Chapter Seven
Bram
There were so many things I loved about living and working at Animals.
I loved the people, the way I could shift when I wanted to and not worry about being seen like anywhere else in the city, and working in the kitchen.
Never once had I thought standing over the heat making junk food would be my happy place.
It wasn’t perfect. No life was. I still wanted to finish college and had been looking at some online options, but I wasn’t in a huge rush for that.
The biggest adjustment was living alone. Closing my door at night and not having anyone in the same space was rough, especially the first week. Now that I had friends and a pseudo pack, it was easier.
I began mornings with a sunrise hunt. Or wanna-be hunt. I didn’t get anything. My wolf wasn’t hugely into the kill, just finding and tracking. My father said it was because I was just like my omega dad, and I took that as the compliment it was.
He saw my dad as a sweet, nurturing, loving man—loving more than just his family, but loving nature and their pack, art and music. Not remembering him felt like I had something missing from my life, but the stories my father shared had helped a lot.
Of course, some of the other wolves in my former pack saw my lack of bloodlust as a failure, but I never let that get to me. If we were all meant to be the same, the goddess would make us all that way.
Only three weeks ago, I didn’t know where I was going or where I was going to sleep once I got there.
Now, I was hanging out with all kinds of shifters, talking about customer orders with my coworkers and trying to decide if we should bring in pineapple for new pizzas.
I was on the side of yes and was losing.
Running away might not have been my plan, but it was pretty much the first thing I ever did just for me, and I had zero regrets.
This new life, while not perfect, felt like mine.
Was I going to stay here forever, working the fryer and talking about pizza toppings?
Maybe. But it didn’t matter where I landed in five, ten, twenty years.
What mattered was the time I had here now.
After I got my new SIM card, I did call my father. He’d sent me a bunch of emails after he figured out that I wasn’t getting his because he turned off the phone and not that I was ignoring him. He was far too young for that nonsense.
He assured me I had time to come home. He still didn’t understand why I left.
He didn’t need to understand the why, I suppose, but it would be nice if he did.
I felt bad that Nolan guy was pissed at my father and alpha, but I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my future because some random alpha who didn’t even treat me well was in a snit.
It wasn’t as if he cared about me. To him, I was a pawn.
Tonight, Animals was packed. I wasn’t sure why we had more people than normal. Maybe it was the nice weather, or possibly a viral post. Whatever it was, there were shifters everywhere.
I started my shift working at the front of the house, trying to keep traffic flowing and customers happy.
Zevo pretty quickly sent me to the kitchen to help.
I didn’t mind being in the back, but today especially, it was a good thing he did because my wolf got antsy.
Maybe because there were so many alphas in the room, but it was stressing him out and consequently stressing me out.
“Where do you need me?”
I hadn’t even gotten fully into the room and everyone in the kitchen said at once, “On fries.”
I ran over. Apparently, I was the best at them because whenever things got intense, I ended up there.
I looked at all the tickets and started putting down baskets and plating up the food as it was done.
Fries was a misnomer. I did all the fried foods from that position, and being a bar, that was a lot.
I caught up pretty quickly and was in a lull when Zevo came in.
“Thanks for coming back here. You’re the only one who has the timing down.”
“No worries. Who would have thought I’d be so good at tossing things in hot oil?” I teased.
“You’re good at a lot of things. And I feel bad asking, but can you do me a favor?”
“Always.” I never thought of doing my job as a favor, but I appreciated he didn’t take us for granted.
“There’s still a big line waiting outside, and the bouncers aren’t really able to swap out. Do you mind bringing them some finger foods so they don’t starve while they’re doing their thing?”
An odd request. Zevo always made sure people had their breaks. But I didn’t question it, just made up some baskets and wandered outside to find them. The line was intense, which meant we were in for another rush, depending on how many people they let in.
“Hey, guys,” I said, handing Calvin and Sasha their food. “Heard you are busy.”
“We’re not bored,” Calvin said. “Thanks. This smells delicious.”
“I know, it’s all I could smell on my way over.” It had taken all my willpower not to do quality assurance on a fry or two. “I—”
A scent slammed into me. Make that two.
“Are you okay?” Calvin asked.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “But I think maybe… I think maybe I just scented my mate.”
Mates, my wolf insisted.
“Mates. I scent my mates.”