Prisoner of the Moon

A Solitary Traveler

~~~~~~~A Solitary Traveler~~~~~~~

Kiera slowly walked into Howl Creek, cringing at the town's name as her bare feet stepped past the newly painted sign.

"Could have been a little less obvious." She commented to the wind.

Her stomach rumbled again and she cursed her slowed pace. Hopefully, a nearby diner didn't mind giving out a few scraps to a dirty rogue.

"Damn blood moon." She cursed slightly.

The blood moon only happened twice a year. It had something to do with the mating season, but Kiera hadn't exactly been schooled on it.

What she did know was that hunting in the middle of winter with no wolf sucked. It had been a full week since she managed to catch anything, and her stomach was close to eating itself.

She needed to find something to eat soon, human form or not.

Thankfully, she'd planned ahead and timed her transformation near the border of a wolf town. Packs blended in pretty regularly with humans, but the town names typically gave them away. Not to mention they reeked of wolves. Humans were scent blind to it, but Kiera had smelled it a while ago.

A few steps past the town border brought Kiera to a small white house with a standard picket fence around the front yard. Its backyard was surrounded by eight-foot-tall thick bamboo bushes. A simple wooden gate guarded the back.

She surveyed the house and confirmed it to be a Hub house, kind of like a werewolf locker room. No one ever lived in the Hub houses. They allowed passing wolves a chance to store belongings, grab a change of clothes, and a shower before heading back into town.

The spare clothing selection at this Hub house wasn't very large, standard black unisex t-shirts, and black jogging pants, one or two in every size. The shoes were a basic slip-on style. A nearby closet revealed an array of jackets, not in black. The one in her size was a dark green and she wondered if the town would miss it. She scoffed at herself, what would a rogue need with a beautiful forest green jacket?

Easy-to-follow signs led her to a shower room where large white towels awaited her. Small bottles filled with hair products and toothpaste winked at her in little baskets near a sink.

She turned the shower on full blast, trying to get some feeling back into her frozen limbs.

Five minutes later a knock on the door startled her and she nearly slipped on the wet tile.

"Mother taught me it was polite to knock first." A male voice called out. "Don't worry, I won't come in. Just letting you know I'm here so you don't maul my pretty face when you come out."

The voice laughed, but she didn't respond to it.

"Anyway, I'm Paul, enjoy the shower, take your time, but I've got a few questions about your business here when you're done."

The door shut firmly, but it was a few beats before Kiera moved, even then she was on high alert. The strong smell of lavender in the bathroom had kept his scent from reaching her. It disoriented her and the closed-in space threw her off.

She was out of the shower as quickly as she could manage without losing her balance. Once dressed, however, she found herself gazing into the vanity mirror contemplating her next move.

Logic told her to bale. She didn't know the area that well, but with shoes and the jacket, she could probably get halfway to the next town by nightfall.

Light shifted through a small glass window above her catching her attention. She focused on it, then groaned realizing that it was snowing, and she was stuck as a useless human for another 20+ hours.