Lyra's POV
"I'm not looking for trouble. My mate asked me to wait for him here," I said the first lie that came to mind. Of course neither of the scumbags bought it.
The taller one between them snickered, "It can get really dangerous in these parts. Why don't we stay with you until he shows up?"
I swallowed a lump of thick spittle down my throat.
"He'll be here in a moment," I said, my voice as firm as it could be in a situation like this.
"We're just trying to help, sweetheart," the male behind me said with a sultry voice that made my skin crawl. "Looks can be deceiving, we're actually really nice guys if you give us a chance and get to know us. What do you say?"
I wrapped my fingers around the medallion that was still hidden in my clothes, a surge of protectiveness overwhelming me.
Just as I pondered on how I would escape from this, a familiar scent pierced through the air followed by an equally familiar voice.
"Hey! What's going on over there?"
My harassers were distracted and I snatched the stolen opportunity to leap away because the person approaching us in the alley might be the very same person I crossed miles to escape from.
Alpha Kael.
I dived into the sea of night market goers, heart racing so fast I could hear it drumming in my ears.
"It can't be him," I tried to convince myself rhythmically rubbing the medallion with my forefinger, my eyes constantly running around, half expecting him to leap out of the crowd and grab me.
But somehow I evaded him.
I bought some drugs and took them. By morning I had regained some of my strength.
Not all of it though.
While serving a table, I almost tripped on my own foot and sent all the bottles on my tray shattering on the ground. But somehow I managed to steady the glass bottles at the last minute but I was sure that madam Beatrice who had witnessed it all would hit me as usual.
"You're absolutely hopeless. If those bottles had broken a moment ago I would have not even bothered paying you your salary at all."
She had a reliable wooden stick that she used on me whenever her hands got sore, or maybe that was just a form of punishment she was into at the moment.
But surprisingly after moments of bracing for impact, nothing happened.
She just calmly went to gist with some regulars.
Even Alpha Corvin who arrived at the early hours of the evening caught me messing up a customer's order and all he did was yell too.
"What's going on?" I said it to myself, something was definitely off.
Then as the evening wore on, Madam Beatrice signaled me to follow her to the storage at the back. I did and she produced a tight red leotard.
"This is what you will be wearing," added to the costume was a mask. "Go wild!"
I reached for the costume. At least, it covered most of my bo-
"By the way, as time goes on we'll have to make your costume more attractive for the customers. Right now they're already bored with the girls. We have the same old thing. You'll be like a breath of fresh air for them…lucky for you these men only think with their friends downstairs so make sure you drain them for as much as possible. And remember we'll take 60% of your tips."
She almost made it sound like a negotiation even though it clearly wasn't.
So this was why they weren't hitting me. They didn't want to damage one of their latest 'products'
That night I mostly copied the moves of the other dancers. I got lots of cheers but they all made me feel empty inside.
My mind went to the man that had saved me indirectly in the alley.
Was it really Alpha Kael?
Hopefully not, what business would he even have in Lunaris?
My first night dancing was a hit, at least for my employers. Alpha Corvin told Madame Beatrice to get me a mattress to sleep on, probably so my skin wouldn't get ruined from sleeping on the bare floor.
"If you keep the cash rolling in like this, you'll be able to pay for your own place soon," Alpha Corvin told me as I stepped down from the raised platform with the poles. The other dancers didn't acknowledge me.
Of course they wouldn't.
In their eyes as well, I was just the outsider trying to ruin their business.
But I had no time to feel guilt for it, I had to survive.
So my job was split between bartending, serving the tables and dancing.
It was a lot to juggle all at once, not to mention that I felt more weary and tired everyday.
Madam Beatrice still called me every other name in the book and hit me where the leotard would cover, but there was a minimal change in my living condition and the day that I will finally say goodbye to sleeping in the kitchen was coming close.
Then another hurdle came my way.
My condition kept worsening, the painkillers weren't doing much and I would slip up more and more at work.
So I approached Alpha Corvin a few nights later to at least be able to close early.
"Alpha, I know I agreed that I said I would keep working even if I was tired and ready to drop but-"
He narrowed his eyes at me, both transforming into sharp unforgiving slits.
"Yes, we made that agreement and that is the only reason why you have been able to work here for so long. So is this your way of taking a resignation and also effectively leaving my pack?"
My chest caved in, was he really going to kick me out because I wanted to clock out less than an hour early?
I rubbed my lips together, "No, I'll get back to work."
Then just as I slipped into my leotard and approached the pole I felt everything fade into darkness as my body descended backwards.
When I woke up, everything was a blurry mess but Alpha Corvin's voice cut through like a knife.
"What do you mean she's pregnant?"