by E A Price
Chapter One
23rd September
Melody reread the sign in Pizza Moon’s window. Help wanted please apply within. She debated going in.
Emerald Cole the leader of the witches Circle had died recently. Well actually she had been killed after she had tried to murder her niece Liv who happened to be the mate of the local wolf pack’s Beta. It had been decided that the Circle would disband.
Nobody really had the heart to keep it going after discovering the things that Emerald had been up to. So now the witches were allowing the lease on the boarding house to run out and they were each looking for their own places to live. They had a few months left, so there was no hurry, but Melody was keen to get a job and get some ready money.
On the one hand she had plenty of waitressing experience from the past three years. But she couldn’t actually supply any reference from any of those jobs. They all knew her as Melanie Ramirez.
She wasn’t really dressed for an interview. She had a tight pair of jeans on, a pair of knee high flat boots and a stripy jersey shirt that said ‘witchiepoo’ on it.
She grunted. Either they were going to give her a job or they weren’t. What she was wearing wouldn’t make that much of a difference, after all it was just a pizza parlour.
She pushed the door open and braced herself. It was a pack owned business after all. She knew witches weren’t particularly loved by the pack, but since Liv had mated with the Beta Alec things seemed to have thawed. Plus as bad as it sounds Emerald dying had improved things a great deal too. Emerald hated the pack.
It was pretty busy in there. She noticed Kayleigh and Dena, fellow witches from the boarding house and waved.
She snagged a harassed looking waitress, a pretty wolf who looked to be about 16. “Hey, I’m Melody. I wanted to talk to someone about the help wanted sign.”
“Oh thank god!” Said the young wolf. She deposited the order she was carrying on a nearby table ignoring the young wolves leers. “Come with me.” She ordered.
Melody followed her to a back office. “I’m Gwen, here put this on.” She threw a Pizza Moon t-shirt and an apron to her.
Melody blinked at her a few times before shrugging and doing as she asked. “Our regular waitress flaked out on us and my sister Britt is at band practice, you are a life saver. Have you done any waitressing before?”
“Yes I...”
“Great, I’ll get you a pad and show you which tables are yours.” Gwen stormed out of the room gesturing Melody to follow. “Come on I’ll introduce you to mom, she’s one of the chefs. Usually my idiot brother’s here too but he took off, said he had something he had to do.” She huffed and muttered.
Okay, so far so good.
*
Melody handed another order to Ilse Lucas who smiled warmly.
Melody had discovered through Gwen’s irritated tirades that Ilse, her mother, ran Pizza Moon with her family. Ilse was the manager and second chef and sometime waitress, whilst her two youngest daughters, Gwen and Britt twin 16 year old girls, took waitressing shifts when they could. Her eldest son Hans was the main chef at the parlour but had not made it in that day.
They also hired a full time waitress, but she had apparently quit unexpectedly yesterday.
Ilse was human but she had mated with a wolf and all her five children were wolves. Gwen had another older sister called Noa currently away at University and another older brother called Acksel who was the Chief Enforcer for the pack.
Gwen was pretty chatty.
Ilse had been a little taken aback when Gwen had proclaimed that Melody was working there but noting her daughter’s obvious stress she had not said anything. She was glad she hadn’t. Melody worked quickly and diligently. She was a vast improvement on all the previous waitresses they had hired.
After the lunchtime rush there was a slight lull and Ilse was glad to actually get a chance to talk to Melody about the job. They sat down in a booth together and chatted while Gwen dealt with the stragglers. Ilse explained that the working hours would be 11am to 11pm with the parlour shutting between 2pm and 5pm. She would get two half hour breaks in between. She would get one night off and one day off per week.
Ilse asked her for references but Melody shook her head and said she couldn’t provide any. Ilse debated what to do. On one hand Melody was obviously very good and had no problem mucking in and helping out. On the other Melody might have been fired from her previous job for god knows what, she could have been stealing from the tills or she might have assaulted a customer. How could she know? Did she really want to risk it?
The door to the restaurant pushed open and in flew her other 16 year old daughter Britt followed by her second son Acksel.
Britt panted heavily. “I’m here, I had to run all the way but I’m here now.” Gwen had rung her ranting about how busy they were and that she needed her to come and help right away. Gwen tended to be a bit dramatic.
Gwen chuckled. “It’s fine, Melody was here. She helped out.” Gwen gestured to Melody. “Melody that’s Britt, obviously she’s my sister and that’s my brother Acksel.”
Melody looked between the two girls, they were carbon copies. No way would she be able to tell them apart. What she wouldn’t give for a wolf’s sense of smell. “Hi it’s nice to meet you.”
She looked Acksel up and down. Damn he was handsome. From his rusty coloured hair and chiselled face right down past his tight muscled torso, he was definitely a fine specimen. Not as tall or beefy as the Alpha or Beta of the pack, but then she didn’t really like that in a man. Guys who looked like pro wrestlers really didn’t do anything for her, men built more like Bruce Lee however... that she could get on board with.
Britt muttered a hello whilst staring at Gwen with ill concealed annoyance.
Acksel gave her an appraising look and a twinkling smile. “You too Melody, hey mom.” He kissed his mother on her head. “So you the new waitress?”
Melody cocked her head at Ilse. “Well...”
The door was suddenly pushed open and in stomped a man bearing a slight resemblance to Acksel, but he was a couple of years older and a hell of a lot more moody looking.
Melody felt her mouth go dry. The moody looking man sure was attractive. Wait where had that come from? She had barely even looked at a guy since she had first met Him, and now she was practically drooling.
This must be the other brother, Hans. He was the same height as Acksel, she guessed about six foot two, but his muscles seemed tighter, more deadly. He looked like he was coiled, ready to explode. His hair was a reddish blonde colour, like his sisters. No one would think to call his handsome, but there was certainly something appealing about his hawk like features. And his eyes were startling green.
He had a long thin silver scar down the right hand side of his face, and he had a multitude of tattoos extending up his right arm that Melody imagined reached over to his chest. Perhaps she should ask him to take off his shirt to see. No, no, no get a grip!
She’d thought that Acksel was handsome, but Hans was sexy.
She could feel her sex stirring. Not a reaction she’d actually ever had to just the physical presence of a man. She crossed her legs quickly and tried not to blush.
“Where have you been?” Asked Gwen crossly.
Hans growled at her. Properly growled, baring his fangs. Melody’s eyes widened in surprise. She’d met numerous pack members but none had been quite so openly aggressive.
“I was busy.” He said rougly.
His guttural voice made her sex twitch even more. He scowled at his family members.
Ilse rolled her eyes. “Hans this is Melody, she’s applied for the waitress job.” She said hesitantly.
Melody got up and stood before him. Hans narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air. He gave her a murderous look.
“Witch!” He spat out.
Wow, okay so he was sexy but clearly he had a repellent personality. “Wolf!” She retorted before she could stop herself.
Hans’ no
strils flared. “Shouldn’t you be at home washing your cauldron?”
Melody pursed her lips. Asshole. “Shouldn’t you be taking a flea bath?” She surprised herself, she always stood up for herself but she had never been quite so mean before.
“What?!” Roared Hans.
The last few remaining customers scurried out of the shop. Hans’ mood swings were legendary.
“I thought you guys had good hearing...” She taunted. The twins stifled their laughs at their brother’s obvious ire.
His face started to turn a nasty shade of red. Acksel place a hand on his shoulder. “Hans come on man...”
Hans violently shrugged him off. He looked at his mother. “Are you really hiring this crone to work here?”
Ilse looked between Melody and Hans, pleasantly surprised by how much gumption Melody had. Her last few waitresses had all quit because of her temperamental son. “Yes, yes I am.”
Chapter Two
26th September
Hans stared at the new waitress Melody. He fucking hated witches. Deceitful evil crones the lot of them. His wolf snarled at him. He ignored his damn wolf.
It was her third shift, he had watched her carefully for every single one of them and try as he might he couldn’t find fault with her. She was quick and methodical, and unlike his sisters she didn’t slack off or get orders wrong. She was the best waitress they ever had and that really pissed him off.
She was friendly to all the customers. A little too friendly in his opinion. Men were naturally taken with her wide smile and dark smoky eyes. They simpered when she came to take their order and practically drooled after her, watching her swinging her hips as she moved from table to table.
He watched as she laughed and joked with a couple of young humans who worked at the garage. They were eyeing her lasciviously. Fuckers, he ought to march over and punch them. Wait, no. Why the hell did he care whether they were looking at her or not?
He had to admit the moment he first saw her he did find himself attracted to her. Very attracted to her, more than any woman he’d ever met. But so what? She was an attractive woman, but that didn’t change the fact that she was a witch and therefore the enemy. His wolf was desperate to get his paws on her but he was resistant.
Just because she had beautiful dark skin, deep sexy eyes and a gorgeous ass didn’t mean a thing. Not to mention that divine smell of cherry blossoms. No way that was perfume, that was all her. It warmed and aroused him. But nope, no way would he touch her. Not that she’d want him to.
When he first saw her he could scent her arousal. Undoubtedly it was for his younger brother Acksel. Idiot women flocked to Acksel, he was good looking and easy going. A couple of words and they practically melted for him.
Hans on the other hand... not so much. When he needed sexual release he picked up a wolf groupie in Darlington or Alexandria. There was any amount of women who just wanted to have sex with a wolf, any wolf, because of the power they exuded. He didn’t even have to be nice to them, the meaner he was the more turned on they were.
Hans steered clear of the local women, or rather they all steered clear of him. They knew him too well.
Acksel could have any woman he wanted so he should just steer clear of Melody. Because of the restaurant of course. If things didn’t work out between them it would be awkward for her to work at the restaurant. And as much as he hated a witch working there they did actually grudgingly need her. Not for any other reason of course. He didn’t want his brother staying away from her because he wanted her. Nope, no way.
She leant over to pick up a menu that had fallen to the ground. He got an amazing view of her heart shaped rear. Fuck it was perfect. He groaned as his arousal grew even more and his beast whimpered at him. He was already semi-hard from working so close to her but now it was becoming unbearable. The fact that he could scent her own lingering arousal didn’t help.
He furtively used the palm of his hand to push his erection into a more comfortable position.
He heard a delicate cough behind him. He turned to find her staring at him smirking. Fuck did she know what he was doing? She pushed an order slip at him. “Order for Alec’s table.” His Beta, local Sheriff, and one of the few wolves not afraid of him.
He grunted and took it from her, wolf whining at her nearness.
“You’re welcome.” She said sarcastically.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You really are as sweet as sugar aren’t you?” He said grumpily.
She snorted and flounced away from him, he watched every undulation of her rear. Shaking his head he gave himself a mental slap. He had to snap out of it.
He got to work on the order. He felt the ripple of power as his Alpha Adam entered the restaurant. Adam sat at Alec’s table. Adam motioned at Hans, he wanted his usual. Hans nodded and added a large steak pizza to the order.
Melody came back to use the coffee machine. He was taking a pizza out of the oven and swung round, the burning hot baking sheet missing her by an inch. She yelped and he dropped the pizza.
With a sour expression he began retrieving the pepperoni pizza from the floor.
Melody’s cheeks reddened. “You idiot you almost burned me!”
He stood up and looked at her. Veins pulsed in his neck as he growled at her. “The hell I did! You don’t like the way I work why don’t you hop on your broomstick and get the hell out?!”
Melody gave him a little growl of her own. “Screw you fleabag! You’re not getting rid of me so easily!”
Hans roared at her. “Stupid crone!”
“Oh go hump a tree!”
Hans threw the destroyed pizza at her but she ducked. Turning round she picked up the first thing she could find, which was a large soda. She threw it towards him and he stepped out of the way.
The drink landed all over a woman she didn’t recognise who had ordered takeaway. The woman yelped in surprise and loud voices broke out all over the restaurant. They were silenced by an enormous roar that shook the windows. It was the Alpha.
Hans stood looking at her seething with rage. God how he wanted to grab her and force her to submit to him, he wanted to kiss her and take her to bed and show her he was in charge. His beast was all for that. He was embarrassed by his reaction and actually felt himself blush slightly.
Melody shook with discomfort. Not because of the argument but because of how aroused it had made her. She felt her panties moisten and was annoyed at herself. She wanted to leap over to him and climb him like a tree. She grabbed the counter to stop herself from doing something so stupid.
Everyone in the restaurant froze. Adam spoke quickly to his sister Mac who nodded and came over to the soda drenched woman and escorted her to the back. Adam strode over to Hans whilst Alec and his mate, and Melody’s friend and fellow witch Liv, went over to Melody. Gabe, another wolf and Sheriff’s Deputy, tried to encourage the other diners to get back to their meals.
Ilse came out of the back office and gave her son a disapproving glance before scooting round to the kitchen and started to pick up the orders. Alec gently rebuked Melody for her actions whilst Adam harangued Hans over his.
Mac came out of the back with the freshly cleaned woman wearing a Pizza Moon t-shirt. Melody went over to her.
“I’m so sorry, honestly I was trying to get him.” She whispered and motioned her head in Hans direction.
“I gathered that.” Said the woman dryly. She shook her head, “no harm done.”
Melody let out a breath of relief. “Thank you, I’m Melody James by the way.” Not the best introduction.
The woman smiled. “Rosalee Bennett.”
Melody raised her eyebrows. “Iris’ granddaughter?”
Rosalee looked at her in surprise. “Yes, you knew her?”
“A little, I’m kind of new here but we were part of the same Circle.” Iris had been murdered by Emerald Cole...
Mac came over and placed a takeaway pizza box in Rosalee’s hands, she winked at Rosalee and smirked at Melody,
Rosalee gave them a wave as she headed out the door.
Adam had become increasingly loud and irate as Hans looked more and more pissed off. Hans, instead of listening to his Alpha, was trying to catch glimpses of Melody. She caught him looking and glowered at him. Adam was about ready to punch Hans when he stopped talking mid-sentence.
The Alpha sniffed the air and looked at the door Rosalee had left through. He bolted after her, with Alec and Mac shouting after him.
Hans snorted and gave one last growl in Melody’s direction before he went back to the kitchen. Melody shrugged and picked up her order pad. Time to get back to work.
The pack mates watched them wonderingly as they acted like nothing had happened. Feeling like it was resolved they sat back down and waited for their order, eventually Adam came back into the restaurant and joined them. He was a little subdued.
Hans spent the rest of his shift flicking glances in Melody’s direction, superficially to make sure she wasn’t gearing up to throw anything else at him. His permanent state of arousal and prowling wolf said otherwise.
Melody avoided eye contact for the rest of the evening, fearing she might spontaneously combust if she got any hotter.
At the end of the night they mumbled their goodbyes and rushed back to their respective homes. Each seeking out their showers. After the events of the day a little hot water coupled with a little manual stimulation were just what they needed.
*
28th September
Melody half listened to Kayleigh’s excited chatter. Kayleigh was moving in with her boyfriend of four months, Greg a mechanic at the local garage. Just as soon as they found a decent apartment. Greg and Dena were sat with them having a drink in the local pack run bar called Bar Luna.
Kayleigh was naturally bubbly and could talk for hours, Dena on the other hand was pretty sullen and chose to ignore Kayleigh. Greg had his arm around Kayleigh but was surreptitiously checking out other women in the bar. Melody wanted to punch him.
