The woman guided me to a closed off booth which was furtherest away from the customers.
"I should apologise about before. I shouldn't of snapped, it's just a mechanism when I get caught off guard..." I felt myself shrink in front of her. I never really apologised before about my actions.
"Don't apologise I totally get it. Would you like a drink?" She handed me a folded up sheet of paper. I looked confused at first but then read some of the words I knew.
"It's a menu. The drinks are on the last page." She pointed and I flipped it over.
"Thanks." I replied in slight embarrassment.
"I'm thinking of ordering my usual strawberry milkshake with lots of cream, cherries and sprinkles." She must of been talking to herself as her head was still attached to the menu.
"What are you getting?" She lifted her head from the menu and questioned.
"Erm... I have no idea."
"How about you get the same as me and tell me what you think? Wait... are you allergic to anything?"
"Nope. Although fungi makes me gassy and have breakouts." She chuckled to herself after I told her.
"Thanks for sharing. I'll keep that in mind. Strictly no fungi diet from now on." A waiter passed and Fern ordered our drinks.
"So tell me, what's it like being a new wolf in a new territory?" Fern gazed at me. Intrigued about what my answer would be. However, I simply blurted out,
"H-how do you know? I'm-"
"Cause I'm a wolf too silly." That was impossible I would've been able to sense her wolf by now.
"I know what you're thinking. You would of already smelt me, however, I've got a potion on me. Well, necklace laced with a witches spell to protect me." She showed me her necklace. It was indeed nothing I have ever seen before, witches were still new to me. The necklace was beautiful. It was oval shaped and inside was a carved wolf made all out of wood.
"It's gorgeous." I complimented, after all I was in her territory.
"It really is, my grandmother passed it down to my mom and now me. It wasn't until a couple of years ago I got it laced with the witches magic."
"Why do you want to keep your wolf a secret?" I whispered, now I was the one intrigued by her answer.
Before she told me, our drinks arrived.
"Thank you. I'll pay before I leave Amanda." She gave the woman a smile and a wink.
"As I was saying..." Fern continued as the woman walked away.
"This town. Somethings coming for it. And everyone in it. I know we've just met but I thought I'd warn you. Wolves will be the main target when this thing gets here. You seem lovely and I don't want you getting wrapped up in the wrong kind of people."
I wish she was joking, however, her cold glare didn't break eye contact with mine. Her stare made me feel things I have never felt before.
The feeling of a weight carrying on your shoulders and no matter how hard you try and get these weights off, you sink lower and lower.
The hairs on my neck stood up but I soon shuck off this feeling.
"So I need to protect myself?" I asked.
"Yes. If you want to keep up safe then please. Don't do anything reckless. There are other wolves and supernatural beings living here. Who have made Hollow Bay their home for generations. We welcome you to our town as long a you don't do anything that puts our lives at risk. Do you understand?" Her glare was still unbreakable. I felt in a trance as she shared this.
"Yes I understand but no one can tame me. If I believe someone is doing something I don't agree with, I won't hesitate to harm them if needs be." I returned her glare. I wasn't giving in nor do I take orders from a girl I never met before. I respected that it was her town but she doesn't own me.
"I respect you standing up for yourself however, learn control. You're going to need it to survive; particularly in the human world." She finished her milkshake and placed her currency on the table and disappeared out of the diner.
I tried to process everything I just heard. Something evil coming to this town. How I had to protect myself. To survive I need to learn control. I applauded myself for keeping cool for once, if that happened in Arizona and I was threatened, I'd have their heads in seconds.
But this isn't Arizona anymore.