Chapter 2: the Alpha Rogue

4:05 am

The alarm clock on a phone began echoing around the small living space of a small cabin. The ringtone that has been set as an alarm clock was called At My Best by Machine Gun Kelly woke up a half-naked man with fair muscle with a few healed claw scars. He began stretching and doing his usual morning routine - brewing coffee and toasting some slices of bread and reheating leftover food from last night's dinner.

“Luca, wake up, dude.” the man knocked on the wooden door of a room before waking up another man who was totally knocked out beside his wife and youngest child in their midst.

“Ciel, wake up too. We’ve gone to the cafe at 4:50.” he also knocked on the next door and woke up a teenager and the eldest son of his friend.

“Angel, it's too early.” his friend named Luca yawned as he walked sleepily toward the kitchen to gargle. He’s a wolf rogue too and the man who aided Angel around the human population alongside his small family.

Angel Reeves was the young wolf shifter who leave his old life and choose to be a rogue in the human dwellings. He was once thin but being hardworking his muscles grew fairly and making his build to be well-fit. But it cannot be seen easily once he started wearing decent clothing. He was not bad looking with raven messy hair and a slight beard since it was already five years ever since he left his old life, his old pack.

“It's already passed four, Dad.” Ciel, a yawning young teenager in his eighteen did the same thing as his father. But he and his younger sister, Elaine wasn’t pure wolf shifter but a halfling. They were half-wolf shifters and a witch since their mother, Ella was one.

“Already? Fine, I’ll wake your Mom.” Luca ruffled the hair of his only son and went back to their bedroom to wake up his wife.

So many things happened in five years of his stay in the human population. Good thing back then, the first night of his arrival, he meets a simple but beautiful family. They were like him, supernatural creatures and rogues. But they were different due to their races since they were a wolf, a witch, and two halflings. But being like him, a rogue, they welcomed him and even introduced him to a place where he could work with.

“Hurry up since we’re going to jog there.” Angel ushered them as he drank his coffee and eat two slices of bread and some reheated leftover food.

Before the sun could finally hit the earthly ground, they finished their morning routine in their small cabin with decent clothing, they headed to their morning job. Their job was located somewhere between the borders of supernatural night creatures like them and the human population.

“Early birds as always.” a middle age old man and a human in his 50s greeted them as he opened their cafe’s backdoor exit.

“Early wolves, manager.” Luca joked but the three of them knew that he was not joking at all. They were indeed wolf shifters and their manager was a human who laughed at it.

“Morning, manager.” Angel greeted their manager after nudging the side of his friend.

“Morning.” their manager greeted back and the four of them entered the shop. Then just a few minutes later, their other colleague who had morning shifts like them, started coming in as well.

Their morning job at the famous MLaCafe was on the ground floor of the five-story building called La Croix Commercial Building. It might be small but it was quite well-known around the city for being cozy, freshly brewed coffee, and opened so early in the morning at exactly 5:30.

“Angel, can you get me one sack each of Arabica and Robusta in the storage room? I need to refill our container here.” Their manager called for Angel’s assistance who just finished mopping the floor of their cafe while the others were setting the tables neatly.

“Yes, boss.” Angel smiled as he responded to his boss then he went to the storage room.

“Ciel, do you know where’s the sack of Arabica and Robusta?” Angel asked as soon as he went inside the storage room where Ciel was handling the morning inventory of the cafe.

“Oh, Alpha - I mean, Angel, it was just on the right of that corner.” Ciel answered but quickly followed up on what he addressed to Angel.

“Be careful next time, kiddo.” He ruffled the young halfling man’s neat hair.

“Sorry about that.” Ciel apologized politely and Angel nodded before heading there.

Spending time around the human population and his rogue friends, Angel became their alpha. He denied that call but ever since the night he saved them from some reckless and mindless rogues that almost killed their youngest, he proved that he was an alpha already. He might not like the idea but that’s how they already viewed him and based on how he moved around them. He was indeed a promising wolf. 

“Doing inventory check?” Angel asked the young halfling again. 

“Yes, the boss said to check it regularly and I am noting down their quantity. I even tried on estimating for how long the stock will be good.” Ciel smiled as he answered his alpha.

“Nicely done. Don’t skip things or the boss will give you an earful rant for it.” Angel reminded him while he went to the coffee beans stocks they were having.

“I know that’s why I am checking them thoroughly before the opening.” Ciel smiled.

“Good, I better get this to him. I think he’ll do some repacking.” Angel carried two sacks with him, one was on his shoulder and the other was on his side. He was not buff but he seriously could carry heavy things easily. The privilege of being a supernatural creature of the night.

As soon as Angel handed the sacks to the manager, they began to be busy once again and prepared everything before the clock hits 5:30 in the morning. Once it does, the cafe was opened earlier for the early bird people around the city. The cafe began to be filled one by one or by a group of people to have their coffee or their early breakfast.

“Hm, I think she’ll be here at the same time.” Angel muttered and one of the co-workers nudged his side while wiggling his eyebrows at him.

“There, on your twelve, your crush is coming.” another man and also a wolf rogue like him whispered in his teasing tone. 

Angel rolled his eyes over his two co-workers whose been teasing him when they learn about his attraction toward the certain beautiful customer.

“Work.” Angel just told his co-workers as he pointed at the cashier which made them chuckle and went to their assigned post.

“Good morning, Miss. What can we get for you?” Angel’s rogue friend and co-worker named Luca asked the beautiful lady with raven hair and a white highlight on the side of her hair standing before him.

“Ahm, the usual.” The lady answered with her cold voice that never failed to make Angel shiver a little in a good way.

“That’ll be fifty.” Luca said since he was in the cashier while Angel prepared for it.

When Angel finished the lady’s order, he handed it to the lady who he had a crush on. But when their fingertips accidentally brushed, Angel almost jumped from the electrifying contact which never happened to anyone before. He felt something that he longed to feel.

“Cold?” Angel thought but the lady seems not to notice anything yet both of them held a second of eye contact before going back to the present.

“Here’s your usual brew Robusta espresso.” Angel showed his charming smile that made the lady slightly smirked.

“Thanks.” the lady replied with her cold voice that still give him shivers in a good way. Good thing his blush wasn’t showing over his cheeks at the moment and then the lady went back to her usual spot by the window. 

“I saw it.” Luca lowly whispered when he teased him since they couldn’t do a mind link yet because they don’t have a place that they could call home - just yet.

“Shut up and work.” Angel only managed to say to him before glancing once again at the lady that he had a crush on.

“What’s gotten into you?! Work, stupid.” He mentally slapped himself from being in a daze and acting like a stalker to one of their customers. It was totally not good at all.

Angel caught himself staring at the lady for quite a while since he was feeling something different about her that lures him in. It was scaring him because of what he had been through but around the lady, there was a part of him that wanted to run and hold her already.

“Why I am feeling toward a human? Wait, she’s not a human but what is she? I can barely tell.” he muttered to himself and went back to his job as a barista.

But somewhere in between his job, he can’t help but to steal glances at the lady which the lady caught him doing it. What more made him feel embarrassed when the lady smiled and winked his way.

“Oh fuck! This is embarrassing.” he thought to himself as his heart suddenly reacted too much over that low-key gesture from the lady.

Yet, even in his wondering thoughts about the lady, he still glanced at the lady whom he felt really captivated. He was already puzzled about who she really was and all he could tell was that she was not a human. It was cloaked and it made him envious of it.

“Dang it, I hope to learn that one day.” He almost pouted from wanting to learn about cloaking his scent. The lady noticed it and slightly smiled before taking a sip from her coffee.

“Are you okay, alpha?” Luca lowly whispered to him when he noticed the sudden sulking mood of his friend, Angel.

“Yeah, I am fine. Let’s work.” Angel smiled even though there was something bothering him.

The busy morning went on to Angel but he never forget to glance to a particular spot that could calm his busy morning life. Yet, when his shift was nearing its end, he sighed dejectedly because it was also a cue for his crush to leave the cafe. Coincidence or fate? Angel, didn’t dwell much on that but he hope one day he’ll have the guts to approach or talk to her. 

“One day maybe…” he muttered to himself as he went to the employees' locker pantry to take a few minute's break before signing off.

Inside their break room or their locker pantry, he checked his phone because his parents and siblings were still reaching out to him. He was busy though that’s why he couldn’t pick them up.

“They were still persistent.” he chuckled yet it turned into a weak one. Something flashed into his mind that he doesn’t want to think about anymore. He blocked them immediately or else, his mood will be ruined until he thought of her.

‘Always on your mind, huh?’

With his sudden thought about his crush, his wolf suddenly talked to him since they were connected in a deeper manner.

“Can’t help it, Alarick…there was something about her that I’m drawn to.” Angel only answered his wolf with a heavy sigh.

‘Like mates?’

“Haven’t you felt it yet?” he wondered because he could not tell as well if that lady - his crush was also his mate. He’s hoping he won’t be hurt in the long run if his crush on the lady turned into something he was trying to prevent from entering his life again.

‘I wasn’t sure but feel like it.’

“Oh…so, is that the reason why I am attracted only to her?” Angel asked himself as well since the lady was already engraving to his mind and it was crawling toward his heart.

‘Maybe. We’ll know for sure soon…’

Angel sighed when he heard that response from his wolf while thinking about how long it has been that he was watching the lady. He’s been checking her out whenever they met at the cafe or whenever his eyes caught her somewhere around the city.

“Oh, my goddess…I’m starting to be into her…” he muttered because he found himself grinning just by thinking of the lady over and over again inside his mind. Then he ended his shift before he prepared for his next job at noon time.