WAN JIA POV
"Curse Ding Min and all his fucking ancestors," I muttered as I was on my way to deliver a burger and fries to a customer who lived in the creepiest house in town. It was an old, dilapidated building that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment. The paint was peeling off the walls, the windows were broken, and the garden was overgrown with weeds. I shuddered at the thought of going inside.
"Do Uber Eats he said, it'll be fun, he said," I grumbled.
Ghouls and ghosts weren't common around these parts, but most people knew Duan Ning, the owner of the house, to be particularly prickly in the morning. That old goat would sooner bite me than speak to me, even if I was delivering his lunch. But I needed the money, so I took a deep breath and walked up to the door.
I tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. I pushed harder, but it still wouldn't move. Just as I was about to give up, I realized the door was already open. "Great," I muttered to myself, "this just keeps getting better and better."
I walked inside, trying not to make a sound. The floorboards creaked under my feet, and the air was musty and stale. It was so dark inside that I could barely see anything, but I kept walking anyway.
Then, just as I was getting used to the darkness, I tripped on a shard of wood and fell forward. I put out my hand to break my fall, and that's when I felt a sharp pain in my arm. What the fuck? Who has wooden shards just lying around? Does this person have a death wish?
I looked down and saw that I had cut myself on the wood. Fucker. The wound stung and I growled softly as I tried to stop the bleeding, I noticed that my blood was dripping onto what seemed to be a coffin. Suddenly, the coffin started to shake, and I heard a low, ominous growl coming from inside.
Before I could even react, the lid of the coffin burst open, and a man with an ugly beard, red eyes, and an oppressive aura burst out. He looked like he hadn't seen the light of day in years, and he smelled like something had died inside his mouth.
"Here take it! Uber isn't worth the drama anyway!" I threw the food at him, hoping to distract him while I turned and ran for my life, my heart pounding in my chest. I could hear the man's heavy footsteps behind me, and I knew that he was getting closer with every passing second. I didn't look back, but I could feel his hot breath on my neck.
I ran out of the house and into the street, where I collapsed on the sidewalk, gasping for air. I looked back at the house, and to my horror, I saw that the man was standing in the doorway, staring at me with his red eyes.
What he did want? I already gave him the food!
I jumped up and ran as fast as I could, not stopping until I was far away from that haunted house. I'll never forget that day, and I'll never deliver food to that house again. God, I could kill Ding Min for putting me up to this!
***
I was running down the street, panting and sweating, trying to put as much distance as possible between me and that haunted house. My heart was still racing, and my hands were shaking.
A message ping on my phone and I quickly opened it to see that Duan Ning had left me a one-star review rating. What the hell? The guy who lived in a shack at the end of the street didn't like the way I delivered his food!? I sighed through my nose, slowly contemplating going back to yell at the man, but decided against it. He was a ghoul after all. I touched the bruise on my arm, groaning at the long gash and wishing that I hadn't taken the stupid job anyway.
That's it. I quit.
Fuck Uber and its Eats. I was so done with it. Gritting my teeth, I hopped on my bike and raced down the road, on a mission to find Ding Min and send him back to hell. I arrived at the skate park, where I knew Ding Min and the rest of our werewolf pack liked to hang out. The air was filled with the sound of wheels scraping against the concrete, and the smell of sweat and adrenaline.
That's when I saw Ding Min, my best friend and the spawn of Satan, standing on the corner with a group of his werewolf pack. The Ironfang's governed this territory, led by Xian Yu who was the strongest and the oldest among us all. Most of the pack choose to hang out in the gated residence, but the college students mainly loved the skate park.
I used to love it here too until I found out I was a twenty-three-year-old freak of nature who couldn't shift to save his life. My heart started hammering as I took in most of the pack members here.
Din Ming was Xian Yu's son, and although they didn't share the same surname it was rumored that Din Ming would soon be pack leader. He looked at me as I approached with a smug expression on his face and said, "Well, well, well, look who it is. The big bad werewolf is scared of a little ghost."
Ding Min was one of the alphas in the pack, and he was as handsome as he was cruel. He had a chiseled jawline, piercing brown eyes, and thick, wavy hair that always seemed to fall perfectly into place. He was the type of guy who knew he was attractive and didn't hesitate to use it to his advantage.
I scowled at him, but I knew there was no use in trying to argue. Ding Min was always making fun of me, and the rest of the pack would just join in, laughing and teasing.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Very funny, Ding Min. You know I don't like ghouls. Duan Ning wants a refund, so I'll leave that to you."
Ding Min burst out laughing. "A refund? What the fuck? What did you do?"
"I don't know," I mumbled and then shoved his Uber Eats terminal at him. "But I quit. I'm not cut out of this."
Ding Min checked out the app and then sighed through his nose, shaking his head. "You went to the wrong house numb-nuts. That's why he left you a shit review."
My eyes widened in horror. "You mean the ugly homeless man that nearly attacked me wasn't Duan Ning?" No wonder he looked shocked when I threw the food at him.
Ding Min's attractive mouth pulled into a smile and shoved the app into my face. "Read the delivery order before you go next time, idiot."
"There won't be a next time. I quit. I quit." I slapped his hand away.
"That's the third job this week. When are you going to find something and stick to it? You can't be a drifter forever."
The words stung, and I lowered my gaze, seeing that a few of the other wolves were listening. Ding Min had a habit of making me feel like shit around other people and I wasn't exactly sure why. It started to happen when I presented as an omega last year, I was a late bloomer and the last to present in the pack, but what made matters worse was my best friend who used to treat me well suddenly started finding new ways to torment me.
All the other werewolves including myself find this hard to believe because even at the age of twenty-three I am yet to shift. At this point, all hope has been lost about my ever-shifting. Even my father who is also an omega has given up because according to the werewolf rule, every werewolf is to shift at the age of thirteen and the maturity age for a werewolf is twenty-five.
Not that I care anyway, I've gotten used to being ignored and trashed talked about. Like all this isn't enough, I have to take care of my father. He has been diagnosed with type 4 diabetes. I had to drop out of college and start working and my life couldn't have become any shittier. I chewed on my bottom lip, staring at the ground. My wolf ears flattened against my skull and I nodded quickly.
Ding Min smirked and said, "Oh, come on, Wan Jia. You're a werewolf. You should be afraid of nothing."
I knew he was right. As a werewolf, I had nothing to fear from ghosts or ghouls. But that didn't stop me from being scared.
I sighed and said, "Can we just forget about it and move on?"
"Sure, sure." Din Ming threw his arm around my shoulder. "I'll make you some ramen to make you feel better, how about that?"
Free lunch? I perked up immediately. Din Ming made the best ramen in all of Lupinville. My ears stood up and if I had a tail, it would certainly be wagging. Ding Min and the rest of the pack laughed, but I didn't let it bother me. I was used to their teasing, and I knew that they didn't mean any harm.