by Rachel Hera
The door-holder currently examined the menu above my head, glancing down occasionally at me. His dark hair was a little longer than the other two guys, though he just let it fall naturally. And god-damn. All I could do was stare… he was hot. I mean, yeah, they were all hot, but he… if Shayne were the star closest to the moon –though with these guys I had to wonder how close he really was –then this guy was the moon.
Horny might be the right word after all.
“So what would you four like?” I said, after a long moment of no one answering me.
“Oh, yeah,” the door-holder said, as if just remembering why he was here. Was there something on my face? Inconspicuously, I lifted a hand to my face, as if wiping sweat off my forehead. My face was cold, but you actually did sweat a lot on this job. Not enough to stain your clothes. Wait, did I have a stain on my clothes? Maybe that’s why he kept looking at me. Or maybe I had a stray hair. I tried to catch a glimpse of myself in the dark glass behind the four of them, but my glasses seemed to be in need of a new prescription.
The door-holder looked down at the flavours we had, and then placed his order, “Three scoops, two vanilla… one orange sherbet, please.”
The same that I always ordered, I realized –I couldn’t help myself as I smiled, nodding at him.
“Three chocolate,” the black guy gave an easy grin.
“Make that two,” the girl chimed in.
“Three strawberry,” the last of the four, the serious one, said.
“Right away,” I said. They all had similar eye colours, I realized as I stared at them as a whole. Contacts? Maybe they were some kind of, I don’t know, theatre troupe. “Cones or bowls.”
“Cones,” the three said.
“Bowl,” door-holder said.
“Alright,” I said, grabbing a cone and reaching for a scoop. I stole a glance at the one who was watching me. Small talk, small talk. “So, where are you from originally?”
“A couple of hours north of Sudbury,” door-holder replied. What a hot voice. Deep –but not too deep. My throat went dry, and I cleared my throat.
“That’s a long ways away,” I commented.
“It’ll be worth it, I’m sure,” he leaned onto the counter. “This is Jason, Kaya and Dante.”
I watched as he gestured to his friend’s with one hand. Dante was the black guy, Kaya was the girl, naturally. Jason was the serious one.
“My name’s Blake. You’re Evelyn, right?”
He was psychic. He had to be. “How’d you –?”
“Name tag,” he said, tapping the right side of his chest. I felt like an idiot. “You were the one that was walking by earlier, right?”
“I’m surprised you could recognize me at that distance,” I handed one chocolate cone to Dante.
“Well, I’ve been known to have pretty good eyesight,” Blake grinned.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have that pleasure,” I said, purposefully adjusting my glasses on my face before reaching into the chocolate ice cream container once again.
Blake chuckled, which changed the entire atmosphere of the parlour. Even Jason cracked a grin. I felt like a little girl with a crush on some band member. Well, I wanted to squeal like a little girl anyway. Which in turn made me want to grab my own shoulders and shake myself silly. Clearly I needed to get a hold of myself.
“Evelyn’s a pretty name,” the girl, Kaya, said.
“Thanks,” I gave a small smile. Ah, I’d been waiting forever to use this line: “It was a birthday present.”
“You’re witty, I like you,” she grinned as she accepted the cone I offered her. “You make me wish I was moving into the area, instead of these three.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out –I didn’t know how to respond in the first place. Was she hitting on me?
“Calm down,” Jason told her, releasing a sigh.
“So the three of you are moving into that house?” I asked, beginning to scoop out Jason’s cone.
“And my father,” Blake answered. “We all kind of help him with his business, so we’re like live-in staff.”
“So is that why you moved here? For his business?”
“My father can operate his business from anywhere. We just… wanted a change,” Blake waited patiently as I scooped his ice cream. “Like I said, we all help him out, since it’s a lot of… footwork, I guess you could call it.”
“Footwork,” I frowned. That’s what Shayne had been saying, too, about his own father.
Shayne. We weren’t exactly dating, but suddenly I felt guilty. Not like the four of them were interested in me. They couldn’t be.
“You go to the high school here?” Blake asked.
“Um, yeah,” I picked up the paper cup and began on his order. Two vanilla, one orange sherbet. “I’m graduating this year, so… that’s pretty cool, I guess.”
“Jason and Blake are graduating this year, too,” Kaya wrapped her arm around Jason’s neck, pulling him down to her height. She ruffled his hair, and he growled at her. “So you’re probably going to see a lot of them. They’re transferring in.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised. I hadn’t expected them to be my age. I held out his ice cream; “Well, I guess I should say don’t be afraid to ask me any questions. The school’s large and sometimes confusing. I remember getting lost on my first day there.”
“Then I won’t hesitate,” Blake said, his hand brushing mine as he took the cup from me. My stomach twisted with the warmth of his hand and I inhaled sharply as I pulled my hand away. But Blake just smiled.
One of their phones went off, just as Harry came out of the back room.
“Alright, Evelyn, I guess I’ll be –” he paused when his eyes landed on the four of them. He frowned at the four of them, and they all frowned at him. Harry and the serious one were the first to resume movements.
“Here’s a roll of quarters, and loonies, for the register,” Harry passed them to me. “I’ll be going soon. You know the lock up procedure, right?”
“Of course,” I told him. It was a rhetorical question in the first place. I’d been working here since I turned sixteen, been a key-holder since I turned seventeen. My mother hated driving me into town and being used as a taxi for miscellaneous things, especially since Bree and Sydney high-tailed it out of here as soon as they could. So I got a job for the sole purpose of giving my mother a valid reason to drive me into town.
“Blake, Carlos wants us back,” Jason said, touching Blake’s shoulder with the back of his hand to get his attention.
“Well, we did kind of disappear on him,” Dante said. He tapped the counter, “It was nice meeting you, Evelyn.”
“Nice meeting all of you,” I said, politely.
“Thanks for the ice cream,” Kaya chimed in.
“I suppose we’ll be seeing a lot of each other,” Blake said, taking a step back from the counter.
“Not too much, I hope,” Harry squared his shoulders.
I frowned a little at my boss before turning to apologize to the four of them.
“Sorry,” I glanced at Harry. “Come back any time, you guys.”
The four of them exited, sending the bell ringing again. It swung shut behind them, the hydraulics keeping it from slamming.
I exhaled loudly, glancing over at my boss.
“You look exhausted,” Harry said, throwing his coat over one of the chairs as he went to the other side of the counter. I eyed him as I grabbed a paper towel and wiped the counter down, cleaning what little mess I had made. It was a distraction as he put the change into the register.
“I can just tell that this is going to be a long year for me,” I told him.
“I thought girls enjoyed ‘hot’ guys fawning over them.”
“Fawning?” I snorted. “Yeah, unfortunately, none of that went on here. And, sure, he’s hot, but if that’s all he has to offer…” I shrugged, not knowing what else to say.
Harry looked at me for a second before smiling, “You’
re very level-headed.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, “Thank you?” I tossed the paper towels into the trash. “Also, on the note of level-headedness… Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”
“What?”
“Harry, I have never once seen you be rude to anybody, let alone a customer. Did you know them?”
“No,” Harry shook his head. “It’s been a long shift, Evelyn. Even I get irritable.”
“Irritable? They didn’t do anything,” I defended them.
“You were verbally pushing them away before I came out of the back,” he pointed out.
“So now you’re fighting my battles for me?” I asked, placing a solid hand on my hip.
“Is this our first fight?” Harry defused the situation with a smile.
“Get out of here,” I pressed my lips together to keep myself from laughing.
He laughed though, “Well, I’ll see you around, Evelyn. Call me if you have any troubles.”
“I will,” I told him, “But I don’t think anything more troubling than Marissa and Blake could come my way.”
“Valid point,” he grinned. He waved as he opened the door, making the bell chime again. I hated that sound, and now I was to face it alone for fifteen minutes before one of my other co-workers showed up to keep me company. Then it was four hours until closing time.
I let out a sigh.
It was one of many that night.
Chapter 6: Blake
I held up a piece of drywall while Dante screwed it into place. He hummed as he did so, clearly in a good mood. He, Jason, Kaya and I were all in an exceptionally good mood. I knew why I was –I had just officially met my mate in the last few hours. But considering they were grumbling about the construction we had to do on the house before we left for ice cream, they had done a complete one-eighty.
I wasn’t the only one to notice this, as Noah, Jason’s father, kept on glancing over at the four of us. Noah was my father’s right hand man, a bodyguard of sorts.
“Good ice cream?” Michael, Kaya’s father, commented. If Noah was Carlos’s right hand, Michael would be his left. The three of them had been friends right from their childhood, similar to how I’d grown up surrounded by Kaya, Jason and Dante.
“The best,” Jason replied, picking at some drywall mud that had fallen onto his shoe. It left a gray smear on his the white of his sneaker.
“I almost want to go for another round,” Kaya grinned, passing Dante another screw.
“I think we’d scare the ice cream girls,” Dante murmured, smiling as he waited for me to pick up another piece of drywall. “Besides, it’s probably closed already now.”
“Michael,” my father walked into the room, and everyone’s cackling fell to silence. “We need a list of everything this room requires. What medical supplies do you need?”
We had bought the house earlier this week, and were already doing the final touches on the basement. To the untrained eye, the majority of the basement appeared to have been turned into a gym –or it would be once we’d set everything up. But we’d added two rooms that would be hidden behind the mirrors we’d hang on the wall. One of which was the medical room. The other room was purposefully empty. We’d finished moving furniture into the house quickly, and Carlos was taking his time upstairs to organize everything the way he liked.
“Counters and cabinets would be a good place to start,” Michael chuckled.
Carlos rolled his eyes, but smiled. Everyone’s shoulders visibly eased up. “Just make a list, and I’ll get everything you need.”
“We’ll probably just need the bare minimum, since this is our secondary clinic, really,” Michael said. He looked at Carlos, “Don’t worry. I’ll make you a list. I’ll get it to you before Kaya and I leave.”
“No rush,” Carlos lifted a hand dismissively. He turned to leave, but stopped as footsteps fell upon our front porch. We all exchanged a look, not expecting anyone at this hour. It was pushing eleven p.m. and while we were still at work, we were all just waiting for Carlos’s go ahead, so we could stop and perhaps go for a run.
“I’ll grab it,” Noah handed his joint knife to his son, then left the room. Jason held both his own and his father’s, unsure of what to do with both of them in his hand. Carlos, however, came to his aid.
“Let’s tidy up,” he looked around. “We should be able to finish this up within the next few days. We can stop the late nights.”
“Thank goodness,” Kaya rubbed her neck. “Thank you, Carlos, for ensuring I never want to go into the construction business.”
“Well, considering you don’t know what to do with your life as it is, you really should be thanking him,” Jason set the joint knives down beside the pan that held the drywall mud. There wasn’t much left, but he just left it there. Noah would give him shit about that tomorrow when we started, but at this point, no one cared.
Noah came back down the stairs, pausing at the bottom before coming back to us.
“We have… guests,” he said to Carlos, “Of the shape-shifting variety.”
“Shape-shifters,” Carlos repeated. A sigh. “The foxes. Well, I was expecting them sooner or later, though by later I didn’t mean this time of night.”
“Better late than never,” Noah shrugged. “Should I show them to the sitting room?”
“Please,” Carlos sighed. Noah left again, and the Alpha turned to us. “Michael, make sure they clean the pan out properly for tomorrow –” Jason scowled. “—Blake, come on. Jason, you, too. You’ll need to know their faces. Or, at least, their scents.”
Jason, who had been bending to pick up the pan, straightened up without touching it, a grin on his face. The two of us followed the Alpha down the hallway, through the door that would be hidden with shelves on the other side as he headed back upstairs to meet the fox shape-shifters. The original basement would be made into a gym and laundry room.
“I’m assuming one of these will be the one you met earlier,” Carlos said as we reached the top. Not concerned about them hearing us. Unlike werewolves –and other were-creatures – shape-shifters didn’t get many added attributes unless they were in their shifted form. Werewolves got the power, the super-senses, and the agility. On the other hand, shape-shifters didn’t have the long painful transformation like we did. “And they’re probably not too happy we’re in their territory.”
“Their territory my ass,” I muttered.
“Let’s leave the talking to me, Blake,” my father grinned.
I rolled my eyes as we continued through the house. The room where Noah had led the foxes was the first room on the left once they entered the house and went through the foyer. It was white, with black, minimalistic furniture. Overall, it had an uninviting feel –not that it was supposed to have a homey atmosphere. Two chairs faced away from the door, towards Carlos’s chair over a low coffee table. Noah stood behind the Alpha’s chair, this one black unlike the one that sat in our new living room, waiting for us to arrive.
The foxes rose when Carlos entered the room. There were three of them, all with hair in different shades of red. One of them stood off to the side, leaning against the wall –or he was until he saw our Alpha, where he then straightened, stiff and alert. The three of them remained standing until the Alpha had crossed the room and taken his seat. I took up my position behind his chair, to the left of Noah. Jason stayed by the door, closing it gently.
I looked over the three foxes. One of them was the one from the ice cream parlour, the one that seemed to dislike Evelyn, and she sat in one of the two chairs. I glanced at Jason, who seemed to realize this, too. I hated that foxes’ human appearances were so deceiving. None of them probably had their true appearance on display, since all of them looked no older than twenty.
“Noble Warriors of the Moon,” the seated male began, bowing his head slightly. “We are of the Fox Clan that resides in this –”
“You can stop with the formalities,” Carlos leaned onto one arm of his chair, a sig
n of irritation. I understood. Formal speech reminded him –and me –of his father, the last Alpha of the Pack. He used to break fingers on the hands of those who didn’t show the utmost respect to him. Carlos preferred things a little more casual. For the most part, anyway. The contradiction came with Alpha mode. “Your names?”
The fox looked perturbed as Carlos took things up to his pace. The male fox looked at his two companions, cleared his throat, then began again, “I’m Cole, leader of my division of the Fox Clan. My second-in-command, Marissa, and her brother, Philip.”
“I am Carlos, Alpha of the Ontarian Wolf Pack,” he introduced himself.
“We know you by name,” Cole assured him. “And we know of your patience and understanding. Our Clan has assigned the three of us to a mission here, and while we know this is your territory, we’d like to ask that you don’t interfere.”
“What sort of mission? Perhaps we could be of assistance. I don’t know how long you’ve been here, but I’m sure you’d like to rejoin your Clan at some point,” Carlos said.
Cole’s mouth settled into a tight line. “While I would like to accept your help, I’m afraid I can’t say. The leader of my Clan is quite clear about the privacy of this… ordeal.”
“Without knowing the circumstances, I’m afraid I’m not certain how we will be aware of whether or not we’re interfering,” Carlos tapped the arm of his chair before sighing and standing up. “Well, I suppose we’re done here.”
“Wait!” Cole jumped to his feet, grabbing Carlos’s arm as he began to walk by. Three growls filled the room, and his hand released our Alpha immediately. “Please. The importance of this is vital for the supernatural world.”
“We wolves have never really cared much for anything beyond our own. Vital importance or not, you’ll find we’ll do things as we please.”
“Let’s go, Cole,” Philip said from where he stood against the wall. “We’re beginning to overstay our welcome.”
“Philip’s right,” Marissa rubbed a finger over her nail polish, keeping her gaze down. She didn’t dare meet Carlos’s eyes, though she had occasionally glanced up at Noah and I. What I found strange is the air of confidence both she and Cole possessed, even though one wrong move could potentially mean losing a limb. “We didn’t come here to start a war. Just to introduce ourselves, really.”