57

This scene goes on for a few days, with Austin showing up at the bar almost every night and his packmates scattered around town. Fortunately, the ones I run into are polite to me, and there is no blatant hostility. They don’t approach me, but if there are any accidental run-ins, they seem to know who I am.

The warlocks are still in town, which is probably why during one of my shifts, the mayor shows up.

“The usual?”

Mr. Hamrington nods, looking thoughtful.

“Where’s the wife?”

“Busy shopping.” He waves his hand distractedly.

At closer inspection, Mr. Hamrington looks to be in his late fifties but with a very dapper appearance. He’s handsome in that salt-and-pepper way older men can be, wealth oozing from his clothes and accessories.

He takes a sip of the drink I place in front of him before twirling the straw. “Too many Others here all of a sudden, don’t you think?’

My hand stills on the cloth I’m using to wipe down the counter. My voice is light as I reply, “Saw a lot of warlocks recently.”

“Warlocks, two wolf shifter packs—"

“Two?” I give him a sharp look.

“Yeah, another has managed to purchase another lot in the forest.” It’s then that he looks at me, and I catch a glimpse of the ancient and dangerous vampire lurking within those eyes. “Wonder why so many of our kind is gathering in one place. In my experience, that’s never good news.”

Something in his tone makes me wary. “What are you suggesting?”

He lifts his glass as if inspecting it as he murmurs idly, “I would find it terribly inconvenient if a struggle for power breaks out. Be a pity to kill so many Others again.”

My blood curdles at his words. “I—"

“Do be a dear and look into it, Seline,” This time when he looks at me, a shiver crawls up my spine. If there is truly a being to be frightened of in this town, it is this vampire.

“I’ll keep looking into it,” I promise quietly.

Mr. Hamrington smiles and pats my hand before draining his drink and leaving.

I stare after him. I’ve not once forgotten the reason I was hired by him in the first place. When no one wanted a hybrid, the mayor had approached me. The only thing he asked in return was for me to be his eyes and ears.

A mole, to be exact.

Chapter 7

Seline

It takes me a few days to realize that Mr. Hamrington was right about a new wolf pack in town.

I don’t really like the look of them, to be honest. With their bulky appearances and aggressive personalities, the female servers try to stay away from them. I can’t keep going and serving them myself, either, because I have to bartend in the evening. Which is what brings us to this point.

“You’ll have to hire a male server,” Marie says, giving me a pleading look.

Gina nods resolutely, her arms crossed over her chest. “We can’t deal with them.”

“One of them grabbed my wrist and didn’t let go till you intervened!” Marie says, her hand circling her wrist anxiously. “They know I’m a fawn and one of them made a biting motion at me. I don’t want him to track me down and do something to me.”

I honestly think that’s stretching it a little. I doubt they would be that foolish, but I can’t deny I get troubling vibes from them.

I wonder if I should have a talk with the mayor. Mr. Hamrington isn’t going to allow his staff to feel threatened. He might want to deal with this privately. Send them a message.

“Look, I’ll see what I can do,” I tell them. “In the meantime, I’ll handle them. You girls don’t have to serve them.”

The look of relief on their faces makes me wonder what else has happened that they haven’t told me.

I watch them leave, and sink into the chair in the backroom. My knees feel weak. Sighing, I throw my head back and close my eyes. I can feel my wolf pacing back and forth, anxiously.

“Calm down, will you?” I mutter tiredly.

My insomnia has gotten worse over these past few days. What makes it worse is Austin’s constant presence. Just when I think my wolf will calm down, or is beginning to, I catch his scent and the whole process begins again.

I can feel my stomach rumble. It’s been two days since I ate. I keep throwing up.

Can’t sleep, can’t eat, working myself like a dog. I honestly don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep this up. My face is gaunt, my color paler than normal. I’m slower than usual as well, exhaustion evident in every movement.

It’s time to start cleaning up. Gina and Marie have already left, and I push myself to my feet.

I wish I had somebody to talk to, but while I can and do confide in Lacy, she is still human, unable to really understand the ramifications of getting rejected by your fated mate. She’s trying to help me get over it, and while I appreciate her gestures and attempts, I can’t explain to her that this hollow feeling inside me, this aching emptiness, goes beyond a broken heart.

I don’t love Austin. But my wolf does. My wolf needs Austin to feel that sense of completion.

The other thing is this sense of humiliation and self-disgust that I can’t shake off. I must be truly off-putting for Austin to have gone through the whole rejection process. I doubt it was easy for him as well, or maybe I’m just projecting, but for him to turn his back on the female who is supposed to be his second half must mean that he truly despises me and looks down on me.

I don’t meet his standards, so I’m not worthy.

I don’t realize that my eyes are wet till I feel the tear trickle down my cheek. I wish I could just erase Austin from my life altogether or he would just leave me alone. But I can’t stop him from coming to the bar, and I can’t quit this job. I never got to complete anything above high school, and the jobs for high schoolers are quite limited.

Splashing some water over my face, I go to the front to clean up. To my surprise, Sam the warlock, who has become quite a regular at the bar, is still lingering.

“Everything okay?”

He has a few sips left to his drink. Aside from him the whole bar is empty.

“Y-yeah.” I look over to see that Gina had already wiped the tables and chairs. Grateful for her oversight, I begin picking up the chairs and putting them on the tables.

I’m just so tired.

“Here.” Something that looks like a toffee is thrust in front of me.

I stare at the bright-colored packaging. “Uh—"

“It’ll make you feel better.” Sam winks at me.

There’s nothing flirtatious in his mannerisms towards me, just an open kindness. I know I should reject the sweet. Better safe than sorry. But at this point, I would gladly accept poison.