Chapter 2
TWO
Monday arrived. We saw Mom and Dad off to their first day of work like a couple of proud parents, then Ben and I planned to scope out a few of the shifter-owned businesses that may have job openings.
It was hot as shit outside, and I didn't intend to get a job anywhere that wouldn't let me dress like me, so I was in my cut-off denim shorts and a soft, slouchy band T-shirt that hung off one shoulder.
I had my purple high-top Vans on and my hair back in my preferred french braid.
I went with my usual minimal makeup of dark brown eyeliner, mascara, and red-tinted lip balm.
Ben sauntered into my room without knocking, looking crisp in his dark denim skinny jeans, fitted gray polo shirt, and blinding white old-school Nikes.
"So I see it's either cashier at Hot Topic or biker bar waitress for you," he snarked at me from my bedroom doorway.
"And I see it is either cashier at the Abercrombie or towel boy at the country club for you," I replied.
“Touché."
We climbed in the Tesla and drove toward the historic downtown district that was just a mile or so north of our neighborhood.
In contrast to the business district downtown that was further north and bordered the Red River, the historic district contained quaint shops and restaurants.
It also was right next door to the sprawling manicured campus of Blackstone Academy, which I ogled as we drove by.
"It looks like a little Ivy League school," Ben said. "Not in Kansas anymore, are we, Dorothy?"
"No shit. You could fit our entire old high school in just one of those buildings."
"This the place?" he asked as we pulled into a parking spot along the downtown main street.
I peered at the listing in the email my dad sent to my phone. "Marilynn's Place. Yep, it's a diner and bar owned by a wolf-shifter named Marilynn Embry."
We stared at the building that sat on an expansive lot on the corner of the block in front of us.
It looked like the building used to be a gas and service station that had been remodeled and enclosed.
There were large bay doors that opened to seating, and we could see the bar along the back wall.
There was a converted patio under the cover of what probably used to be the gas pumps.
The exterior was white, but the interior that we could see through the bay doors was a warm dark gray.
Gator figurines, neon signs, and LSU and Saints flags adorned the walls.
It was mid-morning on a Monday so the place was empty.
We headed up to the order counter next to the bar, and Ben rang the bell that sat next to the register.
A short woman with long gray hair wearing an orange maxi-dress came bustling out of the back room.
She looked like she was in her sixties, which probably meant she was closer to eighty in shifter years.
She gave us a warm smile when she spotted us lingering next to the bar. This had to be Marilynn.
"Hello, ma'am," Ben turned on the charm. "We emailed yesterday about setting up a meeting to interview for a couple of job openings you listed with the Pack? We're new to town."
"Oh yes," she said, clapping her hands in excitement.
"You two are lucky. I just lost two of my best workers to college.
One of them was human so I always knew he'd leave, but all his talk convinced my shifter bartender to try a little time away from the Pack, too!
" She looked us both up and down, then set her sharp eyes on Ben.
"You look like you can lift heavy things without breaking a sweat. I need a barback; you interested?"
“Yes, ma'am, I am," Ben replied.
"And you.” She looked at me. "You're a looker. Can you mix a drink?"
"Sure can," I replied. I mean, how hard could it be?
"Fantastic. You're on bartending for the early shift since we turn the place into twenty-one and up only after ten pm. Don’t worry about your age—this is Louisiana, and the shifter cops on the force let me get away with just about anything these days.” She winked at us.
“You’re both still in high school right?
" We nodded. "You can have the after-school shift, usually starts around four p.m. and ends around ten p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday during school.
You can have as many shifts as you'd like for the rest of the summer. "
"Both of us are hired?" Ben asked in shock. "Just like that?"
"What can I say," she said. "You had great timing! I lost my two school-aged kids and had only just started to go about trying to replace them. I posted the ad with the Pack only last week."
"When do we start?" I asked.
"How about tomorrow at four?"
Ben grinned at me. We both knew we didn't want to look anywhere else.
Marilynn was welcoming and friendly, and she had asked zero questions about where we were from or why we were joining the NWLA Pack.
Wolves were notoriously nosey for pack gossip, and if our boss wasn't the type, she was alright by me.
And so, with our early success in securing summer jobs (at the same place, no less), Ben and I fell into a comfortable routine as the summer wore on.
We trained together in the backyard in the mornings, either in combat drills or general fitness.
Ben was going out for the soccer team at the Academy, so he incorporated the occasional soccer workout while I did yoga or found some other bullshit activity to pass the time.
Since neither of us was itching to go out to explore the Pack territory and we needed to let our wolves free regularly, we sometimes shifted in the privacy afforded by the tall fence surrounding our back yard.
We'd wrestle and play as quietly as possible for two large wolves; other times we'd just sprawl out in the yard under the sun like a couple of lazy golden-furred dogs.
Then most afternoons we'd go work at Marilynn's.
I worked behind the bar while Ben became Marilynn's right hand man, doing everything from inventory, restocking, and administrative work, to sometimes helping me behind the bar when we got super busy.
Customers would place orders at the counter with Pen, Marilynn's other main employee and a jolly middle-aged human woman, and one of the rotation of runners we employed would take food and drinks to and from the tables.
The clientele was a good mix of both shifters and humans of all stripes.
The shifters who sat at the bar and could engage with me directly did tend to ask questions when they got a whiff of my scent and pegged me as a wolf.
The Pack was large and everyone didn't necessarily know everyone else, but a lot of the wolves who came in were regulars and correctly guessed that Marilynn's new wolf employees were also new to town and to the Pack.
I gave polite, canned answers to any shifter who got nosey with me.
"Yes, we relocated for my dad's job."
"Yes, we're new to the Pack but haven't had the chance to make it to any Pack events yet."
"Yes, my brother and I will attend Blackstone. We're very grateful for the Pack's generosity."
"No, I am not looking for a date. I'm just focused on work and school right now." (A response I gave to wolves and humans alike).
I kept busy and avoided engaging in any conversation further than those rehearsed lines.
Ben, ever the gregarious one, was careful to do the same when he was out front working with me.
He did chat up a cute guy or two, but he had kept it mostly to humans and hadn't moved to anything beyond casual flirting.
One random Wednesday evening after a few weeks had passed, I was wiping down counters during the end of my shift.
It had been a slow day, as most mid-weekdays were, and Pen had already gone home.
Ben was in Marilynn's office, probably flirting with her because she loved it, and I was preparing to pack my shit up and go crash in my bed before I had to wake up in the morning and kick Ben's ass all over the backyard.
The bay doors were closed so the air conditioning could run, so I kept my eye on the glass front door where customers would enter and exit.
Fifteen minutes before the end of my shift, the door swung open and a human man entered.
He looked around at the empty diner, then he caught my eye and waltzed up to the empty bar and sat down.
When he stepped into the dim lighting of the bar area, I had to stop my jaw from dropping to the floor, and then I had to stop myself from creeping into his personal space to get a big ole whiff of his scent.
He was one of the hottest guys I had ever encountered, and I needed to check my sniffer because surely he could not be a human.
He was tall and built like a shifter—he had at least four inches on my five-foot-ten frame and he was stacked with lean muscles.
His hair was a dark brunet, almost black, shorn short on the sides but styled longer on top.
His green eyes filled with mirth as he looked me over and caught me doing the same to him.
He was wearing a tight black T-shirt that molded to his broad chest and fitted black jeans, with what looked like motorcycle boots on his feet.
He had visible tattoos crawling up both arms and a rugged, handsome face.
His ears were gauged with small black plugs.
He definitely smelled like a human, but my wolf had still perked up a bit at his presence.
Moons, what do I even look like right now after six hours working this bar?
I was in my favorite denim cut-offs, which were borderline indecent on my long legs.
I'd chosen a simple black tank top, and my hair was in a high ponytail instead of my usual braid.
I had my scuffed black combat boots on with tall socks, and I bet I smelled like beer and grease.
"What can I get you?" I asked once my brain was back online.
He looked at me curiously, then gave me a small smile. "Whatever you have on draft that's a local beer would be great."
"Coming up. You got ID?"
He pulled out his wallet and handed me his driver’s license. His name was Rodney Blaze, he was from Florida, and he was twenty-one years old.
"You look like you're about to shut it down. I promise I won't linger too long," he said after I handed him his glass of beer.
"Don't worry about it," I replied. "We usually stay open later for the twenty-one and up crowd but only on busy nights. As you can see, it's deader than my pet goldfish in here."
"Damn, what happened to your goldfish?"
“Well, I was five and I thought he might want to go swimming in the big puddle at the end of our driveway. I kind of forgot about him in there and my dad backed over him on his way to work."
That got an actual laugh from him. "Wow, RIP, little guy. Did your parents ever let you have another pet?"
"They did not."
"Smart folks."
He smirked at me and went back to his beer and his phone. I finished my closing chores, all while continuing to eye him from under my lashes. On occasion I caught him glancing at me when he wasn't scrolling, but he didn't try to talk to me again.
My wolf was stirring. Shit, it had been a while since I’d been laid, and humans were usually a safe, if mediocre, bet when it came to just a quick scratching of the itch.
But damn if I didn't have some hope this guy would be different.
I could do the old "slide him my number on a napkin" trick, or just wolf-up and hit on him directly.
Ben would probably let me use the Tesla for twenty minutes, but that would be a very tight fit.
While I was busy pondering the logistics of a Tesla fuck, Rodney slapped a twenty on the bar and rose to leave. "Thanks for hanging out with me. Sorry I wasn't more engaging company."
Dammit, I missed my chance. "No problem, just doing my job." I gave him a rare genuine smile, but refrained from saying anything else embarrassing like "Please come back soon" or "Are you sure I can't ride you in my brother’s Tesla real quick?"
He was out the door, and I was left alone in the bar. I went to the back to drag Ben out of Marilynn's office, then headed home to crash alone in bed, thinking about the tattooed bad boy human who made my wolf take notice of a guy for the first time in a very long time.