Chapter 8
That evening when I arrive at the diner, it's the same as it's always been. Practically empty.
I'm surprised to see that Robbie's actually working for once. He's seated himself behind the cashier speaking on the phone. He waves to me just as I pass him to go into the changing rooms.
I quickly change into my black shorts, my red t-shirt, white apron and tidy my braid before going out into the diner.
I grab an order pad and stand at an elderly couple's table.
“Good afternoon, can I take your order?” I smile at the old man who's squinting at the specials.
I chuckle and read out the specials, “The specials today are the vegetable soup, curry, chilli con carne, squid and bolognese.”
“What's the curry, dear?” The old woman asks. “We have Korma, Rogan Josh or the Pasanda.”
“Richard, shall we have the Rogan Josh?” He mumbles just as the woman answers, “We'll have the Rogan Josh please, dear.”
“No problem. The wait shouldn't be too long, okay?”
I take their menus, walk into the kitchen where I see Terry singing along to the radio.
“Hey, Terry.” I place the order on the stand. “You okay?” “I'm alright thank you, Alice.”
He flips over a pancake and catches it in the pan.
I take a deep breath. “Terry, I'm sorry you had to witness that the other night.” I wince just remembering about it.
“I won't have some little shit shout at you like that, Alice.” Terry slams the pan back on the stove a little too hard. “You gotta stick up for yourself.”
“What do you suggest I do?” I cross my arms over my chest and smile warmly.
“Kick'em where it hurts the most.” He whistles. “Right in the fucking balls.”
I chuckle. “Noted.”
I'm smiling by the time I walk out the kitchen but it vanishes when I see who's occupying the bar stools. Ryder's already sneering at me while Kellan pretends to read the menu.
“Don't even pretend that you're reading that.” I take the menu from him.
Kellan frowns at me. “Everything okay?”
“What do you think? I'm being followed around and it's driving me insane! If you think I'm going to tell Max about you, then you don't know me at all. I won't tell him anything.”
Out of nowhere, Ryder slams his hand on the counter, “I don't give a shit if you tell him or not!”
Everything falls silent in the diner.
“Why do you have such a problem with him?” “Guys, calm down.” Kellan looks warily between us.
“You barely know the guy and you're already sticking up for him!?” Ryder spits.
“He's been nothing but polite to you! How dare you!” I hiss.
Ryder gets out of his seat and comes to stand face to face with me.
“Stay away from him.” He points at me. “I don't give a fuck if he's polite or not. I don't trust him and I won't tell you again. Stay away from him if you know what's good for you.”
“Who the hell do you think you are telling me to stay away from Max?” I lower my voice. “I am not part of your pack and I never will be. Don't ever tell me what I can and cannot do ever again.”
Just as I finish talking Robbie appears behind Ryder.
“I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, son,.” Robbie places his hand on Ryder's shoulder which he nudges off and storms out of the diner.
“Alright, nothing to see here folks.” Robbie walks back into his office.
I look at Kellan to see that he hasn't moved. “Not following your Alpha like you're supposed to?” I pick up a cloth and start wiping down the counter.
“Nah, I'm quite hungry actually.”
“What's his problem Kellan? If someone's going to tell me what's up with him, then it's you.”
“Why me?”
I shrug. “You're the nice wolf.”
Kellan sighs and clears his throat. “Ryder's just protecting you. You may not think that he is but he's just looking out for you. It's sad really because all he wants to do is protect everyone.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, the night I was bitten was the night that Ryder saved my life. I was at a grocery store buying all kinds of junk food as all teenagers do. I saw Ryder there and I obviously didn't know what he was. I was waiting in the line to get served when this man came in dressed in black wearing a ski mask. I knew this guy was going to rob the place and I wasn't gonna have that being a cops' son.
Ryder was standing quite far from where I was, and I started talking to the guy in the mask, trying to calm him down to talk him out of it. Normally, robbers are calm and they know exactly what they're doing, but he didn't. He was scared. He didn't know what the hell he was doing.
Anyway, he panicked and shot me right in the chest.
Ryder dragged me out of the store, into the nearest alley, and he told me I was gonna die if I didn't accept what he was offering. All I could think about was my dad and I had my answer.”
“He bit you.” I sigh. “Does your dad know what you are?”
Kellan shakes his head. “No, and I'd like to keep it that way.”
“And the man in the mask, did he escape?” “Yeah.”
I pause for a second. “Kellan, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Anything.”' He answers without looking at me.
“The other night at my house, why were your eyes different from Bane and Silver's?”
Kellan puts the menu down, “I was turned less than a year ago, a few months after Anna's death. When Ryder changed me, he wanted me in his pack, but after losing Anna I just wanted to be left alone. Ryder would check up on me at school, to see if I was okay and he always told me that he'd be there whenever I needed him. A couple of weeks later, I decided to go and see him and that's when I met Bane and Silver. Ryder wasn't there and it was obvious that they didn't want me anywhere near him or the pack. So, they did what Betas do. They forced me out of the pack.”
I frown. “Can they do that?”
“As second in commands they can. Ryder didn't know anything about it until he asked them why my scent was there, and they told him. I was on my own for a while keeping to myself and keeping away from everyone. That didn't last because Ryder told me about how Omegas don't survive on their own, and he brought me back to his pack. And for my eyes? They're yellow because I'm the weaker one out of them all. For example, if we're fighting with another pack, they can see who the easier target is, that being me, but my eyes will change eventually.”
“Wait, are you the only pack in Small Town?” I wheeze.
“No, Alice there are thousands of us.” Kellan smirks, “And soon you'll be one.”
I shake my head. “If I survive, which I probably won't.”
Kellan gets up from his seat. “Ryder is going to do anything he can to help you survive. Fighting the first change was a huge mistake. The next time you change, you're gonna experience a whole lot of pain, or even die.”
Thanks, Kellan. That doesn't make me feel better at all.
“Why does Ryder feel like he needs to be there for me all the time? He doesn't owe me anything.”
Kellan tenses his jaw and drops his head. “Because the same thing happened to his sister.”
Ryder had a sister?
Wait. What?
Kellan clears his throat. “A while back, Ryder and his family were camping out in the woods. Ryder and his parents changed frequently into wolves, but his sister fought every change because she feared that she'd lose control. Doing so made her weak. The night was a full moon, and Ryder and his parents knew how to control the change, but his sister was wondering around the woods, probably gathering more wood for the fire, but she didn't come back for a while and Ryder couldn't understand where she'd gone. It turned out that she did turn, but she barely managed it on her own.” Kellan clears his throat again. “She ran for miles and ended up by the creak. Anna was found ripped to shreds by the river. They were too late.”
Ryder and Anna were brother and sister!?
“Anna..?” I gasp, “Your Anna?”
“Anna thought she was adopted because she looked nothing like Ryder, but she meant everything to the two of us.”
“Kellan, I'm so sorry.”
“You'd never guess that they were related so no one asked about it. That's why Ryder's just trying to make people understand that changing isn't such a bad thing.” Kellan shrugs. “I mean, sure we look scary and lose control when it's a full moon but that's not every night. He just doesn't want the same happening to you as it did with Anna.”
“I fought the change because I didn't want to hurt anybody.” I quietly say.
“You won't hurt anyone Alice because you've got me and Ryder looking out for you.”
He grabs my hand gently and strokes his thumb against my skin. “'We won't let you hurt anyone, I promise.”
He lets go of my hand and collects his bag off the floor. “How was basketball?”
Kellan doesn't answer me straight away. “Me and Ryder left before it started to come here to talk to you.”
I snort. “You mean, to warn me.”
Kellan shakes his head and sighs. “I can't make you listen to me, but please listen to Ryder. Stay away from the new kid.”
“Not you too, Kellan.” I snort. “What is it about Max that you don't like?”
“Please Alice, just listen.” Kellan stays still for a moment but when he sees that I have no response, he turns and leaves the diner.
Listening to Kellan talk about his life as being a wolf and the truth about Anna, I realise that I have no idea what these guys have been through. What if what Kellan says is true? That Ryder's just trying to protect me. From what exactly? Max? He's been nothing but kind to me and he seems harmless.
I'm walking to the kitchen when I hear Robbie calling my name from his office.
“Alice, can you come in here for a second?” “Everything okay?” I lean my hip against the door.
Robbie turns in his chair and slicks his greasy hair back. “What was that all about earlier?”
I look at the floor. “Just a misunderstanding. I'm sorry, it won't happen again.”
“I know, Alice but I just can't have that in the diner, okay?”
He dismisses me by turning in his chair and going back on the computer.
Walking into the kitchen, I see Terry finishing off the couple's curry. I carefully carry the steaming hot plates to them.
After serving the remaining customers, I say goodbye to Terry and Robbie, change out of my uniform and leave the diner.
Working five days a week isn't so bad. I was lucky enough to get Fridays and Saturdays off. Some days I truly love working there because it gives me the freedom of not having to worry about anything - that was until I didn't have to worry about becoming a wolf.
Now I'm living in fear that I'll change at the worst possible moment.
When I arrive home, the house is silent and all the lights are off, my mother's probably still at work. I go upstairs, take a shower, change into my nightwear and walk downstairs to heat up some soup in the microwave.
After today I don't think I can eat much. The moment the soup heats up I take it upstairs and into my bedroom.