by Kim Fox
“Be nice,” Barbara said, throwing a wet, dirty rag at him. He groaned and turned back to his eggs.
“Don’t worry about him,” Barbara whispered to her. “He’ll grow on you. Like a big, fat wart that you can’t get rid of.”
Chuck was the owner of the diner and took an instant disliking to Alexi. Barbara said not to worry that he didn’t like anyone. He had a long, greasy handlebar mustache and unshaven cheeks. Like a caricature, Chuck always had a pack of Marlboro’s rolled up the sleeve of his sweat and grease stained short sleeve shirt, which a long time ago, before Alexi was born, must have been a bright white.
Alexi placed a tray on the counter and set eight chipped mugs on it. The pot of coffee had finished brewing and she filled the mugs, spilling coffee onto the tray.
“Where’s my coffee?” one of the Flint guys yelled out.
She picked up the tray in a hurry, not wanting to cause another scene, and one of the mugs fell over, spilling coffee down the front of her apron and onto the floor.
“Shit,” she muttered under her breath.
Barbara untied Alexi’s wet apron and tossed it onto the counter. “I’m assuming you’ve never waitressed before,” she said, taking a new apron from the cupboard and wrapping it around Alexi’s thick hips.
Alexi shook her head. At thirty three she had never even had a job, period. She grew up in a rich high class household where she got whatever she wanted and attended the city’s best parties and galas with the who’s who of San Francisco. She dined at the best five star restaurants and was waited on like a Princess. The old Alexi would never have worked here. Hell, she would never have eaten here. But everything changed last week and now all that Alexi wanted in the world was to keep this shitty job in this old, dilapidated diner in the middle of nowhere.
She walked over to the table of eight guys holding the tray of coffees with two hands. They started clapping when she arrived. “It took you long enough,” the fit, muscular one with the short blond hair said.
“I was brewing a new pot,” she said. “I didn’t think you guys wanted the stale coffee.”
“It’s stale now,” the blond one said, “it took you twenty minutes to walk over here.” He reached out to grab a mug off her tray.
Alexi jerked her tray up out of his reach. “Do you guys want it?” she asked. He stared at her waiting. “Then keep your hands to yourself. And a please and thank you won’t hurt.”
She placed the mugs in front of the guys, wishing that she was nicer to all of the servers in all of the fancy restaurants that she ate in over the years.
She handed out the mugs and walked back behind the counter. She grabbed the mop and started wiping up the coffee that she had spilled behind, jerking the mop back and forth.
Barbara returned from her table with a dirty plate and laughed. “It’s not a hockey stick love,” she said, placing the plate in a gray bucket and taking the mop from her. “In circles. Haven’t you ever mopped before?”
Alexi’s cheeks flushed and turned red.
Barbara raised an eyebrow. “Where did you say you were from again?” She hadn’t.
“You said these guys are lumberjacks?” Alexi asked, trying to change the subject.
Barbara lost her smile. “You can say that. Lumberjacks usually help the forest grow, these guys just burn it down.”
“They set fires in the forest?” Alexi asked. “Why would they do that?”
“Why else?” she shrugged, as she put the broom away. “For money.”
Three pickup trucks pulled up outside in front of the diner. A smile broke out across Barbara’s refined and charming face. Her cheeks were big and wrinkly, surely from smiling so much. She had a warm smile and Alexi felt like Barbara was her only friend in the world, even if she had only known her for two days.
Barbara stood on her toes trying to see out the window as the men climbed out of the trucks. “I’ll finish up with the Flint crew,” she said. “Take these guys. They’ll treat you better.”
Alexi looked out the window. “Who are they?”
“Barbara,” Chuck hissed from inside the kitchen. “Is that your boys? I don’t want any trouble.” He looked over at the Flint crew, who were all staring out the window, looking tense. He took his shotgun out from the bottom shelf and held it in his hand as he flipped a sizzling egg on the flat grill.
The five other diners pulled out their wallets, dropped money onto the table and hurried out the door. Alexi saw a table of two construction workers leave who had just gotten their food. They had barely started eating.
A history of abuse had left Alexi with a keen ability to know when shit was about to go down. She was a survivor first and foremost and she inched closer to the butcher’s knife on the counter that she had used to cut lemons earlier that morning. She placed her hand on the handle as the bell above the door clanged.
Her mouth dropped as seven of the most gorgeous guys that she had ever seen walked through the screen door.
And then all hell broke loose.
three
Ellis stuck his hand out the window of his brother’s pickup truck and felt the cool mountain air slam into his palm. It attacked his hand, fighting to push it backwards as his brother, Beckett, sped down the highway.
He looked out the dirty windshield of the pickup truck at the thousands of tall trees crowding the side of the road.
“I’m sorry again about this morning,” Ellis said. It was the tenth time he apologized for dropping a tree on Beckett’s chest.
Beckett squeezed the steering wheel and shook his head slowly. “I just don’t understand why you can’t follow orders and work with the group. You always have to go off on your own like some renegade bear. No one is forcing you to stay in the crew.”
Ellis watched the forest whiz by, thick and dense. If the Pacific Northwest was missing anything, it wasn’t trees.
“I just get all jacked up on adrenaline before every jump. I just want to take on the whole fire by myself. I hear all of those old stories from the old time smokejumpers of how Dad used to be so wild and crazy and I don’t know…I just want to be like him.”
“Dad got himself killed when you were five.” Beckett said eying him. His brother’s look was always so intense. Ellis turned away glancing at the pickup truck following them. Sander had his bare feet sticking out the window and Keene was driving. Keene gave Ellis the finger.
“He left us all alone because he was reckless and unsafe. That’s who you want to be like?”
Ellis watched the trees passing by in silence. He could smell deer in the distance.
“Is your bear still bothering you to mate?” Beckett asked.
Just the word ‘mate’ made Ellis’ inner animal grumble. His bear had been on a relentless hunt for a mate the past few months and it was tearing him apart. He had a hard time concentrating on tasks and he could barely sleep. And when he did he had the strangest dreams.
Their town couldn’t be more secluded than it was, in the middle of the mountains of Montana, and the airstrip that his crew lived on was pretty much abandoned by everybody except him and his crew. The only plane that took off from the dirt runway was their old Casa 212 that delivered them to their jumps.
“Yeah,” Ellis muttered. “He’s desperate for a mate.”
Beckett ground his teeth as if he knew exactly what his brother was going through. It was a rough time for all of the shifters in the crew when their bears were seeking mates. Not many female bears passed through their town. Actually only one did: their mother Barbara.
“Oh hell,” Beckett cursed under his breath.
Ellis’ eyes darted up to the parking lot of the diner. The Flint crew were eating on their turf. In their mother’s restaurant of all places.
“Should we go somewhere else?” Ellis asked. He didn’t want his mom to get in trouble at work if something happened. She almost got fired last year when one of the Flint crew released his bear in the middle of the dinning room.
“No,”
Beckett said calmly. “We can’t show them any weakness. Only this time follow my orders. For Mom if not for me.”
They pulled into the parking lot and the two other pickup trucks parked beside them. The seven members of the Hudson crew gathered behind the diner.
Everyone looked to Beckett for instructions. “We go in and sit down. Act normal. Don’t even look at them. We treat them like they’re just another table.”
“For sure they lit that fire this morning,” Sander said, looking past Beckett into the window of the diner. “I saw bear prints in the mud. I could smell them.”
“Yeah well we’re not going to deal with that in my Mom’s restaurant okay?” Beckett said.
Matteo stared at Ellis. “You going to be able to follow your alpha’s orders or do I have to lock you in the trunk?”
“It’s a pickup truck,” Keene pointed out. “There is no trunk.”
“Then I’ll make him fit in the glove compartment.” Matteo’s dark eyes narrowed on Ellis.
Quint grabbed Matteo’s shirt and pulled him towards the diner. “Let’s just get some fucking pancakes already.”
Ellis walked into the diner behind Sander. He froze in his tracks when he saw the new waitress behind the counter. Keene pushed him from behind and he crashed into Sander’s huge back. “Let’s go man. I’m hungry,” Keene complained.
Ellis stepped to the side to let them pass. He stared with wide eyes and a pounding heart at the girl. She was gorgeous. Large and curvy, unlike those skinny girls with twig arms and legs that they always showed on TV. She had plush, auburn hair tied back in a pony tail. She looked from his crew to the Flint crew on the other side of the diner. She clutched a knife in her hands as her eyes darted back and forth nervously.
All Ellis wanted to do was go over there, take her in his arms and comfort her. Reassure her. Protect her. A low growl rolled out of his chest as his bear finally found his desired mate.
“Snap out of it,” Quint said, punching him in the shoulder.
“Huh?” Ellis said, looking around the diner for the first time. The Flint crew were standing up at their table staring them down. It was quiet and tense and it looked like a fight was imminent. Five minutes ago Ellis would’ve been ripping his shirt off, ready to phase. He would be anxious for a fight, he would probably have been the one to provoke it, but now all he wanted to do was protect this gorgeous, voluptuous woman in front of him. If a fight did break out the first thing that he was going to do was get her outside and out of danger.
As much as Ellis wanted her, his bear wanted her worse. He had to fight the bear who was snarling and huffing inside him, demanding that he go claim her body.
Chuck walked out of the kitchen holding a shotgun. He slid the barrel, loading it with a double click. “This is what’s going to happen,” he yelled. “You sit down. You eat your cold eggs and burnt toast. You drink your shitty coffee. You pay the bill. You leave.” He pointed the shotgun from group to group. “Anyone have a problem with that…I shoot them in the face.”
Barbara shuffled over and pushed the barrel of the shotgun towards the ground. “The flapjacks are burning Chucky. Go in the back.”
Chuck groaned as she pushed him towards the kitchen.
Barbara ushered Ellis’ group to the other side of the diner. The Flint crew sat back down at their table as Sander moved two tables together.
Ellis glanced back at the waitress. She had dropped the knife now that the situation was diffused. Man she was beautiful. He could stare at her all day. And he would’ve if his mom hadn’t gripped him in a big, mama bear hug.
“Why don’t you call your mother?” she said, when she finally let him go.
Ellis glanced back at the waitress. She looked back at him and smiled. His big muscular legs went weak.
“Are you serving us Mrs. B?” Finch asked.
She shook her head. “I’ll let the new girl pay her dues.” She waved her over and Ellis swallowed hard. “Boys this is Alexi. Be nice to her or you’re going to have to deal with the mama bear.”
“Hi,” Alexi said, playing with her hands and looking at them shyly. “Do you guys know what you want to eat?”
A low rumble escaped from Ellis’ chest. Too low for a human to hear but all of the guy’s heads at the table turned towards him. Redness crept up his cheeks as his inner bear betrayed him.
“Well we know what Ellis wants to eat!” Keene said, slapping the table and laughing. The other guys joined in. All except for Beckett.
Alexi looked around confused. “I’ll just give you guys a minute,” she said, backing away from the table of laughing men.
“Look at him,” Keene said in a fit of laughter. He could hardly breathe. “Even his ears are red!”
“In all seriousness,” Finch said. “If you two become mates can you hook me up with free waffles?”
Ellis barely registered the jeers. He was busy trying to contain his riled up bear. A bear always knows their mates when they see them and his bear had chosen her. He knew he was in trouble.
Beckett was studying Ellis quietly as the rest of the crew continued teasing him. “You should go talk to her,” he said.
“Yeah go tell her all about your thrilling fish hook collection,” Keene laughed.
Ellis took a deep breath. For someone who was usually so adventurous and risk-taking, he was feeling very timid and scared.
He steadied his nerves. It will be fine. My bear is recognizing her as my mate. She’ll know it too.
He stood up and walked over to the counter. Alexi was watching him, looking unsure of the situation. Looking unsure of him. “Do you need something?” she asked.
She was so breathtaking in her brand new waitress uniform, the crisp, white apron hugging her deliciously, big hips. Her lips were lush and full. His bear urged him on, begging him to be released so that he could claim her properly. He tightened his body, trying to restrain him.
“Are you okay?” she asked, taking a step back.
“I would like you to be my mate,” he said.
He heard his brother groan.
Keene slapped the table and burst out laughing behind him. “I told you he wouldn’t have any game!”
Redness flushed in Ellis’ cheeks as he saw the horrified look on Alexi’s face. He hardly had any experience speaking with women but he figured that she would want him for a mate right back. He was wrong. Very wrong.
“I uhh…No,” she stammered, then said abruptly. “I don’t want a boyfriend. Not now. Not ever.” She crossed her arms and stared at him with narrow eyes. “Please sit down. I’m going to take your order and that’s it.”
He stared at her in confusion. Why wasn’t she recognizing that they belonged together? This was not going the way that he had envisioned it.
“But we’re meant to be together,” he said in shock. She backed away further.
A hand grabbed his wrist. “I’m sorry for my friend here,” Quint said, pulling Ellis back. “He inhaled a bit too much smoke this morning and it’s gone to his tiny brain.”
Quint led Ellis back to the table like a shell shocked solider that just came out of battle.
“Nice line Romeo,” Sander said.
Keene was loving it. “That was the worst thing that I have ever seen,” he said. “And I once walked in on my grandparents having sex. In full gimp suits. While listening to Nickleback.”
Ellis slumped down in his chair and looked to Beckett. “I don’t understand. Where did I go wrong?”
“I think you lost her at mate,” his brother said wincing.
“That was painful to watch,” Finch said.
“I think I lost my appetite,” Sander chimed in.
“Even I feel bad for you,” Matteo laughed. And Matteo never laughed.
The Flint crew got up from their table providing a welcome distraction. Ellis and his crew stared at them as they left.
The Flint crew were a clan of shape shifting bears from the East side of the mountain. There was a long standing riv
alry between his crew and their’s that went back to his Grandfather’s days. They often fought over territory and of course there were the blood feuds. So many that neither side could remember who started them.
Ellis and his crew suspected them of starting the string of wild forest fires lately. The Flint crew worked for McCoy Industries, a huge corporation that spanned the country. Lately they had been focused on developing the rugged land in the Flathead National Forest. There was a loophole in the bylaw that allowed for building on areas destroyed by natural forest fires. McCoy Industries was exploiting this by creating their own ‘natural’ fires. The Hudson crew was convinced that they were paying the Flint crew to set these fires. So far the Hudson crew were able to smokejump in and clear the fires before too much damage was done. But the summer was pushing forward and the trees were going to get dryer and more prone to sprawling forest fires. They would have their hands full.
“What do these guys want?” Sander asked when they were pulling out of the parking lot. “Strip malls and Casinos in their backyard?”
Beckett shook his head. “They’re in it for the immediate payment and not thinking long term. Some people just fuck up everything.”
“Speaking of fucking up everything,” Keene said looking at Ellis. “Your mate is coming back.”
“Are you guys ready to order?” she asked, holding a pen and notepad. She glanced at Ellis. “And no I’m not on the menu, I don’t come here often and I’m a Capricorn.”
Ellis cringed and stared into his lap, wanting to crawl under the table.
Keene laughed. “I think what he meant to ask was ‘Do you work at Starbucks? Because I like you a latte.’”
Sander joined in. “Are you a banana? Because I find you a-peeling.”
“Did you read Dr. Seuss as a kid?” Quint asked. “Because green eggs and... damn!”
Alexi chuckled at that one.
“Are you my Appendix?” Finch asked. “Because I have a funny feeling in my stomach that makes me feel like I should take you out.”
Alexi was laughing. “Pretty much any of those would have been an improvement.” She placed her notepad and pen on the table in front of Ellis. “Here take some notes,” she said, chuckling.