004

The cashier held a tray in his hands, “I almost forgot your complimentary drink, I should have given you at the counter.”

Celine’s eyes widened in surprise, “You didn’t have to come all the way up here for that, but thank you.” Her smile widened, taking the tray that held a bottle of fancy fruit juice from him.

“Just doing my job,” He gave her an air salute. “Name’s Max, you can come to me if you have any questions or issues.” He added before briskly walking down the hallway.

Celine closed the door with a smile, making sure to lock it for the night, it was so nice to be treated like a person and not a nuisance. She placed the tray on the bedside table, intending to go right to bed but the sight of the drink reminded her that she hadn’t eaten or drank anything since she was covered in peach juice hours ago.

The drink didn’t look like it would be tasty but it would be enough to soothe her thirst. She could have stopped the cab to buy something but she had just wanted the journey to end, so she opened up the bottle and poured herself a glass. It was a mix of tropical fruits and tasted as good as artificial-flavored drinks went, drinking down the entire cup.

It was so cold that it was worth the trouble and without meaning to, she finished the entire bottle. It was so freeing to be able to enjoy something as simple as a drink without having to look over her shoulder that she didn’t know when she did. She stared at the perspiration running down the sides of the bottle with a soft smile, about to lie on her bed when she realized that her body wasn’t listening to her.

Her smile fell off her face, the same way she fell to the linoleum-covered floor, her vision going black.

A few minutes later there was a sound of tinkling keys and the door opened to reveal Max, the cashier from earlier. He adjusted the lapels of his striped suit jacket and swept forward, closing the door behind him.

Max walked around the splayed-out white-blonde hair of the unconscious Omega, inspecting the drink he had brought her to find it completely empty. He hadn’t been expecting her to drink it right away, much more drink the entire bottle but this was the best-case scenario because no one else in the hotel but him had seen her.

He had gone to check on the cameras only to see her taking his bait, that was when he hurried back, in time to hear her fall to the ground. He waited a few more minutes to make sure she was completely out before coming in.

He crouched beside her to push her hair out of her face, a leering smile on his face. How lucky of him to run into someone like her just a day before the big auction, it was almost like she was sent to him.

Max placed her on the bed and did a quick search on her things to learn about her background, easily finding out that she was from Moonstone Pack, a backwater place. He wouldn’t have to worry about getting in trouble even if she were to go missing because Moonstone had no influence in Reef.

His smile got wider the more he learned about the Omega; from the moment he saw her, he could immediately tell that she was new in Reef City. No one spent a week in a dingy hotel if they were visiting a place so he could guess that she was planning to move into the city if her luggage was any indication.

He checked on her one more time, making sure that she was breathing and that her vitals were fine because she had taken a large amount of the sedative and he didn’t want any harm to come to his winning lottery card.

Max brought out his phone and made a call, stained teeth jagged. “Hey, Frank, I’ve got a special item for you.” He bragged into the phone.

The was a pause on the other end like the person didn’t believe him, “It better not be fake gems or some other stupid gimmick, Max.” A croaky voice finally replied, sounding unimpressed.

“No, no, this isn’t a stunt, I swear.” He immediately jumped to defend himself.

“Fine. I’ll give you one last chance, Max, one.” He enunciated, “If you fuck this up, you’re paying the debt with your blood, got it?”

“Got it,” Max quickly answered, sweating as the line went dead.

He turned to look at his unconscious guest, she would never know how much trouble she had saved him by showing up. He moved fast, taking her to his beat-up truck that was parked beside the hotel - it shared a parking lot with a nearby bar.

He locked up the hotel before leaving, there were only two other guests in the hotel and they were both blackout drunk, it meant that although he was the only employee, he could freely leave for as long as he wanted.

Max started the engine and drove out of the parking lot, approached by no one although he had just shoved an unconscious person into his truck. Anyone who saw him and was lucid enough to have rational thought would have just guessed that she was drunk.

He also wasn’t worried about getting pulled over as he rode with the unconscious Omega because he was driving into the less respectable areas of the city. He stopped in front of a rundown hostel that was sandwiched in between two strip clubs. It was almost midnight, yet the street was lively, neon lights flashing, and music blaring.

There was someone waiting on the driveway of the hostel for him, the Beta walked forward at the sight of his truck, a lit cigarette held between his lips.

Max jumped down from his truck and adjusted the lapels of his threadbare suit again, smoothing down his greasy hair - it was his time to shine.