Fated

My feet hurt. And I was late. I was always running late these days. Papa was not happy with me this morning. I knew I should have set my alarm last night, but I passed out as soon as I reached my room. Waking up by being dragged from my bed by my hair was something I should have been used to. At least it got me out of bed before I was beyond late for work. I couldn’t afford to get fired. I depended on my paycheck as a maid to pay for my education. The disability Papa received was what kept a roof over our heads as his days were filled with drinking and sleeping. Not living on pack lands meant we didn't receive the benefits that came with living there.

No housing.

No protection.

No pack.

Papa said that the pack community turned there back on him when he mated with my mother, a human. Seemed harsh in my opinion, but shifters were very protective of their own kind.

Today was my third late day this month. I was really hoping I could just get into the staff quarters without being seen. The new bruises I could feel on my scalp were burning and causing a severe headache. Thank goodness my hair covered them.

These were the times when I wished I had a wolf. When you turned 13, your wolf came forward and you would shift for the first time. At that point, most shifters developed bonds and formed packs.

I worked at the local college in town. Haven College. Small. Local. Neutral territory for all shifter and non-shifters. The school had dorm rooms like a major university or boarding school. We had moved here only recently, having been evicted once again from our last apartment across town. I cleaned offices and classrooms before my full day of classes. Anything they told me to clean, I did.

I rushed through the front gate and up the long pathway to the Admin building. I just needed to slip in through the side door that went to the staff lockers. Some staff lived in the dorms for convenience since they attended the school. I was on the list for an available dorm room. Getting away from Papa was something I desperately needed, but being accepted for the living spaces wasn’t common for employees. I wasn’t holding my breath for a room to become available. Paying students received those spots first, and I was paying my way through the work program that covered my tuition.

I crashed through the staff entrance door just as Mr. Pruitt, my manager, was finishing the daily staff meeting with everyone’s assignments. Everyone’s eyes hit me at once as I felt my cheeks turn pink and my stomach tumble.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Pruitt. I’m here.”

The look he gave me should have put me 6 feet under, and I knew then and there that I was getting the shitty assignment today.

“Let’s get on with our day. Stella, please stay behind. Thank you everyone!” Damn that man could be fake cheery when he wanted to be. With me it was always a look of distaste on his bulldog face. I bet he shifted into a mutt instead of a wolf. Really, he looked like an aged bulldog that someone left at the pound in his human form, so the shifter form had to be worse.

“I don’t know how you still have a job here, but believe me when I say I am putting your name in for termination. You get the Hartwell dorms. The top floor. Don’t talk to anyone, don’t take too long, and don’t fuck up. Or I will fire you myself and take whatever wrath I get from my superiors.” Spit hit me as he spewed his ugly words 2 inches from my face. I needed this job. I needed to eat the free cafeteria food, pay tuition, and finish my senior year. I knew how to clean. Cleaning was easy.

“Yes, Mr. Pruitt.” I kept my eyes to the floor as I was taught as a child. Before my mom died, life was better, happier. But soon after her death, learning to obey Papa meant less punishments. Less pain. Not presenting with a wolf made me the ultimate disappointment in my father's eyes. I was nothing but a useless human. Well, that's what Papa called me.

"Go!” Mr. Pruitt yelled as I ran from the room before he truly did fire me.

My old white converse sneakers dragged my tired ass to the staff quarters where I had a locker for my purse and where my apron was. We were all required to wear a uniform of black pants, a white shirt and a black half apron. I put my apron on and headed out with my cart.

The cleaning carts were all listed for different sections of the college. Yep, I got a shitty assignment. The dorm rooms that you would see in movies were pretty accurate for about 80% of the dorms here. But the Hartwell dorms were condos on steroids. They were for the students and high-ranking shifters on campus who needed actual maids and could afford them. No scholarship students would be seen anywhere near them, unless they were the ones cleaning. And I had never been inside of the Hartwell dorms before. I was usually allocated to the dining hall or one of the lecture halls.

Well, I finished my cardio for the day pushing the damn cart to the Hartwell dorms. Now to get through the day with a pounding headache until I could get back to my locker where I had some pain meds. When I reached the building, I used my staff pass to buzz myself in and headed straight into the elevators. Everything at Haven was locked and only accessible with a key card. You even had to use your key card to leave. You were locked in without it. But I made it to the top floor with no problems and glanced into the one huge ass dorm room I was meant to clean. The entire top floor was one apartment. Fuck.

After 20 seconds of standing there and staring into the overwhelmingly beautiful apartment, I slowly walked in, searching for a light source so I could assess the damage. I finally found a lamp on the side table near the couch.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

I covered my eyes after they landed on a naked ass and back lying on the sectional couch. I started to move backwards, covering my eyes in the process. I felt an arm around my waist before I could hit the cleaning cart, and I was pulled beneath a mammoth of a man onto the plush couch.

A very naked man.