The Blood Pack (Book four)

Chapter five

~Iona~

Shit, s**t, s**t! Why the f**k is he here? Well I already know the answer, that he is here to see alpha Drake and Sarah, but why, oh why, today of all days. I was still aching from this morning and the morning rush had just finished when Sarah called me out to move some tables around. I didn't have to look up to know he was there, my wolf told me as much. God she could be such a slut at times. I mean, hello, he was in bed with Pearl just this morning and here she was, swishing her tail and purring like a f*****g kitten.

I quickly moved the tables and chairs, trying hard not to make that awful scraping noise of the rubber legs along the hard flooring, feeling his eyes burning into me every second, before I walked quickly back in to the kitchen. I rested my head back against the wall next to the door, trying hard to calm myself.

"What's got you all hot and bothered?" Penny laughed at me while she sat on the counter swinging her legs back and forth.

"I'm not all hot and bothered." I muttered back, pulling at the hem of my shirt to smooth out the non-existent creases to distract myself.

"Well you will have to serve then, I am on my brake." she quipped as she jumped off the table and started to walk towards the back door.

"Come on, there is a single guy with them, might be just up your street." I tried to bargain, really not wanting to be left in charge of serving pretty much their whole pack and Alpha Drake and Sarah.

"Who?" Penny asked, adjusting her bra so that she had the perfect cleavage on show. Oh yeah, I knew that she would be up for it. Penny is one of Pearl's friends, and it didn't take a genius to find out why. They were both as bad as each other for bringing men back to the pack, and had even gone 'on the pull' with her last night.

"Ste." I told her, my voice not as certain anymore that she would take the bait.

She seemed to think for a few seconds before she shook her head. "He had his chance last night and went for Pearl, its his loss. Have fun." she waved as she sauntered out the back.

"Plus, Ste never goes down the same rabbit hole twice, if you know what I mean. Think he slept with Penny about a year or so ago." Paul chimed in, reminding me that he was still there. "Well, I'll turn the cooker back on, you go take the orders." Paul was the cook and unofficially ran the café. He was okay, although he let Penny get away with murder. I was trying to prove myself and so didn't try to push my luck by being as brazen and cheeky as she was, taking breaks whenever she wanted. What that really meant was that I was left picking up all the slack.

I took a deep breath, pulled my note pad from the small pocket on my mini apron and walked back out. This time I was looking up and Ste was staring straight at me. Crap. I walked over to alpha Drake first, as he talked to alpha Ash about something to do with training. I waited patiently, not wanting to be rude and interrupt. "Guys, can we order, I'm starving." Ste growled, his voice sounding less playful than this morning.

"That's what you get when you are out all night like some dirty Tom cat." Cassy, their alpha female quipped. I knew a few of the packs name, but not them all.

"Hey Iona, how is pearl?" Niomi asked as she sat with her mate Luke.

"She is good I guess." I mumbled in response, not sure what else to say. I knew Niomi, as she used to be in my old pack. I was a little younger than her though and we had never exactly been friends. There weren't many young wolves in our old pack, mainly me, Pearl, Niomi, Damien and Adam. Niomi and Damien were like their own little unit most of the time which left me, Pearl and Adam together. I always thought that Adam choosing to date me over Pearl was part of why she hated me so much, not because she particularly fancied him, but just because she always liked to be the centre of attention, even before our parents death. When they went missing, it just escalated to a whole other level.

Luke, her mate looked at her confused and made a grunting noise. "Pearl and Iona are from my old pack." she explained, as if he had actually asked a question and not just grunted, which he did again in response to her statement. "Pearl is about my age but Iona is a little younger."

I was still staring at the two of them, confused as to how they were actually having a conversation when Niomi was the only one actually saying anything when Sarah turned and gave me a warm smile. "I saw you at training this morning, you did well."

"Thanks Sarah." I smiled, really appreciating her praise as I saw her as like a segregate mother figure, as most of our pack did. "William said I need to breath from my stomach, but I am not quite sure what that means." I admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear that kept falling in front of my face.

"I can show you if you want?" A deep voice rang up before I turned to find Ste striding towards me. He held out his arms like he was about to touch me but I flinched away just in time. I noticed the look of hurt that dashed across his face as the table erupted into laughter at my obvious panicked expression. It was nothing personal, well, it was a bit, but it had almost been six months since I slept with Felix and the way my wolf was egging me in to let him put his strong arms around me, I was worried I would fall in to touch hunger right here in the café.

"Looks like your reputation proceeds you Ste." a guy I didn't know at the table quipped, his arms wrapped around a small brunette who was cooing at one of the alphas children.

Ste shot him a scathing look as he strode back to his seat and looked like he was sulking slightly. Seriously? Is this guy so used to women just throwing themselves at his feet for their one night of pleasure that he cannot take one little rejection. That made my wolf snarl slightly, but more at the thought of him banging his way through the pack than the fact that he was acting like a complete child.

Finally, I took their orders, not surprised at an order consisting of mainly rare burgers and stakes, with some applesauce for the kids. We werewolves sure do love our meat.

I handed Paul the piece of paper with the food written on it as I headed back out to the small bar type counter out front to make the drinks. As I was pouring the last one, I hear laughter and the jingling of the bell as Penny and Pearl walked in.

They walked straight up to the counter, ignoring my presence completely as they continued their conversation. I picked up the tray of drinks and walked around the bar, heading to the table when Pearl stuck her leg out. I narrowly missing it, her glaring at me as I continued on to the table and dished out the drinks. She was always like this, trying to make me look like an i***t. You know how usually with siblings, they fight like cats and dogs but they would stand up for each other just as fiercely. Pearl had the first part down, but seemed to have been missing when they were giving out the second part, usually the first to start pointing out my flaws and even encouraging others to join in.

I walked in to the kitchen, not missing how Penny and Pearl were whispering to each other. No doubt they were trying to come up with their next form of humiliation for me.

I waited for Paul to finish plating the first lot up and walked out, surprised when Penny and Pearl stayed where they were and let me pass without hassle. Maybe they realised alpha Drake and Sarah were here and thought better of it. I dished out the food and then went back for the second trip and then the third, all without incident.

I headed back to the kitchen to grab the applesauce's for the kids walking out filled with a confidence that I was safe. I really should not have been confident, as I was not looking where I was going and did not notice as a chair slid in front of my path. I was too slow with my reflexes and although I tried to dodge it, I felt that sinking feeling in my stomach as I went down. Instinct kicked in, and my hands went out to brace my fall, dropping the applesauce which I then ended up sliding in across the floor.

Pearl and Penny burst out into a fit of laughter as I felt my face go bright red to match my hair. When I looked up to see everyone staring at me, adding insult to injury, Pearl chimed in. "Looks like you have some way to go with those reflexes Iona if you want to be an enforcer."

I didn't know what to do, looking around in slight panic as I felt my hands start to shift. Oh crap. No, no, no. "What's wrong Iona? You need a hand getting up?" Penny offered in a fake kind voice, egging my wolf on. s**t, s**t. I have been keeping her reigned in all day after Ste was flirting with her and now, she is pissed.

I pushed up off the floor, feeling my insides starting to shift slightly. I turned and ran out through the kitchen, ignoring Paul's shout asking what had happened. I had to get back to pack territory, now. Unfortunately, I had walked here, which meant now, I had to run home, fast.

I started to run, holding my stomach promising my wold that I would shift when I get back as long as she stayed pushed down just a little bit longer. Just a few more minutes. My breathing was all over the place, made harder by the fact that I now had a stitch, again. People looked at me like I was crazy, barrelling down the street, covered in applesauce, clinging on to my stomach like I had been gutted like a fish.

I was close, so close. I was going to make it, I was going to make it. The pain started to get worse, my confidence that I would make it slowly slipping until I was steps away from the gate. The wave of relief was short lived as I started to feel my bones snap and brake. I doubled over, unable to make it the last few meters, when strong arms wrapped around me and scooped me up. My eyes were screwed shut, trying to not shift in someone's arms.

"Hold on." I heard a voice coo to me. Oh no, it was Felix. He carried me the last few steps through the gate and placed me down. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to answer why I was half shifting running down the street or why I was sticky and smelling like apples. So, I let my wolf loose and shifted.

I pushed up, no longer in two feet but four, shaking out my red fur that matched my hair. My wolf nuzzled Felix's hand in gratitude before she turned and started to run around the border of the pack territory, putting my attempt this morning to shame.

I just let her go, not holding her back any more. Pearl was right though, I had a long way to go if I could not control my wolf for one day without shifting. I sighed, retreating into the safety of my wolfs mind, determined that no matter how bad today was, I would make sure I was better tomorrow.