Chapter005
1818 Words
Two weeks later.
Elaina's pov
I got the job.
Two weeks ago, I walked out of Silver Claw with nothing, and I thought it was over for me.
But the hotel had held my position even after I missed my start date, and every morning since, I'd pinned this badge on like armor.
Today, of all days, it had to be perfect. Tonight the Perfect Crown was hosting the Crown Summit… the biggest event on the hotel's calendar. Once a year, the leaders of the seven main packs sat down with the richest men in the capital to carve up contracts, territories, and alliances.
The entire top floor was booked out. The kitchen had been on war footing for three days. Careers were made and buried at the Summit… and the food, the head chef reminded us hourly, was the hotel's reputation on a plate.
And I was cooking for it.
"Luna!" Kyle called from the front of my little room. "Are you sure you won't eat before you go?"
I stepped out, adding my uniform.
The room behind me was barely big enough for a bed and a hotplate… one of two we'd rented above a noisy mechanic's shop on the east side of the capital, where rent was cheap, and nobody asked questions.
This was technically rogue territory. Wolves without packs washed up here from every corner of the region, and after Silver Claw, I found it, I liked it. Nobody here cared what rank you were… only whether you paid on time.
"It's Miss now, Kyle. I'm no longer Luna. Remember?"
"Sorry. Miss." He didn't look sorry. "Should I drop you off?"
"I can manage, thank you."
When I got to work, it was as busy as I thought it would be. I cooked all day… the stocks, the venison, the honey-glazed roots, the rosemary bread. This was my happy place. Something I was genuinely good at.
Midway through my cooking, the executive chef himself came down the line. He was a mountain of a man who spoke maybe ten words a week, and the whole kitchen held its breath as he tasted my sauce straight from the pot.
He tasted it twice.
"Who seasoned this?"
"The new girl," someone muttered.
He looked at me for a long moment. "Keep this up through the Summit, and we'll talk about the sous chef opening. The Perfect Crown rewards hands like yours."
I bowed my head and murmured a thank you, but inside I was burning with happiness.
My happiness was cut short by someone behind me.
"Sous chef," someone scoffed behind me. "She's been here five minutes."
"You know how girls like her move up so fast," another voice answered… low, but meant to be heard. "Ask the cold room."
They laughed. My hands kept working. Let them talk. I was used to it.
By evening, the head chef looked over the pass and nodded at me. "The guests want to greet the kitchen. You come too. You did half of the work today."
Agnes, the manager, stood by the service door, looking like she'd swallowed a lemon whole. I know she hated the fact that I was here at all; for some reason we'd started on the wrong foot, but I followed him out, ignoring her.
The private dining room glowed with candlelight and money. Four men stood near the head of the table, and three of them looked exactly like the billionaires they were in tailored suits, heavy watches, and confidence oozing out of their pores.
The fourth was different.
He was the most plainly dressed man on the floor. He wore a worn-out jacket. No watch. And none of it mattered, because something about him made my knees want to bend.
It wasn't like Daniel's alpha pressure… that had always felt like a hand shoving my head down. His power was much heavier; he didn't need to apply any pressure for it to be felt.
His eyes held so much power when they lifted… they were dark like onyx, unhurried, and otherworldly beautiful in a way that made goosebumps rise along my arms… I dropped my gaze to the carpet before I could stop myself.
Interesting, my wolf murmured. The first word she'd spoken since the betrayal.
And then I heard the voice that ruined the moment.
"…distribution stays with Silver Claw, of course. The seed is my discovery, gentlemen. I've earned the right to name my price."
It was none other than Daniel's. He was seated at the head of the table, in his best black. And beside him, glittering in emeralds with one hand curved over her belly… my sister.
This was the meeting. He was here to sell my seed. My formula, my frozen nights in the fields, auctioned over a dinner I had cooked with my own hands.
Sharon saw me first. Delight bloomed across her face like a match catching.
"Oh, my goddess." Her voice was loud across the table. "Eliana?"
Every head turned. I blinked back the burn rising in my eyes. Not here. Not in front of these people. I didn't want them to ruin the only good thing I had now.
"You know the staff?" one of the suited men asked, amused.
"Know her?" Daniel's laugh was warm and easy, and only I could hear the blade in it.
"This woman ran from my pack two weeks ago. There was… an incident. Poison was found in a family member's belongings." He shook his head slowly, sorrowful, statesmanlike.
"We chose not to hunt her down, out of mercy for her poor health. But I'll admit I'm surprised a hotel of this standard would hire a fugitive without checking her history."
The room went cold. The head chef took half a step away from me.
They had taken everything else. Now they were soiling my name too?
"That's not…" My voice cracked. "That is not what happened."
"There she goes." Sharon sighed, rising from her seat. "Lies until the very end. Honestly, after everything our family sacrificed for you…"
She lifted her wine, took a delicate sip, and grimaced. "And now you serve me this? The sauce is bland, the meat is dry. Are you trying to poison us too, or are you simply this useless?"
She crossed the room, hand rising, rings glittering…
"Stop."
The word wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.
The plainly dressed man had ignored the entire performance. At some point… I hadn't even seen when… he had pulled a plate toward himself.
While the whole drama was going on, half of his meal was almost gone. He looked immensely satisfied, and that caused Zuri to be more than happy. His eyes went to my hands, pausing for a second, before going back to my eyes.
Sharon's hand hung in the air. "Excuse me? This doesn't concern…"
He looked up, and pressure rolled off him like heat off a stove… vast, effortless, and old. Sharon's arm dropped. She stepped back into her chair without deciding to. How much power did this mysterious stranger have that even Daniel was scared of his presence?
"Sir, please, allow me to apologize on behalf of the Perfect Crown." Agnes swept past me and bowed to the table, to Daniel, to everyone rich enough to matter, her voice dripping honey.
"We had no idea what this woman was when we hired her. I assure you, the hotel takes full responsibility." She turned to me, and the honey curdled into triumph. She had waited weeks for this.
"You. Remove that uniform tonight. As of this moment you are dismissed… and banned from the Perfect Crown. If you step into the lobby again, security will drag you out in front of everyone."
Murmurs rippled down the table. The head chef stared at the floor. Whatever he thought of me, he wasn't going to lose his job over me.
Banned. My dream job was snatched out of my hands because of this man that was supposed to be my mate.
"Now," Agnes hissed, "get out of this room before…"
He set down his fork, touched the napkin to his mouth, and cut through what Agnes was about to say.
"Come and work for me instead."
I stared at him. "…What?"
"I don't know how to cook." He said it plainly, ignoring everyone else. "And I need someone."
"Now hold on." Daniel shot to his feet, fury cracking through his salesman's polish. "You don't understand what she is. This woman is a criminal, a runaway… I won't allow my business partners to be deceived by…"
The man turned his head.
He didn't speak. He didn't stand. But his power filled the room the way floodwater fills a valley… and Daniel's voice simply died in his throat.
My former mate, Alpha of Silver Claw, the man whose aura once bent my spine, stood opening and closing his mouth like a fish. His wolf had decided for him. Some things outrank an alpha, and every wolf in the room had felt it.
The three suited men exchanged glances. The nervous one with the tablet whispered, "Sir, the vetting protocols…"
"Benny." The name. Benny went quiet too.
The man looked back at me, and his eyes were calm again; that ocean of power folded away as it had never been out.
"Well?"
My heart was slamming. Behind him, Daniel stood mute and gray. Sharon's face had gone rigid over her emeralds. Agnes, in the doorway, looked close to fainting.
"I don't even know your name," I said.
Something almost like a smile touched his mouth.
"Marco."
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