Though the word ‘bus’ does not appear in the current trilogy, it appeared plenty in the first draft. Natalia’s story doesn’t start in a bar, it starts with her mother, a few months before Natalia’s birth. I then wrote about her childhood and her teenage year. She meets Charlie for the first time during her teenage years. I hope to one day flesh out more of Charlie’s backstory and hope to include the following in that story, but I’m not sure that’ll happen. My muse does not always show me the complete story. But, for the moment, here is a little bit of what happened to Natalia after she met Charlie.
From The Grey House (original):
The overpowering stench of werewolf and blood rushed into her nostrils, knocking any calm she encountered. Blindly, she searched for the cool metal doorknob, yanking open the door, hoping the outside world would remove the image from her mind. The blaring sun, low now on the horizon, fought hard to burn the image more fully into her retinas. Stifling a cry, Natalia stumbled across the street to the bus shelter, falling against the glass and sliding into the hard unyielding seat.
Moments later the bus pulled up, barging through Charlie and Lucas, killing the after image, then becoming the backdrop to their horrid dance. The pneumatic hiss that came before the doors opened failed to drive the picture from her mind. The sound mirrored the soft sigh of pleasure Charlie had hidden in his growls.
A desperate quiet cry escaped her. The sound was masked by the squeal of the automatic doors parting to invite her in. Charlie and Lucas still before her, she reached into her jeans pocket, gauze catching on the edge, causing sharp pain. Natalia yanked out her slim wallet, stumbled onto the bus and flashed her Fast Pass at the driver, avoiding his disinterested eyes. She braced herself against the available poles as the bus made departing noises, taking a careful seat at the back of the bus.
Cat Stark 