Kim pouted and took a sip of coffee. “I’m sure I’ve no idea.” She said haughtily.
“Ummm hmmmm.” Chorused the other women before bursting in peals of laughter.
Kira listened to the banter with interest. She felt affection between the women that hadn’t been evident in her old pack. All wolves in Charming had been encouraged to be rivals and fight for ranking. The Rose pack members actually just seemed to like each other.
Rosalee wiped away a tear. “I’m sorry Kira we’ve been babbling. Not that you’re not welcome to come round anytime just to hang out but did you come round for something in particular?”
All the women looked at her in a friendly fashion.
“Ummm, I was kind of hoping you could help me find a job. I don’t mind what the job is I just want to start earning my keep. I really appreciate your generosity but I do want to contribute to the pack.”
The female pack members nodded in approval. A pack was a family, and everyone worked together. There was no room for freeloaders.
Rosalee held up a finger as her face lit up with an idea, you could almost see the light bulb above her head. “Wait right here while I make a phone call.”
The bouncy female Alpha disappeared for a few minutes whilst the others made polite enquiries about Lilah.
Bounding back into the room Rosalee smiled triumphantly. “The Honeypot Diner needs a new waitress. Deedee the bear shifter owner says she’s willing to give you a trial. You start on Wednesday.”
“Wow thank you that was so fast!”
Rosalee waved her hand. “Deedee owed Adam a favor, no biggie.”
Kira couldn’t express her gratitude. “Really thank you so much. Well I guess I better be going…”
All the women cried out in protest.
Terri came and sat next to Kira. “Don’t go yet! I still haven’t told everyone the crazy things my husband's brothers have been up to this week. It involves a beehive, honey and no clothes.”
Carly nodded. “Ooooh you don’t want to miss that, stories about the Tanner boys are always worth sticking around for.”
Kira grinned. “Well maybe I could stay for a little while…”
She felt warmth and affection swell through her, and her wolf barked like a puppy. Yep, she could get used to this.
*
A couple of hours later Kira hiked back to Jolene’s house with a smile on her face. Just getting to know her pack mates had been fun. They gave her an open invitation to join their coffee morning whenever she liked and told her that extended to Lilah too.
She hoped she could encourage Lilah to join her. Socializing with other female pack mates might be just what she needed. From what Kira had gathered Joseph had not allowed her sister to really have friends. Not for the first time fury washed through her. She was just glad they left when they did.
Kira shivered. The weather was turning chilly; snow was forecast in the next couple of weeks. She picked up the pace. She’d decided against using her car. For one thing her little Volkswagen was getting a bit old and for another the bright lime green color was kind of unusual. It stuck out like a sore thumb. And they were trying to keep a low profile. Until she could trade it for something else it was going to sit in Jolene’s garage. Besides the town was kind of small, she could pretty much walk everywhere anyway if she had to. She looked down at her thighs sourly. And she could certainly use the exercise.
Kira stilled as a twig snapped. She anxiously scanned the woods as her wolf trembled ready to shift. She stood still not daring to move and her heart furiously drummed in her chest.
After a few moments she spied a rabbit. It was just a bunny. She was being silly. Surely no one from Charming would be crazy enough to sneak onto another pack’s land? Gingerly she sniffed the air, she scented a number of wolves but she couldn’t tell if they were all members of Adam’s pack.
No, she felt certain that no one from Charming would make it this far into Rose without being detected. There was no one out here other than her and Thumper.
Still she couldn’t escape a few niggles of worry. She hastened to get back to Jolene’s house, just in case…
Chapter Six
20th November
Kira smiled as she flipped the sign to 'closed'. It was 11pm and she had just finished her first shift at the Honeypot Diner. And she had loved every minute.
Before coming to Rose she had worked as a secretary for the doctor in Charming. Unless you considered finding out who currently had a sexual disease to be interesting it had been completely dull. But working at the Diner was fun. She got to meet people, talk to her new friends and free meals!
“Hey honey how was your first day?” Asked Deedee, the bear shifter owner.