A Rose Among Thorns

Chapter 1

I sit on my small bed in my small room watching as the world outside begins to wake up. I woke up a few hours ago. I never get much sleep anymore, but I can cope. Once I was awake, I got up and went to wash my face and do my business in the bathroom. Then I got dressed in my long black jeans, with a white collared shirt then slipped on my black runners. Then I grab a clip off my bedside table and put my hair up. Then sat back on my bed to watch the world outside. Its beautiful to just sit and watch as everything gets lighter as the sunrises.

Lily? Are you ready to leave? Maria calls to me. I get up off my bed and walk out to the living room where I see Maria and Steven waiting for me. They are mates. They are the like the sweet old couple next door, always ready to help, always caring, kind of like the grandparents of everyone especially since they couldnt have children of their own.

Maria has shoulder length blonde hair with the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes. She is a little bit shorter than me, but most women are. Despite her old age she is still very health and fit. She is quite a chirpy old lady who always seems to have a smile on her face. Her husband is almost the opposite, he is also almost always smiling but he is a lot calmer than his mate. He has short dark blonde hair with soft blue eyes, and he is a little bit taller than me.

Yes, all ready to go I say with a small smile as we head off to the bakery.

As we walk, I watch as the world around me has a soft orange glow as the sun continues to rise. The place I live in now is a 10-minute walk from the bakery where I work with Maria and Steven.

I have been staying in the beautiful werewolf kingdom for about a year now. I came here looking for a quiet place to lay low for a while. Then one-night Maria found me walking in the forest at the edge of the kingdom. After a few words were exchanged she offered for me to stay with her and her mate for a little while. I stayed the night and to repay them I offered to help in the bakery. After a few more conversations they offered for me to stay and work with them permanently and I agreed.

Nothing much has happened since then. I wake up, get ready for the day, watch the sunrise, then I walk with Maria and Steven to the bakery, work there for the day, go back with them to the cottage. They usually have dinner together at the dining room and I have dinner in my room to give them some privacy. Then when Im sure they are asleep I sneak out to my spot in the forest, within the kingdom boundaries and train until I am tired then go to sleep and repeat.

Once we reach the bakery, we unlock everything and start turning things on. This is my favourite part of the day because we are always the first business to open so it is so quiet and beautiful, and it smells amazing with all the wonderful things that are being made. We always start baking and stuff about an hour and half before opening to others. I tend to stick to working in the back because I dont really like interacting with others but sometimes when the shop is really busy, I do.

As we work Maria puts some instrumental music on and starts chatting away about all sorts of things. After a while, when we have mostly restocked shelves and stuff Steven asks me to open the store. I do so and slowly early risers begin to trickle in. This is the most popular bakery in the kingdom and sometimes we even get some of the higher ups that come down just for a pastry or coffee.

The morning goes along without a hiccup and everything goes as usual. We have our regulars come in with some others. Most of the morning I have been in the back baking away until it got busy and Maria asks me to help out front. I go out and see that it is really busy.

I grab a note pad and pencil and begin helping with orders and serving. I was busy making a coffee for a young mother after handing her her pastry when the bustling sounds of the bakery quietened down. I quickly stopped making the coffee and turned around. Everyone was bowing their heads slightly, so I knew this was one of the people from the higher levels of this hierarchy. I quickly bow my head slightly while keeping my back straight and shoulders back. I maybe below these wolves but I am not weak.