The Alpha's Witch

Chapter2

Seline's POV

My eyes scan the group of customers as I approach them. Then my gaze moves to the handsome stranger who helped me a while ago. He's staring right back at me and I quickly move my gaze away as my heart flutters. Ok, where on earth did that reaction come from?

Shaking myself out of that weird sensation, I give them a wide grin as I reach their table.

"Hi, welcome to Brooke Town Cafe," I say with a forced cheerfulness. "I'm your server, Seline. I'll be taking your orders," I inform them as I bring out my notepad from my front pocket.

The man who rescued me earlier is still staring at me with an inscrutable expression on his face. I wonder what his deal is.

I put my attention on the other occupants of the table. "So what will you guys be having today?" I ask, ready to scribble out their orders and get the f**k out of here.

They each call out their order and I write it down. When it gets to my rescuer's turn, I actually feel a shiver run down my spine as he calls out his order.

Then my nosiness gets a hold of me before I can hightail it out of there. "Are you guys new to the town? I haven't seen any of you around here before," I say, inwardly cursing myself for my loose tongue.

They all exchange looks with each other before their gaze settles on my rescuer like they're seeking his permission to speak out. It's obvious that he's their leader from the way they all seem to be waiting for his approval.

My rescuer is the one who answers my question in an even tone. "Yeah. We're new to the town but we aren't going to be staying for long," he finishes. His eyes fall to my name tag that's pinned to my breast pocket. "We hope you welcome us into your town, Seline."

I feel my pulse quicken as my name rolls out from his tongue. Has my name always sounded so lovely?

His gazes holds mine in a trance and I blink as I quickly get back control of myself.

"Oh. So where are you guys staying? I know this town like the back of my hand and I haven't noticed that there was a vacant space." I say curiously but thankfully none of them calls me out on my nosiness.

My rescuer waves his hand dismissively in the air. "We're just staying with a friend for the time being."

I nod as his words run around in my head and fills me up with new curiosity. What business do they have in our Town?

I'm berating myself as soon as that curiosity settles within me. It's none of my business. I shouldn't even be making conversations with them. Wolf shifters are bad news.

"I'll have your orders ready in a jiffy," I promise and quickly move back to the counter where I belong.

I pass their order over to the chef and he whips up their order in record time. Before I know it, I'm heading back to their table with two trays full of burgers and smoothies.

I place the trays on the table, wish them a happy meal, and then promptly disappear back to my hideout.

Since they are happily having their meal and chatting away animatedly, I decide to use my spare time to figure out a way out of the mess that I'm in.

I reach into my side pocket and pull out my phone. Logging into my bank app, my heart sinks into my stomach as I stare at the negative digits staring back at me.

My rent needs to be paid before the week is over, the grocery at home has been reduced to a loaf of bread and ham and also, I really need to get a new pair of workshoes because the ones on my feet are opened at the front and the sole is almost nonexistent from how much I've used it. It's safe to say that I'm hugely screwed.

No, I can't let my thoughts head in that direction. I need to remain positive even in the face of tremendous disasters.

Today is payback and the money I get will be able to at least pay for the overdue rents I owe my landlord. After I cover the rent, I will only have a few dollars left and I'll have to rationalize it between my basic amenities and my feeding expenses.

I let a sigh as overwhelming dejection weighs me down. It seems like I'm going to need to cut down on food for this month.

A glance towards the group of shifters shows that they're almost done with their meal. I pick up their check and head to their table.

My rescuer lifts his head from his food as I approach. His gaze falls on the check in my hand and he stretches out his hand for it.

As I'm placing the check onto his outstretched palm, his hand brushes against mine, sending a shiver straight down my spine.

I jolt from the electrifying touch and quickly pull my hand away.

My rescuer also looks a bit shaken but then his expression goes back to that goddamn inscrutable facade.

"Thank you, Seline," he said, his voice low and husky. "You've taken good care of us."

I smile. "It's my pleasure," I said, trying to sound like I'm not having an internal turmoil.

His gaze moves away from my eyes. It falls on the beauty mark next to my mouth and lingers there for a moment before moving back to my eyes.

I quickly move away from their table and allow them to finish their meal.

A few minutes later, they started standing up and walking out of the cafe.

My rescuer is the last person to stand up from his seat. He pauses a few feet away from the door and turns around to face me. "Thank you for your service," he mutters and walks out of the cafe like that little sentence didn't just cause a pleasurable shudder to pass through me.

I tear my gaze away from his perfectly sculptured ass and force my attention back onto the job that I need to focus on if I want to get paid today.

I pick up the check and the money kept inside it and place them both in my front pocket. Then I start clearing away the trash and my hand stills over a smoothie cup as I notice a mint hundred dollar bill beside another smoothie cup. A smoothie cup that's on the table in front of the chair that my rescuer sat on.

He left me a hundred dollars tip?! Or did he mistakenly place it on the table and then forget about it? The latter option seems more probable.

I look towards the exit to see if he's maybe still around but find neither him nor his friends. I reluctantly pick up the single bill and place it in my back pocket, silently vowing to hand it back to him when next I run into him. I may be in dire need of cash but I still have some morals. At least, I think I do.

I have to admit that the dollar bill was burning a hole in my side pocket and whispering to me to use it to buy some groceries and treat myself to a new shoe.

Fighting against that urge, I finish cleaning up the table, put the empty cups in the trash, put their bills into the cash register, and take up my previous position. I attend to a few more customers and at six pm, I'm cleaning the tables when James, my boss, approaches me with an envelope in his right hand.

I straighten up as he draws closer to me. He smiles at me as he hands over the envelope. "It's payday," he says. "Don't spend it all in one place."

I gingerly accept the envelope from him with a smile of my own. "Thank you," I tell him. James happens to be one of the few friends that I allowed myself to keep. He's a middle-aged man who has more grey hair than black. If my father had actually bothered to stay with us, I imagine that he would have looked like Frank.

"Make sure you close up and head back home before it gets dark," he warns, looking every bit like the caring father that I never had. "These streets aren't safe."

"I'll be done with cleaning up soon enough and then I'm out of here," I reassure him.

He nods, still looking like he's contemplating staying behind to close the cafe with me.

"Go home," I warn before he can voice out the idea in his head.

He groans but starts walking towards the door. He stops with his hand on the handle and tilts his body to face me. "See you tomorrow," he says with a smile.

"Same," I answer.

I hum to myself in the empty cafe as I bag the trash for the day and drag it outside to the dumpster that's behind the cafe. The hair on my nape raises and goosebumps break on my skin as I toss the trash into the dumpster. Someone is watching me. I can feel it.

Blood pumps into my ear and my adrenaline kicks off when I see a shadowy figure emerging from the darkness. Behind that figure is four more.

My heart skips a beat as I recognize them to be Mason along with his gang that's always trailing behind him. It seemed like they lurked around and waited for me to be done with my shift. Bunch of weaklings.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," Mason says with a mocking clap of his hands. "Boys, what do you think we should do with this treat?" He asks, his eyes roaming over my body like he's Jesus and I'm his last supper. Disgusting!

Bile rises in my throat from his leering look. My stance widen as I reach into my back pocket for the pocket knife that I always keep there for cases like this.

I lift the knife to my front and point it at him. "Stay away from me," I sneer.

He lets out a belly laughter, doubling over and patting his lap frantically like I just told him a very funny joke. His minions look confused for a few seconds before joining him. They all let out laughter that echoed in the quiet night making their boisterous laughter sound louder.

I roll my eyes at that scene. They are like puppets.

Mason abruptly stops laughing and all his minions stop as well. "Get her," he orders menacingly.

My spine straightens as they circle me, looking for a blind spot to dig their claws into. As they inch closer to me, I lift my right hand above my head and summon a magical force which I direct at the panther shifter in front of me.

He flies back and lands on the dumpster with a hard bang and a loud groan. He stays there with his head at an abnormal angle and the others share a look of uncertainty between themselves as they stare at their friend who looks like he has broken a few bones in his body.

They're stepping away from me when Mason growls, "Get her!"

Then they all attack at once. I try my best to defend myself but there's only so much that my magic can do when I'm greatly outnumbered.

I let out a scream as I felt a sharp pain at my side. I look down to find a mean-looking dagger buried in my side.

I stagger, moving back and falling onto the ground. My eyes are fluttering shut when I hear a deep angry growl.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see a huge black wolf stepping into the scene. The panther shifters charge at the wolf but after the first attacker gets a huge chunk of his arm ripped off, the others run away into the darkness without a backward glance.

The wolf steps closer to me and shifts into...my rescuer.

He rushes over to my side and falls onto his knees. His hand cups my face, his thumb brushing a tear away from my cheek. "I've got you," he whispers "You're safe now."