Speak To Your Manager

I smelt them long before I saw them. Three wolves and a bunny.

I rolled my eyes as I pushed through the employee's door at the diner where I had been working at for the past few years. My nose wrinkled, really not liking the scent of the predators. My inner animal wanted to run and hide, but I wasn't going to let the newest 'it' couple (group? harem?) ruin my day.

It wasn't like I was trying to be sarcastic or anything by calling the four of them an 'it' couple; I was just tired of it. Predator and prey matings were all the rage right now, and bunnies had taken over the prey community as the latest and greatest.

I was getting tired of seeing new books pop up in my library about the poor, abused bunny never finding a home until the big bad wolf realizes that she is his mate and promises to protect her from anyone and everything that ever hurts her.

Do you know the one prey species that doesn't need protection?

Bunnies.

I know, I know, I sounded bitter and jaded, but I was telling you the truth. Bunnies are vicious creatures; don't let their big eyes and fluffy tails fool you. They could take you out in a heartbeat if you pissed them off. And there was never just one of them.

The bell on the front door alerted me to more customers coming in, and I forced a smile on my face. A fucking fluffle of female bunnies came bouncing into the diner, giggling. Their wolf males sauntered in after them, searching for any form of a threat.

As if.

If wolves used to be the famous shifter of choice for the mundane humans, that title had now landed squarely on the bunnies… and they were living it up.

In the space of maybe five minutes, the diner had gone from empty to completely full, and I was the only one working right now.

Fuck my life.

"Hi!" I said cheerfully, walking up to the group that was here first. I took a notepad out of my waitressing apron and clicked my pen. "What can I get you?"

The head of the pack turns to look at me, his nose sniffing the air discretely as if to try and pinpoint my scent. I tried to hold back my smirk, choosing to keep my professional smile in place. Trust me, boyo, even if you could smell anything other than the fryer grease, coffee, and whatever other food smells linger around me, there was no way you could catch the scent of my species.

I made damn sure of that.

I watched his upper lip curl up in disdain as he classified me as nothing more than human. Snapping out the order for the table, I nodded my head as I wrote everything down. Did I need to? Nope. But it gave my hands something to do instead of flipping him off.

I didn't bother to ask the bunny what she wanted; she was buried so far in the embrace of one of the other guys that I didn't think she was going to come up for air any time soon. Bunnies were really good at hiding, after all.

Too bad she had nothing on me.

After getting everything written down and confirming the order, I walked over to the ancient computer system and plugged in their orders. I would have to do something about upgrading this thing without anyone noticing it. It was really getting on my last nerve.

Once that was sent off to the kitchen, I went to the next table and repeated the same spiel with the same smile until all seven tables were taken care of.

Within minutes of giving them their drinks, their orders were up, and I went to the passthrough to collect their plates.

-----

"This isn't what I ordered," said the bunny, popping her head up from her mate as I put the plate of pancakes and syrup down in front of her.

"No, it's not," I nodded in agreement. Not once has my smile slipped since they barged into my work, and nothing that she said now would make it happen either. "It is what your boyfriend ordered for you."

In other words, if you don't like it, tough shit. Don't blame it on me when it is your alpha's fault.

"It's nothing but carbs; I won't eat it," she continued as if I hadn't said anything. Ah, nothing more pretentious than a bunny surrounded by predators.

"I understand," I answered with a nod. I spun around as the bell telling me that another order was up in the window echoed through the restaurant.

I guessed that my conversation with the first table was enough to cause the place to become silent.

Ignoring it all, I grabbed the food and went to table two to deliver it.

"This isn't what I ordered," said a second bunny in the exact same position as the first. I mean, really. I thought that wolves had more brains than that, but apparently not. Apparently, they liked carbon copies of things.

"I understand," repeating the exact same sentence as I did to the other girl. "If you have a problem with it, I suggest that you either speak up when someone is ordering for you or you pick a boyfriend who knows you better."

The best part about all of this was that they didn't realize that I was a shifter, too. I looked human, was covered in human smells, and worked in a human establishment. That meant that they needed to keep their tempers in check so they wouldn't reveal who and what they were to the outside world.

I might be prey… but that didn't mean that I didn't enjoy pressing buttons when I knew it was safe to do so.

I watched her sputter as I went to table four beside them. "Before I bring your order out, would you like to change it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow to the female sitting in the worn-out red leather booth.

She didn't say a word; she simply glared at me through eyes that would have cheerfully ripped me limb from limb if she didn't have an image to maintain.

"I would like to speak to your manager," growled a voice from one of the other tables.