(EMERY)
Getting yelled at as soon as I start my shift at Gilded Hearth Diner is a little disconcerting. Especially when I'm not even the one who brought this table its lunch.
My eyes land on the upset man's companion, Zara Whitmore, a beautiful, blonde woman with blue eyes that are sparkling in glee right now.
Like me, Zara is a wolf shifter. And so is her current date.
"Sir—" I try to begin, only to be cut off.
"It's bad enough that your kind stench up the place!" Adrian Kane snarls at me. "But to bring my date cold food when she told you the exact temperature—"
"Sir, I wasn't here when you placed the order," I inform him, impatient now, trying not to let his first comment get to me.
My own pack members love reminding me that, unlike them, I don't possess a wolf spirit. It's really thoughtful of them, almost as if they're worried I might forget I am not like them and don't have the ability to shift.
I sneer secretly at Zara. If it weren't for the fact that this is the fifth date she has brought to my place of work this month alone, just to insult me, I might think she simply has trashy taste in men. But now I'm starting to think it's more personal than that.
"You weren't here?" Adrian splutters, his face growing red. "Are you talking back to me, girl?"
I give him a long look. "Adrian, I just walked in through the front door. You saw me. I don't understand why you would think Zara's cold soup is my fault when I just started my shift. If you want, I can go get the server who took your order."
Adrian looks like he's going to explode.
I glance down at Zara again. She's enjoying the whole show, her eyes dancing in a mixture of malice and amusement.
It's no wonder Adrian is raising his voice at the weakest member of the pack. A shifter like him, who has never had any female pay attention to him, must be desperate to impress his date.
It's a pity he doesn't know Zara has a list of men just like him that she likes to bring here and wind up.
"Shut your mouth!" Adrian snarls before picking up the bowl of soup and tossing it at me.
My eyes widen fractionally, and I try to duck out of the way, failing miserably. The scalding soup lands over half my face and neck, and I let out a quick, pained scream, stumbling back as I do.
"Oh, no! Emery!" Zara jumps to her feet, pretending to look dismayed.
"Are you alright? Adrian, how could you do that? I told you it didn't matter if the soup was cold! Oh, dear! Emery, are you okay?"
I'm trying to rub the spices out of my eyes as my skin burns from the hot liquid. Zara is fussing over me, but I know her well enough not to buy her act. And sure enough, I hear her chuckle.
"That's not a bad look for you, Firecrotch." Her voice is low, a soft whisper that only I can catch.
If I could punch her, I would. But since she is the daughter of the Moonlight Pack's beta, the consequences would be astronomical. I should know. I've suffered them once or twice. Or more.
"Emery!" A distressed voice reaches me just as an arm is thrown around my shoulder and a napkin is dabbed over my face. "Come on. I'll take you to get washed up."
Milo Wescott is one of the servers who works alongside me. Humans aren't aware of the existence of wolf shifters among them, but Milo is different. He's kind of like me in that he is unable to shift.
The difference is that, unlike me, he was born to a human mother and a shifter father. Half-breeds like Milo are treated better than those with no wolf spirit, like me.
Of course, those born with wolf spirits are accepted into the wolf pack, but those who never gain the ability to shift have to live as humans, shunned by the Wolf Kingdom.
"We're not done here!" Adrian snarls. "She ruined my date's order. Zara ordered the ultra-hot pepper soup at a specific temperature, and this girl here—"
"This girl is called Emery Lane," Milo snaps back. "And she's a person whom you just assaulted."
"Person?" Adrian scoffs. "She's nothing more than a—"
But Milo isn't done. "And I was the one who took your order. The soup was hot when I brought it. And it was still so hot that it burned Emery! I'm going to call the police."
I'm shaking right now. It feels like my skin is curdling. The spices in the soup are adding to this agony.
I know for a fact that Zara doesn't eat spicy food. I bite my tongue, focusing on my situation. I know I will heal in a few hours, but right now, my skin feels like it's peeling off, and my eyes are on fire.
The mention of the police has Adrian backpedaling. "She provoked me into—"
"I'm sure the police will be asking the other diners for their statements," Milo says darkly.
That's when Zara decides to step in. "I think this was all a misunderstanding. Right, Emery? Involving the police seems like a bit of an overreaction."
Milo scowls at her. "I'm sorry? Do you not see how badly burned she is? You and your date are responsible for—"
"Let's ask Emery if she wants to involve the police." Zara is smiling smugly as she looks at me. "Well, Emery?"
My whole body is stiff from the pain. I would love nothing more than to say yes, but I know what Thomas will do to me if I send the human police after his daughter. I can't—
"Hello? I want to report an assault at Gilded Hearth Diner on Melrose Avenue."
The sound of a woman's voice makes Zara's eyes flash with quick rage as we all turn in the direction of the customer sitting a few tables away.
I close my eyes in regret.
Well, shit.
Adrian starts shouting at the woman, and Zara looks pissed even though she's trying not to show it. With their attention now diverted toward the kind-hearted customer, Milo whisks me away.
I have a hard time speaking through the pain, but Milo knows what to do. He hands me a very full glass of water once we're in the kitchen.
"Blink into it. It'll help."
I do as he says, and sure enough, the burning from the pepper in my eyes begins to fade away.
"The cops are going to want to talk to you," Milo says as he hands me a towel to wipe the soup remnants off me.
I glance anxiously back at the door leading to the small hallway that opens into the dining area. "It'll only make things worse for me, Milo. Just help me get cleaned up so I can—"
He gives me an angry look. "You can't seriously be planning to let her off the hook again! Have some self-respect, Emery! The woman is a menace. She keeps coming in here with new men and making a scene."
I study him, my insides churning with humiliation and anger. "You think I don't want her to pay for what she's doing to me? She's got backing, Milo. Her father is the beta of the pack. He'll make my life a living hell if I get his daughter arrested. He already had the pack stop my college funding because I made a fuss over Zara harassing me last year. I can't afford—"
I don't get the opportunity to finish my sentence because the kitchen door is pushed open and a police officer walks through. He wipes the sweat off his forehead and looks around.
When his eyes land on me, he blinks. "You the server who had the soup dropped on them?"
I'm about to say no, but my appearance is a dead giveaway.
"Do you need to go to the hospital?" He gives me a once-over. "You don't look too good."
I shake my head. "I'm fine. I don't want to press charges."
"You don't?" The officer sounds incredulous. "From what I just heard, you had scalding hot soup thrown on you."
"It was a misunderstanding. The customer's hand slipped," I tell him quickly. "It wasn't his—"
"Sure," the officer says casually, glancing around the kitchen once more. "Where's the security footage? I noticed you guys have cameras here."
The blood drains from my face, and Milo gives me an apologetic look. I don't understand why till he gestures with his hand. "Right this way, Officer."
I feel the knife digging in my back. How can he do this? He knows what the Moonlight Pack will do to me if Zara gets in trouble!
I quickly step in front of the policeman, wiping my face with the towel again. "I don't want to press charges. Shouldn't that be enough? It's my choice, right?"
"I'm afraid not." The man doesn't look like he cares what I want to do. "I have to file a report."
"But if I don't want to press charges, there's nothing you can do about it," I argue, feeling foolish as I say the words.
He eyes me. "You look young, so let me give you a word of advice." The guy can hardly be a year or two older than me!
"I understand that this job may be important to you, but if someone assaults you, you shouldn't protect that person. Now, let me do my job."
After sharing the most useless bit of advice I've ever heard, he nods at Milo.
I watch in dismay as Milo leads him to the back office where the security monitors are.
I am so screwed.