The Cursed Luna and Her Fated Mate

Chapter 10: Dances With Wolves

Celeste awoke to find herself back in her sleeping bag. She had slept in until late in the day. She rolled over to find a bowl of fresh fish waiting for her. She scarfed it down hungrily, and went outdoors to wash herself after a long and active night.

“How was your shift, Luna?”, asked Seth as Celeste moved toward the lake.

“Painful, but worth it. My wolf is amazing,” Celeste replied. The rest of the pack gathered around their Luna, excited to hear about her first shift.

“I think we heard you howling! Tell us about your wolf, Celeste,” said Rhiannon.

“She’s beautiful; silvery white fur and bright blue eyes. She’s big too, strong and tough. She is exactly the wolf I needed to protect our pack and break the curse,” Celeste replied. The group hounded her with questions about her first night, and she answered them before sending them away so she could wash herself. Stepping into the clear, frigid water, she washed body and hair quickly before hurrying back out and wrapping herself in a towel. Soon it would be too cold to wash up outside; the lake would freeze over. Boiling the water before washing sounded like hassle, but a nice hot shower sounded heavenly to Celeste.

Celeste dried herself off and dressed herself into a hoodie and leggings. Celeste recalled the outfits for the dancers available at the club. She decided that being able to obscure her identity was more important than showing up already looking her absolute best. She still had a few hours before she needed to go to work, so she spent her time bonding with the pups and helping to gather firewood. Wandering the woods and lifting heavy logs, Celeste noticed a great increase in her strength and sense of smell: gifts given to her by Arya. She paused a moment to thank the goddess for the blessings. After a few hours, Celeste grabbed the backpack from the cave and waved to her pack, heading into town.

Celeste walked into the small, dark club; it wasn’t open for business just yet, but Jim was already behind setting up for the night.

“Hey Jim, good to see you!”, Celeste exclaimed while approaching him. Jim waved back.

“Well someone’s here early! Guess you gotta get ready. Head on back to the dressing room and use whatever you want back there. My other dancer, Tanya, she ain’t gonna be in tonight, said she’s sick or something. I was hopin’ you’d have her to show ya the ropes and all that but it’s all you my dear,” said Jim.

Celeste nodded and headed back to the dressing room. She got straight to work, curling her hair into gentle beach waves, painting on a thick and bold eye look, a deep red shade of lipstick, and covering herself in glitter. When she was ready, she chose a black lacy bra, a deep blue sequin top and a short pleated black skirt from the rack, and paired it with a pair of knee high tights. She slipped her feet into a pair of hot pink pair of platform heels. She paused to check herself out in the mirror.

“Rogues, we have fresh meat tonight. Let’s give a warm welcome to our newest dancer, Amber!”, Jim cheered on the microphone.

“Ah, a fake name. Nice touch, Jim,” Celeste muttered to herself. She approached the curtains that led from the dressing room to the stage, took a deep breath, and stepped through the curtain to find the club now packed with rogues. Celeste smiled and winked at the crowd as the music started. She began to move her body to the song; at first it was a bit awkward, but as the crowd cheered her on her confidence rose. She twirled her body around the pole, threw her top onto the floor of the stage. She danced between removing pieces until she was down to nothing but her stocking and heels.

The rogues were going crazy for Celeste. Many of them were trying to reach for her, touch her, while she danced. It was a little off-putting, but Celeste was able to mostly ignore it. After dancing through a few songs, Jim returned to the microphone.

“She’s a natural! Rogues, give it up for Amber. She will be out to give private dances. Wolves, time to grab a drink from your favorite bar tender, me!”, Jim said enthusiastically. Celeste looked down at the stage and noticed for the first time that the stage was covered in cash. She knelt down and picked up each bill and the discarded clothing before standing back up, wad of cash in hand. Celeste waved at the crowd, several of the wolves whistled at her as she turned and headed back through the curtains.

Celeste noticed a row of locked boxes along the back wall of the club, one freshly labeled with her name. She set a new code on the box and dropped her cash off, and dropped her outfit into a waiting laundry basket. Celeste wiped the sweat from her body and put on a shiny purple set of lingerie, chugging a bottle of water before walking out to the floor of the club. A line of massive rogue wolves awaited her. One by one, she took them to the VIP and danced for them alone, climbing onto their laps and gyrating to the beat of the music. Many of them were touchier than Celeste would have liked, but it was not as bad as she was envisioning.

After working her way through the line, she returned to the dressing room to drop off her cash. She dressed into another s*xy outfit and returned to the stage. She went between the stage and private dances through the night until the club closed at 3 AM.

Celeste washed the makeup and glitter off in the bathroom and dressed herself into the hoodie and leggings she arrived in. On her way out she noticed a shower in the back of the restroom and smiled; a hot shower sounded heavenly; she would be sure to make use of it often. She sat down on a plush purple couch and counted out her cash.

“Holy sh*t,” Celeste whispered to herself. $2300 in one night. She counted out $350 to tip out to Jim, packing the rest into her backpack and strapping the bag onto her front. She removed a knife from the bag and placed it into the front of her hoodie. She stopped off at the bar to find Jim cleaning up.

“Good first night?”, asked Jim.

“Yeah, great actually!” Celeste responded with a chipper tone. At this rate, the pack would have plenty while she was gone. Celeste handed Jim his cut of her tips and waved before departing the club. She gripped the knife in her front pocket and rushed back toward her camp, not seeing anyone along the way, she felt a wave of relief. She dropped her cash off into the chest the goddess gave her and fell fast asleep.

The pack fell into a routine; Celeste slept until late in the day, ate the meals prepared by the rest of the pack, washed up, and worked all night. The pile of cash grew with every shift Celeste worked. The pack ran smoothly with everyone doing their part. Celeste used some of the pack’s cash to stock up on canned foods. Celeste shifted on her nights off, growing her relationship with Arya during shifts and in her dreams. All seemed to be going well for a change.