Six

Chapter 6 Seline

“You look tired, Seline,” Ellie comments cheerfully as I lie down on the bench in the middle of the changing room, staring at the ceiling. “Rough couple of days?”

“Something like that,” I reply wearily. “I have trouble sleeping these days.”

I can see her changing in front of her locker, but I’m not really paying much attention.

“Why are you here, though?” Ellie looks at me, as she ties her hair in a high pony. “Doesn’t your shift start in four hours?”

“I picked up an extra shift,” I mutter. “Had nothing else to do, and I kind of need the money.”

“Again?” Ellie frowns. “You look like death warmed over. Seriously though, why don’t you try and catch some shut eye in the back room?”

I sit up with a groan, my whole body aching. “I wish I could, but I know I won’t be able to. I just need to work. Too many problems in my head.”

Ellie eyes me before asking hesitantly. “Anything you want to talk about?”

I give her a grateful smile. “You’re sweet, but no. I have to handle this myself.”

“Okay then.” Ellie gets to her feet and stretches. “I’ll wait for you outside. Grab a cup of coffee, though.”

I watch her leave before returning to my aimless staring contest with the ceiling.

It’s been a week, or maybe ten days. I’ve kind of lost track of time. I thought it would be easy to forget about Austin. The easiest thing in the world.

But it seems that I can’t shake him off like any regular ole’ man. I can feel my wolf’s misery every waking second. And even if it weren’t the case, the

rejection of my own mate has broken something inside me. I can feel a hollowness inside me that I’ve never experienced before. Whatever bit of hope and happiness I had once held onto for the future…all of it has drained. For the past few days, ever since my confrontation with Austin, it feels like I am moving on autopilot. I’ve taken on multiple shifts at both jobs, managing to sleep for an hour or two at best, and even that out of utter exhaustion.

Is this what the rest of my life is going to be like?

I sit up with a sigh. I wish I could just quit and run away. I used to enjoy this job. Now I dread it every day, coming in here and seeing Austin and his pack mates.

Wolves have always been curious creatures, and since I outed my status as his fated mate, more and more of his pack have been dropping by to catch a glimpse of me. Of course, my hybrid status has also been revealed, due to my own stupidity.

I rub my hands over my tired eyes, wanting to cry but having no strength to even summon the tears.

When did living become such a chore?

By the time, I change and walk out, drinking my seventh cup of coffee of the day, I see that the bar is quite lively. I glance at the wall clock, wondering if I walked in at the wrong time, but it’s five in the evening.

Usually around this time, there are mostly human customers, but scarce in number. Today, however, I see a few Others mixed in. I see a few shifters grouped together at one table. I can instantly tell what they are. One of them notices me and nudges the others in barely concealed interest.

Nosy as fuck.

Ignoring them, I look at Gina, who is also pulling an earlier shift. I jerk my chin towards the wolf shifters, and she nods in understanding. I get behind the bar and look around.

That’s when I notice something odd. Amongst the Others, there are a large number of warlocks.

My brows knit together. I know there are one or two warlocks who live in Arrow Brooke, but they keep to themselves. They moved here a few years ago, and I have rarely seen them make an appearance in town, even at the bar. I count at least eleven of them right now. Some of them are sitting together whilst others are sitting by themselves.

“Weird,” I mutter to myself before turning my attention towards a waiting customer at the bar. He’s wearing a hooded cloak, and I when I turn to him, he removes the hood to reveal black hair with silver streaks in it. He looks normal, but as a half warlock myself, I can feel that he is actively using magic right now.

To disguise himself?

He smiles at me. “Can I have a soda?”

I study him for a heartbeat before shrugging. None of my business what he’s up to.

“Sure, but you know we offer alcoholic beverages, too,” I show him a menu of the sodas we have, and he picks one, a smile on his face.

“I’m staying away from alcohol for a while.”

I grimace. “Then you chose the wrong place to be.” Delight fills his eyes. “I don’t believe so.”

As I pour the soda into a tall glass, I keep my tone casual. “You lot having a convention or something in town?”

He just laughs lightly, but doesn’t respond. Something that bothers me.

I study his face, marking his features in mind. He looks like he is in his late or early fifties. I can’t really tell. Handsome but older. His powers, though I can’t get a clear read on them, seem average.

He has a calm air about him, an almost soothing one, and despite the few

words we have exchanged, I kind of like him.

Another customer slides into a seat down at the bar. I’m about to go and deal with them when I stiffen.

Unlike me, Austin looks fine. I know I look pale and exhausted, and my jaw clenches when I see how not a hair of his is out of place. He’s wearing one of his plaid shirts with jeans. Today, he has a leather jacket on. He looks good— another stab in the heart for me.

I guess I’m the only one suffering. He must be happy he doesn’t have to deal with me.

“Friend of yours?” the warlock asks curiously.

I notice Austin glancing in my direction, and I look away from him, forcing my tone to be casual. “Just another stranger. Hey, Luther!”

Luther is another bartender who is wiping some tables right now. I jerk my head in Austin’s direction, and Luther frowns, clearly wondering why I’m not serving him when I only have one customer at the bar.

When he returns to wiping tables, I stiffen. However, I keep my voice light. “Be right back then.”

I walk over to Austin. “What can I get ya?”

My tone is cool, and while it’s difficult, I hold his amber gaze that is probing into mine for some reason.

Does he really expect me to break and cry?

He’s become a regular here in the past week or so, and each time we cross paths, he looks surprised. What does he think I’ll do? Quit my job because of him just to avoid him? Selfish, arrogant prick.

He takes too long in answering me, and I point at the menu on the board. “Tell me when you’re ready then.”

That said, I go back to where the warlock is sitting, patiently sipping his soda and watching me.

“You don’t seem to be in a good mood.”

One of the pros and cons of being a bartender is that customers often want to strike up a conversation with you.

One of the kitchen hands puts a tray of wet glasses in front of me. Grateful for something to do, I pick up the thin drying towel and start wiping them down. “I’m just tired, Had a few long days. It gets quite busy here, you know.”

I can feel Austin’s eyes boring into the side of my head, and it irritates me. What does he even want? Is he coming here to rub his existence in my face? To remind me that he considers me worthless and he rejected me?

It’s not easy to keep my cool, and I turn my attention to wiping the remaining glasses.

“I’m Sam, by the way.” The warlock holds out his hand, and I have no choice but to shake it. “You’ll be seeing a lot of me around here, so I thought I might as well introduce myself.”

“Oh, really?” I give him a curious look. “What are you doing in town for so long?”

“Some business, some leisure, some family issues.” He smiles at me. “What about you? How long have you been here?”

I shrug. “My mom and I moved here when I was eleven or twelve. I’ve been here ever since.”

“That attached to this place?” He studies me. “You must have some good memories.”

I let out a bark of sardonic laughter before I can stop myself. “Yeah. I’ve got memories, all right. But no attachments. Just never had the time to consider leaving.”

But now that he mentions it, leaving sounds like an appealing idea.

More customers file in, and Austin moves towards the group of shifters who

have been eyeing me ever since I got in. I ignore them, having gotten used to it all. While a part of my reason for taking on more shifts is to throw myself in work and stop thinking, the other is the debt collectors pounding on my door.

I need to make some payments and get rid of them soon.

THIS SCENE GOES on for a few days, with Austin showing up at the bar almost every night and his packmates scattered around town. Fortunately, the ones I run into are polite to me, and there is no blatant hostility. They don’t approach me, but if there are any accidental run-ins, they seem to know who I am.

The warlocks are still in town, which is probably why during one of my shifts, the mayor shows up.

“The usual?”

Mr. Hamrington nods, looking thoughtful. “Where’s the wife?”

“Busy shopping.” He waves his hand distractedly.

At closer inspection, Mr. Hamrington looks to be in his late fifties but with a very dapper appearance. He’s handsome in that salt-and-pepper way older men can be, wealth oozing from his clothes and accessories.

He takes a sip of the drink I place in front of him before twirling the straw. “Too many Others here all of a sudden, don’t you think?’

My hand stills on the cloth I’m using to wipe down the counter. My voice is light as I reply, “Saw a lot of warlocks recently.”

“Warlocks, two wolf shifter packs—" “Two?” I give him a sharp look.

“Yeah, another has managed to purchase another lot in the forest.” It’s then that he looks at me, and I catch a glimpse of the ancient and dangerous

vampire lurking within those eyes. “Wonder why so many of our kind is gathering in one place. In my experience, that’s never good news.” Something in his tone makes me wary. “What are you suggesting?”

He lifts his glass as if inspecting it as he murmurs idly, “I would find it terribly inconvenient if a struggle for power breaks out. Be a pity to kill so many Others again.”

My blood curdles at his words. “I—"

“Do be a dear and look into it, Seline,” This time when he looks at me, a shiver crawls up my spine. If there is truly a being to be frightened of in this town, it is this vampire.

“I’ll keep looking into it,” I promise quietly.

Mr. Hamrington smiles and pats my hand before draining his drink and leaving.

I stare after him. I’ve not once forgotten the reason I was hired by him in the first place. When no one wanted a hybrid, the mayor had approached me. The only thing he asked in return was for me to be his eyes and ears.

A mole, to be exact.