Ancient Wolves - Prophecy of the Ruins

“This is unacceptable!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I knew this would be a bad day when I slipped on a sock on the floor and hit my head on the door frame. But I didn’t expect to deal with such an obnoxious customer. She had been nagging me for ten minutes straight already.

I cleared my throat. “I’m really sorry about this issue, and I certainly understand your anger.”

No, I didn’t. Not to this degree.

“I paid a lot of money for my vacation here. The least I can expect is a clean house!”

I nodded along and tried to ignore the ringing in my ears from her screeching voice. “I understand, and I’m sorry about this mishap. Of course, we will fix it as fast as possible. I will send someone to take care of the issue immediately!”

She huffed, and I braced myself for another round of screeching. “That’s it? Do you call that customer service? You are the ones at fault here!”

A sigh almost left my mouth, but I sucked it in. I still remembered that one time I accidentally sighed a bit too loudly, which ended up with my manager needing to step in.

“We only want to give you the best experience when spending time here and keep you as a precious customer.”

I felt like throwing up after those words left my mouth, but they had to be said. “I can see you are visiting with children. We could offer you free activity coupons for all of them. Would that compensate for the negative impression you sadly received?”

“Only for the kids?”

I took a staggering deep breath and flexed my fingers. I wanted to argue with her because this issue wasn’t this big of a deal that we had to go this far, but I didn’t want to drag this out any longer.

“How about a spa treatment for you and your husband?”

It was one of the more expensive compensations we offered, and I only have a limited amount of them. Usually, I keep them for actual crucial mishaps happening from our side, but it was time to end this phone call before my nerves were growing too thin.

I heard her murmur in the background before she returned to the phone call. “That’s fine with us.”

A sudden lightness rushed through me, hearing her agreeing. “I’m happy we were able to sort this out. I’ll book your coupons into your account, and you can pick them up at the reception whenever you find the time.”

“We have to pick them up!?”

Before anything escalated further, I offered to bring them over to her personally.

I dropped the headset on the table and shook my head. I loved my job — for the most part. Complaint management wasn’t my favorite part of it, though. I grabbed my phone and keys. “I’m heading out for a bit. Have to take care of this one customer.”

Stephany looked up and smiled. “Sure, Mia. See you later.”

I waved and exited the office with quick steps. I couldn’t wrap my head around Stephany’s constant cheerful mood while working in complaint management full-time. If I were her, I probably would have committed a felony by now.

On my way to the bungalow, I called the cleaning team. I then hurried to the reception to pick up the coupons. When I reached the area of the bungalow, I spotted Jesse walking up and down the street, a bucket dangling on her wrist.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s okay.”

“Alright, let’s go,” I said and walked up the path toward the bungalow, Jesse following me.

Before we even reached the door and had a chance to knock, the door swung open, and a tall woman stepped outside. She had short, brown hair with a red strand in the front. Her mean stare made my skin crawl as she hovered over us.

She crossed her arms. “Took you long enough.”

I swallowed a rude response and instead plastered a smile on my face. “I apologize for the delay.”

The woman eyed us up and down, a brow raised. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Jesse stepped past the woman, who barely made space for her, and disappeared into the bungalow. I wondered if she could be a little less appalling.

I took the coupons out of my pocket, handing them to her. “Here are your coupons.”

She ripped them out of my hands and examined them. “At least some things seem to work here.”

The urge to start an argument about her behavior bubbled up in me. Luckily, Jesse hurried back outside, a garbage bag in hand, stopping me to run my mouth. It would have ruined all the efforts I put in for this woman.

“All done?” I asked her, and she nodded. A smile spread over my face. “We wish you a wonderful stay!”

I couldn’t wait to leave her far behind me.

To my surprise, she said nothing more and silently went back inside. We hurried down the path and headed back.

“I can’t believe she made such a fuss,” Jesse muttered. “The sink wasn’t even dirty.”

I shrugged. We both knew this was all about getting free goodies in any way possible. There are people like her all the time, but it still left me in a foul mood.

We parted ways further down the road, and I returned to the office, hoping I wouldn’t have to deal with anyone like this for the rest of the day. Towards the end of my shift, my mood gradually got better.

“You seem happier now,” Stephany said.

I leaned back in my chair and smiled at her. “The shift is almost over, and I finished all the emails.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, another email popped up. I sighed, but quickly opened the email and read through it.

She chuckled. “You can finally go for your daily run, too.”

I wrote a response and nodded. “Today is a wonderful day to run. Not too warm, not too cold, and no rain, either. It’s wonderful.”

When she didn’t respond, I looked at her again. She stared out of the window, her usual bright smile turned upside down, as she rubbed her legs absentmindedly.

“Are you alright?”

“I miss riding. Days like these make me want to ride as much as you want to run.”

My heart clenched as I glanced at her legs. She used to be a rider and owned several horses. But after a riding accident, she got paralyzed from her waist down.

“Why don’t you try riding again?” I asked. “Aren’t there paralyzed people riding with a special saddle?”

She turned to me, tears in her eyes. “It wouldn’t be the same.”

I nodded, understanding what she meant. Years ago, I also lost something precious to me, and nothing could replace it- not even close.

“Today, it has been two years since the accident,” she said, her voice trembling.

Stephany and I have only known each other for two months, and her showing such vulnerability surprised me. She always seemed so happy, and her cheerful laugh lifts the mood in the office. Seeing her like this pained me, and yet I felt so helpless. I didn’t know how to help her.

“Do you think it will get better at some point?”

She forced a smile. “I doubt it. This is the way I have to live now.”

My ears perked up when a car stopped in front of our office. “Your husband is here.”

Her face lit up as if nothing happened. She navigated her wheelchair around the desks and closer to the door.

Her husband entered with a broad smile on his face. “Good afternoon!”

Stephany stretched her arms towards him and wiggled her fingers. “Hubby!”

With only two steps, he reached her and pulled her up in his arms, lifting her out of her wheelchair. She squealed and chuckled before he carefully placed her back down in her seat.

Warmth spread through me watching them. They still acted as if they were in the early stages of the pink love, but they recently celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary.

“Hello, Alex,” I greeted him.

He turned to me and smiled. “Hey, Amalia. It’s a surprise to still see you here so late. Do you have a long day today?”

I nodded. “We were short on staff, so I had to jump in for the entire day.”

Alex grimaced. “Sounds kinda icky to have to work here the whole day. No offense, honey.”

She rolled her eyes playfully and smacked his arm. “Not everyone can understand the joy of complaint management.”

“At this point, I’m convinced you are the only person enjoying it,” I muttered.

She glared at me before laughter escaped her. “You wouldn’t understand. But are you fine to stay here alone? I can wait until the late shift arrives.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. You two should go. I’m sure the others will be here shortly.”

She bit her lips, visibly uncertain of what to do.

“I picked up your favorite junk food on the way here. As much as you love to work, the food won’t stay warm forever,” Alex said, winking at me.

Stephany’s eyes widened. “In that case, I will see you on the next shift, whenever that will be.”

“Have a nice evening, you two,” I said.

They waved at me, quickly leaving the office. My stomach grumbled, but it had to wait until after my run. Running with a full stomach wasn’t my thing.

Stephany’s laugh echoed inside the office, making me smile. They were such a lovely couple, and I’m so happy for both of them. I’m glad she had Alex by her side during the tough times she went through. I wish I had support like her after what had happened to me, but no one made it out alive.

When the late shift arrived to take over, I was bouncing up and down in my chair. Nervous energy made me all excited to feel the afternoon sun on my skin and to free my mind from everything.

Good thing I live in a small bungalow inside the compound. It made my way to work short and convenient. After I rushed to change into my running clothes, I grabbed my phone and secured it on the strap on my upper arm. I turned up the music and started my run.

I was halfway through my route when I came across a motorcycle in the middle of the road. It was a wonderful black Honda Fireblade. I barely stopped myself from fangirling over it, but vehicles are prohibited inside the compound after a certain time, so I had a job to do.

I quickened my steps and scanned the area, trying to find the owner. Reaching the motorcycle and still not seeing anyone, I pulled the phone out of the strap on my arm to call security. Someone exited the bungalow on the left and walked toward me. I lowered my phone and crossed my arms.

A buffed, tall man with raven black hair and a tattoo peeking under the sleeve of his T-shirt approached me with quick steps. A cold shiver raced through my body.

He gave off this specific vibe I haven’t felt in a long time. His eyes met mine, and I gulped, sweat breaking out all over my skin. With a couple of deep breaths, I tried to calm down. I knew what he was, and I had to make sure he wouldn’t find out that I noticed it. I had nothing to do with those people anymore, and I wanted it to remain that way. Hopefully, he wouldn’t pick up on anything.

But why would he? I was only a human now, right? Right?