Supreme Thy

Supreme Thy Chapter 2 Part 2

Claire

The animal inside her hissed and snarled, pulling at the invisible chain that kept it inside her. Claire fought back frustrated tears, telling herself that snapping at Ashley now would only risk her losing her job and make things worse for their family in the pack.

"Oh, Claire, look what you've done!" Ashley said loudly in a horribly fake shocked tone. "I can't believe you would do that to my food! I was just going to ask if you could heat it up."

Alice and Dan erupted into snickers at Claire's expense.

"I hope you're planning on giving me a refund for that, Claire." Ashley's façade of disappointment crumbled as a smirk began to ride on the corners of her mouth.

Hearing a loud, distraught customer, Lindy stepped out from the back room She took in the scene and Ashley's sadness and full heartedly apologized to the "customer" for her employee's clumsiness and then promised that their entire meal would be completely free.

Just as her boss left, she whispered harshly in Claire's ear, "Clean up this mess quickly. Their meal will be coming out of your paycheck, as well as whatever they want for dessert."

Though Lindy's whisper was quiet, Claire knew all three of the customers could hear. With their enhanced hearing, they could probably hear if a pin dropped all the way on the other side of the room, even with all the noise of the diner.

Claire swallowed hard and nodded. She kept her gaze completely on the floor. Not once did she dare raise her head, even as she got the mop from the supply closet and began cleaning up. Her wolf had a bit of a fit, upset by her refusal to meet the enemy's eyes, but Claire held her back.

She hand wiped the floor where the gravy spilt, knowing if it wasn't cleaned up correctly, someone could slip. She could feel Ashley's glares on her back.

"Hmm, anything I want for dessert. Fantastic."

Claire bit her lip and swallowed. This isn't that bad, she told herself. There are children like Charlie out there who are starving. This is nothing compared to that. Besides, it's just one paycheck. What's one paycheck lost?

She glanced at Charlie. Could he deal without a new pair of shoes for a week or two? Would they have enough money to fill their crappy, barely-running station wagon with gas? Did this mean she couldn't buy a new pair of jeans to cover the old pair that was practically capris now?

Claire took their dessert order, her jaw almost dropping in horror at the long list.

It wasn't until they were finally checking out that Claire wanted to cry. Those three kids must've eaten like kings. With the measly hours a week that she worked, it would take almost a full paycheck to cover the cost. She couldn't believe anyone could spend that much in a run-down diner like Lindy's.

She couldn't believe that she'd just technically spent that much at Lindy's.

"Thanks for that food, Claire! You're a doll." Ashley winked as she left. She was halfway through the door, numerous leftovers wrapped carefully in the plastic bag in her hand, when she turned back around. "You should definitely be a little more careful next time, Claire."

And with one last evil smile, she was gone.

Claire had to use her tips the next day to buy Charlie ice cream.

Part 2

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