Chapter 2

Joel

“So how did it go?” Lyla asked while draped across my bed.

“Fine,” I replied snarkily, “and what are you doing in here when I’m not?” I asked while setting my bag down and pulling off my hoodie.

A slow wolf whistle made me turn to Lyla and raise a frosty eyebrow.

She deliberately looked me up and down taking in my interview outfit and giving extra notice to my hair.

“I know!” I said patting it gently, a beaming smile now on my face. “It took me the best part of an hour getting it to look like this!”

Lyla snorted and I wrinkled my nose at her unladylike noise.

That just made her laugh louder.

I deliberately ignored her and turned on my radio.

She shut up instantly.  “Oh no, no, no” she said, getting off the bed and turning the radio back off again.  “I want details, Joel. What was it like? Did you see any of the family? When will you know if you got the job?”

I looked over at her eager face and suppressed a smile.  She looked really cute with her big curious eyes, like a little puppy.  Not that I would ever tell her that.

“Ok, lets see.  It was horrible, just like I imagined. Like stepping back in time.  You could smell the wealth coming off the walls upstairs but downstairs it was all plastic chairs and chipped paintwork.”

“Wow, so did get to look around?  Are the pillars in the dining room really made of gold like Molly said?”

“I didn’t see the dining room, but it wouldn’t surprise me,” I replied.  I didn’t tell her that I never saw any of the main house, so in reality I had no idea what it was like.  But I knew the perfect way to distract her from realising that….

“I saw Casper though…”

A loud squeal made me flinch and cover my ears quickly.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!!  Tell me everything!!”

I shook my head to clear the ringing in my ears then grinned mischievously at her.

“I can’t tell you I’m afraid.  Employer, employee confidentiality.”

I couldn’t help but smirk when I saw her face fall.

“That’s not a thing is it?  And anyway, you’re not technically an employee until you’ve got the job!”

“Oh, but I did get the job.” I said rather triumphantly.

“Really?!” she squealed again, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Yey” I said throwing my hands in the air in a sarcastically lethargic way.  “I get to wash pots for 4 hours each night. I can’t wait. Whoop whoop.”

“Hey, no one made you apply for the job!” Lyla said sticking her tongue out at me, before settling back onto my bed.

I watched her as she rustled about in her bag.  She was wearing her usual outfit of grey sweat pants and a blue hoody.  She rarely made any effort to look girly. But regardless of that, she was still the prettiest girl I knew, with her honey coloured hair and bright blue eyes.  Most guys I knew liked to fawn over the Alpha’s two daughters, Luna and Star, but I didn’t rate their beauty at all. To me it looked fake and too polished.

My eyes were suddenly drawn to the bag of Tangtastic haribo that Lyla pulled from her bag.

“Oooo, yummy!” I said jumping onto the bed beside her.

I reached over to take one from the bag when she snatched it away suddenly.

“Na ah,” she said shaking her head.

“Hey, why not?” I said sticking out my bottom lip in protest.

“Not until you give me the dirt on Casper,” she said while popping a cola bottle into her mouth.

“Damn you and your evil powers,” I said flopping face down on the bed. Being my best friend she knew exactly how to play me.  Haribo were my kryptonite.

After a couple of seconds, I popped my head up to look at her and said, “hand over the candy girl and I’ll squeal like a pig.”

Lyla giggled and handed me the bag.

“So whad d yo wnt oo know?” I asked while chewing on a particularly sour cherry.

“Is he as hot in person as he is in the pictures?”

“Hotter!” I replied, popping a ring in next.

“Oh my god!  Did he say anything to you?”

“Hmm let me think,” I said tilting my head to one side in thought.  “He said, ‘get this mess cleaned up’.”

Lyla scrunched up her face.  “Charming!”

“I know, right!”  I said while popping in three cola bottles at once.

“So what mess did you make during an interview?  Wait, did they give you a test to see if you could clean dishes?”

I snorted at the idea.

“No, he made the mess, then asked me to clean it up.  He tried to kill me with a fork!”

“Eh?  He what?” asked Lyla, looking at me as if I was growing an extra head.

I looked at her for a second then made the decision it was better not to tell her too much.  

“It doesn’t matter,” I said waving my arms for effect, “all that matters is that he is super hot when he is angry, like smolderingly hot!”

“Hey, I thought you hated the guy!  Back off him, he’s mine.”

“In your dreams,” I said, laughing at the idea that either of us stood a chance with him.

You see, we were the bottom of the food chain.  The dross in the wolf pack. Not even worth a name.  We were just classed as ‘the rest of the pack’.

The only way we would ever get to meet or talk to the ranked members of the pack would be by working for them in the Manor.  And even then we would only discuss work matters, nothing personal. Ranked members of the pack didn’t associate with the likes of us.

It was just another reason why I hated this place.