An Unexpected Wolf Rank

6 - Helper

Samantha

Thank Goddess it’s finally the weekend. I can’t believe I’ve managed to essentially live in our school for almost a full week. I’m surprised to find out that there’s nobody in school after dark. The night guard leaves, ACTUALLY LEAVES, his job at 7 PM or 7:30 PM each night. He doesn’t even bother to come back.

The cleaning crew always comes in at 5 AM on the dot, and I need to make sure I make myself completely invisible by then. I almost had a slip up because I overslept after the brutal beating I got courtesy of Rianna, and they almost spotted me, but I managed to make myself scarce just in time, before they came into the girls locker room.

This has been my bathroom and my bedroom for the past few nights. I feel a bit safer just staying in here rather than going to the teacher’s lounge and sleeping there. Ming pointed out that since most teachers are wolves, they will be able to spot my scent and would start digging around as to why my scent lingers there. I definitely need and want to avoid that. So yeah, I’m feeling pretty upbeat right now. I have these 2 days to regroup and start looking around for a part time job or something to help me out long-term. I am most definitely not giving up. I can do this, right Ming?

“Hell to the yeah!” Her voice booms so loud in my head, but I welcome the sound.

It might not be a great idea to go look for a job on pack grounds. Not just because it could get awkward, but I am positive that no pack member will even consider giving me a job.

Over the past few days, I have heard a lot of whispers about me. And I don’t just mean people laughing behind my back about me getting ranked Omega, because they can very well do that to my face, they have proven it daily. I heard strange things about me cheating my way up to be a high ranked wolf in our pack by, hear this, killing the real Samantha Bailey when she was just a pup. How would that even work? I swear people are so stupid, though I think this rumour may have started because it must have become rather obvious that I don’t live at home anymore. That, and the fact that my ‘parents’ haven’t gone all ape s**t crazy demanding an explanation for my rank.

Another rumour is that I am apparently obsessed with Marie and that I want to be with her. I love the girl, don’t get me wrong, she’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember, but that is NOT the kind of love I feel towards her. Both Marie and Jen are like my sisters.

Fixing my hair in the mirror, I notice that it’s brown with light blonde ombre effect. I have to be honest, it still looks cute like this, even if I miss the pink. Settling on the darker blue of the two pairs of jeans I have, I match them with a light pink shirt and put on my trusted black boots. I have to be honest, I don’t really have much choice of footwear. It’s either the boots of the trainers I have in my locker for PE.

I glance in the mirror for a final once over, and thanking the Goddess for the ability to heal insanely fast, I sneak out of the school and make my way to the bus stop, feeling happy that I don’t have bruises or anything that could lead a stranger to imagine that I’m actually a stray, just one step above a rogue.

I take the bus to human territory outside of our pack’s border, and start looking around the small town for places that would hire me. I must have walked for over an hour before I saw a large pub in the distance. I know the pub is in neutral territory, but I also know it’s very close to Silver pack. Well, since it’s not technically on their territory, I am not trespassing and shouldn’t get into any trouble.

My heart starts beating faster as I approach the pub and I see a big sign reading 'Help wanted'. All right, here goes nothing. I take a big breath and walk through the door of the pub, pretending not to notice the people that are watching me with curious eyes. I locate the bar and plastered a big smile on my face as I make my way to talk to the barmaid.

She’s an older woman, but still probably a bit younger than my mother. She has shoulder length brown hair that pairs beautifully with her olive green eyes. I instantly like this woman. I feel like a student who just met her favourite teacher.

"Can I help you there, love?” She looks at me up and down with an amused smirk on her face, and I realise I was just standing there taking in how she looked. I could use a tip or two from this woman regarding my appearance and how to look fierce and confident. I pull myself together quickly and look her in the eye.

“Hi, my name’s Sam. I saw the sign outside, are you still looking for help around here?”

I won’t mention that even Ming had her paws crossed for extra good luck. I am desperately praying that this position is still open and that the gorgeous woman behind the bar would help me get the job.

“Sure, we could use the help. Are you offering?” She smiles at me with the same amusement dancing in her eyes.

When I nod acknowledging that indeed I am looking for a job for myself she asks the question I’ve been dreading since I walked in the pub.

“Are you 18 yet? You look very young.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment, I’m 18, yes.”

I shock myself with the confidence I held while lying about my age. I might not be 18 yet, but I'll be in a couple of months. Well, 6 months to be exact, but I'll keep that to myself and hopefully she won’t be asking for more proof.

“Fair enough.” She eyes me suspiciously and chuckles. She then gets out from behind the bar holding her hand out to me. “I’m Carla, I own this place.” I respond by shaking her hand, not wanting to seem rude. She must have seen the question lingering in my eyes and she adds the part that totally made my day and made that faint light at the end of the dark tunnel that is my life, finally appear.

“Welcome to ‘The Hound’, Sam. Here, take this and start clearing those tables on the right. We have an open mic tonight and we need to start setting up the stage."

“Thanks, I’ll get right on it.” Carla smiles warmly as she hands me the apron and explains how to start organising the area. I am like a sponge, absorbing all the information she is giving me. In just a few short hours I have helped Carla and Rudy set up a small stage in the right side of the pub, while the whole left and middle sections were set up as tables of 2 or 4. I am actually enjoying myself in here helping Carla and Rudy. After listening to them tell me all about the open mic night, I am more than excited to see everyone perform. I learned that most of the performers are regulars and they apparently sound really good.

I absolutely adore music and cannot wait to hear them sing tonight. Carla told me that the only rule is that the audience is polite even if the singer is terrible. I have always loved to sing but I could never, would never do it in front of an audience. I sang in front of Marie once when we were in junior year. There was this talent show at school, and I had decided I would finally put myself out there and sing. Luckily I practised on Marie first and I appreciated the sincerity in my friend. It must have been really hard for her to be the one to say this to me, but apparently I don't sound as good as I imagined I would. Luckily she told me, and I never got to make a fool of myself by singing in front of the whole school.

Carla and Rudy's bickering snaps me out of my trip down memory lane. It reminds me a bit of family. Rudy basically acts like he is Carla's cool dad and I can see how much they care about each other.

Rudy, as I learned, is not much of a talker, he is an absolute chatterbox. I swear I have never seen a person talk that much in my life. He’s crazy old as Carla said, but I found out he’s actually in his late 50s, and he’s been working in this pub for most of his life, even before Carla bought it, 5 years ago.

Even though both of them are wolves, this pub welcomes both humans and werewolves as long as neither creates any issues. Well, the rule is mostly for werewolves, as they need to be careful not to be outed to the human world. That would be a disaster no one wants to be a part of.

Rudy asked me a lot about school and the hours I might be able to come in the pub and help them out. I did find it a bit weird that neither he or Carla had asked about my family of which pack I belong to, but I guess they must have sensed I’m not at the best point of my life right now. I respect that they respect that. As confusing as that might have sounded, the point is that I don’t need another person asking for explanations I can’t even give myself. We all agreed I should come over after school and despite their protests, I told them I can stay until closing time, which during the week was midnight.