Page 4 of Forsaken By Fate
As I’m thinking this, my own vehicle sputters and loses momentum, the gas light screaming in protest.
Dumbfounded, I gape at the glaring red button in dismay. “No!” I gasp aloud. “No! No! No!”
The dial was well below empty. In my haste to leave Oklahoma City, I’d neglected to fill up the tank. I’m lucky I’d gotten this far.
Or am I? Where the hell am I now?
I manage to steer the car off the road toward the shoulder, my hands curling around the wheel in frustration. “Why!” I moan, staring up at the roof. “Can’t you just cut me one break?”
I catch sight of my flushed cheeks in the rearview mirror, the mossy green of my eyes glinting in the haze of the moon. Sucking air between my teeth, I sit back and ponder my next move. There’s no gas can in the car. I’ll have to call for help or go looking.
Reaching for my charging cell phone, I exit the car and look around, glancing down at the phone. The screen is completely dead.
Frowning, I power it on. I swear it was working a minute ago. There’s no juice in it, despite the fact it was charging in the car.
Confused, I look down the highway and back up the way I was traveling before I ran out of gas. To my utter disbelief, I see lights ahead, a town. I’m sure I hadn’t seen it a minute ago.
“Oh my gods!” I breathe, relief overwhelming me. I’m not totally screwed!
Grabbing my purse, I slam the car door and hurry forward, my heart beating erratically. Anxiety overtakes me, and I pause as I approach the signage off the highway.
Oak Hollow
It offers nothing else. No population or welcome. Simply the name of the town.
Uneasily, I slow down hesitantly, looking toward the exit on my right. A bright diner sits open, attached to a gas station. It’s exactly what I need, but something is holding me back. Craning my neck, I look for people inside, but my angle isn’t the best.
It’s pre-dawn. I doubt there are many people in there right now.
I can’t shake the feeling that something is off.
I don’t belong here… do I?
Uncertainty plagues me as I look back at my yellow car, sitting alone a half mile down the road. I don’t have much of a choice at this point but to go get the gas. Whatever is unsettling me isn’t clear in the dim light.
Gulping, I trudge onward, my senses on the highest level of alert, my doe eyes darting back and forth, my nose sniffing for predators.
A bird caws directly overhead as I step onto the gas station platform. My head swivels upward, and my gaze takes in a majestic falcon, his black wings spread so wide, he overtakes both lights of the service station. I freeze in my tracks as a low growl emanates to my left.
Warning lights flash in my brain, but it’s too late now. I should have listened to my instincts two minutes ago.
Fear freezes me, my irises darting first to the left, but then my peripheral vision takes in the swish of movement.
A damn dragon’s tail!
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what I’ve just stumbled into—the Golden brothers’ territory. I’m in the Texas Apex Alphas’ territory.
Faintness rocks me, and before I know what’s happening, I shift too, my clothes shredding off my body as my deer form breaks free.
Sturdy but trembling legs burst out of my blue jeans, my proud, tawny chest jutting through the white of my tank top. My hooves hit the ground as my mind screams at me to run. It’s my only line of defense.
The gray wolf releases another growl as I sprint away, the noise curdling my blood as the dragon spits fire directly in my path, and the falcon’s cry is directly in my ear now.
My legs give out as the world gives out to black around me. So much for a fresh new chapter in my life.
This is it. This is the end for me.
Chapter 2