Hearthway Hollow

Anna: Part Two

Female Werewolf x Male Reader

I've been in Hearthway Hollow for a little over six months now. I've never stayed somewhere so long before, especially on my own. Yeah, it hasn't been all smooth sailings. My boss, Big Billy, hasn't exactly been easy for me, especially after he learned I had gone through the courtship ritual with his nephew.

Actually, after all that had happened, I had expected the worse from it. I had expected the main members of the pack to be angry or even reject me. Instead, Adam, the leader of the entire town, gave me a hug. It was strange, I had been in a lot of fights and seen a lot of angry alphas, but Adam was different. He accepted me in and welcomed me as one of their own.

"I just feel bad you have to be related to Billy now," Mrs. Locklear teased.

"Hey," Billy growls. "I take care of my family! I may not like this for my nephew but I have no choice to accept this scrappy stray."

Big Billy was gruff and grumpy, but he was true to his word. He was good to people and the people in his family, even a stray like me

I had promised to wait for Arlen when he went off to school. We talked every day, I had even saved up to get a decent cell phone so we could text, swap pictures, and junk like that. It was strange not having him around, I felt lost and needy. I just wanted to see him and be with him.

I spent a lot of time with Billy's daughter, Tara, and her husband, Jack. They just recently had a baby, a little girl named Billie after her father. Jack wasn't exactly accepted into the family at first either. He had a hard time earning Billy's trust and making himself part of the pack.

I'm holding baby Billie one day while Jack has gone out to get pizza for everyone else. Tara looks exhausted but blissful. Baby Billie is a small, gray wolf pup at the moment, her tiny paws and nose are a bright pink, which was odd considering wolf noses were usually black.

"How's Arlen?" Tara asks.

My cheeks instantly start to burn and I can't help but blush when I look at her. "He's ok," I murmur. "Just busy is all. He's got all his major tests coming up."

"I'm guessing he'll be coming home after it's all done," Tara says with a smile. "Do you two have any big plans?"

I pout a little bit. "No," you reply. "We haven't really talked about what will happen when he gets back, just that we're excited." I huff and shake my head. "I've been too afraid to push any plans or expectations on him, he's been so worried about these tests and everything else."

"That's sweet of you to worry, but if you make the plans it may give him something that'll take his mind off the stressful things," Tara replies. "He's always been like that since we were little. Such a worrywart."

"I've never even been in a situation like this," I grumble. "I don't even know what we would plan. I'm so used to being alone and doing whatever I want. I'm not sure how to act around someone else, especially someone I feel like I need."

Tara chuckles and takes Billie from me. She rocks her a little then takes her and tucks her into her crib. When she comes back she sits down and sighs. "Jack was like that too. In fact, he hated the whole courtship ritual idea." She shrugs. "When you find the right one, it changes you, it brings out this strange creature inside you. You start to think and act differently, but it isn't always bad. Listen to yourself and what you want with Arlen. What do you hear?"

I sit back for a moment, wondering how much I had changed since coming to this town. Too much probably, but then again I can't complain about anything. I have a job, a roof over my head, and I'm in love. These were all foreign concepts to me even a year ago.