Alpha Axel

Sixteen

To say I was scared shitless of being a wolf is an understatement. 

I had been wandering for hours, my body my own but something else entirely. My new sharpened senses made my head pound, and the light hurt my eyes. I had found the outskirts of a small town, but nothing familiar came to mind. I had tucked myself in the treeline, my fur hopefully blending in enough so I could get close enough to see where in the hell I was without being seen. 

I felt naive in this body, shuffling my feet like a toddler taking their first steps. There is absolutely nothing graceful about being a wolf, and if anything, it was more of an inconvenience to me than anything else. 

My head felt like a spike had been driven through it, and my vision blurred from time to time. I winced as a truck flew by on the road, it's red paint flashing by as I watched the taillights ebb into the distance. I let out a huff as I realized that I was too far from the town to do any good. I had found the road a few hours ago, and I've just been following it since. 

I shook my head, my mind muddled with thoughts. When I first took off, I had gone with determination, to find...someone or something, but now, I can't remember. My memories seemed to be pushed toward the back of my mind, and no matter how far I reached, I couldn't seem to grab hold on them. Hell, I didn't even know my name, but I know that I'm not supposed to be a wolf.  I can just remember escaping out of that hell hole of a lab... but before that... everything just seems hazy. 

I let out another huff as I began making my way toward the town, careful enough to keep my body hidden as a car passed by here and there, but enough so I could keep my eyes on everything around me. 

I reached the edging of the trees, maybe a hundred yards from the nearest building. Danny's Diner is what the large neon sign said in the window. A mouthwatering scent hit my nose, and I felt my tongue roll out of my mouth in excitement. I could see the multitude of people running within the place, customers seated at the glossy booths, women in white skirts and blouses carried large trays of food like they were weightless. Their smiles were warm and inviting as they took orders and rushed back to get another table's food. 

I saw a door open around the side, a man wearing a grease-stained apron hefted two large black bags into a dumpster, a small grunt coming from his mouth as he did so. His large belly giggled with the effort, and he closed the lid before slipping back in through the door. I could smell the food within those bags, and I knew that the scraps from the plates had been scraped into them. My stomach growled, and I was reminded of the hunger that had been gnawing at me for some time now. 

I glanced around, the world outside of the diner seeming lethargic and preoccupied. The entire town seemed to be circled within the trees, a small dot on the map where man had carved its signature into nature's rightful place. If I traveled further along the trees, I could zip in from the side, practically unnoticed. 

I figured my plan was good enough, and with my stomach practically leading me, I headed further west along with the trees. I watched as a few couples exited the diner, one man with his arm slung over a woman, and an older pair holding hands. They all got into the same vehicle and drove off, the loud music blaring through the windows making me wince at the volume. 

I waited for them to pull onto the road, their music fading in the distance, before making my move. I felt my muscles tense before I took off, my claws gripping the earth to push me faster. It didn't take me long to cross the expanse before I was sitting in front of the dumpster. The lid was closed, but all it would take was me to stand on my hind legs and get a paw under it. 

I did just that, making more noise that I wanted, but I managed to get a paw under the lip of the lid. I slid my nose under too and used both to flip it up enough so I could wiggle my way under it. My back paws scraped against the side, before I was able to pull myself up and into the dumpster.