SAMANTHA:
She thought of the night before and her cheeks got red. Alester had tried to help her from seeing the pack's nakedness by dragging her to another room. But the look in his eyes. Samantha bit her lip and crossed her legs as she remembered. The want in his eyes was more erotic than a room full of naked men. At first, it scared her. It was like he wanted to eat her. But when she thought back, she realized she wasn't afraid of that. She was afraid because she had wanted to bite back. She had wanted to-
Her alarm rang, signaling that it was 5 am and time to actually get ready. Samantha jumped, pulling her out of her daze. She reluctantly uncrossed her legs and went to get dressed. She put her jeans on, not wanting to part with his sweater. But It wouldn't be right to keep wearing it. She took one last smell before putting on her own shirt and heading to the bathroom.
Dark circles dipped under her eyes as she stared into the mirror. She had unknowingly fallen asleep on the couch wondering if she had offended Alester? He practically ran away from her and sent his dad instead of coming back. Was taking the job that bad? She regretted the unlawful actions, but... Did that seriously scare him? But then also, he has a mate, Phiona. And she is lovely and kindhearted, and understandably jealous, though she tries to hide it.
'He could never be mine.' It seemed impossible.
'He doesn't want her.' Her brain reminded her.
'He doesn't want us either.'
'You don't know that.'
The uncertainty left her with a hopeful feeling she didn't like. She wrestled with herself until she fell asleep, head resting on the back of the couch.
Now, staring at herself in the mirror, she felt foolish for sniffing his sweater. She felt foolish for allowing herself to feel those things. For wanting those things. She had never wanted them before. Alester is a stranger. Still, Samantha knew within herself, if she got to know him, she would fall for him, hard.
It might be better not to know him.
Her alarm rang again, pulling her out of her thoughts and letting her know her 10-minute snooze had passed. Getting ready in the morning was a struggle with time if she didn't set the alarm.
Samantha felt grateful that she had taken her makeup bag with her to the job. She didn't wear makeup often, but she knew the event was a formal one, so she packed it to put on before the shift. And now she could use it to cover her lack of sleep.
Samantha was told to go to the banquet hall in the morning. It was a pleasant surprise to see it filled with tables and food. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she smelt the coffee and eggs in the air.
She smiled, relieved that wolves still drank coffee.
"I'm so glad you made it!" A high-pitched voice rang out, capturing her back in a side hug. Phiona was just as touchy-feely as Rachel, but she wasn't sure she was comfortable enough with Phiona for such an intimate exchange. Still, it seemed biased to not try to get used to it.
"Glad I could make it too."
Samantha chuckled internally at the absurdity of Phiona's statement. But she realized it might be one of those small talk sentences that rich people used to be pleasant. She felt a little bad about her statement, but it didn't seem to phase Phiona.
"The food here is so good. I'm glad you got so much. You'll need to try it all!"
Samantha looked down at her heaping plate of food. The pile that had seemed just right a moment ago suddenly looked like too much. Maybe she should have tried smaller portions.
"I'm not kidding. It'll be the best food you've ever tasted." Phiona smiled at Samantha and Samantha couldn't read her. Her face read sincerity, but her words felt like she was calling her out for being poor.
"I'm sure it will be." Samantha chose her words carefully.
"Come. Let's get a seat before there isn't one."
Phiona practically dragged Samantha to a table a few feet down, close to the door that she came in from. At least leaving would be easy. Phiona sat next to her.
"Aren't you getting something to eat?"
She had raved about how great the food was, but she came to the table with empty hands.
"Oh. I'll go get a smoothy in a bit. First, I wanted to make sure you had an ok night. Did you sleep well?"
Samantha was reluctant to say anything. Where was this girl coming from? Every word out of her mouth sounded like it had an ulterior meaning to it. Did she know she wasn't able to sleep and wanted to point it out? Was she genuinely interested in her sleep schedule? Or was it another one of those small talk phrases? She could not tell, and Samantha was good at reading people.
"It was alright."
"I'm glad."
Phiona smiled and stood up, putting her hand on Samantha's shoulder.
"I have to do something real quick. I'll be right back."
Samantha watched, stunned, as Phiona sashayed away. She felt whiplashed.
Coming back to herself, Samantha took a long sip of coffee and decided not to let Phiona's probably unintended words get to her. She was going to enjoy the food to the fullest.
She shoveled a spoon of eggs into her mouth and had to pause. Whether or not Phiona was trying to give backhanded statements, she was not wrong about the food. It was the most delicious thing she had ever had.
'What did they make these out of? Clouds from the unicorn realm?'
Samantha chewed in awe. She loved eggs, but she had never tasted eggs like those. They were soft and savory, with a hint of sweetness that seemed to come naturally from the eggs. It was nothing like the dry crumbly eggs she made at home, nor the soggy eggs found in restaurants. Samantha savored every bite of her food until she smelt something even better waft across her. Alester had entered the room. She looked up from her food and watched as he walked past her, straight to the food.
She couldn't even feel hurt. The food was that good. She chuckled to herself. Alester's dad walked up behind him and they seemed to have a brief conversation, though Alester seemed more interested in the food.
Samantha had forgotten to look away. She couldn't even remember to take her eyes off of him. It was like nothing else mattered except him.
Alester turned around and scanned the room. His eyes landed on hers. A wave of euphoria washed over Samantha and she smiled with abandon and waved him over. She wanted nothing more than to be near him, to smell him again. She wanted his company and companionship and-.
Alester gave a polite smile and turned away. Samantha blinked, put her hand down, and watched as he sat next to his father.
Of course, he wanted to sit with his family. She tried to put her attention back to eating, but the food wasn't nearly as appetizing.