Chapter 2

(Kaeleigh’s POV)

A couple of hours later, I had showered and got dressed for the evening. There was no uniform at the bar other than wearing black, so I had my signature black skinny jeans and a low cut sleeveless black top. I was just finishing my light makeup when my bedroom door opened and Tatum walked in. The twenty-one year old woman was stunning with her long blond hair and petite frame, plopped herself down on my bed and watched me. I eyed her in the mirror and frowned. 

“Thanks for knocking,” I said, and she grinned and winked.

“You’re welcome.” I rolled my eyes. Tatum might look all sweet and innocent and like butter wouldn’t melt, but the girl had a mischievous streak a mile long.

“I’d thought I would accompany you tonight,” she said, and I surveyed her tight black dress that showed more than it hid. I shook my head.

“Nope,” I said, and she rolled her eyes. This was a dance we both did on a regular basis. She would try to get me to let her come to the bar and I would refuse point blank. It was a bar full of supernatural folk who had no regard for human life and so any human had to be accompanied by a supe. Tatum had been trying to get me to get her in since I got the job there, and even if Ezra hadn’t flat out refused, then I still wouldn’t have taken her. 

“Come on,” she pleaded, “Radium is so boring now, humans are boring,” 

“You’re human,” I said, and she scowled at me. 

“Technically, I’m half werewolf,” she pouted, and I laughed.

“Dormant half, and the answer is still no,” Tatum stuck her tongue out at me and I laughed again. I ran the hairbrush through my light red hair and pulled it up into a high ponytail. I grabbed my bag from my chair and turned to face Tatum.

“I love you, but your safety is my concern,” I said, and she pouted again.

“If only you knew. I know how to take care of myself,” she said with defiance.

“And what do you mean by that?” We both looked over at the voice in the doorway and saw Elaina watching her daughter closely. Tatum sighed,

“Nothing,” she said, and stormed out past Elaina. Elaina shook her head as she watched Tatum walk into her room and slam the door shut. She turned and smiled at me.

“Ezra is on his way to the airport and would like to know if you wanted a lift,” she said, and I shook my head.

“Thank you, but I’m good with the walk. I would be way too early otherwise,” I said with a smile and Elaina smiled. 

“Okay, and you be safe too,” she said. “Werewolf strength aside, I still worry about you,” I went over and gave her a hug.

“Thank you Elaina,” I said. “I promise I will be safe.” 

It was a twenty-minute walk through the city to the bar but it was still warm out so the walk was pleasant enough. I tugged my bag onto my shoulder and put in my earphones and set off with music blasting in my ears. It wasn’t that long before I made it to the back door of the club and punched the numbers into the security pad and let myself in. The bar was already open and reasonably busy. I stripped off my bag in the staff room and headed out into the main bar.

“Ah, Kaeleigh!” Bobby, the two-hundred year old vampire and bar owner, called as I walked in. “What a pleasant sight you are today,” 

“Thanks Bobby,” I answered with a smile and immediately got to work. I like Bobby a lot and he was a good boss. He was tough but fair, and he put up with way more of my attitude than most would expect. I got to work serving customers while glancing around the room. It wasn’t a massive place. Big enough to house a dance floor and DJ booth as well as ample seating, but not too big that I couldn’t check who was in at any given time. Right now, we had a group of unseelie faeries and a splattering of rogue werewolves. It was too early for vampires, as they tended to come later in the night. But there were plenty of witches. One customer got my attention straight away, and I side eyed him as I served a witch. He was sitting at the end of the bar and to the casual observer, he looked like he was ignoring everyone. But I could tell that he had a keen eye on all the goings on around him. 

I could also tell that he was an Alpha werewolf. And that concerned me. I hadn’t seen him in the bar before and I didn’t like that at all, especially with Ezra being on high alert. It wasn’t unusual for pack wolves to come into the bar, but the Alphas rarely made an appearance, which suited me just fine. I didn’t like Alphas, apart from Ezra, of course. They were often territorial and demanding. I had my fair share of unmated Alphas deciding that as a rogue wolf that I would be an adequate mate for them, and I had no plans for that at all. The idea of living in a structured pack with all their rules and shit was not for this wolf. I was happy being a rogue, despite the reputation rogues had, and I was happy with the freedom that came with it. 

The Alpha noticed me looking and smiled and held up his glass. I forced a smile onto my face and went over to him.

“Another one?” I asked, pointing to his empty glass, and he smiled and nodded.

“That would be great, thank you,” he said, his voice as charming as the smile on his face. A quick sniff told me his last drink was a whisky and coke, so I grabbed a new glass and began pouring his drink. 

“You a rogue?” he asked. I nodded in response, knowing full well he could tell I wasn’t affiliated with any pack. For one, you wouldn’t find a pack wolf working in a bar like this, and two, a werewolf can tell by the scent of another what pack they are in. A werewolf carries two scents, one which is their own and one which is attached to their pack, like a replica or extension of the Alpha of that pack. Since technically I wasn’t part of a pack, I only carried my own scent. This was often why werewolves would find me attractive, because the scent of another pack wouldn’t cover my own scent. I didn’t smell like another Alpha. 

“Do you run with other werewolves?” The Alpha asked, and I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. He quirked an eyebrow at my reaction and his smile widened.

“I only asked because I was looking for an old friend of mine, and I heard he was in the area,” he said smoothly

“An old friend?” I asked, “What from school? You don’t look old enough to have an old friend.” As werewolves we aged slower than humans. We didn’t live much longer, maybe fifty years tops, but a lot of our years were spent looking younger than we were. 

“I’m old enough,” he said with a wink, “but I appreciate the compliment.” he handed me the money for the drink and I rang it up on the register. 

“So could you know him?” he asked when I handed him the change.

“Know who?” I asked. I admitted I was playing dumb, but I wasn’t planning on giving any information out.

“My friend, rumour has it that he has a rogue pack,” I smiled back at him and shook my head.

“Sorry,” I said, “It’s just me by myself.” I said. It was his turn to narrow his eyes, and I could tell he didn’t believe me. I was waiting for him to call me on my bullshit, but then he smiled again, and his hazel eyes twinkled. 

“Well, that is a shame for such a pretty young thing to be all alone now,” he said and I rolled my eyes. This was more like what I was used to.

“I get by just fine, thank you,” I said. The Alpha looked like he was going to say something else when there was a load of noise at the door that drew both of our attentions. I looked over to see a group of werewolves from one of the local packs, the Dark Moon pack, coming in. There were seven or eight of them in total, mostly girls, but a few men as well. I watched as they found two tables close to each other and as one of the men looked over at the bar as if he was searching for something. Our eyes locked, and he nodded in my direction. I nodded back slightly but kept my expression clear of emotion. 

“Ah, I see we are not as alone as we say we are,” the Alpha was watching me and had probably noticed the smallest reaction I had. I glanced at him briefly and shook my head.

“No, I’m alone, and happy to be so,” I said definitely. He responded by laughing and standing up from his seat. 

“Well, I can tell when I have had enough,” he said and nodded before heading towards the exit. I looked down at the full glass of whisky and coke that he had just paid for and shook my head again. 

“Oh my goddess!” I heard a high-pitched squeal and rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe that skanky rogue is still working here.” I glanced up to see one of the werewolf girls glaring at me from the other side of the room. I laughed to myself at her using the term skanky, being that her obviously fake platinum blond hair and dress so little I didn’t think it could be called a dress, showed just how classy she was. She stalked to the bar in the bright gold gaudy stiletto heels and leaned over, giving Bobby front seat view of her breasts as they practically spilled out of the dress. 

“Bobby, please will you serve me tonight,” she pouted at him, “I wouldn’t want to catch rabies off that dog that you insist on keeping around.” I rolled my eyes again.

“Yeah, you serve her Bobby,” I called over. “Just watch out for crabs from what I hear,” 

“You bitch!” she screamed, and Bobby sighed dramatically.

“Kaeleigh,” he pleaded. I shrugged and smiled. I couldn’t help it. This bitch wolf had been on my back almost as long as I worked here, and it was starting to really grate on me. What made it so much worse was the reason she had a vendetta against me was making his way up to the bar as we spoke. 

Jensen Hagen, blond haired, blue eyed and pretty much body chiseled like a god, stopped at the bar and smiled at me. He was wearing a white t-shirt that hugged every single one of his eight pack muscles perfectly and showed a sample of the ink he carried just under the band on his sleeve. I knew from memory that the tattoo continued on to his chest and was a beautiful viking design. He was also the future Beta of the Dark Moon pack. I normally stayed away from pack wolves, but about six months ago Jensen’s charming smile had worked a little too well on me and we had been friends with benefits off and on since. He was fun and knew I wasn’t looking for anything serious and didn’t put pressure on me for it. We scratched an itch for each other, and that worked out just fine. Apart from when bitch she-wolves like the one glaring at me right now, didn’t like the idea of the future Beta rolling around in the sack with a dirty rogue.

“Hey Kae,” he said, and I smiled back.

“The usual Jensen?” I asked, and he nodded. 

“And for me darling,” Jensen’s friend and the future Gamma Zack grinned at me. I smiled and pulled out a couple of bottles of beer from the fridge and ran them up on the register. Zack glanced over at the bitch, who was pretty much foaming at the mouth, and sighed.

“Better get the drama queen one too,” he said with a wink. “Just make sure you give the glass a good lick first,” and I heard a growl come from her direction. 

“Adelaide, give it a rest,” Jensen snapped, his rank oozing out of his tone, and she immediately cowered. She glared at him for a hot second and then spun dramatically on her heel and stalked away.

“Thanks darling,” Zack said, picking up his beer and heading off towards the tables. Jensen stayed where he was, just watching me. 

“What!” I snapped finally after a minute, and he flashed his award winning boyish charm smile. Dammit, I knew what was coming next.

“I’m gonna be in the city tomorrow,” he said, and I raised my eyebrow at him, “I have a business meeting.” 

“Oh, so you’re out on a school night?” I asked sweetly. I was avoiding where this was going.

“I’m gonna be staying over at the apartment,” I sighed. The apartment was owned by the Dark Moon pack and was used by the upper ranks in case they needed a bed in the city, or if they needed to house a potentially dangerous guest. 

“Tomorrow is your night off, right?” Jensen asked, and I sighed again.

“Jen,” I said, “maybe we should cool it off for a bit,” I was reminded of the fact that once Ezra got back from his trip, we could be out of here and I wouldn’t see those beautiful blue eyes again.

“Please Kae, I really want to see you,” he pleaded, and I grimaced. I tried to think of an excuse, but already knew I wouldn’t find one.

“Fine,” I said “I’ll come over okay?” The smile I got was bright enough to make me smile in return.

“Great,” he said happily, “I wanted to talk to you about something as well, but we can talk tomorrow,’’ I smiled in return, although I was starting to feel nervous. I didn’t like the sound of this. Whatever he wanted to talk to me about, I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like it.