Ch1

Claire's Point of View:

"Big money rolling in," I heard Margo say as she passed me while going down the back hall and toward the liquor closet. She paused to turn around and face me while puckering her lips into a sweet kiss to blow my way. She was my best friend and this was something we often did light-heartedly toward each other. It was playful banter.

Margo Roseberg had that early 2000s Avril Lavigne look about her. She was a highlighted natural blonde with scary curved eyebrows. She looked like a lioness. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with her neck exposing a light bruise from an old hickey. She had on a signature lipstick which was the color of a dark apple. Her eyes were hiding behind thick eyeliner. They were a natural baby blue color. Her skin was toned due to sun bathing in a tanning salon.

Today's outfit for her was a tight logo shirt hugging her chest and showing off her curves. It was the logo for the bar. Along with a pair of skin tight jeggings that were hanging low and exposing her expensive pair of thongs. She even let the shirt ride up to expose them more whenever she bent over up front. The outfit was topped off with her only pair of work shoes she's had since day one. Margo was fucking the boss, Nich.

"Nich wants to see us in his office. So, tell him I'll be there in a minute." Margo would swing back around to walk away from me. My mind flashed to the thought of what Nicholai Serphent could possibly have to say this time. It didn't matter what he had to say, I was going to be off early, it even said so on the schedule. I scoffed quietly as I made my way into his office. I should have known he would try and beg me to stay overtime. He thought just because I was friends with Margo that he could abuse his power and rearrange my schedule whenever he pleased. I was already over it and almost ready to hand over my two-weeks. This is why I told Margo NOT to fuck the boss when I got her this gig.

I knocked on the door before stepping into the office. My eyes landed on him almost immediately. Nich was working on next week's schedule while simultaneously talking on the work phone. I knew to keep quiet and waved at him as our eyes met.

Nicholai was actually sexually appealing and very flirtatious. He owned the bar, Sephent's Dream. It was literally his family name thanks to his father handing him down this dream bar. He went to law and business school, he was in his mid-thirties. He was one hell of a guy! As well as a strong werewolf that was a distant college friend of the Beta, Devan Norwood. Nich was stylish with a business casual appeal to him.

Nich had that European tan and dark hair that almost seemed black in some lighting. His eyes were just as muggy as a coffee brown. He was the definition of fit, with muscles bigger than my hand width of two put together. It came from being a werewolf, all of us had to stay fit for the transformation. His hair was always well groomed since he went to a professional barber shop. They even clipped his facial hair three times a week. I hardly ever witnessed him make a mess. Margo hit the Jack-pot, winning him into bed. Nich made a lot of money from the bar's night profits.

"No, accommodations will be made immediately. I promise my finest girls will be there to serve you and we'll keep a private room reserved for you. Of course! Not a problem at all!"

I growled quietly as I heard him kissing ass on the phone. I wanted to take and smash it from the night I was already having. I had some guy slap me on my ass earlier! I was not serving another private room. Not when I already had one foot out the door.

"I'm going to pee," I heard Margo say as she had somehow come in unnoticed. "B.R.B." She was off down the hall again. I followed her out the door and trailed behind her.

"I'm getting off soon and he's scheduling another private room right now," I told her in annoyance. There wasn't supposed to be anymore tonight. That last batch was for me. "Margo, what the hell is wrong with him?" I asked as I got into the employee bathroom with her and shut us in together. It didn't matter, it was a one toilet situation. I turned around to give her some privacy. "I got things to do tonight, I can't take on another room."

"He said he had a lot of money. Just take it," Margo told me and I could hear her smacking her lips as she applied lipstick in the mirror. That's when I realized she didn't actually come in here to pee. "Besides~ I know you'll want this one."

"What do you know?"

"I follow Beta Devan online and he's gone LIVE talking about heading to our bar tonight with Alpha Venkalth."

"Alpha Venkalth? You mean Alpha Draegan Venkalth? ALPHA Draegan is coming here?" I asked as I felt my heart rate increasing. I was overwhelmed with the idea that someone that wealthy was coming here. I know for fact, he was this town's most famous bachelor. That means he would be an easy target tonight. I twiddled my thumbs across the front pockets of my blue jeans.

Alpha Venkalth was stacked with money. He was born into one of the most powerful werewolf families in the city. He owned the pack Fantomhide and the whole city within the territory, which was about the same size as Chicago. Not to mention the amount of territory he had surrounding the city of Fantomhide which was a massive farmland and national forest. It was almost impossible to approach Alpha Venkalth due to his squad constantly surrounding him for business leisure. I didn't even know he had time to come to a place like this. I didn't even think he had time to sleep.

My mind began wrapping around the idea of trapping him and forcing my way with him. Honestly, it would be easy since they were all getting drunk. Drinking was anyone's vulnerable time. I was like any female wolf, I suppose. I wanted that Alpha to myself. I glanced over my shoulder to stare at Margo through the mirror. Sure, she could be competitive in these situations unless it didn't benefit going after him. And, it wouldn't tonight. I got this feeling she didn't want this opportunity and was dangling it in my face for a reason. She wanted to swap shifts. I didn't necessarily want an Alpha for a mate- just his money was all I was after. Margo would usually give him a run for everything. I considered him lucky to be my victim.

I wonder how much hush-money he would pay me if I had my way with him?

"When's he coming?"

"I don't know, sometime tonight. You know that's probably something Nich was finding out right now," she said as she pointed her lip stick at me in the mirror. "So, do you want to stay and help out?"

"Obviously," I told her as I turned around quickly. "Do you still have that ecstasy?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah? It's in my purse- why?"

"I want to make a special cocktail tonight for Alpha Draegan."

I could trust Margo with this information. She was my best friend. Her smile grew wide as she nodded in agreement. She was all about swindling. She walked up to me and pushed me up against the door as she leaned in towards my face.

"I'll give you it but if you succeed I have to know all about it," she told me eagerly. "But if you lose you will lose to me because I'll also be attempting to jump on that rod."

"You're going to get fired," I teased her as I rubbed it in her face about fucking our boss. She can't flirt with the customers and the boss simultaneously. Besides, I already suspect she was going somewhere else tonight where the boss couldn't be. Here she had too much to lose. She pouted as I made my point clear to her. She backed away from me and sighed.

"You're right," she said in absolute sorrow for her BIG loss. "I might as well go home early~" She gave a huge smile. There it was, my suspicion was correct.

I dropped my smile when I noticed I was losing to her. I was now picking up her double just to have a chance at winning the lottery. I suppose that worked out in the end. I get a chance to win big tonight. Margo would go someplace else and all eyes would be for me. It was hard to make tips with her around, she was such a distraction.

I think it was her thong that won the customers. I didn't like comparing my image with her. We were both hot natured after all. I just dressed with respect for my body.

"Fine, you win. I'll take your shift but you're confirming it with Nich. I don't want to go back there. He might talk me into coming in for a shift tomorrow as well and you know my days off are important to me."

Plus, Nich would drive her crazy asking where she'd be going without him around. It was too fun to pass up. It will have him busy all night wondering to himself what she was up to. He won't pay any attention to my schemes.

"Ok," she said as she gestured for me to move and we went back out together. "I'll tell Nich I'm going home and you'll stay. Call me in the morning, I want to hear all about it."

Of course, I would.

I spent the remainder of my time cleaning behind the bar up front in the regular longue area until it was turn-over where Margo was getting ready to leave. We both have been here since Lunchtime.

Nich had confirmed with me to make sure, just in case, that I was good at staying to wait on the last private party coming in. I mean, he tried to be a good manager and it was hard to do when Margo was sucking every last brain cell out of him.

It was closing in on the time 9:30pm. The party would be at 10. The shift would be over by midnight, I hoped, where I would be relieved by another bartender.

All I would do of course was privately see the group coming in and I was good to go when they were off. The bar would continue to stay open through morning for the night life that wandered in for a classic cocktail to cure an itching hangover. Private rooms are separate compared to bartending in the lounge. Of course I confirmed it was fine flipping Margo and me last minute. Nich promised to make up for it next week. The party was coming in an hour and Nich allowed me a thirty minute smoke break around the time Riley was scheduled to come in and relieve Margo. Riley was our overnight bartender that came in around 9:30 and stayed until 3 or 4 in the morning or until the crowd stopped rolling in.

The bar was closed by 5am and opened again at 1pm to start serving the impatient alcoholics. Nich had an assistant manager who switched out with him halfway through the week so he could have his freedom from responsibility. It was Rowen, his cousin. Another business major that was in his last year of college. Rowen flirted a lot with Riley.

I liked Riley, she had an innocence about her that made life better at the bar. Riley got into this business only for the money, she needed a part time job to cover some living expenses after her parents cut her off. Riley came from the same school as Nich and they were even classmates. She flunked and got kicked out of her final year and nobody understands why her grades dropped suspiciously fast. Margo got all that information from Nich one night while she was banging his brains out over his kitchen floor.

My feet were beginning to ache and Riley was going on ten minutes late. But, if she was late she usually had an honest reason. So it concerned me whenever she was running behind schedule.

Margo gestured for me to follow her and off we went into the back again. We went into the locker area where she slipped me ecstasy without the cameras seeing. I put it up safely in my inside pocket of my jacket and semi hugged her goodbye. Yeah, I was still kind of pissed about staying behind, last minutes were bullshit. I was biting my tongue to not express my feelings toward her. I just had to imagine it would get better.

"Where is that little twit?" Margo asked as she shut the locker with annoyance. She didn't like her as much as I did. "She better be coming in. I have to go soon or my whole night will be ruined."

"Don't worry. She always comes," I promised her as I locked my hand on her shoulder to calm her down. Riley was after all the closer. It was her responsibility to come in. So she would. Her fiddle bones wouldn't dare keep her from coming here, she'd hate the confrontation of calling out. Right on time, Riley was coming through the door frantically and shaking off an umbrella. It must have been pouring as the sound of the rain roared until she slammed the door behind her.

"Thank goodness, I thought you were broke down somewhere," I shamed her as I saw Margo rolling her eyes at me for being too nice to her.

"Sorry! My damn cat slipped out the door on me again and I had to chase her down the hallway shaking a can of cat treats to get her back!" I snorted a silent laugh. Only Riley could come up with that kind of comical excuse.

"Shouldn't you put that thing in a cage?" Margo asked.

"You don't crate train cats," Riley told her as she stuck out her tongue playfully. Riley was only human. That was probably Margo's biggest pet peeve about her was that she came in always smelling like a cat. I didn't mind the scent, I loved it.

"There is one last party coming in tonight. Will you stop by the office and let Nich know you made it and also we already left? We switched so I'm off for break. I'll be back by 10 for that private thing," I told Riley as I explained the new situation to her. Her eyes lit up instantly as she must've realized she wasn't going to be stuck with Margo tonight. She put the umbrella down by the lockers to leave out but put her purse inside her locker and hung a raincoat up over the door to hang.

"Okay, enjoy your break. If they come in early I'll start them off for you," she suggested as she started for the manager's office. I wrapped an arm around Margo as a suggestion to lead her out to her car and took the umbrella to use.

"Don't be so harsh on her," I whispered low to Margo. "She'll sick her cat on you next time."