It Started With a Scent

One Little Alpha

Rain hitting the glass in torrents, wind howling miserably in the dimming sky, the bitter breeze that washed over her exposed forearms, chilling down to the bone. These were all things that Rachael was trying desperately to ignore.

She pretended that the setting sun was casting warm hues through the diner window, that flowers were in full bloom and-

"Rachael. Table Nine."

She was shaken out of her stupor by a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, Tina." She apologised for her lack of concentration and stood up from where she was sat.

Her best friend smiled at her and rubbed a playful hand through her mass of black hair. "Don't worry about it," she smiled, showing off her braces, "at least Denny's not here to tell you off," she said referring to their manager. 

"You're right about that." Rachael said, stretching. She did not want to be on the wrong side of Denny. He was a grumpy old man at the best of times so if he saw her staring into space one more time, when she should be working, she didn't know what he would do. "Okay, let me check on table four."

"Nine."

"Nine... sorry."

"Hey," Tina stopped her from moving, raising a perfectly arched, blonde eyebrow. "Are you feeling okay? You've been more... weird than usual."

Rachael gave a short laugh, wrapping an arm around Tina's shoulders and pulling her into a quick side hug. "You mean I hate this job more than usual," she joked. "Honestly, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Tina made a sound between a laugh and a scoff but dropped the matter, allowing Rachael to hurry through the double doors and towards table nine.

As soon as the table came into view, she knew why Tina had called her out.

She smoothed down her blue and white waitress uniform and went to help Tina's mate who was struggling to catch their two year old son as the pup ran around the table legs in wolf form. The only other people in the diner were two teenage girls, who looked over from the far corner and giggled at the display, and a middle aged couple who decided that they weren't going to pay any attention to the ruckus. 

Graham, Tina's mate, turned to look at Rachael as she approached, dragging a relieved hand across his bald head. She was momentarily distracted by the way it gleamed under the artificial light before turning her gaze away and towards the pup.

"Liam," she cooed, watching as the pup's ears cocked in her direction although his legs kept moving a thousand miles an hour.

"Thanks Rach," Graham said, collapsing in a booth. "He saw his mum and wanted to play, when she refused, he shifted."

Rachael laughed even though she could smell the poignant annoyance all over the man. It wasn't the first time it had happened. Little Liam didn't understand why Tina couldn't play and work at the same time and since he'd learned how to control a shift, the little alpha loved to try and incite his mother to play by transforming at a moments notice.

"Hey Liam!" She called again, "over here." She clapped her hands and inwardly celebrated when the pup turned to look at her, ceasing with the running and yapping. Crouching down unto her knees, she spread her arms out wide as invitation for the pup to come into her embrace but to her surprise he bore his teeth and growled, lowering his face to the ground and sticking his bottom up behind him.

She jerked back at the sound, automatically lowering her head before snapping out of it and looking up to Graham who recoiled in shock.

"Liam Jones." He reprimanded, taking his son's stagnant position as an opportunity to scoop the pup up into his arms. Liam struggled in his father's grip, eyes trained on Rachel as he continued to growl.