The Wolf Inside Chapter 1

         Bailey Rose Locklear ran a rag along the bar, shining the polished wood. She worked in one of the many bars in her small town in South Dakota. It must be the only thing to do in a small town because there were bars everywhere. Her parents didn’t like her working in such a rough environment, but she didn’t have many options. It was Max's bar, the only one her dad approved of, or the Outdoor Recreation Center and she would have had to be in charge of gathering the live bait and selling it. When seen like that her choice was already made. Max’s bar it was. Besides she was now nineteen so she could make her own decisions, even if her choices came with a bunch of commentary from her father. He was so protective and hated that she had moved out and wanted to live on her own. She wanted to know what it felt like to be out of her father’s sight for more than ten minutes. Even after she moved out though she hadn't felt alone. Her dad kept her on speed dial, and often called to just 'say hello'.
         Bailey looked up to check on the only three customers in the bar currently. She technically was too young to take care of the bar. The bartender had up and quiet two weeks before Bailey started at Max's. Turns out the alcohol gives Mary severe headaches and Max is too busy to come up and mix drinks. So they gave the job to Bailey for lunch only, on the understanding that if there was someone who wanted a drink she would have to get Mary to do it really quick. When Bailey worked the weekends she was a simple waitress. It was a pretty sweet deal. She got paid bartenders wages during the week, so she really couldn't complain. Besides, no one really drank in the afternoons until she was almost done. People just liked sitting there if they were alone.
There was a couple in the restaurant portion and Mary, the owners wife, was taking care of them. They were an older couple. Mid-sixties, Bailey would say. She would steal glances at their table now and then, because they were so cute. It looked like they were having a late lunch together and chatting happily. They looked so happy. She wanted that with someone someday. She felt so lonely sometimes.
Bailey looked to the other customer, sitting right at her bar. Rick. He was a regular and came in during the day while she worked a lot of the time. The bar was on the outskirts of town, but they got busy none the less…at night and on weekends. Days were lifeless, unless Rick came in. She liked it a little too much when she saw him walk through the doors. It was like an exciting guessing game when she would see him. Usually on Thursdays but then he would surprise her on random days throughout the week too.
         There were a lot of people who came in from the country outside of town that Rick knew. They treated him with respected. Really she didn't know why. Most of them were older than he was,  but they were still friendly like they had known each other all their lives, or at least all of his life. A lot of the time he would play pool with some of them, which Bailey enjoyed watching because it was always entertaining. She had a good view of the pool tables from the bar. She mostly enjoyed watching Rick interact with others, because he was so quiet otherwise.
         Rick was very attractive with dark hair that was shorter on the sides then what was on top of his head. It dropped just over his forehead and he always had some shadow on his jaw.  His eyes were also the most beautiful thing Bailey had ever seen. They were a grey that reminded her of the sky just before the sun came up. That and he was in good shape. Lean strong muscles in his back and sides and arms. He didn’t look like a massive beef stick but Bailey thought she could see that he had the strength none the less. Rick wasn’t exceptionally tall either, but a freaking giant compared to Bailey’s 5’2”. She wondered how old he was. He looked a few years older than herself. Maybe twenty.
         Her heart skipped a beat every time she saw him walk through the doors. She remembered the first time he had come in. It was a few months ago, and she was going over the drink inventory with Mary. Rick had walked in with a large box in his arms and made his way to the back. Bailey had noticed the atmosphere thicken when he came in, so she had looked up. He turned to look in her and Mary's direction  before disappearing in the back. When he had come out from talking to Max, emerging without the box, he came and sat down at Bailey's bar. She had given him a bright smile, but he had only stared at her. He looked awkward on his bar stool as he looked from her to the menu. After a while Bailey took pity on him and ordered something she thought he would like. That started their odd but pleasant friendship. And she was amazed at just how much food the guy could back away. It was surprising with how fit he looked.
         Bailey noticed Rick’s large soda was low so she topped him off. “How are those wings?” She smiled at him when he looked up at her. He always made her stomach do a flip when he looked at her with those eyes.
         He was wearing a black baseball cap today. It affected Bailey in strange ways. It made him look mysterious. It hooded his eyes a little and somehow made them stand out more. The way he looked up at her through his eyelashes with his head cocked like that made her chest grow tight. He was defiantly swoon material.
         “Great.” His voice was smooth and yet a bit deep at the same time. Bailey found it soothing. “The best in town.” He always said that. Rick gave Bailey a lopsided grin around his bite of meat. “How has your week been? I haven’t been in for a few days.”
         Bailey shrugged.
         “Max hasn’t been harassing you?” One of his eye brows lifted in curiosity.
         Bailey shrugged again taking the rag and wiping down the counter absentmindedly. “Sometimes he is worse than my dad. That is kind of scary.”
         Rick laughed. It was a deep yet soft soothing sound.
         Bailey smiled back. “So what have you been doing lately?”
         It was Rick’s turn to shrug. “Nothing much, just trying to stay out of trouble.” He gave her a mischievous smile, then gulped down the rest of his soda. "Well I have to get back. I can't hide from trouble for long."
         Bailey giggled. "I'm sure that's true."
         He put down his usual large tip and winked at her. Bailey watched as he left, biting down on her thumb. She had to admit he had a mighty nice back side. She was still smiling to herself when the front door opened again.
         "Hey Ba."
         Bailey's gaze darted up to see her dad smiling at her. Thank goodness Rick had left already. She could just imagine her dad noticing how she watched him. It was dangerous for her dad to know that she noticed boys at all, one in particular. That was something that her father hated about her growing up. She joked that he never wanted her to date. Sometimes she admitted it to herself that it was true. It made her cringe. It wasn't like she got out and socialized a whole lot. She just knew she was going to die an old lady with a bazillion dogs, she wasn't a cat person.
         "Dad what are you doing here?"
         He shrugged. "I thought I would come and see when you get off."
         Bailey checked her watch. "In two hours, why."
         He smiled. "I thought we could go running tonight. Up for it?"
         Her smile grew wide. "Absolutely." It had been a week since she had a chance to run with her dad. They used to go every night. She still did, by herself. It was a special time for her to run with her father when he had time to get away. "I'll be there."
         He smiled back at her. "Do you want to come home for dinner tonight?"
         "Yeah. Sounds fun. I can come over after work and we can run our old route." She loved the park around her apartment that she ran, the reason she took the place in the first place, but she was looking forward to running their old route. It brought all those fun memories back.
         "Alright, I'll see you tonight."
         Bailey smiled at her dad and he winked back and then he turned and walked out. Those last two hours went by so slow.


Bailey was stretching out front of her parents house. Her dad just popped into the house to grab them waters before returning. They would need it during their fifteen mile run. Bailey hadn't done that long of a run in a while. This was going to hurt.
         Her mom appeared next to her with a wide smile. "I'm going to go shopping tomorrow, would you like to go with me?"
         This was her mother's routine question. She was always trying to get Bailey into something other than her tattered jeans and smart mouth tees. Bailey never went. She knew it disappointed her mom but shopping was a small form of torture, and it never ended well.
         "No mom, I'm alright in the clothes department. I have everything I need."
         She looked skeptical. "I beat you wear those gross sweat pants to class."
         "What? They're comfy." And she only wore them in the morning. Bailey didn't see anything wrong with it.
         Her mom sighed. "Alright, maybe another time then."
         She watched her mom head back inside the house as her dad came out. She watched as her mom grazed a quick kiss on his cheek and Bailey could have sworn that he tapped her butt. Oh gross. And yet she hoped that she found someone who she could love that much after twenty years of marriage. They were lucky.
         "So are you ready?" Her dad brought her out of her musings.
         "Yes but go easy on me. I don't usually have time to go this far." It was the truth. Between working at Max's and going to her college classes,  and the two gym classes that she started a few months ago, her time was spent. It was all an effort to rid her of the itch that buzzed under her skin, as it was getting worse. So she hoped that this run would help, at least for a while.
         "How are your classes going? Getting good grades?" Her dad asked as he stretched his legs.
         She shrugged. "So far classes are going alright. Well except for Biology. That class is kicking my butt."
         He laughed. "I know, that science stuff was hard for me too. You know who got me through it though?" Bailey shook her head. "Your mom. She is a wiz when it comes to that stuff. You should talk to her."
         Bailey nodded. "Alright I will." She stretched her calves a bit more. "I joined the gym that is just down the street from my place. I'm taking some self-defense classes."
         "Well done!" Bailey's father looked really pleased with this.
         "I thought you would approve."
         He shifted to stretch the other leg. "So what are you learning?"
         "How to shatter someone's knee cap, or how to key someone in the eye and run like mad in the other direction."
         "What?" Her dad was a little shocked, and yet was that approval still on his face?
         Bailey gave her dad a smirk. "Don't worry dad, that was just the first class. The teacher wanted to teach us small dainty women how to fight dirty and run away. Go figure. A girl my size can't fight a big strong man fairly." Her voice was thick with sarcasm.
         Her dad snorted. "Yeah who would think a girl your size could fight fairly."
         "Oh they know now." Bailey laughed. "Last week I flung a guy across the room with a leg trick he taught me."
         Her dad stared at her like a third eye grew on her forehead.
         She shrugged. "What? He taught me how. I can't help that I'm a fast learner."
         Her dad laughed. He looked at her with a twinkle in his eye. He was proud of her. He clapped her on the shoulder. "Come on Rambo. Let's go for that run."
         "I started a dance class too." Bailey stretched one last time. "I thought mom would like me doing something girly. I actually like it."
         Her dad laughed again as they stared off down the street at a slow pace, and they ran in silence for a while. Bailey never minded the quiet. It was a comfortable run with him, until mile five when he picked up the pace. Her dad had always been better at running long distances. She could do long runs, but her limit was ten miles.
         The sun had gone down completely and there was only a quarter moon, so there wasn't that much light. Bailey didn't really need it. She could see fine, always could for some reason, and there were lamps spread out among their run. They ran through the neighborhood, up into the main square of town, doubled back through the park taking the trail near the pond, and then it wouldn't be long till they would make their way back home.
         They were coming up to their eleventh mile and Bailey's skin started to get tight and itch. She had hoped the annoying itching would get better with the run, but it didn't. She slapped at her arms as a crawling sensation went up her arm.
         "What's wrong?"
         She shrugged. "It was just a bug."
         She hadn't talked to her dad in a long time about her itching. It wasn't just the itching anymore. It was the need to be outside. Some days in class it was unbearable to stay indoors. It was almost painful to sit among the crowded lecture rooms with eyes watching your every move. The others were friendly enough, but no friendship ever stuck. Bailey just felt like they didn't want to get to close to her because they knew something was different about her. Story of her life.
         Bailey's leg locked up and she tripped and fell, scraping her knee on the jogging path. Her dad was right there in seconds, checking her knee.
         "Are you alright?"
         She nodded. Her legs burned, but not from the run. She knew this pain. She got it sometimes. It felt like the muscles in her legs were liquefying. It would crawl up her body till all of her felt like one big ache.
         She whimpered as she rubbed her legs as hard as she could. Her dad was looking at her strange now.
         "Do you have a leg cramp?"
         Should she lie or tell him everything? Maybe he could fix it. That's what he did. Her dad was the best fixer she knew.
         "I get these pains sometimes." She whimpered again as the pain flared and jumped up to her hips. "But not this bad."
         Her dad got her up and started back tracking without a word.
         "Where are we going?"
         He gave her a small smile. "For a swim."
         They had just passed the pond in the park. He motioned for her to get in. "The cold water should help."
         That was all she needed. She jumped in without hesitation and swam around leisurely for a while. The cold did help the burning ache. As the pain ebbed she started to paddle around more. She usually loved swimming, but hadn't got the time to do anything fun like this. Maybe, since the water was helping, she would add swimming to her exercise regiment. Anything to keep the pain at bay.
         When she thought she had had enough she started to crawl to shore where her dad waited. He had sat and just watched her, deep in thought about something. He almost looked sad. The aches weren't something serious, where they? Did they mean something was wrong with her, like cancer or something like it?
         She stood next to him dripping wet. He got up and gave her a small smile. "We should head back?"
         She nodded. She was afraid now. He was acting so sad. Something was wrong.
         They hadn't run far when her dad asked her how she was feeling.
         "Fine. The cold water did help, thank you."
         He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something but he didn't. They just ran on. Five minutes later he finally spoke up.
         "There is someone I want you to meet."
         She raised an eye brow in question. "Who?"
         "He is just an old friend. I think it will be good for you."
         The bad feelings started to ease, and a feeling of suspicion replaced it. "Why, does he have boys or something?" She felt like laughing at the idea of her dad marrying her off.
         "Well he has a boy."
         Bailey looked mortified at him now. "Are you trying to marry me off?" She didn't mean for that to slip out, but she really was curious now.
         He didn't answer her question. "I think he can help your leg cramps." He paused. "Your mom has been really worried about you for a long time now and I think she's right about this."
         "So mom wants me to meet this guy? For how long?"
         "Honestly it's been years now. I know we are close but your mother loves you so much. She wants you to be safe and happy. She thinks you will do better knowing this family." Her dad looked almost relieved as he spoke. "He is your emergency contact, actually. Remember when I gave that to you?"
         She nodded thinking back to a few years ago when her father gave her a list of important numbers. One was her emergency contact, and then a number of a detective if they ever needed the police. She had tucked it away in a special box under her bed for safe keeping. Maybe it was time to get the list back out.
         "So what will happen now?"
         They had reached the house now. The porch light was still on. Her dad wrapped an arm around Bailey's shoulder. "I'll give him a call, and I'll let you know."
         They walked into the house and found her mom in the kitchen. She had made Bailey's favorite chocolate chip cookies and there was a plate of warm cookies on the counter with glasses of milk waiting for them. Bailey had a suddenly deep need to hug her mom. She rushed over to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. Her mom was so much taller than she was, and so lean. She was such a beautiful woman. Bailey was jealous that her sisters and even Tristan got her looks. Bailey looked like her dad, which wasn't offal. It wasn't awesome either. Her mom had long caramel blond hair and crystal blue eyes. Such an opposite coloring than her dad's dark tanned skin, black hair and brown eyes. At least Bailey didn't have jet black hair like her dad. Hers was a rich chocolate brown and she liked her eyes. They were a warm golden brown color, almost like the color of her mom's hair but her eyes where a bit deeper brown.
         "Thank you mom."
         Her mom, Mara, pulled her away to smile at her. "What is that for?"
         Bailey felt embarrass now. "The cookies." She wanted to thank her mom for everything that she did for Bailey, but without her knowing. "Um, what time are you going shopping tomorrow?"
         Her mom gave her a wide eyed surprised look. "We can go after your classes, if you wanted to go."
         Bailey nodded. "I'll drop by and pick you up after my morning class. My afternoon classes where canceled due to a teacher meeting of some kind. Finals are next week and the teachers are finalizing their torture for the end of the term."
         Her mom gave her a big smile, that made her eyes sparkle. She knew her mom had waited a long time for this. It should seem strange to her. She should be so suspicious right now. When had Bailey ever volunteered to go shopping. They had to drag her out kicking and screaming every time there was a shopping trip growing up. But her parents just looked pleased. Go figure.