by AJ Merlin
Across from the bed and table was the one area that set it apart from a hotel room.
A ring light sat positioned at the foot of the bed, and beside it was a camera. Wires ran from both to a laptop on a stand, and something else that I suspected was a microphone. If I’d expected the room to smell like sex, I was mostly mistaken. While there was definitely an undercurrent of that musky, unmistakable scent, the room smelled very clean and not at all overwhelming to my sensitive nose.
It was smaller than I’d expected. But the little touches like masculine art on the walls and the dresser in the corner surprised me. With those, the room looked less fake. Like it really could be a slice of someone’s bedroom.
“Why do you need to make more money?” Noah inquired, setting his other bag at the foot of the bed. “Can you grab me the black v-neck from in there?”
“I’ve only ever seen Hades film content in a black bedroom and a jacuzzi,” I said quietly, making sure the door behind me was closed before I spoke. “But the way he spoke, he uses other rooms too. I bet that’s premium content.” I pawed through the clothes, finally finding a black t-shirt and pulling it out of the folded pile.
Tossing it at Noah, I couldn’t help but let my eyes land on the pile of things he’d laid on the bed.
“Is that new?” I pointed at a raccoon tail that I suspected attached to a butt plug.
Noah grabbed it and stuffed it back into the bag. “Maybe,” he said, not looking at me.
“So your viewers know you’re a stripe-tailed trash panda?”
“Of course they do. It’s literally in my bio.”
“Which I’ve never read,” I reminded him.
“Whatever. Don’t act like a saint. I’ve seen you sneaking around at night, trying to wash your vibrator collection without anyone knowing. And…” He looked up at me, eyebrows raised. “I totally saw that box in the mail from Bad Leopard.”
“Which one?” I folded my arms over my chest and met his gaze challengingly.
“The big one.”
I mock gasped, but when he started to snicker, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.
“You know, if you worked here, then you could subscribe to his top tier content for free,” Noah said suddenly, laying the tail back on the bed. “And you wouldn’t have to go to the creepy part of town to get to work. And we could move.”
With a sigh, I leaned against the wall. He made good points. Apart from wanting that sweet premium sub, moving was something we both really wanted. Our current apartment was….small. To say the least. Noah made more than enough money here to move somewhere better, and had offered to cover my rent for awhile if we moved, but I couldn’t let him.
Not to mention, I needed to stay somewhat close to my job at the coffee shop. I didn’t have a car, I certainly couldn’t afford one, and getting there was already enough of a challenge when I had to navigate the city bus system on busy mornings.
“I wouldn’t be good at this,” I mumbled, feeling self-conscious for the first time. “I’m not like you.”
“No one is like me. Is there a red shirt in there?” He didn’t look up from his own bag when he spoke, but I extracted a red shirt and tossed it in his direction.
“Only things left are your jeans,” I added. “All four pairs. Why do you have four pairs of jeans in here?”
Noah grimaced and ran a hand through his short blonde hair. I watched him survey the toys on the bed, hands on his hips as he thought.
He wasn’t conventionally attractive. Not in that dangerous way like Hades was. Still, with his wheat-blonde hair, fair skin that matched my own, freckles, and blue eyes, he definitely wasn’t bad looking by any means. Of course, I couldn’t see him as anything other than my best friend in the entire universe. Sure, he and I weren’t related by blood, but that didn’t matter. Blood or not, Noah was my brother in the same way that all of those kids in our foster home were my siblings.
“Have you heard from Bea lately?” I asked, suddenly reminded about our oldest sister’s recent calls.
“Don’t bring up Bea while I’m getting ready to film,” Noah shuddered. “Or all I’ll be able to see is her disapproving smirk and her promises to pray for us.”
“She misses you,” I pointed out. She had also directed a lot of that worry at me, as she always did when we hadn’t seen her in awhile.
As if I was going to slip back into my old, fearful habits.
“She misses lecturing me,” he corrected. “Okay. I think I’m good to go.” He took a breath and then looked at me with worry-filled eyes.
“You’re fine,” I promised, pushing off from the wall and walking over to throw my arm over his shoulders.
“It’s a huge audience for me,” he said. “If I mess it up–“
“You won’t mess it up,” I promised. “You’re going to do great. Not that I’ll know. Because I will not be watching, obviously. But bro.” I drew him in for a half-hug that he returned. “You’ve got this. Do you need anything else? Another donut?”
Noah chuckled, his arm around my shoulders as well. He leaned in close, taking a breath of my scent that I knew comforted him in the same way his did for me. “I’m good. Thanks for coming, Alek. And I hope you don’t have to scrape me off the floor in a few hours if I die from humiliation.”
“Thought that was your kink,” I pointed out slyly.
His grin widened. “You’re getting me mixed up with you again.” Noah took another breath, then straightened. “You’ll be good? It’ll be a couple hours–“
“Yes, Noah,” I sighed. “I promise I can take care of myself while you work.”
“See you soon, then,” he pulled away, straightening, and took off his grey shirt to change.
“I believe in you,” I encouraged, already half way to the door. “Milk those viewers out of all their hard earned cash and take your place as second from the top at Prowl!”
“Why can’t I be on top?”
I looked at him, the doorknob in my hand. “Because Hades is. And I can’t let you dethrone him.”
Noah cackled as I left, the sound cutting off when I closed the door behind me.
Impressive. This place was sound-proof, even for shifters.
Well, that made sense, I supposed. Given the nature of everything.
I’d promised him I’d be fine, and I would. But that didn’t mean I was looking forward to the two-plus hours of boredom that awaited me while he filmed.
At least I’d charged my phone. If all else failed, I could watch stupid videos or read for awhile.
Heels clicked on the hard floor, announcing the approach of another person. I looked up, blinking at the woman drawing closer to me.
She didn’t look like anyone on Prowl’s ads. Shifters tended to live a few centuries longer than humans, and if she had been human, I would’ve pegged her to be in her early fifties.
The woman was tall, and her heels made her easily taller than I was, with long, light brown hair and eyes that matched.
She made me feel underdressed in her black dress pants and tailored button up, and when I inhaled I caught the unmistakable scent of alpha.
“He’ll be a few hours,” she said, pausing when we were a few feet away. “And I’d hate for you to feel like you have to just sit out here and wait on him.” Her voice was firm, but polite, and I had a hard time meeting her eyes.
That wasn’t exactly new. As an omega, I found it very hard to meet any alpha’s eyes for too long.
Even Hades. Even in just his videos, I found myself looking away whenever he’d speak to the viewer in his husky, intimate growl.
“It’s okay,” I replied, offering her a polite half-smile. “I don’t mind. I have my phone.” I waved the device in question, not missing the way her eyes flicked to the black and furry phone case.
“I’d feel bad. And besides, it’s Saturday. No one’s around, except the performers, and they hate it when I find myself looking over their shoulders while they’re off. Come to the kitchen with me?”
Did that mean she wasn’t a performer, like I’d thought? Did she work on the more technical side of things?
“All right,” I agreed. I hadn’t thought I’d be social during Noah’s filming, but she was offering to alleviate being bored and it was hard to turn someone with her presence down.
“I’m Rita,” the alpha said, holding her hand out to me.
“Alek.” I took her hand, searching her face for any sign of an outward reaction to my omega status and scent.
Nothing. She was either very, very good at hiding it, or just very uninterested.
“He’s going to do great,” she said, pulling her hand back a moment later and gesturing towards Noah’s door behind us. “I know he’s nervous, but he really is a rising star with our customers.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I admitted, following at her elbow when she started to walk back down the hallway. “He’s my brother.”
“You both come from a rather big family, right? He talked about it when I interviewed him.”
When she interviewed him?
Then I realized that I’d heard her name before. Hades had mentioned her, and said that she’d changed the schedule. Was she in charge of things like that?
“I’m surprised,” I admitted offhandedly. “He doesn’t tell a lot of people about our childhood. He thinks it makes people look at him differently.” Telling a story of being abandoned by your parents and raised with seven other siblings in a foster home tended to have that effect, even though our childhood was nothing close to a movie cliche once we were taken in by the system.
“He’s probably not wrong,” Rita agreed. “In a lot of circumstances. But I made sure he knew it didn’t bother me one way or the other.”
“I bet he appreciates that. He needs the reassurance.” Sometimes I wondered how I was the omega between us, when Noah was a lot more nervous and unsure of himself than he let on.
“He’s gained a lot of confidence since I hired him.” We’d arrived back at the kitchen, and Rita took a seat at the table. When I hesitated, she pushed out another chair with her foot, offering it to me with a sweep of her hand.
“So you….do that?” I asked, not wanting to guess incorrectly at her job title. “You hire and manage the performers here?”
Her smile grew. “Alek, I own Prowl. I manage everything here.”
She owned it? Holy shit.
This was definitely not the time to ask for insider secrets about certain performers.
“Don’t look so nervous,” Rita laughed, catching sight of the expression on my face. “And also, help yourself to anything on the table. I always bring too much.”
“That’s okay,” I said, not wanting to do something dumb like make a mess in front of the owner of Prowl. “We ate breakfast on the way. But thank you.” As if a questionable burrito counted as breakfast.
She didn’t look put out. Rita merely shrugged one shoulder. “What about you? What do you do for a living while Noah teases his adoring fans?”
“I am a barista,” I said flatly.
“An omega barista?” Her brows rose in surprise. “Sorry for prying. And acting surprised.”
Of course she was taken aback. Being in such a public position as an unmated omega practically invited unsavory alphas by the droves.
“No, no. Your surprise is totally understandable.” With my initial discomfort fading, I found that she was easy to talk to, for an alpha. At the very least, she hadn’t growled at me or told me to show her my throat or any other kind of stupid power play.
I appreciated it more than I was ever willing to admit.
“It sucks. I think I’d hate working there anyway? But once customers know what I am, it gets about ten times worse.” I stayed polite as I said it, my smile never fully leaving my face.
“Why stay?”
“Noah and I aren’t exactly prime candidates for most jobs,” I laughed. “We had good grades in high school, but nothing close to good enough for the big scholarships that would’ve made it possible for us to go to college. So, I take the jobs I can get.”
She leaned back in her chair slightly, legs crossed at the knee. “Hades mentioned you on his way out,” she said suddenly.
Hades was no longer here? That was a relief. I was sure if I was given the opportunity, I’d embarrass myself again and–
“Wait, what?” I blinked, the rest of her sentence sinking in. “He…mentioned me?” Because I was literally the most embarrassing thing to walk through the door today?
“Just in passing,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “When I asked about Noah. He said that you told him you were too dangerous for our line of work.”
Wow. I’d had no idea before this moment that my inside joke with Noah would come back to bite me in the ass so spectacularly.
My elbow hit the table with a thud as I rested my face against my palm, eyes closed.
“I am so sorry,” I said. “It’s a running joke Noah and I have with each other. I didn’t mean it like…negatively. I mean-I know I couldn’t do it anyway, but not because of that.”
“I didn’t think you did, and neither did he.” She chuckled lightly. “Though I’m curious as to why you say you couldn’t do it.”
“Well. You know…” I gestured to myself. “I’m sure I’m not exactly cam girl material.” I doubted my curves, thick thighs, and tallness would be anything that someone who used Prowl looked for. I wasn’t exactly a poster girl for fragile, sweet omega.
“Personally, I think you’re dead wrong, going by your looks,” Rita told me firmly. “I don’t know enough about your personality to say anything more, but I won’t push. There are a lot of other options than cam girl at Prowl.”
Was this a job interview? If it was, why was it happening?
I should’ve worn something less frumpy.
“I suppose it’s my good luck you’re here. We’ll consider Noah your reference, and he’s a very good one at that.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen, and laid it face down on the table. “One of my assistants quit yesterday. I don’t like putting an ad out. It draws a crowd I don’t care for. The job is straight forward. You help out around the studio with whoever needs it. We can sync up your hours to Noah’s, if that works better for you.”
She paused, like it was a question.
“Oh…yeah? Yes. That’d be great. Since we only have one car.” I answered her, but my brain was in a fog. Was she offering me a job? She didn’t even know me.
“No on-camera work if you don’t want it. Just studio assistance, and helping me with scheduling.” She listed off a few more details, including pay that was double my current job.
I stared at her, sure that my soul had transcended the mortal coil when she asked, “Well? Are you interested?”
Was I interested? There was no way I couldn’t be interested. Not when it would make everything so much easier.
On the other hand, I would have ample opportunity to embarrass myself further around Hades.
“I’m interested,” I said, my tone rising like it might be a question. “I’m really interested.” We could move into a better apartment, if it worked out. And I wouldn’t have to deal with shitty coffee shop customers who thought that because I stood at the counter meant that they had the right to say whatever they wanted to me.
Besides, Noah had nothing but great things to say about this place.
“I’m…very interested,” I said, trying to sound firmer and more sure of myself.
“Then you start Monday. Come to my office at ten, and we’ll go from there.” She reached out to shake my hand, surprising me again when she didn’t try to dominate a very professional handshake.
“Thank you,” I said, the words leaving me in a rush as my brain tried to rebound from the whiplash I was mentally undergoing. “I really really appreciate it.”
Chapter Three
“We could move.” Noah sat down at the table, plopping a plastic bowl of ice cream down in front of me and ho
lding his own waffle cone full of dark chocolate brownie fudge ice cream close, as if I might steal it.
“We could, if this works out,” I agreed, grinning up at him with my phone in my hand. Even in late January, our favorite ice cream shop was open and had a few others sitting outside the small storefront at decorative iron tables.
The cold could not deter our love for their homemade desserts, even though I could not get on board with his love of too much chocolate. In my own small bowl sat black cherry ice cream. Which was, in my opinion, the king of ice cream flavors with no close competition.
“What do you mean if this works out?” Noah narrowed his eyes and stabbed the spoon into his ice cream.
“Well…just that. What if she doesn’t like me?” I absently scrolled through my contacts until I stopped on the one labeled Manager Larry.
Though, I supposed that he was now my ex manager.
Hitting the call button, I tapped the phone on speaker and held it between us. My roommate leaned forward, a grin on his lips as he took a bite out of his ice cream.
I made a face. “That’s so weird.”
He rolled his eyes as the phone rang.
On the fourth ring, Larry picked up.
“What do you want, Alek?” My manager asked in his very typical uncaring and grouchy manner.
“I quit,” I said simply to the repugnant beta.
“What?” He sounded distracted.
“Sorry, I’ll say it more slowly.” I had waited for this day for the entire time I’d worked for him, and saying the words was even sweeter than my celebratory ice cream. “I. Quit.”
He sighed. “Sure. What is it now? You want to switch with Carmen again? You know the morning crowd prefers you there instead of her.”
Noah made a face. I matched it with a grimace of my own. “Your morning crowd is a bunch of alphas who think if they push their scent on me enough and make enough jokes about my ass, that I’ll suddenly drop my pants and sleep with them,” I said sweetly. “It’s honestly pretty disgusting that you’re okay with that.”
Larry was silent for a moment, but I could imagine his face. Whenever someone said something he didn’t like, my manager’s face would pinch up, like he’d just smelled and tasted something disgusting and didn’t know how else to express it. His lips were probably curling back from his yellow teeth, in that creepy way they tended to do whenever I spoke to him.