Chapter 3

 I stepped out of the car and stretched. Today was the worst day of my life. At least for the moment. I was very sure the moon goddess had more surprise packages waiting for me. After a gruelling day at the restaurant, I didn't have much time to rest, and I had to get ready for my second job for the night.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten my outfit at home while I was rushing to make it on time to the restaurant earlier today. That was unusual of me, and I should have known that would pave the way for the numerous disasters that came my way.

 I unlocked the door to my apartment and walked in. A mixture of two scents filled the air, and I scrunched up my nose in disgust. One was the scent of my brother, and the other was the scent of a human. From the added scent of a strong perfume, it was pretty obvious that it was a woman. The sound of a bed scraping against the floor irritated my poor, sensitive ears so much, and I wanted to put an end to it as soon as possible.

I marched straight to my brother's room. I could hear faint moans from within, and I panicked. I did not need a witch to tell me what was going on inside. If Eric was doing what I think he was doing, at least let the moon goddess grant him some sense to take some precaution.

I pushed open the door to his room, and I regretted my actions immediately.

 My little brother lay on the bed with a girl straddling him. I couldn't see her face, but from the colour of her hair, she was a brunette. The both of them were naked as the day they were born, and obviously they were so lost in their passion that they didn't hear me open the door.

At least, that was until Eric's werewolf senses kicked in and he caught my scent. How he didn't do that earlier was anyone's guess. He raised his head, and his eyes widened.

"What the fuck!"

I made my way out and closed the door before he could get up. From the sound of the girl's surprised yelp from within, I guessed my brother must have thrown her off. Arriving at the living room, I tried to wipe away the disturbing images from my head.

A few minutes later, Eric made his way to the living room dressed in shorts, thankfully.

"What was that, sis?" He folded his arms, upset. I glared at him in response.

"I should be the one asking you that, dumbass!" I poked his forehead. "What the hell is wrong with you? You got sent home after being suspended, and the first thing you do is bring some chick over and mess around."

"Come on, you can't blame me." He wrung his arms around in mild protest. "Gabi has been all over my head since I got back, and he wouldn't let me rest until he was satisfied."

Gabi was my brother's wolf and was the animal representation of everything Eric was. When Gabi surfaced, he was grey, a bit larger, and more aggressive than Celine. However, when it came to sprint speed, he was no match for my wolf.

 To my annoyance, Gabi could be classified as a horn dog and could sniff out a female in heat. Human or werewolf. Sometimes I questioned the moon goddess about that silly trait and wondered where he got it from. Because it definitely was not from our family.

"Are you sure it was Gabi that put you into this?" I asked Eric.

"I swear on my life and to the moon goddess." Eric placed his hand across his chest. "You know how he gets when I'm upset. And trust me when I say that he has been like that since you dropped me off. And believe me when I say you don't want to be in my place and be at the receiving end of his tantrums. It sucks. It was either that or he got some satisfaction."

I sighed and shook my head, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Please tell me you at least used protection," I said.

Eric's eyes grew impossibly wide. "Of course I did! I'm seventeen, not stupid."

"Sometimes, you make me doubt the latter." I released a laugh of relief, and he rolled his eyes.

"Good thing you did," I added as I made my way into my room. "I'm not ready to be an aunt right now. It's bad enough that I have to take care of one overgrown baby."

"Hey!" I heard my brother yell behind me. I ignored him and laughed, entering the room and shutting the door.

When I made my way out minutes later with a bag containing my outfits, Eric was by the sofa watching football. His lady friend had obviously gone.

"I'll be back late today." I drew his attention from the screen. "You can order takeout."

I dropped some notes on the table. Between my brother and me, I was the more talented and better cook. Trusting Eric to cook meant burning the house down.

"Alright." His face lit up.

"See you later." I waved and made my way out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pushed the door open and stepped into the club. Loud music blared from the speakers, and there was a large crowd of people by the stripper's stage.

One of my colleagues in the job, Kylie, a blonde slim bombshell, was already at the pole. She twirled and spread her legs, giving her admirers something to cheer for. I ignored them and made my way to the counter, where Dan, my manager, stood by. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw me approach.

"You're late, Ellie," he said. "I was beginning to think you were not going to show up."

"Better late than never." I leaned by the counter and signalled to the bartender, who came over. I mouthed the word "bourbon," and she nodded in understanding, then went to retrieve my request.

"You would not believe the day that I had," I said to Dan.

"Was it bad?" Dan asked.

"You have no idea." My Bourbon arrived, and I gladly accepted it, giving the bartender some cash and an extra tip. Bourbon was to me what catnip was to cats. A lot of people would take a few shots and get wasted, but not me. Thanks to my werewolf gene, I was alcohol-intolerant. Additionally, with the horrible day I went through, I really needed the fix.

"Well, you seem to be better now." Dan smiled.

Although he was my manager, Dan and I had a cordial relationship. It could be the fact that I was his best stripper and cash cow, or maybe he just wanted to keep things professional. I was grateful. The first time I came to the bar to apply for the job, I was afraid that I would be turned away or, worse, get accepted, but with a catch.

Warm his bed.

 That was the case with most of these calibres of men. Surprisingly, he listened to my plight and gave me a shot. We had done some rehearsals backstage, and he was impressed with my moves. I was given the job that same day, and the rest is history. The money I earned wasn't enough to buy a house or car, but it was enough to cater for myself, Eric, and other necessary expenses.

"You're up," Dan said. "You don't know how relieved I am. Your admirers would have requested my head on a pike if I told them you weren't going to show up."

I gave a lighthearted chuckle as I made my way to the changing room.

"I wouldn't want to spare you that fate," I said as I walked in.

I emerged later on stage in a change of attire. My outfit was a black diamond-encrusted lacy bra that showed a significant portion of my cleavage and a matching thong. The men on stage hollered as soon as my music played, and I catwalked to the pole.

 Wasting no time, I got straight into action. I twisted and twirled like an enraged cobra. With my moves, one would think I had no bones in my body. The cheers became louder as the music switched to a different beat, and I spun around, brandishing my almost bare backside to the crowd. I wiggled it and did a perfect split. Whoops erupted, and I felt the rain of cash on my head. If it weren't for the natural horny nature of men, I would have gone naked on the stage.

 One thing I realised when I discovered my werewolf gene was that nudity was a natural course. When I was naked, I felt like one with my wolf. Some nights, when I needed a breather, I usually shifted to the woods at the border of the city and enjoyed the night breeze, which I called nature's air conditioner.

After half an hour on the ground, I mounted the pole and spun around it expertly. I held it and hung upside down, gripping the upper section with my calves and thighs. It was then that I caught the scent.

It was a familiar scent. The scent of a werewolf. Still upside down, my eyes narrowed in confusion, and I scanned the crowd. I saw the source of the scent, and my breath hitched.

A few metres away from the crowd sat the mysterious wolf from earlier that day. The guy who saved my job. He still sported those sunshades, and this time he had a blazer. His strong wolf scent and the scent of his cologne nearly made me lose balance. I could feel his gaze on me through the shades, and I flushed. Celine began to whine again, and that almost made me lose focus. I had to cut the performance short before something drastic happened.

I quickly landed on my feet and did a perfect split as the song ended. I gave the crowd a kiss and gathered the mountain of notes, stuffing some in my bra. Their cheers and applause rang behind me as I made my way backstage.

In the hallway, I leaned against the wall and placed my hand over my beating heart to steady my breathing. Why was the stranger here today of all days? And what was it about that gaze that almost made me lose my balance? Nobody had made me feel like that before. Celine tried to bark, but I quickly shut her down. She was acting strange today. Could the stranger have been an influence?

I felt a hand on my shoulder from behind, and I jolted. I spun around, and I saw Dan with a concerned look on his face. Was I so engrossed with the stranger from earlier that I didn't even detect his scent?

"Gosh, you scared me." I let out a nervous chuckle.

"That would be a first." One of his eyebrows lifted in amusement. "Nice performance. I think you broke a personal record today."

His eyes shifted to the bundle of notes in my hands and in my bra.

"I guess it's compensation for the messed-up day I had today," I said. "Well, it's been a long day. I really need to get home and prepare for another hopefully better day."

"Yeah, about that." Dan rubbed the back of his head. "Dan?" I gazed at him suspiciously. "What's going on?"

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Someone requested a private performance from you."

I was sure my eyes went impossibly wider than usual. I had done a lot of private performances in the past, and most times it ended up with the men being unable to control themselves and nearly leading to a bust-up. I couldn't take that risk today.

"What! Oh, come on. Not today. And here I was thinking this was going to be a perfect ending for me."

"I know. I know." Dan placed his hand on my shoulder, giving me a pleading gaze. "Please just see this guy first. You know this is my job, and I can't turn down private requests. He was willing to pay heavily."

I groaned aloud.

"Please do this for me," Daniel said. "If he tries anything you don't like or against the rules, you can always alert the guards, and they will throw his ass out."

I couldn't resist the pleading look on his face, and I exhaled in defeat.

"What booth?"

"The last one on the left."