Page 160 of His Hungry Wolf

I guess it was possible that he had escaped as the beast had entered. Maybe his room was open because he hadn’t had enough time to lock the door behind him. But, if he did get out, why hadn’t he taken the truck?

I stood within the mountain of junk until I relented and sat on the bed. My mind swirled considering everything. Nothing made sense.

What was I going to do next? I couldn’t leave without the keys to my father’s truck. And I hadn’t seen them on the counter where he usually left it. Maybe he took them with him when he left. But, if he did, why hadn’t he driven away?

Without the keys, the only thing I could think to do was the only thing I ever thought of doing. I had to contact Quin. Maybe he could explain what this was, or how something like this could exist. Maybe he could tell me what happened to my father.

My father could still be here somewhere. Hell, that could be him lying out there. That was the obvious conclusion, right? If anything was possible, than why not that my father was some type of dragon shifter? And, if that was what he was, what was I?

I pulled out my phone and stared at it.

‘I’m not sure why I haven’t heard from you, but I really need to talk to you,’ I texted hoping beyond hope that Quin would finally text me back.

He didn’t. Not that day or the next.

With nowhere else to go that first night, I spent it barricaded in my room sleeping on the furthest corner of the floor. Though, “sleeping” wouldn’t describe what I did. It was mostly tossing and turning while I thought about Quin and the monster laying on the other side of the door.

When I left my room the next morning, I found that the dragon hadn’t moved an inch. It was either dead or slept in a comatose state. Either way, I needed to get something to eat and it was lying in between me and the fridge.

On that first day, I snuck around the place as if it could rouse at any moment. When it didn’t, I slowly began thinking of it as an oversized piece of furniture.

Eventually I went hunting for my father’s truck’s keys. What I found disturbed me more than I could image. Under its hefty torso, I discovered the edge of my father’s favorite shirt. Either he was dead underneath the beast or I was looking at my father. How? I didn’t understand.

Between my heartbreak over Quin’s disappearance and the mystery in front of me, I spiraled into darkness. Days earlier I had everything and a girl I loved. I had lost it all and now staring at something that shouldn’t exist, I was barely holding onto my sanity.

I probably would have wallowed in despair forever if it wasn’t for one thing, hunger. I had no money to buy anything so the only thing I could eat was what was in the cupboards. That lasted me a week and a half before it ran out.

Luckily spring semester was about to start. I couldn’t lose my scholarship in the middle of a school year even with an injury. And with my scholarship came meal stipends.

As crazy as it was that I still had this thing petrified in my living room, I had to think about survival. I would be fine as long as I attended classes and found a job. Both things meant that I would need to reengage in life. I wasn’t ready to do that, but what I was ready for didn’t matter. I needed to eat.

“Dan, could you give me a ride? I need to get back to campus to pick up my truck,” I said calling him instead of sending a text.

“Of course, man. Anything you need. Just let me know.”

It was good to hear someone else’s voice. I was going crazy living with that thing. I had been hesitant to do it, but talking to Dan reminded me that there was still a world where things were normal.

“Did you register for class yet?” He asked me on the long ride to campus.

“Not yet.”

“You gotta get on that.”

“I know. Which reminds me, do you know of any campus jobs I could get? I’m a little short on cash.”

“Of course. There’s an opening where I work. I could get you a job there no problem. And you don’t even have to stand up to do it.”

As hesitant as I was to call Dan, I left his car with a new lease on life. Transferring over to my truck, I reminded myself how lucky I was that I had broken my left leg instead of my right. Driving wouldn’t be fun, but at least it was possible.

From the stadium parking lot, I followed Dan to the student activity center. There we met with his boss. There was an opening for a job behind the front desk like Dan had said. Being a fan of football, the manager gave me the job on the spot.

“When would you like to start?” He asked me.

“Is tomorrow too soon?”

“No. That would be perfect.”

“How quickly can I get paid? I’m going to need gas money to get here.”