The Beast of Fox Hill

Fifty

A world of werewolves, vampires and more scares me, but not more than public interaction. I was notorious for trying to stay out of malls and shopping centers because at the end of the day, people, no matter the species, always caused an anxiety spike within me. 

Axel, however, was surprisingly opposite of me. Though he enjoyed his one on one or alone time, he was perfectly happy interacting with others. Now knowing the truth about Axel, I'm sure this trait was most likely due to his upbringing in a community of werewolves. They were pack creatures, needing one another to survive and keep their world afloat. 

Axel drags me along until we find a cute boutique that catches my eye, making me stop in my tracks. 

"Wanna go in?" Axel says, looking at my frozen body as I peer into the small shop. 

"Yeah. They have some cute stuff in there," I say, offering Axel a soft smile. 

"Ladies first," Axel replies, giving me one of his signature smiles in return.

As I walk in, the first thing I notice is the smell of herbs and spices. It smelled like a witch's apothecary, but the smell only drew me in more. I look around and notice an area of the store filled with incense and a light twirling smoke burning off of a stick, which I assume is where the smell came from. 

Glancing around more, I find a rack of clothes and I begin to skim through them. 

"Hello, welcome to Janice's. This your first time here?" a small, middle aged blonde lady asks, a smile plastered on her face. 

"Yeah I don't get out often," I say with a light chuckle. The lady's warm smile widens more, a small laugh coming from her. 

"Let me know if you have any questions or need any help, okay hun?" she says as she grabs a shirt and begins folding it. 

"Thank you," I reply, going back to shifting through hanging shirts on a rack. 

"Hey, Jasper! Check this shirt out!" Axel calls from beside me. I look over and he's holding up a dark purple shirt with a moon and black wolf on it. He wiggles his eyebrows and laughs at my response, which was an unamused glare. 

"It looks just like him!" Axel laughs. 

"You're an ass," I reply, rolling my eyes and returning my gaze to the shirts in front of me. From the corner of my eye, I see Axel put the shirt back and walk over to me. 

"I don't recall you ever seeing me," Axel says, a smirk on his face. 

"What do you mean?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him. 

"My wolf. I don't think you've ever seen it," he says, hushing his voice. 

"What color is it?" I ask curiously. 

"I'll show you later," he winks at me. Once again, I laugh and roll my eyes at his antics. 

Axel was part of my home. Part of being human was having the ability to choose who you love, and part of me wishes I still had that choice. Maybe I would've chosen Axel instead of Cassander. He was so easy to be with, so wonderful to be around, it was hard not to consider what I'd do given the option. 

I look back to the shirts and finally spot one I like. I pull the hanger off the rack and examine the black and olive green tie dye long sleeve top. The material was light and flowed, but the sleeves were fitted and long. 

"That's really pretty. It would look great on you," Axel states. I nod and declare that I am buying that shirt.

Axel stays close to me as we look around the shop some more. Nothing stood out to me so I make my way to the little blonde lady who spoke with me earlier while she was standing behind the register.