Juniper sat tucked away in a shadowed corner of a modest local restaurant, the flickering glow of a single candle on a small Christmas cake illuminating her tired features.
This mont was a bittersweet mory of her childhood. Ever since she had been adopted, her mother would buy a cake of Juniper’s choosing as the very first act of every Christmas morning.
They would blow out the candle together, a silent pact of love and belonging. Since her mother’s passing, that warmth had been replaced by a solitude; Juniper had continued the tradition alone despite having her father and brothers until Dominick had entered her life.
For a brief ti, she had truly believed that every Christmas from then on would be spent by his side. But her own greed had acted like a poison, eroding the foundation of everything they had built.
By the ti the haze of her ambition had cleared and she realized what she was losing, it was already too late.
Juniper brought her hands to her cheeks, her elbows resting on the table.
’I shouldn’t be thinking about him anymore. Because he doesn’t do the sa. He hates for who I beca.’
Juniper picked up the silver spoon, taking a small, chanical bite of the cake. She tried to force a smile, a habit from happier years, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. Setting the fork down, she looked around the hollow space of the restaurant. It was hauntingly quiet; the tables were empty, as everyone else was tucked away in the warmth of their hos, sharing laughter and stories.
"Miss, I’m sorry, but we’re closing for the night," a gentle, apologetic voice drifted from behind her.
Without a word, Juniper reached into her purse, pulled out a large bill, and pressed it onto the wooden table. She stood and walked out into the biting air before the owner could even process the amount. He hurried to the door, calling after her to give her the change, but she had already disappeared.
She trudged along the snow-covered pavent, her breath hitching in the frost. Everywhere she looked, the world was glowing, friends clinking glasses through frosted windows, families huddled together, and couples walking hand-in-hand.
’I was ant to be alone from the beginning,’ she thought.
Her boots ca to a halt when she spotted a small boy on a street corner, performing desperate stunts for the few passersby who bothered to look. His face was a map of red, bruised by the cold, yet he kept moving, his eyes searching for a kindness that rarely ca.
Juniper’s gaze drifted past him to a tattered bundle tucked inside a makeshift tent nearby. A baby lay there, shivering against the winter air.
At that sight, her eyes brimd with hot tears as an ache pierced her chest. She wasn’t just looking at a stranger; she was looking at her own reflection. She must have been discarded by her own blood like this, realized that despite the palace and the riches she once chased, abandonnt was the only thing that had ever truly belonged to her.
Wiping the fresh sting of tears from her eyes, she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope, the last of the cash she had intended to spend on a lavish holiday. She dropped it into the boy’s weathered hat with a silent prayer that it might buy him the security she had so desperately chased.
Behind her, the boy stopped his performance. His trembling hands reached into the hat, expecting a few ager coins, but instead, his fingers brushed against the edges of high-denomination bills. A wide, disbelieving smile broke across his wind-chapped face. "Thank you," he whispered to the empty air, clutching the envelope to his chest before sprinting toward the makeshift tent.
He hoisted his baby sister onto his back, wrapping her tightly against his threadbare coat. He didn’t stay to see if anyone was watching; he simply ran as he headed toward the skeletal remains of a shabby house after buying a few stuffs for them.
Juniper, anwhile, kept her head down, walking slowly until she realized she had entered an isolated alley. She looked around herself and sensed the presence of a few people. Turning around, she halted seeing four creepy n.
Clenching her fists, she scanned her surroundings for an exit. Seeing a narrow passage to her left, she bolted. She cast her purse aside as she reached a towering dead-end wall, she shifted.
The n skidded to a halt, their sinister laughter echoing off the brick. "An Alpha she-wolf!" one sneered.
Three of them shifted into mangy, aggressive forms, while the fourth scrambled for her discarded purse. With a guttural snarl, Juniper’s wolf lunged, her powerful jaws snapping shut as she threw the thief through the air like a rag doll. She spun just in ti to catch the next attacker, her Alpha strength allowing her to shove him back with a punishing force.
However, the tide quickly turned. Fighting three coordinated wolves in such a cramped space began to sap her energy. As she lunged at the one in front of her, a third wolf struck from the shadows behind.
His teeth sank into her hind leg, tearing through muscle. Juniper’s wolf let out a pained whimper as her leg buckled, sending her crashing onto the frozen pavent.
The two remaining wolves began to close in, their eyes gleaming with victory. Her wolf watched through blurred vision as they prepared for the final strike, until a sudden, massive shadow flickered across the wall. An enigmatic wolf, larger and more formidable than her attackers, tore into the alley with a loud roar.
As the sound of snarling, Juniper’s strength finally failed. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she slipped into the cold embrace of unconsciousness.
When her eyes opened, she heard beeping sound.
"Are you alright, Miss?" Juniper heard a masculine voice. "Just stay laid. You are supposed to rest for tonight in the hospital."
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