The Year of the Horse (Book two of the Almair Series) (Completed)

Chapter 22 (Edited)

A week had passed by from when I had left my family and pack, and I didn't know how far I had traveled.

I did hear Faolon's howl of pain and hurt, and I was going to second guess myself, because I didn't mean to make him feel bad. However, I didn't. I couldn't go back to all the pain of being ignored.

I sighed and shook my head, breaking me from my thoughts. What's past is in the past. Now is now, I thought. I got out of my makeshift bed and groaned.

It had been a hard, cold night, and I didn't change into my wolf form. I wished that I had shifted into wolf form, even though I knew that someone might have seen me.

I might need to find a way to stay warmer at night, I thought as I started to walk away from the place I slept. I shook my head, again and sighed, glad that it didn't look like I had slept there.

I came upon a town, when my stomach started to grumble. Fine we'll eat at a food place. I sighed and found a bush and started to dig, so I could place my bow and arrows there. I didn't know what they would say to it, so I wasn't going to take any chances. I knew that I would need them, if not now.

After a few minutes, I finished and stood, looking around my surroundings. I was trying to see what there was to eat and spotted a small diner, that was perfect for me.

I got up and walked over to it, my stomach still growling. I knew that I would have to be careful going back, because I didn't know if there would be cars coming and going.

***

I opened the door of the cafè and glanced around. My whole body relaxed slightly when I saw that the only people in here was a waitress and a cook. There was no one else, which I was glad.

The waitress looked at me and grinned. "Well, hello, Suga. Welcome to Peter's Cafè, follow me to your table," the waitress said. She didn't wait for me to say anything and led me over to a window seat that was a booth.

I shyly sat down and looked at my waitress. I bit back a groan as I saw that she had black hair and brown eyes. Could it be possible that she was a wolf and that there were more than one pack in a clan?

"My name's Eve, and I'll be your server for today," she said, handing me a menu. "Now, what is it that you would like to drink, Suga."

I find it oddly strange and kind of comforting on how she called me 'Suga'. I guess it was because she might be from the South or Country by the way that she called me that. "Ummm... Hot Chocolate please," I said, my voice kind of scratchy from not being used in forever and from the cold.

She nodded her head, grinning. "Would you like anything on top?" she asked, her country accent getting to the best of her.

"Whip cream and if you got any chocolate chips, if you could place that on there, please," I replied.

She smiled a small knowing smile. "You have a Sugar tooth, don't ya?" she asked. There was a light chuckle in her voice.

I nodded my head and looked down. "Yes, Ma'am," I said, feeling my face turn a little red with a light blush. It wasn't my fault that I had a sweet tooth, I had gotten it from my father, and I was sure he had gotten it from his father.

Eve chuckled a bit louder and nodded her head. "I'll be right back with your hot chocolate," she said before she walked away. She didn't say anything else, making it so that I could relax a little.

I sighed in relief and leaned back in my seat. I rubbed my forehead, feeling a slight headache. Man, that was a close one, I thought and relaxed with a grin.

At least I haven't ran into my brother or any other members of my clan, even though I was sure that they had sent someone to try and find me. I bit back a snort and rolled my eyes, annoyed that they would try to look at me, even though I was exiled.

The door bell jangled, making me look up. My eyes widened a little as I saw a male with a dog, or was it a wolf?

The man looked around, his brown eyes having at lost and tired look as if he hadn't been sleeping. I could see black hair sticking out from under his hat and it looked bushy and greasy, as if he hadn't taken a shower.

"Just take a seat, Hun. And has your dog had it's rabies shot?" Eve asked, looking at him before nodding to the seat behind me.

The male nodded his head. "Yes, Ma'am," he said, his voice husky with weariness. "He has had his rabies shot." He cleared his throat and looked around, staying silent. "Do you think that it'll be alright if he had a doggie bowl? I'll pay for it."

"Of course." She nodded her head before fixing the rest of my Hot Chocolate.

I looked down as soon as I heard his footsteps coming towards me. Each footstep brought my heart rate to speed up a little bit.

It can't be. Can it be him? How'd he find me?

The footsteps stopped in front of the table that I was sitting in. I didn't look up at him as I studied the wooden table top. I could see patterns in it, and sometimes they looked like wolves. Other times, they looked like horses and then tigers. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn't care as I tried to see if the table had answers for me. I didn't want to look up.

The person cleared their throat, and finally I looked up.

I stifled a pained gasp as I looked into the brown eyes that I've known all my life.