Chapter 5: No Food

Helina and Chase arrived home, but before they parted in the hallway Chase turned to Helina. “I’ll be going out tonight. My housekeeper is sick so she hasn’t shopped, but you are welcome to anything in the fridge.”

“Okay, thanks.”

She had no idea what was in the refrigerator, but she’d figure it out. She’d been on her own for years now and could cook for herself. She unlocked her apartment door, exhausted and her head spinning. Chase had given her a bundle of instructions and she didn’t know what a lot of them meant.

She sat down on the bed and took off her shoes. She would need to wash some clothes tonight also. What an exciting time she was going to have. Chase was going out and since he hadn’t included her, it wasn’t any of her business. Jealousy streaked through her.

“He’s your boss.”

She had to remember that. As hot as the man was, she couldn’t sleep with him.

She changed into more comfortable clothing and made her way to the kitchen. Chase was there, having a drink of some amber liquid. He had on a suit, but not the one he wore to work that day.

“Sorry. I thought you’d be gone by now,” Helina said.

He leaned against the counter his tie resting on his shoulders, not tied yet. “I’m putting it off.”

“Oh?”

“I have to go to a gala. With a date. A woman who is a challenge and that’s being kind.”

“Why did you agree to go if you don't want to be with her?”

He grimaced. “It was a moment of weakness. She wore me down. She has her sights on being Mrs. Chase Landford.”

“You aren’t interested in that plan.”

He laughed. “No. Not at all. I’d rather have a root canal.”

“Beg off sick,” Helina said.

She shouldn’t get involved. She had an ulterior motive. If Chase was home, she wouldn’t be home alone. The idea of being by herself and had never bothered her, but she did like being with Chase.

“No, I can’t lie like that.”

“I can and I am your assistant.”

He smiled and then sipped his drink. “Thanks, Helina, but that isn’t part of your job description. I’m a grownup and have to deal with my own problems myself. I wouldn’t want to put you in that kind of position to lie for me. Thank you anyway.”

He set his now-empty glass in the sink.

“You’re welcome.”

He seemed to steel himself. “Okay. I probably won’t be late because, well, I don’t want to spend any more time with this person than I have to. Then again, you’ll be in bed. You look exhausted.”

She laughed. “It was a big day.”

“Get some sleep, Helina. Tomorrow will be another one.”

He left her in the kitchen. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of him that was left. Goodness, he was sexy even when he was complaining. She shook herself. There was nothing to be gained by torturing herself. She’d have to leave him at some point and go back to the woods. She didn’t like being in the human world, but she needed to hide until she could figure out what she was going to do with the knowledge that Kurt had killed a human.

Since she didn’t know what her options were, this adventure might take longer than she expected.

Brushing off the tingling and arousal that Chase caused, Helina searched in the refrigerator. It wasn’t much of a search because there were three items. Chase had asked her what she liked, but since his housekeeper hadn’t shopped there was no meat.

Helina sighed, closing the door. What was she going to eat? She could eat vegetables, but she didn’t exactly like them. Fruit would be better since she normally ate some berries, but there was none of that to be found.

The cupboard was bare.

Frowning at the closed refrigerator, she wondered what were her options. She didn’t have a credit card to get anything delivered. She had no cash.

Her stomach rumbled. “Yeah, I know. I’m figuring this out.”

She walked back to her apartment and stared out the tall windows. It had taken her a few hours to get used to the height, but she was okay with it now. When she looked down, she noticed a green area. Was that a park? Across the street?

Her heart leaped in her chest. If there were trees, there might be squirrels and rabbits. They weren’t her favorite, but she would eat them. Her stomach rumbled again. “I’ve got a solution.”

Then she paused. She knew that any clothing she had in the forest would disappear when she shifted. She didn’t know if that was true for human clothing.

She bit her lip deciding what to do. She could shift now and see. Chase wasn’t here and he’d never figure it out. She’d have to make sure she didn’t shed any hair on the carpet, not that he’d be in here. His housekeeper might say something.

She stepped back from the window and shifted. To her, it felt like she was freeing her soul. Being in human form could be exhausting.

She padded over to the mirror and she saw that she was a wolf. Her human clothing had disappeared. She shifted back and her human clothing was there again. Despite not understanding how it worked, she wasn’t going to question her good fortune.

With her key in her pocket, she rode the elevator down the lobby. The doorman eyed her. “You might want to stay in tonight, Miss. The streets are no place for a woman alone.”

“Isn’t this a nice area?”

“Yes, but that park down the block is full of drug dealers. The cops turn a blind eye as long as they don’t bother anyone outside of the park.”

“Thanks,” she said, but the park was where she was headed.

She looked around before she entered the park, but no one was paying attention to her. She searched for the best place to shift and found a copse of trees. When she entered it two people were rolling around the ground together, not clothed. Yikes.

She stepped back onto the path before they saw her.

The next set of trees didn’t offer much protection, but it was dark, and humans couldn’t see that well in the dark.

That spot couldn’t happen either. Two men were fighting there. What a crazy place this city was.

She walked along the path knowing she was much more vulnerable as a human and at the same time smelling the small animals she could possibly eat.

She reached the other end of the park, but before she could exit, a man stepped in front of her. She could tell by his stance that he thought she couldn’t see him. She stopped a foot from him.

“Get out of my way,” she said.

She didn’t want to shift or engage this man. She wanted to go home at this point. There was no safe place to shift and she doubted that she had wolf strength in her human form.

“What is a lady doing here? You looking for trouble?”

She stepped into his personal space and shoved him. “No, but you are.”

His body slammed into a tree and he slid down it to sit on the ground. She did have a wolf’s strength in human form. Why didn’t she know that?

She strolled out of the park safe, but still hungry.