Brimstone Wolf: Moon Called, #2

CHAPTER 1

Cranky vampires did not make good shopping companions. It was just a fact of life.

It would figure the first time her dad let her out of the house to do anything but go to work or school since her abduction a couple of weeks ago, that the stupid car would crap out on her.

Life wasn’t fair.

Attention shoppers. Your Megamart store will be closing in fifteen minutes so our employees can restock for your shopping needs. Remember, together we can beat the Corona Virus. Wash your hands often and keep them away from your face. Please maintain social distancing. Once again, your Megamart store will be closing in fifteen minutes. Thank you.

Steph rolled her eyes and dodged a woman in a blue surgical mask pulling a mountain of toilet paper into the half of her cart that wasn’t occupied by hand sanitizer and bottles of water.

Oh my God, she muttered under her breath, giving the other woman a wide berth.

Trolling the feminine products aisle at the Maddox grocery with her best friend, Hannah, in tow, Steph wondered at the wisdom of texting her for a ride. Her car had overheated, leaving her stranded on the side of the road. Again. She huffed as she stalked past boxes of tampons and giant displays of PMS medication.

Her inner wolf chortled at her, smiling at her cranky antics.

Shut up.

Passing a huge display of Ghirardelli chocolates, she snagged a bag mid stride and kept moving, not even waiting for any snarky comebacks. Her inner furby was good at being mouthy. But where was the cocky canine when she needed to back up her wolfy roots?

Nowhere.

Pfft.

She needed more chocolate before that too became scarce. Like toilet paper and water.

Every day the news scared the crap out of people. Now her school was closed and she had been furloughed temporarily from her job at Moon Called. The only hours she’d been able to get were late night at the bookstore and even that looked like it might change.

Maybe if she was able to shift, she wouldn’t feel as caged as she did now, but being that she couldn’t, well…PMS felt like a constant state of mind these days.

And today had been particularly tough. She wasn’t even sure why. It had felt good to escape the house and head in to work at Moon Called, even if it was just for a few hours.

She’d taken in an old clock and when she went to work with Gabby on unwinding the curse bound inside of its springs and gears, she’d burst into tears.

Are you okay? Her friend laid a hand on her shoulder, her expression one of concern.

Omg. She was actually crying.

At work no less.

She never cried.

Ever.

So, what the hell was this?

Steph was mortified.

Gabby was sort of seeing her brother and a vamp named Viktor. And this was just the kind of thing that would get her busted to twenty-four-hour house arrest by her uber-protective Alpha wolf dad. As if the stay at home order wasn’t bad enough. Now she couldn’t even escape at school.

Panic lurched through her stomach like a flood of butterflies.

You can’t tell Carson.

Steph. Come on. You’re losing it here. Gabby’s eyes were troubled. I mean, we haven’t talked about what happened out there. But seriously, are you okay?

Gabby finished unwinding the curse and set the clock to the side. Tucking some dark hair behind her ear, she cocked her head, waiting for Steph to explain.

But there wasn’t anything to really say. Everything inside of her felt off. It had since she’d woken up standing in the middle of the woods, still wearing the cursed necklace.

It had taken a few days to gather what had happened, at least to everyone else. But for her the necklace had been something better, but also far worse.

Wearing it poked holes into everything she’d come to believe about her life.

She didn’t want to talk about her abduction. Not now. Probably not ever. What she needed was some air. It didn’t help that Gabby's aunt Diana had just pulled her into the office to tell her about the furlough.

I have to go.

Steph…

She bit back a retort and angrily rubbed the tears from her eyes.

Gabby had saved her. Them. Everyone. Whatever. But she still wondered what would have happened if she had been able to stay where she was just a little bit longer. Maybe then it wouldn’t feel like a Band-Aid ripped off a barely healed scab.

Look. I’m sorry. I just need to get some air. She grabbed her purse from under the counter and forced herself to give Gabby a watery smile.

Well, if you need to talk…

Yeah. Maybe later. Thanks. Tell your aunt to let me know when she needs me, okay?

Gabby frowned. I’m sorry, Steph. I didn’t know she was going to do that today. They’re making businesses all over town close. Just call me so I know you’re okay.

Steph swallowed and felt the sting of tears coming again at her friend’s kindness.

She had to get out of there.

Without another word, she took off and headed for her car. It was already getting dark. If she hurried, she could make it to the store like she needed to and be back home before her dad sent out the cavalry to track her down.

But instead of plans working in her favor, her car decided to overheat and the tampon aisle wasn’t going to wait either.

Why did she never, ever catch a freaking break?

And now standing here facing rows of junk food, all she wanted to do was buy a horde of crap, take it home, and binge watch some Netflix while mindlessly stuffing her face.

She mentally thumbed through the money in her purse and sighed. Pay day couldn’t come soon enough, even with two jobs.

Oh. Right. One job. Maybe. If they didn’t cut back and lay her off, too.

Aren’t you done yet? Hannah met her stride for stride, grumbling the whole way.

Give me a second. Jeez.

She marched past a rack of chips and snatched one. Shit. She really needed a basket.

I think your second was over in the candy aisle. Hannah growled. Come all already.

Steph rolled her eyes and kept on walking. Another woman ran past her, juggling boxes of gloves.

Oh, for heaven’s sake.

Her wolf shook out her fur and started licking her paw.

Goddess.

Surrounded on all sides.

It was obviously past the vampire’s dinner time and Hannah was getting more snappish as the night progressed. If she’d had any other option than bugging Hannah on her night off, she would have. Especially when she was about to hit the vampire dinner circuit.

Her brother, Carson, was hanging out with the pack and her other best friend, Sam, was still at work at Moon Called, so no good there. She didn’t even want to ask if she’d got the axe, too.

Gabby and her aunt were hunkering down and no way was she going to bug them. Not after today.

Her dad was home and available for once, but with the way he had been acting lately, no way was she going to ask him.

Nope.

She’d rather drink poison.

Predictably, her phone buzzed.

Dad: Where are you?

Steph sighed.

With Hannah. Be home soon.

That was as in depth as she was going to get. If she told him about the car, he’d drive out here in a panic or send one of the pack members to check on her.

No thank you.

Stay at home order. Don’t forget.

As if she could. It was ruining her life. Last night at the store all people wanted were stacks of puzzles, crosswords, and workbooks. People were totally freaked out that all the schools had been closed. She’d even overheard her dad talking about more businesses shutting down.

It sucked. There were only so many books she could read, or shows she could watch. Even her music streaming got old after awhile.

Hopefully, he hadn’t called the shop and found out she’d left early. She really didn’t want to have to explain.

Every other kid she knew that actually got a car last year got something that at least