Chapter 1 - Diner

“Another order for table seven!” Antares Polar shouted and handed her a piece or ripped paper from his small notebook.

“You didn’t have to shout, I can hear you very well, you know?” She said and took the piece of paper from him. She read the paper. “Another Shepherd’s pie? Like seriously? Why don’t we just make another store that sells only Shepherd’s pie? Like most wolves only order that dish.” She started to move her hands to cook the order.

“Hmm…Another store would be an excellent idea. However, we don’t have enough resources for that. So you’ll have to settle with this. This is what brings the most money to the diner.” Antares said half-joking.

“I thought wolves are lactose intolerant?” She added the seasoning to the meat she’s cooking.

“Whoever told you that?” Antares looked at her confusingly.

“Just my assumption.” She shrugged. “Don’t you wolves hate cheese?”

“We love cheese you idiot.” Antares teased.

“Call me an idiot again and I’ll bake you along with this pie.”

She puts the pie inside the oven and removed the pot holder from her hands as she waited for the pie to cook.

“Awww, teasing you always makes my day though.” Antares pinched her right cheek. She swats his hand in a second and rubbed the stinging part. She continued cooking.

“Yeah right. I’m starting to wonder when are you going to grow up.” She said.

The door of the diner opened indicating another customer coming in.

“I am all grown up. But being with you and teasing you is so much fun. I feel so much younger.” An annoying grin made its way to his lips.

“And now I think I’m starting to have a migraine.” She acted out rubbing her forehead.

“Are the two of you fighting again?” Calber, Antares’s giant, well not really a giant but a Seven-footer and five inches werewolf with bulky muscles all over him and a thick white facial hair on his face that added to his already rugged look. She can’t always help but laugh on the comparison that his son is a smidget.

“I was just teasing Silvi dad, like always…and she hates it…like always.” He said, giving then a goofy smile.

“And your son is giving me a migraine as usual Sir Calber.” She gave Antares an annoyed look.

Calber just laughed, his thick manly beard moving along his mouth. “You two are really entertaining to watch. Now stop with the bickering and get back to work. Our customers need tending.” He said and walked to the door of the diner. He lowers his head a bit so he wouldn’t bump his on the doorframe on his way out. “Oh, and by the way.” He stopped midway from departing. “Make sure that the orders for the mansion are ready when I get back. I’ll just run a few errands.” He said and went off his way.

“Yes sir!” Antares saluted like a soldier. She laughed. She remembered how Antares dreamed to be part of the wolf guards for the pack.

The oven chimed. She took out the freshly baked Shepherd’s pie with the pot holders and placed them atop the counter. Then she transferred the order to a plate and began plating to satisfy the customer.

“Order’s done.” She said and Antares was quick to take the tray and deliver it to the customer who just ordered.

One of the newly arrived customers raised his hand. Antares instantly tends to their order and came back handing her a torn piece of his notepad.

Silvi sighed when another order of Shepherd’s Pie met her eyes. She raised an eyebrow at him.

Antares shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t look at me. I’m just following orders.” He said and jokingly saluted with a long pout on his lips and bulking his chest.

She started to prepare another Shepherd’s pie. “Shouldn’t we just cook them beforehand so we wouldn’t waste that much time?” She asked, grating the cheese since her supply of it ran out after the last one she just made.

“No can do. We need to serve those pies fresh and steaming hot from the oven…like me.” He said, twitching his eyebrows up and down.

She laughed at the sudden boosted confidence. It is not debatable that Antares is a certainly good-looking man that could swoon any woman at his feet, except her of course.

His looks doesn’t really reflect his age of twenty-four that much. Sleek brown hair with silver eyes, straight handsome nose he got from his father. Thin pinkish lips, strong square jaw, aligned neck, with biceps and triceps too, a towering height of 6’1 inches and a hunk of a body that typically almost every male werewolf has.

Silvi slightly shakes her head in disbelief of Antares’ praise for his own good looks.  

She puts the Shepherd’s pie back into the oven and waited for it to cook. She went to the pantry and opened a special cabinet at the very corner of the room. She opened it, letting the warm air escape and took a beautifully weaved rectangular basket with a handle, two-feet in length and height, and a feet in width. A fragrant aroma has sought its way on the tiny holes of the basket.

She carried the basket to the counter and called Antares who was sitting in one of the stools in front of the counter, reading a book. That’s what he does whenever he’s not waiting customers. He may be a little self-centered, but Antares is smart despite it.

Antares took off his glasses and his apron. He glanced at the clock on the wall of the diner. It says 10:30 in the morning.

“Right then…I’ll leave the diner to you.” He said and took off his apron and gave it to her. She folded it and hanged it in one of the kitchen wall hooks.

He went inside a door which led to the house and came back into his wolf form. There was a sling-belt bag hanging around his neck and around one of his legs, which his clothes are supposedly inside. It fits almost perfectly to avoid swaying too much when he runs. She designed the bag herself.

She took the basket from the countertop and hangs it in front of him. His wolf form bit the handle. Then she pats his wet wolfy nose and stroked his grey silver fur.

‘Wolf fur really feels nice.’ She thought. It’s so silky and smooth.

“Bring the basket to the mansion without spilling anything, okay Diego?” She said to Antares’s wolf.

Diego nodded and nuzzled to her side before he went out of the diner and dashed towards the mansion.

She had always liked Diego than Antares. Diego is super sweet and just loveable. She had always wondered why Antares’s wolf is the somehow different from him.

Silvi goes back inside the kitchen and wore an apron as a substitute for Antares. Only for an hour though until he gets back from the delivery.

It has always been a part of their daily routine to deliver lunch to the Allarick mansion, for the servants.

The Allarick mansion is the main residence of the Alpha King- Kallean Allarick who ruled over their nameless pack. Yes, nameless.

Unlike any other packs who were given a name since their first generations…the pack where she currently lives doesn’t have one. And she doesn’t know why. It has been like that long before she arrived.

However, the pack can still be identified in another way…

If people would hear the name Kallean Allarick, they would immediately identify what pack is being talked about, the pack of the Alpha King.

The Alpha King.

The title given to the ruler of the biggest and strongest pack in the entire continent. Ferocious as a beast… Menacing and intimidating. The strongest among all the wolves.

He had won countless of wars between wolf packs. He holds the authorities of the strongest wolves around. Other packs would bend their knees whenever he comes. And not a single rouge has ever entered his territory.

 And despite all of those frightening descriptions of the Alpha king, his territory is surprisingly peaceful and most of the people are calm and nice.

But she hasn’t seen the alpha King. Not even once in her three years of living in the pack. Though it didn’t matter because she loves the peaceful life she’s currently living in. The wolves have accepted her in a very welcoming way despite her being human. Totally different from what she experienced before in the other packs she had lived in.

A batch of another customer went inside the diner and sat in one of the empty tables on the far side of the diner. It’s almost time for lunch so customers are flowing in.

One of the three people who just got inside raised his hand. She took her pen and notepad and brisked towards them. 

“Hey Silvi…good morning.” One of the regular customers of their diner greeted her.

“Hey Gabe. Good morning. What would you like?” She asked and prepared her notepad.

“The usual.” He said.

She rolled her eyes. Gabe laughed.

“Again? We sell other stuffs too.”

He shrugged. “What can I do? I love your diner’s Shepherd’s pie.”

She laughed and thanked him for the compliment. She wrote down his order. She turned to the other two.

“What are your orders gentlemen?”

“A beef sandwich please, with extra cheese.” The one with the blonde hair and blue eyes said. She sighed in relief, thankful that it wasn’t another shepherd’s pie.

“And I’ll have an orange croissant and spicy chicken dumplings.” The other guy said with the red hair and brown eyes.

“Drinks?”

“Beer.” They all said in unison.

She laughed again. Wolves love beer.

“Coming right up.” She said and walked to the kitchen and prepared all the orders.

When the trays are ready, she took the tray and carefully brought it to the table. Half-way to the table, the blonde man stood up and politely took the tray from her and served his friends.

‘Awww…the people in this pack are really nice.’

The blonde man returned the tray to her and she thanked him. He smiled and ate with his friends. She returned to the kitchen and washed some dishes.

Calber returned in a little while and he almost bumped his head on the doorframe if one of the customers didn’t warn him.

“Oops…that was close. Thank you, sir.” He said and got himself inside.

He placed a bottle of pink liquid on the counter, then a brown paper bag with a sweet smell coming from it.

“A cold remedy for Lucy and a box of strawberry short cake from Kaizer’s Cakeshop for you.”

Her eyes gleamed at his announcement of the cake. Her mouth watered in an instant. Kai’s cakes are the best!

“Thank you Sir Calber!” She said and squished him in a tight hug.

“Haha…you’ve been working so hard. You deserve it.”

She lets go of him.

“Is Lucy still not well?” She asked, pertaining to the cold remedy. Lucy is Calber’s wife and Antares’s mother who was currently in bed, with a cold and fever.

“She’s almost okay. Her fevers gone down. She’ll be back to health in a day or two.”

“That’s great! I miss her cooking.” She said.

“You also cook good food.”

“I know. But it’s really nice to taste food from other people’s cooking. Like yours. Will you be cooking dinner tonight?”

“I thought Antares was the one for that job.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t let him cook.” She begged. “You and Lucy are excellent chefs…but Antares had never taken any of those talents. I wondered if he is really your son.”

Calber laughed and took a tray from the cupboard, placed a bowl of steaming hot chicken egg soup from the pot she was brewing and a spoon from the drawers.

“He’s practicing really hard.” He said and took the medicine from the counter and puts it on the tray.

Silvi sighed. “I know he is. But can you cook tonight?”

Calber chuckled for a second before nodding his head. “Alright. I’ll take it as a request. I’m sure Antares would not mind.”

She scoffed. “Why would he? It’s your cooking.”

Calber laughed hard this time and it echoed across the diner. Then he went inside the connecting door to give the food and medicine to Lucy.