Always

The forest is exactly fifteen point two miles from my apartment. My school is seven miles in the opposite direction but my job is three miles in the direction of danger making me vulnerable for six hours a day five days a week.

Thirty hours, that's not much, especially when it's worked for nearly six years but today that danger is a lot more real and staring me in the face. A pack just walked through the door of my bar to celebrate a victory and the longer they're here the less faith I have in the pendant hanging around my neck.

They are all still covered in blood, stained with the mark of their kills. Every one of them is wearing dark blues mixed with hints of light blue--the colors of the Theseus Pack--and have the hilts of daggers sticking out the top of their combat-ready boots.

"Rena, that's you," Effy informs me, snapping me out of whatever daze their appearance put me in.

Effy and I have a deal, that states I take the sketchy tables ever since she had a really bad table that involved a visit to the hospital. Warrior Wolves are my exact definition of sketchy but right now I'm wishing I was the type of person to go back on my word.

The bar isn't as packed as it usually is on a Friday night and four-day weekend. Normally there isn't enough space to move without bumping into someone or spilling a drink but tonight I can actually see the floor and feel the music filling every corner of the room.

My shoes crack discarded peanut shells and squish in a sticky substance I'm not going to think too hard about on my way to the table. There are six men, one woman, and they are all cheering, not caring about the attention they're drawing to themselves. One even goes as far as detailing one of his gruesome kills. The woman doesn't seem to care for their boasting, if anything she seems bored.

"Welcome to Rustys. What can I get for you?" I force my best smile on my face and touch the pendant around my neck.

"Six beers, six shots, and a Vodka Cran for the lady," the biggest one shouts. He doesn't take his eyes off his friends when he speaks and I can't take my eyes off his arms that are almost bursting out of his shirt. if he moves anymore he might shred it into pieces.

I take my eyes off the arms of the large one and flash a warm smile. "Coming right up." I head back to the bar and pray to the Goddess Ascended that witch didn't rip me off.

I put their order in with Jeremiah and wait. They are the only table I have, seeing as there are three people sitting at the bar and one other table Effy just went to serve.

Jeremiah gives me my drinks, spilling some on me and the counter. I wipe the beer off my hand like that will help me not smell like a keg when I get home. I've gotten pretty good at balancing drinks on my tray so it only takes me two trips to get all the drinks to the table. When I'm done setting the drinks down the only blond in the group grabs my ass. I flash a smile, swallow the growl burning in the back of my throat and go back to the bar where Effy is waiting.

She gestures to the nearly empty bar, shaking her head. "This is so weird."

"It is but it's almost closing time so I'm not thinking too much into it."

"Are you okay? Your shaking," she asks grabbing my arm.

I quickly move my shaky hand from the necklace and shove it in the tiny pockets of my denim shorts that barely cover my ass. "I'm tired and hungry, possibly a little dehydrated."

"You can go home early if you want. I can get Jeremiah to drive me back to the apartment."

I shake my head. "Nah, I'd never leave you."

Effy has particularly bad luck when it comes to being alone with guys. She is capable of taking care of herself, she's done it in the past but I won't let her walk into any potentially dangerous situation when it's avoidable.

"I drove us here, I'm driving us home."

"Lady!" the brute shouts, waving me over.

"Looks like my last table is going to be a fun one." I roll my eyes and walk over.

I'm running from the bar to my one table the whole night. Every five minutes they are in need of a refill or are groping me in some way. The woman only rolls her eyes and downs nearly twenty tequila shots and six Vodka mixes. After her second vodka-cran, she switched to vodka-lemonade because we were apparently making her favorite dingy bar drink wrong. I did my best not to say anything about the dingy bar comment--this is a dingy bar--and watched Jeremiah make each drink to ensure he wasn't doing anything to fuck with my table.

She-wolf comes to stand next to me by the bar. "Rena, is it?" She nods towards my name tag.

"Yes, sorry I normally introduce myself." Having wolves so close is making me forget things.

She waves my apology off. "Don't worry, those asses have a habit of throwing people off."

She pauses before she speaks again. "That's a nice necklace." She loops her fingers through the chain.

I swallow and stand as far back as her grip will allow. "Yes, it was a gift." A very costly gift.

"From who?" She tightens her grip.

"Just a friend, I don't think she has any more." I swallow again. "If that's what you're looking for."

"Oh, no. I would never wear something like this." She releases the chain with a look of disgust or repulsion. I struggle to keep my feet on the ground, I have to balance myself with a hand on the bar. I start wiping down the already cleaned bar top to keep my composure. "Sorry if my choice in jewelry offends you."

"It doesn't just offend me," she spits then walks back to her table.

"The fuck was that about?" Effy walks over just in time to see tears welling in my eyes.

"Nothing." I force back tears and clear my throat. "Just some bitchy customer, you know how it is."

"Yeah. Not tonight though, it's actually been pretty nice."

The bar closes in one hour. Effys table left thirty minutes ago leaving only my rowdy wolves. They've only gotten louder and drunker. The big guy with the black hair and the shirt that doesn't seem to fit right nearly broke the table and did break two chairs. Typically I would kick them out but it's too late and too risky to rock any boats.

Jeremiah and I go through the motions of getting their drinks until closing. The duty of telling the rowdy bunch they have to get out fell to Jeremiah when the grabby blonde stood up and cracked a glass over one of his friend's heads. The other few just cheered while Ms.Judgey continued to sit back and roll her eyes.

Jeremiah comes back to the bar shaking his head. "They said they'll only get out if you tell them." Effy rolls her eyes and curses under her breath.

I take off my apron, leave my rag on the counter and walk over to them with my shoulders back and head high. Project confidence, that's all I need to do. My thin Rusty's tee and skin-tight shorts aren't enough to mimic the feeling of armor but I remind myself, like my first fight in the arena, tiny clothes don't make me any less strong.

"Sorry, guys but we're closing so you're gonna have to call it a night." I look towards the clock that says four-thirty—thirty minutes after we'd already closed.

"Boys wrap it up," the woman says in a calm steady voice. The six men grab their shit without another word and prepare to leave.

Alpha. I can tell from the way she speaks, walks and how quickly they listened. I can also tell simply by the way being around her feels. I couldn't see it at first, I didn't even think it was possible. I've never met a female Alpha. I've heard about them my whole life, I spent my whole life hating hearing about them but to see one in person is a disorienting experience.

She doesn't look any different from the woman of my pack. She has big brown eyes like my mother, jet black hair like me and a heart-shaped face, and full lips that look permanently stained red like my little sister. There are pieces of her that look like the woman I know but as a whole, she radiates strength, confidence, and power like I've never seen. Her features are strong and under the leather jacket, I can see she is hiding some serious muscle.

The guys stop acting like barbarians long enough to get out the door. When they aren't tearing my bar apart they look pretty decent. Nice strong features, kind eyes all dark-haired except for Mr. grabby whose blonde and has blue eyes.

"Rena," the woman calls me over to the door.

I sigh and walk to the door. Hopefully, there is a hefty tip in my future. I stop right in front of the woman who I'm now realizing is nearly a foot taller than me, which is saying something seeing as I'm 5'7".

She laces her fingers through my hair and pulls me closer to her. This group really has a problem with personal boundaries. I hold my breath and keep my eyes locked on hers. She can't intimidate me.

Her hand slides into the back pocket of my shorts. "That's for the fantastic service," she whispers, her lips grazing my ear. I try to step back but her grip on me tightens. She tilts my head back and captures my lips before I can think of a response.

I know I should pull away, pulling away is the smart thing to do but something stirs in my body, gluing my feet in place. Her hands roam over my body as her tongue slips into my mouth. A small whimper escapes from my lips when she grabs my ass and I feel something deep inside me snap. "That's for dealing with us." She lets go of me and walks to the black SUV her friends are waiting in front of.

"Damn girl," Effy whistles when the door is finally locked. I ignore her and walk back to the bar, trying to catch my breath before I have to speak again.

With the three of us working together we get everything cleaned in locked up in thirty minutes. Once we've finished we wave at Jeremiah as he pulls off on his motorcycle and head to my car that's parked at the back of the lot.

"Tonight was something." Effy kicks off her shoes and kicks her feet up on the dashboard. "What the fuck was up with Ms. Bitchy? One minute she has you on the verge of tears then she's tongue fucking you."

Tounge fucking?

"I have no idea what any of that was. I just want to go home." I turn the key and pull out of the small parking lot.

Effy plays sad-ass breakup songs all the way home, eyeing me into silence. I wasn't going to mention her messy breakup but the way she's been acting makes me want to mention it.

Kyle was wonderful when we first met, he took Effy on dates every Wednesday night because that's the only day they both had off, he would buy me lunch because he remembered how forgetful I could be, and when my car was having trouble he introduced us to his mechanic friend. But things took a crazy turn after about a year. He would go crazy if Effy and I went anywhere outside of my apartment or work. Soon after that he got crazy about work too and would show up in the middle of her shift and wait until closing and if he saw anything he did like he lost it. We nearly got fired when one of our regulars called her sugar and he almost beat him to death. That was my last straw, I told him to never come near either of us again and for some reason, he listened.

Lately, Effy has been texting him about his anger management classes and AA meetings. She says she's just checking on him, making sure he's doing okay but I know my best friend.

"How's that barista?"

She lightens up at the question while I fight to get our apartment door open. "She's amazing. She wrote her number on the back of my receipt yesterday." She waves a thin piece of paper at me.

"That's great. Are you going to call her?"

"I already did. I texted her before we went to work. We're planning on meeting this morning if I can get some sleep." She takes the key from me and bumps the door with her hip, forcing it open.

Once I'm through the door I kick my shoes off and drop them where Effy left hers. Our apartment is a small two-bedroom with an open kitchen and dining area. The bathroom and both rooms are all down the same painted blue hallway, Effy said the color was calming. It's small but it's home and we like it.

"I'm off to bed, make sure I'm up by eight so I can shower before my date."

I nod and head to my room. I won't be getting any sleep until I finish my paper for psychology. There seems to be a lot more research in grad school than in undergrad, meaning a lot less sleep for me.

I'm welcomed by a lavender scent when I enter my room, which is different from its usual cupcake scent. Damn, I'm tired. I slip my shorts and shirt off and throw them in the middle of the floor.

"Nice," a voice says from the corner of the room. I turn my head in the direction of the voice and see a tall figure standing in the far corner of my room.

I search my floor for something to cover myself with. In the dark, all the shit on my floor looks the same and the small slither of moonlight coming in from my window isn't helping. "Who are you?" I use my hands to cover my bare chest.

"That is not hiding much," the voice speaks again. I know that voice. "The Ascended must've liked you."

"What do you want?" I turn my body so half of me is facing the corner.

"You never want to give your enemy your bad. That's a shit tactical move."

"You're my enemy?" I'm angered by the sound of my small voice.

"No, but how are you to know that." I hear boots connected with the hardwood of my floor getting closer.

"I don't know who you are or what you want but I'm not someone you want to fuck with."

"And why is that?"

"Because I have nothing to give you, I'm no one important, and killing me would just be really stupid when people saw us together less than an hour ago."

"For some reason, I don't believe that." I hear feet shuffle closer and feel a warm breath brush over my shoulder.

"Please don't hurt me," I cry.

The heavy boots thud in retreat. "I'm not going to hurt you. Trust that, if you trust anything."

Something cold stings my neck and my dark room gets darker and my head gets heavy. Strong arms catch my body before I hit the ground and I feel the weightlessness of being carried.