Chapter 1 Get Used To It!
1679 Words
Addison
The backroom of Della’s Pack Tavern where I worked smelled like grease, old coffee, and the sharp, anxious scent of unranked wolves.
Marcus and I stood in the cramped space, screaming at each other.
"I am a high-ranking warrior. I cannot control what the lower-ranked females do," Marcus yelled.
"She had her hands down your pants, Marcus. I could smell her arousal on you from across the room." I shot back, gritting my teeth as the image of the woman trying to kiss him yesterday filled my mind.
He snorted almost immediately. "So what? I am going to be the next Beta. It’ll keep happening, Addison. Get used to it.”
I stared at him.
He stared back, completely unbothered. The complete lack of remorse made something heavy settle in my chest.
“Right,” Sheila scoffed. “And tomorrow he’ll smell like somebody else. Funny how your lovely mate collects female scents like trophies.”
“Shut it, Sheila,” I snapped at my wolf, shoving the thought away.
Marcus would never do that. Not after everything I’d sacrificed for him.
"That aside," Marcus continued, a smile easing into his previously hardened face. "I need three thousand dollars for the Warrior Trials tonight. It is the entry fee."
I frown immediately. "I don’t have three thousand dollars, Marcus."
His smiling face immediately squeezes into a hard scowl. "You scrub floors ninety hours a week, how could you not have any savings?”
"I do that to pay my pack taxes so the Alpha does not exile me." I retort, clenching my jaw.
He goes mute for a few seconds, massaging the bridge of his nose thoughtfully before he huffed, "What about your workmates? Borrow from them."
"Addison, there is a customer at the front asking for you."
From the side of my eyes, I first see a figure hovering over the doorway before hearing his familiar voice.
I turned to look, exhaling when I saw my brother, Rhys, leaning against the doorframe.
He had a cleaning cloth slung over one shoulder and one hand buried in his pocket.
He was unranked, completely scentless and...
“Oh, please. Scentless?” Sheila snorted, interrupting my thought process. “You practically bolt out of the house every morning because I go into a rut whenever he’s around. If that’s ‘scentless,’ then I’m the Moon Goddess.”
I ground my teeth. “Would you keep your hormones to yourself for once?”
"Table four. They have been waiting a while." I snap out of my thoughts and instinctively take a step backward seeing Rhys approaching me.
"Oh, okay." I swallow, retying my apron.
"I will figure out the money," I pause to tell Marcus without quite looking at him.
"We are not done talking." Marcus frowned, reaching out to grab me, but I was already moving.
“Thanks, Rhys,” I murmured, squeezing past him while holding my breath until I reached the hallway.
Rhys just nodded.
I was already mentally rearranging my bank account for Marcus’ money before I even stepped out of the backroom.
Maybe I could ask the pack accountant for an extension. Or I could pick up an extra kitchen shift this weekend.
When Marcus told me he wanted to challenge for the Beta position three years ago, I had agreed to always support him until he made his breakthrough.
It would be hard to scrape the money together, but what kind of mate would I be if I could not even help at this stage?
I hurried down the hallway to attend to table four. But before I even reached the main dining area, a loud crash suddenly filled the air.
I flinched and looked back, startled by the noise.
My heart leaped into my throat when I ran back to the room and suddenly saw Marcus on top of Rhys.
"Stop! Stop it!"
My screams attracted the diner guards, who came rushing in to drag Marcus off Rhys.
The Alpha had a strict no-fighting policy in the commercial district. Marcus was hauled off before he could get a chance to say anything in his defense.
Left behind, I grabbed a first aid kit and rushed to Rhys, who was groaning on the floor.
"It is nothing. I am fine." He mused as I helped him to a chair.
"He broke your nose and these floors are filthy. Can’t risk it getting infected before you begin healing." I shushed.
Rhys stopped resisting and sat quietly for me to treat his wound.
“Marcus knows better than to violate one of the Alpha’s policies. Just what did you say to him?” I question in genuine confusion as I applied the ointment.
Rhys shrugged. "I told him he was a shitty fighter and he would totally butcher the trials next week."
I paused, almost wincing. "Oh, Rhys. You have known him for three years and still cannot tell his wolf does not like it when people challenge his strength."
"He has no strength," Rhys corrected firmly, his blue eyes peering into mine. "You should break the bond with him. If you like warriors so much, I will learn how to fight."
I sighed and dabbed another cloth against the bridge of his nose.
“That is cute.” I smiled despite myself. “But you’re only twenty-three, and besides… we’re basically siblings.”
“Adopted siblings,” he corrected quietly.
My brows perk up when I hear him mutter something incoherently, “What did you say?”
“Nothing.” His expression remained perfectly innocent. “So, how will you get the money for him? You paid your pack dues this week, so I know you have zero in your account.”
"I will ask around." I sigh.
I finished cleaning up the blood and left the room to return the medical kit.
Feeling my phone buzz incessantly in my pocket, I take it out on my way into the diner, stunned by several messages of me winning the omega welfare grant.
"The strangest thing just happened to me! The regional pack council just messaged to say I was selected for an Omega welfare grant, and they immediately credited me four thousand dollars."
Rhys picked up a chocolate from the counter, completely surprised as he unwrapped it. "Huh? That is so lucky."
"I know, right? It is almost as if the Moon Goddess is watching over me." I was beaming as I stared at my banking app. Four thousand and eighty dollars.
I exhaled a massive sigh of relief.
I immediately called Marcus to tell him I had the cash, but he did not pick up. I called again and was taken straight to voicemail.
He had said he needed the money urgently.
Coupled with the fact that he just got into a fight with Rhys and was kicked out, he was obviously screening my calls.
I quickly took off my apron, preparing to visit his quarters at the warrior compound directly.
…
I heard the laughing before I even knocked on his door.
It wasn’t fully closed. It was just pushed to, exactly the way wolves leave doors when they are entirely unconcerned about being caught.
I pushed it open and my breath caught in my throat.
Bella Dewan, a blonde I recognized to be one of the Alpha’s daughters, was sitting on the kitchen counter.
Marcus was standing in front of her, pressed close, his nose buried in her neck as he inhaled her scent deeply.
They were giggling amidst wet kisses and did not hear the door creak open.
"I am telling you, Addison will move heaven and earth to get me that money."
"It is so pathetic. You see her like three times a month, yet she eats up every word you tell her. The Alpha’s policy about being an unclaimed female really must be hard on her." Bella laughed heartily, her hands circling his neck.
Marcus moved his face away from her neck, staring into her face as he chortled, "Yeah. Her parents were killed by rogues when she was a pup. Had something to do with the bridge collapsing near the border.”
“Their bodies were found seven hours later. She said since she does not have much family left, she will do everything she can to make sure I never leave her."
“But I also know she can’t pull any man to be with her and protect her, so my word is basically law when it comes to her.”
The air completely vanished from my lungs as the vivid images I’d suppressed all these years reared their ugly heads in my mind.
The roar of the collapsing bridge, the deafening crush of metal and snarling rogues, echoed in my ears for the first time in years.
I feel Sheila go still and recoil into a ball.
"Well, far be it from me to stand in the way of an Omega’s dream of taking care of her warrior," Bella mocked, thinning her lips.
Marcus’ shoulders trembled slightly as he suppressed his laughter, adding, "Exactly. So even if it means she has to spend next month sleeping under a bridge with the rogues, that pathetic woman will get me that money before the end of today."
Running his hand up her thighs, he paused briefly and reached for his phone. "Speaking of that, she should have gotten the money by now. Let me give her a call."
Bella's foot fluttered in the air and she wrapped her legs around him happily.
Seeing my several missed calls and messages on his screen, the corner of Marcus' lips curled into a lopsided, arrogant grin.
"See? I told you she would get the money even if it kills her." He leaned toward her, planting a slow kiss on the side of her mouth. "Now let us get you that dress you want for the tournament."
Then he dialed my number.
The very next second, the smug smile on his face completely stiffened when my ringtone filled the air from the doorway.
- Writer
