Supreme Thy

Supreme Thy Chapter 2 Part 1

CLAIRE

She bolted through the forest. The wind whipped through her fur, the trees swaying and leaves falling to the ground by the push of the wind. Her breath came in pants, her heart thudded, and her lungs cried with exhaustion. She ignored it. She ignored it all and kept going.

Her paws became soaked when she splashed playfully through a stream, the water jumping up in fright and sparkling in the sunlight. Claire wanted to stop

The bird she chased cawed in horror as it flew through the green trees, dodging trunks and branches. Its blue and brown feathers danced in front of Claire's eyes, taunting her.

Almost there.

Claire.

One step away. Claire could practically feel her jaws locked around the tiny animal.

Claire!

She opened her mouth, her canines glinting beautifully in the sunlight leaking through the treetops. She bit down, catching the bird gracefully just as —

"Claire!" Somethine shook her shonlder hard, jerking her out of the dream. She jumped up, surprised, her head ramming painfully on the shelf on the wall by the booth.

"Ow. Damn." Claire rubbed at her head, pain shocking her senses like lightning. She looked up at the person who had woken her up.

"Sandy?" Her eyes darted around the diner as her mind caught up with her. How long had she been asleep?

Sandy glared down at her coworker. "Finally. I've only been trying to wake you up for like the past 15 minutes," she said, exasperated. "You're lucky they even let you keep your brother here while you work."

Claire frowned. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. It's just been a bit hard lately and -"

"Yeah, yeah. Save it," Sandy told her harshly, rolling her eyes. "You better get back to work before the boss finds you slacking off. Your break's been over for 20 minutes now."

Shit.

"And you definitely want to get a hold on your brother. He's been bothering that old couple for quite a while now."

Claire jumped up from the booth, her nervous gaze sweeping for Charlie. When did he get up from the booth? She couldn't help but sigh in relief when she found him near the back of the old diner, chatting excitedly with an elderly couple. Lucky for her, the couple didn't look like they minded having him join them for dinner.

Claire watched in horror when she saw Charlie steal a fry from the older man's plate. She immediately jumped into action, forgetting all about Sandy.

"Charlie!" she hissed when she got to their table.

"What did I tell you about leaving the booth?"

She sent an apologetic look to the couple, begging for them to understand. "I'm so sorry about this."

The lady only smiled down at little Charlie sitting next to her, his blonde curls looking way too out of control. "Nonsense, Dearie. This young man is more than welcome here." She ran a hand over his hair.

"Harold and I don't mind. He's been wonderfully behaved."

Charlie beamed up at the lady, no doubt soaking in the praise. "Care! Care! Can I stay? Please?"

Claire gave Charlie a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Charlie, but I need you to stay in the booth where I can see you. Besides, all your toys are there. Don't you want to play with your playdoh?"

She wouldn't have minded if she knew these people.

If that were the case, then she'd be all for Charlie staying at their table if that meant he'd have fun. But these were complete strangers, not friends. Humans, even. Claire had to use this as a way to teach Charlie that he could not talk to strangers. And he definitely could not go up to people he didn't know and take their food.

"We don't mind having him here, Dearie," the lady said.

But Claire was already shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I can't. Come on, Charlie, we have to go. Thank you so much for watching him for me."

Without another word, Claire snagged Charlie's arm and tugged him back to the booth. She nudged him down by his bag of toys and pulled his playdoh from the side pocket of the bag.

Cap off and ready, Claire was surprised when he didn't even go to touch it. Charlie was crazy about his playdoh. The kid was creative and could invent an entire story with a single ball of the mushy, clay-like stuff.

She glanced down at her brother, who sat with his head down on the table. His arms were wrapped around his face, not letting any light in.

You sent

Claire's hand clenched over her notepad in her apron.

Oh no. She had to go over there and take their drink order.

"I'm going to have him so tightly wrapped around my finger, he'll have to declare me his mate."

The other girl, her light blonde hair striking compared to Ashley's deep brown, decided to speak up. "If he wasn't your mate before he left, what makes you think now is any different?"

Ashley glared at her companion. "Because, Alice," she hissed, "before he left, I hadn't shifted. You know males can't find their mate unless she's shifted."

"Oh. Yeah." Alice stayed quiet for a moment. "But, wait, doesn't that mean he could also find his mate among all the other girls too?"

"Alice! Shut up!" Ashley snarled at her friend.

Claire felt right then would be the best time to intervene. She cleared her throat as she stepped up to the table. All their eyes immediately locked onto Claire's frame.

Ashley smirked maliciously. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Claire bit her tongue to hold back the numerous things she wishee she could sey: "Can I get you guys anything to drink?" she asked politely.

Alice was the first to speak up. "Can I have a water with a lemon?"

Claire nodded and turned to the guy, Dan. He was in her math class last semester. He avoided her gaze, mumbling, "Coke."

Ashley simply crossed her arms casually. "I'll have an iced tea."

Claire got out of there as quickly as she could, ignoring their snickers at something mocking Ashley said as she left.

She already dreaded going back, knowing having to serve them was going to be horrible. Taking a deep breath, Claire grabbed the drinks and slid them onto a carrying tray. Then she headed off to what would only be t*****e.

3

*

"Excuse me, waitress!" Ashley beckoned using a disgustingly sweet voice.

Claire scowled at the napkin holder she'd been replacing. What could Ashley possibly want now?

When she got to the table, Ashley shoved a plate of chicken and vegetables towards her. It whizzed to the other side of the table.

Except Ashley had pushed the plate way too hard.

Claire watched in horror as it tottered on the edge of the table for a moment, seeming to go in slow motion, before slipping right off.

With her heightened speed, she managed to snag the plate right before it hit the dirty tiled floor. Though she couldn't say the same for the food. She stared hard at the pieces of chicken and gravy all over the floor.

Chapter 2 part 1

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