The first day of school.
The first day of school and the first day of work.
Asher took a nervous breath as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, tidying himself up. He shaved at his beard, and tugged on the collar of his baby blue shirt.
Running a hand through his hair which had started to grow out a bit, he pondered if he should get a haircut. It would be nice to have black hair again. He mussed, but I do love this gray. Suddenly, his phone in his pocket started giving the default alarm noise and vibrating intensely. Taking it out, Asher's eyes boggled at the time.
"Shit!" he said, racing down the stairs. He watched Raven leave for the bus stop one hour ago with her backpack, all ready for the first day of eighth grade, so he got into the car.
Pulling out the driveway with much speed, he stepped on the gas as he raced towards the pack house. When he finally arrived, he parked his car in the Den C garage. Nervous, he stepped out and to the front door, rapping on it with three short knocks.
The door then quickly swung open.
"You must be Asher! Welcome!" said the excited omega.
After the mess that was the picnic, Asher still sent over his resume since he was still in the need of a job, and couldn't let something as stupid as a small conversation stop him. And true to his word, Wyatt accepted it and emailed him back.
"I'm Livy Oceanwood, but I'm sure Alpha Wyatt's already told you that. I'm one of the main chefs here at Den C, there are three others but hopefully with you that'll make five of us!" went Livy as she brought him through the house.
It was actually very clean, unlike his old pack house. There was no trash on the floor or furniture, and yet it still had a sense that someone lived here, with a few clothes and toys strewn around.
"Anyways, like Alpha Wyatt said I'm going to be your mentor. Over here is the kitchen, I know you got a degree in," she snapped her fingers.
"The culinary arts," supplied Asher.
"That's it! Perfect! I'm sure you'll fit right in. So, here's the kitchen, but if you follow me this way..." she pushed open a door and they stepped into a massive room. "Here's the main, main kitchen. The one out there is for other, ordinary pack members, here we prepare food for the pack like big feasts, lunches, and meals. Every den has a large kitchen like this of course, but Den C has the biggest, because Den C is clearly the best." As she chattered Livy pushed open cabinets and pantries, showing the massive coolers for meat and other frozen items.
"I- actually can you please explain the idea of the dens to me? My old pack was... really different from this," said Asher. Livy looked at him in surprise.
"Well of course! We have a total of seven den's, the main den, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Each den is like it's own separate pack house of sorts, but they're all connected with tunnels and rooms. Pack F is the newest, and also a bit further away from the other den's. We will cook for only Den C, and for example Den D chefs will cook for their den. Every year we have an annual den competition which is amazing. Some pack members however do live in the town, no problem with that." They made their way round the kitchen and Livy suddenly stopped.
"Alright! That should be it. If you do have any questions just let me know and I'll try my best to answer them. It's expected you be here hopefully by 5am every weekday, to help prepare lunch for some wolves and for the pups, as well as breakfast, and dinner. On weekends you can come in at 10, to do lunch and dinner. You'll be making three main meals, as well as snacks for any residing pack members."
"What time am I off to be home?" asked Asher, wondering about Raven and if the weird work schedules would affect her.
"Well, after dinner is made of course. But you can have Raven come to the pack house with the rest of the kids and she can do her work here, and spend time with you since you'll be having a lot of time off if not preparing meals." Well that's convenient.
"Wow."
"Exactly! It's great, so much better than my old pack," gushed Livy, the immediately looked like she wanted to eat her words.
"Your old pack- wait are you- Oh- Your last name is Oceanwood? You're one of the Oceanwoods?" asked Asher faintly.
"Well... I was. My dad was the alpha, but it's literal shit over there." she said, her face souring. "So I left, but the Oceanwood pack wasn't very... happy with that. At the time the Oceanwood and Coningsby were major enemies, but I came here to seek asylum. The alpha let me join, on the condition I become and stay an omega." A cloud of sadness seemed to pass over her, but Livy quickly clapped her hands together. "No worries! That was all... oh twenty or so years ago. It's all good now." she said, voice wavering a bit.
Well there you go again Asher, screwing things over already.
"Okay... over here is a spare apron we have and also a hairnet to stop any loose hairs," she handed him the white items. "You'll get an apron with your name on it later, I'll talk to someone about that."
"Anyways, I'll let you get used to all the tools and things here. Most of the pack members aren't really allergic to anything because, werewolves, but there is a list of who is allergic to what. There's also a list for people who want lunches to be made for the school or workday, as well as who's staying on what days," said Livy, motioning to the papers taped to the wall.
"The people don't change a lot, but it's best to occasionally check back. It gets changed everyday. Now, for lunch we usually make sandwiches or something, something easy..."
As Livy chattered away she directed him over to a cutting board and they started preparing a small lunch for the werewolves still on the pack grounds. Asher chopped the vegetables with grace, and soon became used to it. It reminded him of his old job at the restaurant.
They finished the vegetables and soup quickly, then some other omegas and chefs filtered in. The amount of werewolves who would be eating was small compared to the size of the pack, but still a lot of people to cook for.
Once they were done they loaded the dishes onto carts and wheeled them out to the Den C dining area. The tables were already set, and the dishes were placed.
"Most of the omegas here stay on pack grounds, because of their rank. However nothing stops them from getting a job out in town," said Livy quietly.
"Well why don't they go out then?" asked Asher, confused. If they got a chance to go out to town and escape from the pack why wouldn't they?
"Well it's not like they're treated bad here or anything. And it's easier to just work on pack grounds instead, there's always something to do. Omegas here are usually made either from punishment, or if they're born from a line of omegas," she said with a shrug, but then became quiet when some pack members started coming in.
The pack members took their seats, and chatter could be heard. Livy then pulled a chair out and sat in it, and Asher shot her a look.
"What? We're the chefs, and we eat to since we're part of the pack. I mean- you also get to eat since you're working here," she said with a rush. Asher gave a tentative glance around, in his old pack omegas dined separately from the important members.
"Asher! Dinner in... thirty minutes!" he heard his mom call. Standing up, Asher put away his toy trains and blocks into a box.
"Coming mom!" he hollered. Today, he decided, he would go earlier. Tugging on his shirt he marched down the stairs, into the dining hall where they usually ate dinner.
When he got down, he blinked in surprise as he saw lots of adults carrying yummy smelling food. They set it on the table and lifted the metal coverings, and steam wafted up, filling the air with the smell of cooked chicken. Asher felt a little drool dribble out of his mouth.
The adults brought out stacks of plates and started putting them down on the white tablecloth, forks and spoons clinking against each other. Glasses were put next to the plates and filled with water, pitchers placed along the table that were full to the brim with an orange looking juice and a red looking juice.
"Hey kid, what're you doing here?" asked a kind voice. Asher turned and saw an old lady smiling at him. He puffed his chest up.
"I'm going to dinner early," he said. The lady frowned.
"Yes... of course." she said, shot him a strange look then ran back to the table as her name was called.
Heaps and heaps of food was brought out, and it was all set with a delicate precision in each its own spot. Asher reached his hand out to grab a pristine apple slice that was set in an elaborate display with other fruits but his hand was smacked away.
"Kid! Go back downstairs," snapped a voice. Asher turned his head and saw a grouchy looking man fussing with napkins, and his hands were crisscrossed with scars. Downstairs? There's no downstairs. Instead, Asher sat back and watched with wide eyes as they all set the table in a uniform way. When the people were done, they started to leave, disappearing down the hallway and into hidden doors along the wall.
"Asher where are you- there you are!" called his mom. When his mom showed up the last of the food people ran away with a squeak.
"I was looking for you honey. What're you doing down here?" she asked. "Come on, let's go sit on our spots and wait for daddy okay?" Asher nodded and they sat in their assigned seats.
"Mommy where do the food people go? Why don't they eat with us?" asked Asher. His mom frowned.
"The food people- do you mean the omegas?" she asked. Asher shrugged.
"The food people who brought out all the plates and food. Why don't they eat with us?" he asked. His mom clucked her tongue with disdain.
"Those people don't eat with us honey. They're omegas, low filth, they live to serve us." she said firmly. "We are deltas, they don't deserve to eat with us here." she sniffed.
"Mommy what do they eat then?" asked Asher.
"They eat our leftovers, besides, it's more than they deserve."
"But mommy what about-"
"That's enough Asher, no more questions." cut off his mom. "We don't talk about the omegas while we eat dinner ok?"
Asher wanted to ask if they could talk about omegas after dinner, but it didn't seem welcome so he kept his mouth shut.
"Well?" said Livy. "Dig in!" Asher tentatively scooped some salad onto his plate, grunting as he ate the croutons.
"Thish is some good salad." he said. Livy smiled.
"Well it was made by the best chefs in the world, of course it is," said Livy, causing Asher to laugh.
"Yeah, I'm sure it was," he replied.
They finished up their meal, and the pack members soon departed. A few even stopped by to the chefs and omegas and thanked them for the meal.
"See? It's not as bad as you think Asher," said Livy smugly. "Come one, we have to go collect the plates now.
Taking the plates, Asher helped Livy load them onto another cart. They then wheeled them towards the kitchen.
"Alright newbie, you get cleanup duty for today. We have a schedule for that but we'll put you in soon enough," said Livy.
"Cleanup duty?" asked Asher dumbly.
"Yeah, it's not much honestly, just cleaning stuff after the meal. If the dish it has a lot of chunks on it scrap it into the compost bucket, that'll get taken out later, and just give some of the dirtier ones a rinse. The dishwasher does most of the work." she said, handing him a pair of rubber yellow gloves. "Then there's cleaning the rest of the kitchen. On the last weekend of every month the kitchen goes through a deep cleaning."
"Alright, I'll get to it I guess," said Asher, pulling on the gloves. Livy smiled.
"That's the spirit! And Asher?"
"Yes?"
"Whatever you're hiding from, you're safe from it here," she said gently. Asher gave a sharp inhale.
"Why would I be hiding from something?" he asked, with a sharp edge to his voice. Livy just shook her head.
"I just know," she said, then patted him on the shoulder and left the kitchen, leaving Asher with some of the others stuck on dish duty.
Loading the dishes into the washer one by one, eventually he was finally finished. Shedding the gloves the looked around for where to put them, and one of the others took pity on him and opened a cabinet under the counter.
"The gloves go in here. There's also extra dish soap and washing stuff in the counters under the sink," they said.
"Thanks. My names Asher... you are?" said Asher, stowing his gloves away. His companion pulled out two spray bottles and some disposable gloves, and some wipes.
"Nice to meet you Asher, I'm Starly Armea, and I would prefer if you used they pronouns for me," they said, handing him a bottle. "After dishes we just spray down the counters, as well as the handles of stuff. The dining room table gets cleaned by another group," they said. Asher took it and started spraying, mimicking Starly.
While they worked, Starly whistled a small tune. "I have a question, where'd you get your hair dye?" asked Asher finally, once they were almost done. Starly smiled and tapped their hair.
"Glad you asked! I use just your generic dollar store brand, it's probably murderous to my hair but the color stays in really well. I knew your hair wasn't natural!" they said triumphantly.
Asher felt a smile twitch on the edges of his lips. Once everything was finally cleaned, they stored the cleaning supplies away and left the kitchen.
"Well it's around... two right about now. Cleaning usually goes by faster than that, once you get used to the process," said Starly.
"What do we do now then?" asked Asher.
"Break time. Sometimes we make snacks but considering it's your first day here I think you can go explore around the den and stuff. I should totally show you around! And I'll be able to have an excuse to hide from Rowan this way," they giggled.
"Hide... from Rowan?" Asher suddenly felt angry, maybe this pack was just as bad as his old one. Starly must've been the look on his face.
"What- no I don't mean it like that! It's just he's supper grouchy all the time, that old man." they said fondly. "Y'know, he's also like Livy, Rowan left his old pack and joined us here. He's also one of the four main chefs here in Den C, along with Livy, Kimberly but everyone calls her Kim, and Stork."
"Stork? Like the bird?" Starly let out a little laugh at that.
"Yeah, like the bird. Down this way are the omega quarters, my room is that one. Most of the chefs are omegas, besides Stork and Kim." explained Starly, pushing open the door.
The room inside was moderately sized, Asher would say around the size of Raven's bedroom back at home. There was a bed, a dresser and a table, with little trinkets strewn around.
"What's this?" he asked, picking up a mess of wires and gears. Starly blushed and rubbed their neck.
"Eeh, in my free time I like to tinker around with stuff." Taking it from him, Starly turned a knob on the back and the little machine made a whirring sound. "This one's supposed to be a mock animal, and it should walk around when I'm done but I'm a bit stuck with it right now." they explained. Asher watched as they put it back down on the table.
"Anyways- that's the omega parts, I'll take you around to the-"
"STARLY ARMEA SLOUCHING OFF AGAIN." suddenly said a loud booming voice. Starly jumped a little. "Shit."
Starly slowly turned around and gave a nervous wave.
"Heeeey Mr. Rowan." they said weakly. Mr. Rowan was pretty old, possibly in his sixties, and yet he stood with a tall strong posture. "I'm just showing our new recruit here around the house, Asher, this is Mr. Rowan, and Mr. Rowan this is-"
"Asher Drexter?" suddenly interrupted Mr. Rowan. Asher felt himself flinch at the mention of his old name.
"I-" he began, but Starly interrupted him.
"You know each other? That's so cool!" Asher gulped, then glanced at Mr. Rowan, this time noticing his gloved hands. Wait a minute.
Rowan didn't take his gaze off of Asher.
"Well I'll be darned." he said. "What are you looking at boy?" he snapped.
"Uhh- nothing sir- I mean Mr. Rowan." Mr. Rowan waved a hand.
"You don' need to call me that, you're a grown man now." he said. "Certainly didn't expect to see you here."
"Yes..."
"Well? How do you know each other?" asked Starly. Asher nervously squeezed his hand in his pocket, but all Mr. Rowan did was shake his head.
"Eehh... just an old acquaintance from my old pack." he said. You could say that again. Thought Asher. He still remembered being a little kid and seeing the brutal scarred hands of the man before him.
After that one meal where his mother lectured him on omegas, Asher was early to almost every meal, staring as the omegas served the dishes, but always took care to make it look like he was late.
"Well, stop sitting around. I expect you not to be late for dinner-prep." said Rowan, glanced at Asher one last time then left. Asher let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding.
"Huh. You're from the Litwood pack? The one with the young alpha?" asked Starly. Asher winced.
"I- Yes?" he said, realizing it would be pointless to hide it since Rowan had told the truth already. Starly gave him a pointed look, then looked away.
"Alright, that's cool. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to." she said. Asher untensed himself.
"Thank you," he said softly. Starly smiled.
"Don't worry, it's not uncommon here. I'll keep it a secret for you. Now onwards! I haven't showed you the gaming lounge yet..."
Asher gave a little sigh as he trailed after Starly, rubbing his wrists with his sweaty palms. It seemed his secret would live to see another day.
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New characters! Womp womp!
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