’t just-” She looks around nervously as people are starting to stare. She takes me back outside and sits me down. “You shouldn’t just take off your clothes in the middle of the place!” She looks at my stomach and sighs. “It’s pretty red. Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?”

I wring out my shirt. “I’ve had worst. What about your coffee?”

“Never mind that!” She seems pretty upset about the matter. “That was scalding hot coffee, I’ve probably given you burns!”

The more I look at her the more I realize she isn’t a kid, maybe a runt, but still. She’s pretty cute for being so little. She has long brown hair tied up into a bun, and she smells really good. Not like flowers or anything, something else, it’s a different sort of smell.

“Let me take you to the hospital just in case,” she says urgently.

I tilt my head to the side. “What for? I’ve never been before, and I’ve been hit my a car once.”

She stares in disbelief at me, as if expecting me to say something really funny. “Please don’t joke, I am very frazzled and very tired.”

“Then let me buy you another coffee.” I stand back up and her eyes focus on my chest and stomach.

“I burnt you!”

“And I’m fine.” I slip on my wet, stained shirt. “Although I dunno with Adam will want me going to work like this.”