Chapter 3

(Kaeleigh’s POV)

A couple of hours later, I had showered and got dressed for the evening. There was no uniform at the bar other than wearing black, so I had my signature black skinny jeans and a low cut sleeveless black top. I was just finishing my light makeup when my bedroom door opened and Tatum walked in. The twenty-one-year-old woman was stunning with her long blond hair and petite frame, plopped herself down on my bed, and watched me. I eyed her in the mirror and frowned.

“Thanks for knocking,” I said, and she grinned and winked.

“You’re welcome.” I rolled my eyes. Tatum might look all sweet and innocent and like butter wouldn’t melt, but the girl had a mischievous streak a mile long.

“I’d thought I would accompany you tonight,” she said, and I surveyed her tight black dress that showed more than it hid. I shook my head.

“Nope,” I said, and she rolled her eyes. This was a dance we both did regularly. She would try to get me to let her come to the bar and I would refuse point blank. It was a bar full of supernatural folk who had no regard for human life and so any human had to be accompanied. Tatum had been trying to get me to get her in since I got the job there, and even if Ezra hadn’t flat out refused, then I still wouldn’t have taken her.

“Come on,” she pleaded, “Radium is so boring now. Humans are boring,”

“You’re human,” I said, and she scowled at me.

“Technically, I’m half werewolf,” she pouted, and I laughed.

“Dormant half, and the answer is still no.” Tatum stuck her tongue out at me and I laughed again. I ran the hairbrush through my light red hair and pulled it up into a high ponytail. I grabbed my bag from my chair and turned to face Tatum.

“I love you, but your safety is my concern,” I said, and she pouted again.

“If only you knew. I know how to take care of myself,” she said with defiance.

“And what do you mean by that?” We both looked over at the voice in the doorway and saw Elaina watching her daughter closely. Tatum sighed.

“Nothing,” she said, and stormed out past Elaina. Elaina shook her head as she watched Tatum walk into her room and slam the door shut. She turned and smiled at me.

“Ezra is on his way to the airport and would like to know if you wanted a lift,” she said, and I shook my head.

“Thank you, but I’m good with the walk. I would be way too early otherwise,” I said with a smile, and Elaina smiled.

“Okay, and you be safe too,” she said. “Werewolf strength aside, I still worry about you,” I went over and gave her a hug.

“Thank you Elaina,” I said. “I promise I will be safe.”

It was a twenty-minute walk through the city to the bar. It was still warm out, so the walk was pleasant enough. I tugged my bag onto my shoulder and put in my earphones and set off with music blasting in my ears. It wasn’t that long before I made it to the back door of the club and punched the numbers into the security pad and let myself in. The bar was already open and reasonably busy. I stripped off my bag in the staff room and headed out into the main bar.

“Ah, Kaeleigh!” Bobby, the two-hundred-year-old vampire and bar owner, called as I walked in. “What a pleasant sight you are today,”

“Thanks Bobby,” I answered with a smile and immediately got to work. I liked Bobby a lot. He was a good boss. He was tough but fair, and he put up with way more of my attitude than most would expect. I got to work serving customers while glancing around the room. It wasn’t a massive place. Big enough to house a dance floor and DJ booth and ample seating, but not too big that I couldn’t check who was in. Right now, we had a group of unseelie faeries and a splattering of rogue werewolves. It was too early for vampires, as they came later in the night. But there were plenty of witches. One customer got my attention straight away, and I side eyed him as I served a witch. He was sitting at the end of the bar and, to the casual observer, he looked like he was ignoring everyone. But I could tell that he had a keen eye on all the goings on around him.

I could also tell that he was an Alpha werewolf. And that concerned me. I hadn’t seen him in the bar before and I didn’t like that at all, especially with Ezra being on high alert. It wasn’t unusual for pack wolves to come into the bar, but the Alphas rarely made an appearance, which suited me just fine. I didn’t like Alphas, apart from Ezra, of course. They were often territorial and demanding. I had my fair share of unmated Alphas deciding that as a rogue wolf that I would be an adequate mate for them, and I had no plans for that at all. The idea of living in a structured pack with all their rules and shit was not for this wolf. I was happy being a rogue, despite the reputation rogues had, and I was happy with the freedom that came with it.

The Alpha noticed me looking and smiled and held up his glass. I forced a smile onto my face and went over to him.

“Another one?” I asked, pointing to his empty glass, and he smiled and nodded.

“That would be great, thank you,” he said, his voice as charming as the smile on his face. A quick sniff told me his last drink was a whisky and coke, so I grabbed a fresh glass and began pouring his drink.

“You a rogue?” he asked. I nodded in response, knowing full well he could tell I wasn’t affiliated with any pack. For one, you wouldn’t find a pack wolf working in a bar like this. And two, a werewolf could tell by the scent of another what pack they were in. A werewolf carries two scents, one which is their own and one which is attached to their pack, like a replica or extension of the Alpha of that pack. Since technically I wasn’t part of a pack, I only carried my own scent. This was often why werewolves would find me attractive, because the scent of another pack wouldn’t cover my scent. I didn’t smell like another Alpha.

“Do you run with other werewolves?” The Alpha asked, and I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. He quirked an eyebrow at my reaction and his smile widened.

“I only asked because I was looking for an old friend of mine. I heard he was in the area,” he said smoothly.

“An old friend?” I asked, “What from? School? You don’t look old enough to have an old friend.” As werewolves, we aged slower than humans. We didn’t live much longer, maybe fifty years tops, but we spent a lot of our years looking younger than we were.

“I’m old enough,” he said with a wink, “but I appreciate the compliment.” He handed me the money for the drink and I rang it up on the register.

“So could you know him?” he asked when I handed him the change.

“Know who?” I asked. I admitted I was playing dumb, but I wasn’t planning on giving any information out.

“My friend, rumour has it he has a rogue pack.” I smiled back at him and shook my head.

“Sorry,” I said, “It’s just me by myself.” It was his turn to narrow his eyes, and I could tell he didn’t believe me. I was waiting for him to call me on my bullshit, but then he smiled again, and his hazel eyes twinkled.

“Well, that is a shame for such a pretty young thing to be all alone now,” he said, and I rolled my eyes. This was more like what I was used to.

“I get by just fine, thank you,” I said.

The Alpha looked like he was going to say something else when there was a load of noise at the door that drew our attention.