"Welcome, Alpha Kristen. We are honored to have you here," our alpha said with a smile, walking next to the tall she-wolf.
Today we had a neighboring pack visiting. They were going to renew a treaty of alliance between our packs, especially since the current alphas would be stepping down soon. Along with them were Alpha Kristen's son and his soon-to-be beta, but the beta wasn't around. I think I'd seen him at one point, but he must've gone off somewhere else. Our alpha's son and his future beta and gamma were with the group too.
My eyes were immediately drawn to the alpha's son. He was so handsome. Beautiful curly hair, tanned skin, and bright brown eyes that always made me swoon a little. He felt my eyes on him and turned his head briefly. He smiled at me, sending a wink.
Since I'd given up on my mate, I decided to date anyone that I could. Erin's mate had unfortunately died before he could meet them. He'd felt the bond sever one day out of the blue. We'd been friends for a few years beforehand and I'd always found him attractive. A couple of months later, we decided to start dating. He was amazing. It had already been a year and I couldn't be happier. He was a very passionate man and fun to be around.
I waved to him, deciding to head off to work now. Since I couldn't become a warrior with my wolf form, I decided to open my own cafe. It did pretty well and I enjoyed the work, so at least I was happy with what I got. I knew my parents worried I was unhappy, but I wasn't. Life dealt me a bad hand, but I was making the best of it. They didn't have to worry but they did anyway. I wished I could reassure them. When I told them I was dating Erin, they'd been happy to know I wasn't lonely. They probably hoped Erin and I would mate. Since both of us were mateless at the moment, we had already discussed mating anyway. It was rare to mate with someone other than your fated mate, but we couldn't really do anything else.
A few minutes of walking took me to my cafe. I unlocked the doors, heading into the back to start making the items I'd sell today. I was starting late today but I'd prepared some of the recipes already so I could finish quickly today. I hummed to myself as I worked, hearing the door open again.
"Morning, boss!" A voice chirped.
"Farah, I'm back here," I called back, hunched over some dough.
The young girl walked into the kitchen, a smile on her face. "Need any help, boss man?" She asked me, heading over to grab an apron.
"No, I'm fine. Can you open up, though? And stock the display case, please. I have some finished items over there," I told her, pointing to a cooling shelf unit.
She quickly got to work, bouncing around. She was fresh out of high school but an extremely hard worker. She'd been a part-timer here before but she decided to come on full-time, thank goodness. I loved to have her around. I wasn't old or anything, barely twenty-three, but she still made me feel more lively. Plus, she was one of my closest friends nowadays. She was an omega as well, so we kind of bonded over being the runts of the pack, so to speak.
An hour later we started to get customers, mostly regulars. Our pack made up most of the town we lived in. There were few humans, nor were there many visitors, so business was usually from people we knew well. I decided to man the counter after a little while, watching Farah go around and take orders. One of the part-timers also moved between the tables, while another full-time worker was in the back making sure food kept coming. It was a small business, but it was home.
The bell rang over the door and I looked up, smiling brightly when I saw Erin, his father, Alpha Kristen, and the rest of the group coming in. Erin walked over to me, a smile on his face as well.
"Hey, babe. Happen to have room for us right now? We decided to take a little lunch break."
"Of course. Go ahead. I'll be right over to take your orders."
Erin nodded his head, leaning over the counter to peck my cheek. He motioned for the party to head over to an empty table large enough to fit them all. As they were passing, Erin's beta and gamma, also in our friend group, waved at me. I waved back, bowing my head when the alphas passed by. I started to busy myself with work for a moment as the rest passed by, not really caring about Alpha Kristen's party.
A minute later I went over to them, pad and pencil in hand. I smiled lightly when everyone turned to me, noting that there was someone new. It must've been the beta for Alpha Kristen's son because I didn't remember him. His eyes widened when he saw me, but I ignored it. I got that reaction sometimes.
My pale fair complexion, black hair, and clearly Asian-like features could throw people off at times. We didn't have many people like me in our pack. My mother was Korean and my father Puerto Rican. I got most of my looks from my mother, though.
"Hello, everyone, can I take your orders?" I asked politely.
They began to list off what they all wanted as I wrote it down. When it was that one guy's turn, the late beta, he froze for a moment, his words seemingly stuck in his throat.
"Sir?" I prodded, wondering what happened.
He kept looking at me with this lost look like he was confused about something. I didn't understand.
"He'll have an americano and a blueberry scone, please," Alpha Kristen's son interjected, smiling apologetically.
I nodded, writing it down. I smiled again, my eyes focusing on Erin. He didn't even seem fazed by what just happened, keeping his eyes on me. I blushed lightly, turning to walk away. He was making it so obvious. We had guests!
I went into the kitchen to personally make their orders, feeling like I should do it since this was my cafe and they were important visitors. As I was grabbing a blueberry scone, I was suddenly reminded of the beta. He was acting so weird. It was concerning. I didn't want to make any assumptions though so I pushed my thoughts away, putting everything on a tray to take out to them. It was fine. Whatever happened, I'm sure it was fixed by now. Finishing up, I grabbed the tray and balanced it on my hand as I walked back out to deliver their food. As I neared the table, Alpha Kristen was the first one to notice. She smiled warmly, getting the attention of everyone else.
"Sorry for the wait. Enjoy your meal," I said as I began to pass everything out.
"It's fine, Wren, we understand. Thank you for hosting us," my alpha spoke up.
I nodded my head, finishing up with the blueberry scone last. As I was handing the plate to the guy, our hands very briefly brushed together. His breath hitched for a moment and I paused, confused. He grabbed his plate, looking at me almost pleadingly. I began to feel a bit uncomfortable and I could definitely feel Erin's stare on me, so I bowed very briefly and decided to leave.
As I walked away, I glanced down at the hand that had touched his. Was something wrong? Maybe he was just surprised it happened at all. Accidental hand touching could be awkward. But for some odd reason, I felt like there was more to it than that. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I needed to focus on work for now.
I busied myself with receiving new customers and checking on orders. After a while, the alpha party got up. They all left, leaving the beta-guy to pay. I smiled, ringing up their total. He paid quickly, his eyes flitting between what he was doing and me. Once he was done, he looked directly at me. His mouth opened, but then he quickly closed it, as if he was unsure of what to say.
"Is everything alright?" I prodded, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Oh, uh, everything's fine. I just- what's your name?" He blurted after fumbling with his words, surprising me.
My name? Why did he want that? It wasn't like he should care. I wasn't important or anything. "Wren. My alpha mentioned it earlier, didn't he?" I answer him, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh..." his glanced down, a bashful look entering his face. "Well, the food was great, Wren."
I nodded my head, expecting him to leave it at that and join the group, but he didn't. Instead, he went silent again, his eyes looking around. He looked so tense. It really was concerning. I wanted to ask what was going on, but he seemed to suddenly gain some burst of courage, because he began to speak again.
"Hey, listen, I just wanted to say that I-"
"Joshua! Come on, man, we gotta' go," Alpha Kristen's son suddenly called from the door, waving his future beta over.
"But I-"
"Come on. We haven't finished yet. Hurry up," the other cut him off before he could protest, closing the door behind him.
"You have to go, right? Well, if you're done paying, thank you for stopping by," I piped up, smiling gently.
He nodded slowly, a lost look on his face. He looked a little... sad, but I wasn't sure why. "Right. Um, bye. See you later?"
I tilted my head a bit. "I guess so. Goodbye."
He looked at me one more time before he turned and left. I watched him go, even more confused than before.
"Well, that was sad to watch," Farah's voice spoke up from behind me.
I turned to look at her, a small laugh escaping me. "Yeah, I have no clue what just happened," I admitted with a sigh.
"Maybe he was trying to hit on you or something," she offered, leaning her hip against the counter, crossing her arms.
I shook my head, blushing a bit. "No way! Besides, I have Erin. And he's just a guest."
Farah shrugged, straightening up to head back to work. I thought back on her words, frowning a bit. Was he trying to hit on me? I hope not. That would've been awkward, even more so than it already was. And Erin would've been extremely mad if he found out. It didn't matter anymore. I doubted I'd see him again any time soon. So I went back to work, pushing all thoughts of the odd beta out of my mind.
~~~
Hello! I just wanted to say that this story will update every Wednesday (hopefully)
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