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Attheendofthe night, I helped Mrs Dawes tidy up. She always insisted that I didn’t need to but it felt wrong to ask her to run pack movie night without some sort of assistance from me. In my eyes, it’s the hostess’s job to clear up after a party as much as it is to host it.
After the living room was clear of pack members and mess, I went up to my bedroom to turn in. I had inherited Lord Samuel’s space, which is more of a penthouse suite than a simple bedroom. I have an en-suite bathroom and an antechamber that serves as my dressing room.
I was an accountant before I became a werewolf. I’d hoped to achieve this level of luxury in my lifetime, but certainly never so young. Now that I’m alpha werewolf of a very wealthy pack, I’d quit my job, much to my mother’s dismay. My mother is Common, and she can never know that magic and the Other realm exists. I’d had to tell her that I was moving into the mansion to become its caretaker – a significant career change that confused her no end.
Despite being bemused by my new career choice, she continues to offer nothing less than whole-hearted support. After her initial ‘Are you sure?’, she’s got on board with my new role as caretaker and always asks after my fellow ‘tenants’.
I pulled out my phone to send her a quick goodnight message, then cleansed, toned and moisturised. The routine always settles me. I was just about to climb into bed when I got a text from some friends.Want to come out? We’re celebrating Sharon’s promotion. We’re meeting at Botany in half an hour.
I checked the time: 10.30pm. There was a time in my life when I wouldn’t have dreamt of going out for a night out before 10pm; nowadays I think of bed at 10pm. That’s what responsibility does for you. Still, I hadn’t seen my friends in a good few weeks, and the stuff with the gargoyle had me a little on edge. Sleep still felt elusive.
I really needed to let my hair down. Spending all day around the pack makes it difficult at times; when you’re a leader, you can’t be yourself all the time. You can’t let your fears and insecurities show. It’s a leader’s job to put on a brave front at all times. With my friends, I can relax. They don’t know that I’m an alpha werewolf, and they don’t care what my day job is. Going out was really tempting.
Do you want to go dancing?I asked Esme.
I don’t get your obsession with gyrating. But sure, it probably counts as exercise.
It definitely counts as exercise!
Esme sent me a wolfy grin. She was game.
I haven’t been dancing in donkey’s years,I said excitedly.
Why do donkeys get all of the years?she huffed, affronted.Why don’t you say wolf’s years? A wolf should be your favourite animal.
I laughed.It doesn’t actually refer to an animal. A donkey was a crank, a part of a ship. It took ages to use.
Oh well, that’s okay then.She settled down. She was up for a dance, so there was only one more obstacle.
I gave Greg a quick call. He’d made it clear to me that, as my second, I wasn’t allowed to go out and put myself in a potentially compromising situation when he wasn’t there to back me up. If I was going out dancing and drinking, Greg was coming too.
He answered on the second ring. ‘Hi, Peaches, what’s up?’ The nickname rolled off his tongue, giving me a little thrill that I studiously ignored.
‘I’ve been invited to grab some drinks with friends. I know it’s late, but I’d really like to go. I could do with blowing off some steam. Do you fancy coming with me and watching my back? If you don’t, it’s absolutely fine – we’ll both stay in.’
‘Truthfully, I’m not tired. I’m still wired from patrolling. Finding bodies tends to pump me full of adrenaline,’ he said dryly.
‘How many bodies have you found?’ I asked incredulously.
‘More than one,’ Greg admitted. ‘So I’m up for a night out. Just give me five minutes to get changed.’
I grinned. ‘Brilliant. Thank you. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll meet you outside in ten.’
Ten minutes was probably an ambitious promise, but my hair was still done from the day and it would only took me a few minutes to put on fresh make up. I already had on a nice pair of jeans, so I swapped my flats for heels and pulled on a sparkly top. I was ready to hit the clubs.
The music at Botany was blasting out and I could feel the beat literally vibrating through me. Oh yes, I was so up for this. As a werewolf it’s quite a struggle to get drunk but I was up for the challenge.
I waved to my friends at the bar and made my way over to them. Greg dropped back and took a place a few paces down. He ordered a soda water and lime, poor guy. He wouldn’t even order a beer whilst he was on the job. I appreciated his dedication, but sometimes I thought it would do him good to let loose a little, though tonight I was determined to let loose enough for the both of us. I had a few hours of partying at best, and I was determined to make the most of them.
The girls at the bar were work friends, but I was determined not to talk about my decision to quit accountancy. It was pretty hard to explain and I hated lying. Luckily, the girls were in full-on party mode and tequila shots were already lined up for me. It was fun time.
Two hours passed and I was feeling no pain. It had taken quite some effort to get to where I was, and I’d had more shots than I’d ever done in my life. The girls were keeping a watchful eye over me because I was hitting it so hard, but as I wasn’t vomiting or falling over quite yet they let me be. I guess they thought I was trying to work my way through something, an early mid-life crisis perhaps. It was impossible to explain that I was a werewolf these days, and I could probably down an entire bottle of tequila before I got to the vomiting, falling-over stage of drunk.
The music was exactly my jam and I was on the dance floor almost non-stop. Finally I decided to hit the bar for one last shot then wrap things up for the night. I was conscious that Greg was sitting there, nursing his soda water and patiently waiting for me to draw my night to a close, but man, I hadn’t had this much fun in ages.
I don’t think we should have any more of the strange coloured water,Esme said.It’s making our limbs move funny. Our paws don’t feel right and my head is spinning like I ate some bad meat.
I laughed.That’s kind of the point, Esme.
