Wolf #1: The Pack [COMPLETED]

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Here is all for have on the town's history. Are you doing this for a school project?" The town's only librarian, Anne-Marie, sets three books beside me.

I've been looking through a book of medicinal plants but isn't getting much with it. Nothing stands out to me—I've been studying and using plants since I was a kid and know everything herbology had to offer. There's something I'm missing. Stephanie may have been reading about herbology, but that notebook is about something else.

"It's research," I smile as I open up one of the books. It's a registry of the town's founding families, and a list of the stores that have been opened since then. The only ones that still remain are the post office and the corner pub in the center square, Barnaby's.

"Well, you know where to find me if you need any help. Give Dorothy my regards when you see her next? I haven't been going to our monthly bridge meetings the past couple times."

She's walking away when I call her back, "Annie—actually, do you have anything on the forest surrounding us?"

"You're going to have to be more specific than that, dear."

"There are families that live there...would they be part of the census?"

She comes back to my table and considers the books in front of us, "I'm not sure...perhaps they would have been but those roads were so treacherous back in the day that if their families had settled here way back when then they probably hadn't bothered coming to town more than once a couple months."

"Where could I find information on those families—if there is any?"

"It's quiet today, dear. I'll see what I can find. You read those because you won't be allowed to check them out—historical society rules and whatnot," She runs a hand along my hair but pauses, "Amelia, what happened to you? You're all banged up."

"I got attacked by a wol---dog," My smile is tight, and I hope she hasn't caught my blunder.

She tuts, "These people! It's like the animal kingdom in this town—no one knows how to keep their animals tame. Or themselves, I should add. Just the other day, Scott Markson was caught the other day with Mary Walcott in a back-alley! Ridiculous. And then there's been a fight club starting among the high schoolers—which is why I asked what happened to you, I thought perhaps you were a part of it. The Florence Police have already questioned one girl—Natalia...Belliveau something. It was an odd name, but it'll come to me eventually."

She leaves me to page through the censuses. I don't find anything by the name of Alvaro, which means that either Jace's family haven't lived here for so long—or they are on another census. I can't find anything on Young-Jae's family or Detective Abel's. I wish now that I had caught Rachel's last name.

I stare at the notes I have jotted down in my notebook. From everything about Steph to Jace and the attack by the wolfman, it's all there. I've even started recording all the weird dreams I'm having, and keep tally of the massive wolves I've come across. Looking at it now, I cringe by how crazy it all appears. After all, nothing connects any of them together. But I know they are all related—they have to be.

"Someone's here."

It's a whisper barely louder than a soft breeze, but it sends chills down my spine. I close the notebook and turn around, but there's no one near me. My hands are ice to the touch and I rub them together. Anyone could—and would—have shrugged it off as paranoia, and I haven't slept since the attack last night. But just as I begin to shake off the incident, Rachel rounds the corner.

She spots me immediately, as if she knows exactly where I am before she even lay eyes on me. She's in front of me in an instant, hands on my shoulders and her eyes wide open.