Wolves.
Jessica sniffed the air only slightly, and her mind started to fill with panic, and her body stiffened in fear. She swallowed hard, and every inch of her being except for her outer shell shook. Her wolf whined in the back her mind, knowing that now would be a good time to leave and get as far away as possible.
Taking in another quick—a little too quick—breath, she smelt there were at least four of them. All of them male and definitely stronger than her. "W-where had they come from? I-I-I hadn't scented any wolves before...!" She thought to herself, keeping herself busy as to not draw attention to herself.
Too late.
She could hear them sniffing the area when they breathed, and out of the corner of her eye, she felt their gaze focus on her. She dare not look up. She dare NOT look at them. After she took the current table's order she turned, trying not to walk too quickly, but not too slowly so they could see her legs shaking in utmost dread and uneasiness.
As she walked behind the counter and placed the order down, Kathy came from around, carrying empty plates. Jessica gulped and cleared her throat before approaching her, "Um, Kathy?"
"Hm? What's up, hon?" Kathy stopped and looked at her, not catching her nervousness. Good.
"W-when is my shift over?" Jessica tried to keep the fear out of her voice and keep the politeness in.
"Oh," Kathy put the plates in the sink before coming back before her, looking at her wrist watch, "Well...we don't close for another half-hour..."
"Please," Jessica caught herself from sounding hasty, "I-I have some important things to do. I'm still looking for a stable place to live." That was the truth, but at the same time, underlying was the fact that she was looking TO live.
Kathy stared at her for awhile in uncertainty, thinking about it. She then huffed out a sigh through her nose, "....Fine."
Jessica felt relief and her chest seemed to relax a bit of the tension she knew she had, "Thank you so much—"
"But before you go, please serve those gentlemen over there. Thanks, hon."
Kathy pointed at the very objects of her despair.
Before Jessica could opt for a way out, Kathy had passed her and left already to clean up a table. Jessica's lips quivered and her body shook. She wanted to cry, she was so afraid. She was going to die. Not here in the café maybe, but she was definitely going to die. Why had she not followed her wolf's instincts—again—when she left Cheyenne and just made her way to Texas?
"P-pourquoi, Déesse de la Lune?" She thought to herself, trying to fight the dread and tightness in her chest as she turned and walked toward them in the calmest and most human way she could.
Who was she fooling?
If she could smell them, they could smell her. It was obvious that they had. There were indeed four men sitting down at the table. The one of the edge that was facing her looked up at her first, his light brown eyes absolutely serious, making her wolf whine again, but she did her best to maintain composure.
The one that stared at her first was a blonde, and even with him sitting down, she could tell that he was a big guy. Taller than the other three? No. Taller than her 5'6" height? Most definitely.
The one next to him was a brunette and taller than the blonde, but though he didn't look like he carried a lot of brawn on him, he looked like he could kill her himself if she gave him the chance.
The other two had light brown, almost dirty blonde, hair and from what she saw, they looked thicker in muscle than the other two; the one that sat closest to the window looked like he'd be the strongest of them, and would most likely be the leader.
Either catching the blonde's gaze or sniffing the air—neither really mattered—made all of them turn their attention to her, their eyes seemed to burn into her skull, ready to eliminate her, this unfamiliar female.
Jessica swallowed again, but she kept moving forward toward them. As she stopped in front of them, all was silent as she took her pen and pad out from her apron, trying to avoid shaking or dropping anything. She forced herself to speak out without showing any signs of fear, "Can I help you gentlemen?"
Without meaning to, her last words started to dip of into silence. She fought furiously against the desire to just turn and run as the silence progressed. Still struggling to not show panic and tremble she spoke again, this time watching her words carefully, "Can I help you gentlemen?"
Another bout of silence broke out.
The mere presence of these wolves alone drove her wolf crazy with whines, her ears down and her tail between her legs, and Jessica was combating against a losing battle with her quivering legs. "Please.....just order something," Jessica thought, mentally shutting her eyes and tears rolled down her face, something she was holding back on the outside, "Please....just do that..."
"....We'll have four beers. Coors Light," The dirty blonde closest told her finally, sending a chill down her spine, but she forced herself not to flinch, jump, yelp, or any action of that type.