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Chapter Fifteen
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Elsie
I spent a few hours hiding away in Shirley and Carl's compartment. Shirley was two years older than me, and she was my best friend. She was loud, confident, saucy, sassy, and demanding. Past her rigid exterior, she was the most maternal person I knew.
Shirley was the one who found me half-dead on the bank of a river. She was the one who convinced Jules to take me in. He couldn't see my face behind the bruises, blood, and mud. Shirley was the one who cleaned me up and helped me adjust to my new life without my mate.
Once upon a time, Shirley was the daughter of an Alpha, but now she was rogue just like me. Ironically both of us were rogues because of love. I was a rogue because of Clyde, and Shirley was a rogue because of Carl.
Carl was just an average human who liked to play with fire...in more ways than one. One day he accidentally wandered onto Shirley's pack's territory. He was captured and would be slaughtered in front of the whole pack at dawn.
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Oliver"How long has he been out?""I think about an hour.""What are you going to do when he wakes up?""I have no idea.""Better figure it out.""I know."Voices slowly started to register with me. Where was I? I was on something soft, but how did I get here?I focused on the last thing I remembered. What was I doing? I was in Jules's car...but why was I there? Elsie...Elsie was there. I felt the fear and confusion burrow in the pit of my stomach.Without thinking, I groaned and opened my eyelids. I wasn't in Jules's car anymore, that was for sure. I wasn't sure where I was, though. I was about to sit up when I heard a voice."Better think quick, Elsie; he's awake." A familiar voice spoke, but I couldn't place who it was.I turned off of my side as I sat up and locked eyes with Elsie. As soon as I saw those hypnotic eyes, the memory came flooding back to me. She had turned into a wolf. I scrambled backwar
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Elsie "So, Oliver is the one who found it?" I sighed as I shrugged my robe onto my shoulders. It was bound to happen, but why so soon? "That's what Carl said. It's a shame it had to be him who found it." Shirley leaned over my small vanity in my compartment and reapplied her lipstick. "At least it wasn't his blood, though." "Yeah, at least it wasn't him." I sighed as I fell backward onto my bed. "Who was it?" "A townee." "Of course it was." "You know that means we will be leaving as soon as possible, so if you want to get any fresh air, I say do it sooner rather than later." Shirley walked to the door, letting her hand fell to the frame as she looked at me. "I might." "I think you should. Maybe even check on Oliver." Shirley winked before shutting my door with a snap. I lay in silence for a few minutes. Why did this always have to happen? Why couldn't we just not have this lingering over us? Could we never escap
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Elsie The evening had faded into deep velvet darkness with only flakes of light from the stars and moon. I sighed as I pulled the curtain down over my window and glanced over to the little bit of floor space between my bed and door. Oliver was passed out with drool dripping down his chin. This passed-out human was my babysitter. I rolled onto my stomach and buried my face in my quilt. I was trying to figure out what had happened tonight. When I checked my rig, it was safe. I never forget to check it even when we have back-to-back shows. There was no damage to the fabric; not even one thread had been frayed. My mind was wandering to the worst-case scenario. Did someone sabotage me? Who would do that, though? The only person who really disliked me that I was aware of was
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OliverNelson dropped me off on the edge of town closest to Cirque du Lune’s setup but far enough away where no one would catch a whiff of his scent. As I went to slam the door shut behind me, Nelson cleared his throat.“Yeah?” I ducked my head down as I looked back into the car at him.“If I were you, kid, I would get the hell away from those rogues; the sooner, the better.” Nelson’s voice was gruff; the way he talked about the circus and the rogues was like someone had squeezed lemon juice in a cut in my mouth.“Isn’t your future Luna one of those rogues?” I glared at that sad excuse of a man. “Have a nice evening Nelson.”I slammed the car door and started towards the soft glow on the lights, beaconing me home to the circus. I was tense until I heard the roar of the automobile rumble away. Only when I was sure he was gone did the tension in my body leave.No matter how long I wa
