Forsaken (Book One)

Chapter One

"They're at it again."

I glanced up as Jodie slipped behind the bar with a black tray of empty glasses, she started loading up the dishwasher and jerked her head towards something behind me. She was young, and despite the fact that she resembled a doll with her wide, blue eyes, long lashes, and chubby cheeks – she had a bitter attitude. She was dressed in the same uniform as me, bottle green polo and black trousers, although her jeans had rips in the knee. I wasn't sure it was a fashion thing either, I genuinely think she had just fallen over. Jodie was a clumsy little thing.

I followed her gaze, although I already knew who she was talking about. The group had been getting rowdier by the minute, their volume level had been rising steadily for the best part of an hour. They whooped and laughed, high-fiving each other like it was the best goddamn thing in the world. They downed their pints like they were men caught in a desert, cheering each other on like they were away at fresher's week. They drunk so much simply because human alcohol did nothing for them, their own stuff was a hell of a lot stronger, but Kev the landlord had stopped stocking it so they drank the house dry. I didn't overly mind, the local werewolves made up the highest percentage of income for the pub; maybe that was Kev's plan all along.

As part of the town's council, my Dad worked closely with the wolves, because of that both my Mum and I needed to know all about the supernatural side of our little town. My parents made sure that from a very young age I knew how to recognise werewolves, and which ones were dominant. The stronger the wolf, the more dangerous they were. It was easy to tell them apart from humans, they walked differently. They moved with confidence and a lot more grace than they should. And although they came in all shapes of sizes, the werewolves all shared the same basic characteristics, they were stronger with lean muscles, fit for fighting.

And boy did they like to fight, more often than not they liked to scrap, and I always ended up being the one to tell them to take it outside. Most humans were nervous around them, something about their instincts told them to stay away from what they didn't understand. I didn't have that reaction so much, maybe it was because I knew what was different about them, or maybe it was because my best friend was a werewolf and he was the biggest idiot I had ever met. I couldn't even imagine him being dangerous.

Alec stood with the other wolves, leaning against the wall with a pint in his hand. He had always been good-looking, from a baby-faced teen to a handsome man. He had ink black hair that almost looked blue in some lights, and a rich olive skin tone, he had the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen – something he had gotten from his Mum. I had expected him to have some sort of respect for my place of work, but they were pack animals and enjoyed nothing more than fun and games. He laughed, egging on the others as they played darts. Only as I watched them, I caught a glimpse of something shiny and my stomach twisted. The wolves had grown bored of the traditional darts that we provided and instead had taken to throwing cutlery at the board.

Again.

They had ruined one dart board already this month, I was just thankful that they had good aim and never hit the walls.

I blew out a breath, rolling my eyes at Jodie. We were going to have to start keeping the cutlery behind the bar. "I'll sort it."

Any other person would be nervous, I was a five-foot girl about to lecture a bunch of six-foot werewolves, but I had told them off enough times that it was an odd day when I didn't. I tried to catch their attention, my voice suffocated by their obnoxious chatter. I knew they could hear me, werewolves had good hearing and I was standing right in front of them. They were just being rude. Irritated, I put my thumb and finger in my mouth and did the loudest whistle I could manage. Another way to spot a werewolf, make a sudden loud noise and see who covers their ears.