I couldn’t remember if I had ever slept so well. The bed was so unbelievably comfortable that I didn’t want to get up, not even when I really needed to use the toilet. The covers and the pillow were nice and soft, and I had plenty of room to roll around.

The room itself was just as great, and Payton and I spent the entire evening gushing over it. And we still kept asking how was this a punishment, but I guess to those who had their own homes and jobs and money to buy food, and didn’t have to worry about getting thrown at with rotten fruits, this was a punishment.

But to us, this was a little heaven.

Payton woke up about half an hour after me, and not long after that, our hunger drove us out of our beds. Someone had left us plenty of food in the fridge, so we had a luxurious breakfast of fruits and bagels and juice. We didn’t dare to eat too much in case food was going to be an issue. Lucas said it wouldn’t be, but this all still felt too good to be true, so…

After we finished eating, and we both took long showers, we settled down to watch TV while we waited for this Sabine to come look for us. We tried to stay hopeful and in good spirits, but we both were getting nervous. Payton was even getting a little scared because we had no idea what to expect. And I had to admit, I wasn’t completely sure if we could trust the mafia. I wanted to, but maybe it was just healthy to stay a little cautious of everyone.

But… I also had a few restless thoughts about this being a huge hoax, and we were just about to get kidnapped and sold to slave traders. That I didn’t say out loud in front of Payton, though. It would’ve been too much for him.

Finally, fifteen minutes past noon, someone knocked on our door. It was a heavy knock, which sounded almost hostile in my ears. My omega immediately woke up and cowered a little. It could feel a strong alpha right outside our door. A strong and intimidating alpha. My nervousness grew, and I peered at Payton, who was already getting scared.

I forced a smile onto my face. “That’s probably Sabine,” I told him soothingly.

“You sure…?”

“I’m sure,” I said, and hurried to the door, and peered through the peephole.

There was a huge woman standing outside the door, wearing the hotel’s uniform. She had a nametag on her shirt, though I couldn’t quite see the name on it. If I wanted it bad enough, it looked like it said Sabine.

What else could I do? I carefully opened the door and peered at the woman. She was maybe in her late forties and had crimson-red hair in a tight bun, and glasses framing her deep green eyes. She was very tall and large. Six foot six or seven. She wasn’t fat exactly, but she was broader than many of the male alphas I’d met.

“Well hello there!” she said cheerfully, and very, very loudly. “Joni and Payton, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, peering at her nametag, and she noticed it.

“Lucas did say I’m coming to meet you guys today, right?” she asked, staring down at me like I was miniscule. Well, compared to her, I was.

“Yes, ma’am, he did,” I said, pushing the door all the way open with a forced smile on my face. “Come on in.”

“For a moment there, I thought he forgot. You looked so spooked!” she said and laughed loudly as she entered our room. “Don’t you two fear me. I don’t eat omegas for breakfast. But I do occasionally eat them at nights, if you know what I mean!”

And she laughed again as she winked at me. I could only stare at her with a frozen smile on my face for a moment, but when she didn’t look away, I forced a short laugh out of my mouth.

“So! You are Joni, correct? Lucas said Joni is the tall one,” she asked me.

“Yes, I’m Joni. And this is Payton,” I said, pointing at my best friend, who looked like he wanted to run when Sabine turned her sharp eyes on him.

“My brand-new minions,” she said with a grin, but then her expression turned serious. “So you two used to be looters?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” I said, trying to keep my posture.

“And now you’re here to clear your names with the mafia?” she continued asking, studying me closely.

“That’s right,” I said, stepping closer. “We will do anything to prove ourselves. We don’t want to have anything to do with the clans after what they did.”

She nodded slowly, then glanced at Payton. For a moment there, I thought she would have an issue with us, but when she turned back to me, she was smiling again.

“Settling in all right?” she asked.

“Y-yes!” I hurried to say. “This room is wonderful. We’ve been living on the streets for years, so getting to stay in a room like this is… Well… It’s like a palace.”

“A palace, you say?” she asked loudly, laughed, then added, “Well said! Because I’m the one who furnished this place!”

“You have a very good taste,” I said politely.

“Anyway! Do either of you have experience working at a hotel?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Cleaning? Customer service? No?” she continued.

“We’ve never had jobs before,” I admitted carefully. “No one’s hiring looters…”

“Ah, that explains it. No matter, we’ll teach you everything you need to know. It’s mostly going to be laundry for you two at first, anyway,” she said, and went to sit down on the couch. “So! Here’s the deal. Since our boys and girls are back at home, and we’re full almost every night these days, my staff needs help keeping the rooms clean. You’ll be working five days a week from ten in the morning until four or five in the afternoon, depending on the workload, but we can move your shifts around if needed. The mafia insisted that you won’t be getting paid, but in return, you can stay in this room and eat all you want free of charge.”

“Which is more than enough,” I hurried to say, and Payton nodded timidly.

“Beats digging moldy bread out of dumpsters, huh?” she asked.

“Definitely,” I agreed.

“You will be well fed and taken care of, don’t worry,” she said. “Any questions?”

“When do we start?” I asked, since I had no idea what else I was supposed to ask.

“I have a few hours to spare right now, so I can give you guys a tour and get you everything you need. Tomorrow, you can follow my staff and learn the ropes, and we’ll see how it goes, okay?” she asked.

“Sounds good,” I said with a smile.

“Great! Let’s go take a look around the joint, shall we?” she asked, and stood.

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Come along then!” she said and stomped to the door.

Payton gave me a timid look but followed me when I followed Sabine. He stayed mostly behind me when we stepped out into the hallway, and I noticed his little jump when Sabine slammed the door shut. I had the feeling he wasn’t going to get used to this alpha anytime soon.

“This way!” Sabine declared and marched to a door at the end of the hallway, right after the staircase we’d climbed last night. “This leads right into the staff area.”

“Right,” I said as she pushed the door open and let us through.

There was a short hallway with a few doors on both sides, and she quickly showed us all of them. An office, a breakroom, and a few changing rooms.

“You’ll get your own closets tomorrow if you need them, but since you’re living right here, you probably have no need for them,” Sabine told us, and we agreed. “I’ll be mostly in my office, so that’s the best place to find me. I also have a place of my own here – it’s apartment number one – but there’s always another manager around when I’m not at work, so please go to them first. Come to me only if you have no other choice.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I will eat you if you bother me on my time off without a good reason,” she said sternly, then laughed loudly. “Who am I kidding! This hotel is my life, and micromanaging is my middle name! You’ll find me hovering around here most of the time!”

“You… You seem to love working here,” I said timidly.

“It’s a love-hate relationship. Can’t stand it, but can’t live without it,” she told me. “It’s just like marriage!”

And she laughed again. I chuckled a little as well, but Payton was still only staring at this loud woman with wide eyes. And he jumped every time Sabine started laughing. I gave him a reassuring pat on his back.

Sabine noticed it.

“You’re a timid little one, aren’t you?” she said surprisingly gently. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so scary.”

“I-it’s f-fine,” Payton said. “My o-omega is a little… scared of e-everything…”

“It’s been rough living on the streets,” I explained while hugging Payton with one arm.

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said. “I’ll try to control my loud-ass mouth. But trust me, you don’t have to be afraid of me. I just have big vocal cords.”

“O-Okay…” Payton mumbled.

“I’ll show you I can be quiet too,” she said softly with a friendly smile on her face. “Should we keep going?”

I stayed silent to let Payton reply to her. He nodded a little.

“Sure,” he peeped.

“All right,” Sabine said, and gestured to us to follow her as she continued our tour.

Next, we entered the entrance hall, and Sabine quickly showed us around the front desk, then led us through the restaurant and into the kitchen.

“You can eat your breakfast, lunch, dinner and evening snacks here every day, or grab something with you and eat at your apartment,” she told us, pointing at a break room at the back. “You can always take enough food to last for a few days, so you don’t have to come here every time. The downside is that it’ll always be the same limited menu we have for months at a time.”

“Awesome,” I said in excitement. I got hungry just by seeing and smelling all that food they were preparing.

“We’ve been… We’ve been living o-off bread and stuff we’ve found in trash,” Payton said timidly, but bravely, and we both turned to look at him. “It’s fine if it’s the s-same food every day.”

“Oh, you poor thing!” Sabine spoke in sadness. “I promise you, you won’t be hungry as long as you work for me.”

Payton gave her a shy little smile. “Thanks.”

“This really means a lot to us,” I added. “I know this is supposed to be a punishment, but…”

“It really isn’t,” Payton mumbled.

“Wait until you see the laundry!” Sabine said and laughed loudly, until she remembered she was supposed to be quieter, and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”

But now even Payton laughed a little, his body and posture softening a tiny bit.

“That’s better,” Sabine told him gently. “You’ll get used to me in no time, don’t worry. Come! Grab all the food you can carry. I think we can end our little tour here. Tomorrow, my staff can show you around the rest of the place.”

“Oh, I thought you’d show us the laundry room,” I said as we followed her.

“I was going to, but if we keep going, my loud ass may accidentally spook the little one, and I don’t want that, not now that he’s finally relaxing a bit,” Sabine told me.

“I’m right here,” Payton said carefully.

“Yes, you are,” she told him with a smile. “Here, take these bags and grab all the food you want.”

Payton stared at her, then glanced at me, then figured he was probably better off just accepting this weird lady and went to pick croissants for us. I smiled at his back, feeling happy to see him getting a bit confident now.

“So we’ll start at ten tomorrow?” I asked Sabine.

“You might want to come in a little sooner before the staff gets too busy. You’ll need uniforms and masks and all that stuff, and keycards to move around,” she told me. “I think half an hour is enough.”

“Sure thing,” I said with a nod.

She stopped to watch me closely and sniffed the air around me carefully. “So… Are you two all right?”

“We’re fine,” I said reassuringly. “We are so grateful to have this opportunity. It’s way more than we could’ve dreamed of.”

“That wasn’t what I asked,” she said, bowing at me a little. “My alpha is telling me you both are shaken. The little one’s omega is very distressed. Yours… Yours is heartbroken. Not very active, which concerns my alpha.”

I didn’t meet her eyes. “It’s been a rough week.”

“Hmmh…”

I carefully peered at her. She was still watching me, and it was clear she didn’t quite believe me. “We’ll be fine.”

“In time, perhaps,” she said quietly, and turned to watch Payton instead. “For now, you get to rest under my roof. Maybe in time, both of you and your omegas can heal a little. My staff are all a friendly bunch, so I’m sure you’ll get along with them just fine.”

“I think so too,” I said, then hesitated a little before I continued. “What happened with our clan… It was a big shock to us… I guess that is why our omegas aren’t doing well. The clan was our home, our family. That raid at Clover Hill ruined everything in one night.”

She nodded slowly. “It was a shock to us all. The clans have lived so peacefully in the past years. Attacking Clover Hill, The Boss’ neighborhood, was a clear declaration of war. The mafia could not let that slide.”

“And now all clans have to suffer because the biggest four ruined everything,” I muttered. “They honestly thought they could take this territory from the mafia…”

Sabina let out a loud, bark-like chuckle. “Take this territory? From The Boss?” she asked, and laughed harder.

“Yeah… I have no idea why they thought it was a good idea,” I said.

She stopped laughing and leaned closer to me with a sinister smile on her face. “You may not see the hive, but it is big, and its roots are running deep in the shadows. You don’t challenge an old evil like that without a large army, and even then you better know what you’re doing.”

“Gotcha,” I said, shivering a little.

She chuckled and stood back up. “Besides, their timing was unfortunate as fuck now that our boys and girls are coming back home, and the young ones are receiving their first vests.”

“Is that why I saw so many young mafiosos at the bar?” I asked.

She glanced at me. “Maybe.”

So definitely yes.

“So they’re recruiting?” I guessed.

“They don’t have to,” she said, and leaned back to me. “The next generation is all grown up now, and they’ve spent two decades learning everything from their parents. They all know their roles, and are ready to take over the mafia, even if something happened to the old ones.”

“O-oh…”

She grinned at my expression. “They were not supposed to take their vests. The mafia was slowly letting itself become forgotten. Some even spoke about retirement. Funny how things can change in one single night.”

“I know, right,” I mumbled while Payton returned to us.

He showed his huge bag of food to me with an excited smile. “There were so many good things I couldn’t choose!” he told me, then turned timid again when he faced Sabine. “It’s… It’s all right if we take all this?”

“Of course, little one,” Sabine told him with a smile. “You two need some meat on those bones!”

And she laughed so loudly that Payton jumped again.