The Alpha's Pretend-Boyfriend

The Boss

Louie found himself sitting in the middle of the restaurant floor, amidst empty chairs and tables, with Dane sitting across from him. When he woke up that morning and got a ride from the stranger he helped out last night, he thought he was going to be thanked for the trouble, then they would part and never see each other again. But boy, was he wrong.

Dane Bennett stared at him with his brown eyes narrowed and his chin resting on his palm, as if he was thinking deeply. As it turned out, the alpha werewolf he found by the dumpster and tried to seduce him in his heat, owned and managed Hestia’s—a small, expensive restaurant that posted a wanted ad that, with some twisted turn of fate, Louie randomly found posted just outside of a shabby bar downtown.

It had been a solid minute since Dane made him sit down for an interview, but none of them had spoken a word. It would have been bearable if it had just been the two of them, but when Louie glanced around, he found Hestia’s staff hiding in different corners, watching him intently while pretending to work.

Dane cleared his throat, making Louie look at him once again. Then he folded his fingers on the table and straightened his posture. He took a deep breath, smiled, and said, “You’re hired,” much to Louie’s and the rest of the staff’s surprise.

Louie blinked at him. “Sorry, what?” he couldn’t help but ask. The man hadn’t even asked for his resume, for goodness’ sake.

“You’re hired,” Dane happily repeated, looking at Louie like he expected him to jump up with joy.

Instead, Louie frowned. “But you haven’t even asked me anything,” he muttered.

“I don’t need to,” Dane shrugged. “I know that you’re the kind of person who helps out those in need, even strangers like me. That says a lot about your character.”

“But my skills—”

“Can be honed with practice,” Dane supplied. “I’m sure Fig will do a great job training you—”

“Hold up, hold up!” A young man emerged from behind the reception area. His hair was gray and smoothed back into a pompadour, and his eyes were red. He was wearing a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, showing the runes imprinted in the skin around his neck. If Louie’s assumption was correct, this fine, good-looking, seemingly confident man was a demon. “You can’t just go hiring people on-the-spot, Dane! I’m the one who’s going to suffer if that kid causes trouble,” he complained, hopping onto the table next to Louie.

“Fig,” Dane sighed, “I told you not to—”

“H-he’s right,” Louie agreed, making the two turn to look at him with surprise. “You can’t hire me just because I helped you out last night. I’d prefer it if you conduct a fair interview.”

“Help you out last night?” someone peeking out of the kitchen hatch said, suddenly looking deeply interested. “In what way, exactly?”

Dane rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine, fine, everyone, come out here,” he called out. Not a second later, and two other guys and one girl came in and stood behind him. “We’re going to conduct a real interview,” Dane continued. “Do you have a resume or a CV?”

Louie enthusiastically nodded and presented his papers, which Dane only glanced at while the others watched.

“Louie Farrik,” Dane muttered as he read. “Some odd jobs here and there… delivery, warehouse, driver. All in the span of a month?”

“Sounds sketchy,” Fig commented under his breath.

“Ah, human?” Dane asked with raised eyebrows as he looked up at Louie.

“Human?” the girl echoed in surprise.

“Yes, that’s right,” Louie sheepishly admitted. “That’s why it’s been difficult to find and hold onto a job here in the city. People tend to… have a preconceived notion of me.”

“Well, we don’t discriminate here,” Dane assured him. “The staff is pretty diverse, but it is rare for us to meet humans, though.” Everyone nodded in agreement, except for that tall stoic-looking man in a black chef’s uniform, who only looked at Louie with clear disinterest in his scary green eyes.

“I have a question,” Fig raised his hand.

“Okay, everyone can ask Louie something, and then let’s take a vote afterwards. You go first, Fig,” Dane said, giving the floor to the demon.

Fig crossed his legs and leaned forward, c*****g his head sideways as he scanned Louie from head to toe. Louie sat up straight and readied himself. “Have you ever or will you ever date a colleague?”

Louie wasn’t sure if he heard that right. Everyone looked disappointed with the man’s question, and the tall guy even rolled his eyes. “Um, no, I don’t think so,” Louie answered, still confused if that was a legitimate interview query.

Fig leaned back and sighed. “Ah, what a shame,” he muttered. “I’ve never had a human before.”

“Moving on,” Dane said, sternly looking at Fig. “Germain, you’re up,” he nodded towards the man with long curly dark blond hair and pale skin. His blue eyes lit up with excitement as he giddily stepped forward.

“First question, what did you mean when you said you helped out Dane last night?” he asked. Another personal question unrelated to skills or work.

“Um,” Louie was unsure if he should answer, but before he could try to redirect the question, Dane spoke.

“If everyone must know, last night after we all had drinks, Louie here graciously helped me when I was passed out at an alley downtown. He was kind enough to take a complete stranger home and clean me up,” Dane explained.

“Clean you up?” Germain repeated. “You didn’t drink that much last night, though.”

“I, um, got my heat unexpectedly and before I could get an inhibitor from the drugstore, I fell down at a dumpster,” Dane sheepishly admitted. For a boss, Louie thought, he was weirdly open about his personal life to his staff. He’s also kind of a… pushover.

“Your heat, huh?” Fig knowingly smiled at Louie. “Did you have fun last night, human boy? Is that why Dane’s so thankful to you today?”

“W-we—I didn’t—” Louie’s cheeks turned red at the accusation and at remembering what transpired in his own bedroom.

“Oh, you nasty dog!” Fig kicked Dane’s chair and howled in laughter.

“It’s not like that,” Dane immediately said, slapping Fig’s shin away. “He gave me medicine and I slept like a baby the entire night.”

“Well, that’s no fun,” Fig pouted.

“Anymore questions, Germain?” Dane asked. “Something less personal now, maybe.”

“I have another,” Germain said, tucking his hair behind his ear. “Are you a tight-ass perfectionist who can’t handle when things aren’t done your way?” he glared at the tall guy at the back, who purposefully avoided his line of sight.

“Uh, no, I’m not,” Louie answered.

“Good.” From the looks of it, Germain was only trying to take shots at the other guy and wasn’t really interested in the interview.

“Callie?” Dane nodded at the girl whose long brown hair was braided. She looked like she was the youngest of the bunch, with her innocent light brown eyes and timid demeanor.

“I’m good,” she said, kindly smiling at Louie. “He looks kind.”

“Gadreel?” Dane called the man that Germain was glaring at—the one who looked scary, as if he was about to punch a wall.

“None,” he said, “just don’t make stupid mistakes and don’t get in my way.”

“Alright, now it’s voting time,” Dane happily exclaimed, handing Louie back his paper. “I’m going to count from three and if no one objects, we’ll be hiring Louie Farrik today. 3…2…” Everyone else remained silent, much to Louie’s relief. “1!” Dane stood up and held out his hand. “You’re hired!”

“J-just like that?” Louie asked, feeling like everything was too easy. Dane had a huge smile on his face that made him look like a large happy Labrador.

“Just like that!” he nodded. “It’s a consensus!”

Louie looked around. No one seemed to find it odd, and no one was complaining, so he stood up and shook Dane's hand. With a smile, he said, “Thank you! I promise I’ll work hard. I won’t let you down!”

Dane's smile became even brighter as he walked around the table and put an arm around his shoulders. “Good to hear, newbie! Now, let’s introduce you to the team. That pretty boy over there is Belphegor—"

“Don’t use my full name,” Fig rolled his eyes.

“We all call him Fig,” Dane continued, “he’s a demon server and sommelier. He might seem like a handful but he's pretty good at his job, and he'll be the one training you. That one is Germain.” The one with long blond curls and light blue eyes smiled. “He's a vampire and a cook, and our own gossip mill. The tall guy at the back is Gadreel.” Dane leaned closer to whisper, “He only seems broody and mean, but he's actually a sweetheart.”

Gadreel was unamused as he crossed his arms and grumbled, “I heard that,” to which Dane only laughed at.

“He heads our kitchen,” Dane proudly continued. “Our own executive chef who cooks heavenly meals—quite literally so since he's an angel. And that one is our youngest, Callie Powell.” The girl shyly waved. “She's a Beta werewolf getting her Masters Degree who works here as a part-time dishwasher.”

“She's our little baby,” Fig loudly whispered, which made Callie furiously blush.

“Are we done now?” Gadreel impatiently asked. “I have work to do.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll make this quick,” Dane walked behind Louie and placed both his hands on Louie's shoulders then gently pushed him to the center. “Welcome to Hestia's, Louie! You are now part of the family, and we look forward to working with you and getting to know you better.”

Fig devilishly smiled from the side, Callie clapped her hands together in glee, Gadreel rolled his eyes while Germain continued to shoot daggers with his eyes at the angel.

Louie had gone to the city to experience different cultures and get to know other races. Hestia’s seemed like a good place to start, but he couldn’t shake off this feeling that he had just entered a circus that would make his life one hell of a ride.