Chapter 71
1 awake the next day and decide that I will eat breakfast in the mess hall. It is time to start meeting some more people. Actually, seeing instead of meeting would be more preferable. I spent the morning talking myself up. I am worthy. I am strong. I can be around others. I can be in a pack. 1 repeat my montage over and over in my head while I head down to the cafeteria with Monica. She is so helpful with explaining all the pack stuff to me, where things are in
prominent shifters, etc. I am finally convinced I have a friend. I, however, bwn and the house, who are some of the more
a new fear unlocked of losing said friend. “Hey girls,
sit over here. There are two seats open.” A female wolf shifter calls out, blonde, maybe mid–twenties. “That is Lisa. She has a clothing store in town. Unmated, so she lives here. She is nice, you will like her.” Monica encourages me as we make our way over with our food.
“Hey, I am Lisa. Nice to meet you. You must be the new shifter alpha Thane bought all the clothing for. He placed a huge order a few weeks back. Thanks for the business girlie.” I give her a sheepish smile. I really don’t want any spotlight on me in ANY way today. “Have you been spending time with alpha Thane? He is so hot. I literally could lick the sweat off of his arms and still be thirsty. Have you seen him shirtless? When him and Cyrus are at the training grounds I want to sell tickets for admission. The women line up to drool. I am so jealous of you.” Suddenly all eyes are on me waiting for a response and I can feel my cheeks turning
drool. beet red. I start picking at my food and moving it around my plate as Monica jumps in “Ayla–can’t talk. She writes everything down and we forgot her notepad. I am sure she doesn’t want to be interrogated about alpha Thane though. I mean yeah he’s hot, but he’s waiting for his mate, so no girl here has a shot at a relationship with him anyway.” “Tell that to Della. She is running around for months now, telling everyone that will listen that alpha Thane is taking her as a chosen mate. They boink every night according to her. That has me dropping my fork on my stack of pancakes quick. I know they aren’t together every night; well, I guess I don’t know that. He could be with her after he says goodbye to me. I had suspicions that they were more there than friends, but this confirms it. “Oh, sorry Ayla. If you have a crush on alpha, don’t. Della has her hooks in him deep. She won’t let any of us near him. Childhood friends I get, but what he sees in her to keep coming back I don’t. She is a total bitch. Literally to everyone when he isn’t around. She must have a magic vagina.” The magic vagina part has the table erupting in laughter. I must admit, it was pretty funny, and I let out a small chuckle myself. I can’t say that I feel betrayal. Okay, I actually do, but I have no right to feel this way. He isn’t
mine.
“Say what you want about alpha. The beta is where it is at. Hi, I am Lila. Nice to meet you. I happen to be team Cyrus. Unlike alpha, he likes to play around and a few of us have had several turns getting to know him very well.” “A few? Didn’t you three get caught in an orgy outside of the falls when Cyrus was supposedly going to do an extra scout for rogues?” Monica pipes up and I remained shocked. Maybe Kian is right about this pack judging by all the free love thrown about to Cyrus. “He was scouting something all right. All of us. That man can go all night long and we don’t mind sharing him. I will sit and wait patiently in a corner if I have to, to get another round with his tongue.” Lisa throws out and they all giggle, but I am not sure I will be able to look at Cyrus the same again. The mention of tongues has my mind replaying my night with Thane and I can feel myself getting hot and bothered. The wrong place for it. Literally breakfast.
I finish my food and pull out my phone, typing a quick note to Monica. She reads it and motions for us to head back to the kitchen. “Hey June. Ayla here is new to the pack, starting to branch out more. She is trying to get out of her shell and was wondering if you had any kitchen help openings? She is thinking she would like to get a job and doesn’t have work experience.” June flings her towel over her shoulder and brushes flour off of her hands. “You have no work experience child? Can you cook or bake anything?” I nod my head expectantly. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen when I was little. I can follow a recipe card, and I loved watching Mary bake. I think I can really give it a good effort at least. “Well, we can try you out. See how you do. I wouldn’t mind getting some help baking for the Mornings. The breakfast and supper are the worst. Everyone is starving and impatient. I will need to run it by alpha though. Be back here tonight, eat supper and then we can work on baking for the morning. Yeah?” I nod in agreement, offer a wave and leave with Monica. I am doing it. I am going to get my first job. Oh shit. I am going to have my first job. Yeah, the last thought is more frantie. I am quickly losing my confidence. I can do it. I can.
