WIP Wednesday

In this scene, I switch to the point of view of Leonidas, the future pack alpha, as he begins his search for Alexis. Leo is immature, and a little too secure in his special status as were person and future pack alpha. I'm hoping that, as you read this scene, some of his personality, and his immaturity, begins to surface. It is not my intention to make the reader like Leo, although some may identify with him, rather, I use him to provide a dissenting personality and an element of suspense as he looks for Alexis. Even though I am writing him, I truly don't know what he would (will) do if he actually catches up to Lexi. Would he really kill her? Can he kill her? I'll let you decide that for yourself as the story progresses.

Enjoy.

Gravel crunched under the tires of the car as Leonidas pulled up next to the Ellijay, taxi service garage. Two of the company's three cars sat unused inside the garage, so there was a good chance one of the drivers would remember Alexis if she took a taxi anywhere. It did not take much to come to the conclusion she had taken a taxi somewhere. She didn’t own a car and, as far as Leo knew, she’d left the Subdivision on foot. There weren’t many places to go in Ellijay with only one main street along the river. If Alexis did not leave town in a taxi, she would have to be hiding out somewhere in the vast forest of the Rich Mountain Wilderness. He felt a smile stretching across his face as he thought of her out there among the trees, thinking she was safe from him. If she was in the forest, he would have no problem finding her.

"Hello?" Leonidas yelled into the empty garage, his voice echoing back over the two taxis.

A door opened, Leo assumed was the dispatcher's office, and someone leaned back on a swivel chair through the small opening.

"In here," the man in the chair said, and then wheeled back out of view.

Two drivers and the dispatcher were sitting at a round table playing cards. The three men sat there, looking at Leonidas. They looked at him like he had interrupted the final seconds of the Superbowl.

Finally, one of them said, "Slow today."

Leo took that as his queue to ask them about yesterday's fares. That's the good thing about living in such a small town, Leo thought. Only one taxi company, and only four employees. They would remember every fare.

"Any of you pick up a young woman yesterday, early twenties, short dark hair, and dark eyes, just a little heavy-set?"

The three of them looked at each other, then back to Leo. Finally, one of them spoke up.

"You mean, Alexis? Alexis Califan? Naw, we didn't take the fare." The driver turned back to face the other two men around the table as if the conversation had ended.

"You mind telling me, then, how you know her name if you didn't see her?" Leo thought about how easy it would be to rip all of them to shreds. He’d always wondered how his entire pack managed to live amongst these fully human townsfolk without killing them off or converting them.

"We didn't take her, but Joey McGowan did. He's out on a call right now, but that's all he talked about this morning."

"Any chance you know where he took her?" Leo asked.

"Oh yeah, of course," the driver said. "He picked her up at the stand on main street yesterday, early afternoon. I think he drove her all the way to Dalton. Greyhound station, I think. I know he was pretty excited, she gave him a forty dollar tip on a ninety dollar fare."

"Thanks," Leo said, genuinely pleased at himself for sparing their lives. "And tell Joey I said hey. We knew each other in high school."

The three men had already turned in their seats and continued their card game. He got into his car and pointed it West, down main street. Next stop, Dalton, Georgia. With luck, he'd be at the Greyhound station within an hour, and then he would know where Lexi was going, or thought she was going. Wherever she went, he would track her down and bring her back. Whether he was going to bring her back in his car, or a plastic bag, he had not yet decided.

I hope you enjoyed this small excerpt. As always, comments are welcome. Keep in mind that this is a draft and likely to see numerous changes by the last re-write, so, fret not that you will read these little excerpts and have nothing left with this story is complete.