Alpha´s curvy bullied human mate
Chapter 39: Harsh reality

Penelope

My life had begun in a complicated way, but peace of mind had arrived. I had a few things in my possession, but they were mine. I had my routines, some more pleasant than others.

I served drinks and food to all kinds of people, and I was far from being the girl who would sneak into the rooms of the pack house to do the cleaning. Completely terrified that someone would see her, that someone would laugh at me, push me, attack me.

One of those happy routines was feeding my wolves. They were wild animals, but because they didn't turn into humans... they seemed sincere and trustworthy to me. Much more than werewolves. I saw some and recognized them by their fur. My brothers would not show me which wolf had been killed. But I didn't need to, I adored all of them.

They had left the wolf bleeding in front of my house. I think that was something I would never forget.

I didn't have to be very smart to know that this was a clear threat to me, a human hanging out with werewolves. Or... because I was Nate's mate. And now, I was really afraid.

It was weird when everyone insisted that I come to work. I knew Naomi was watching me from a distance, and that my brothers would be home.

It had been a couple of days since Nate had come to see me. He had said goodbye and insisted that he had to head back to oversee the pack.

I had to move on with my life. It seemed that when things were going well with him, they ended up going bad for me.

"We have a full house today!" said Marianne when we took a short break. We had to extend our shifts, and there wasn't room in the restaurant for one more person. "That's a good thing, isn't it? To have so many customers now that the town is becoming lonelier and lonelier."

"That's right..." I replied, and the truth was that we were getting more and more crowded with burly men as big as tree trunks. Werewolves, no doubt.

"By the way, I seem to have seen your hottie CEO outside... I suppose you took advantage of him by playing hard to get. Classic! Well done girl!" she said, walking away smiling. If only she knew what that hottie and I have already done... I couldn't hide how my heart skipped a beat knowing he was close.

As I approached the bar, I suddenly saw Andrew coming to talk to me.

"These people look very suspicious to me, Penny..."

"Did you see or hear anything?" I asked him. I was worried that he was suspicious of werewolves. We humans shouldn't know about them.

"I heard that..." he whispered, leaning closer to me. "...that they were looking for more people to take away... they were talking specifically about Old Man Tully's farm. It's been for sale for a while now, but I didn't know that it'd been bought over..."

That didn't sound good.

"Have you heard anything else?"

"Just some names... and weird words like Alpha and Beta. What's that? To be honest, they were talking out loud like they thought no one would hear them," he said.

Of course, the werewolves thought that since we didn't have special hearing like theirs, we just didn't have good hearing.

"Stay away from those men, please, Andrew?" I said, and he nodded.

'I should talk to Nate and my brothers about this,' I made a mental note. As I walked, I could feel someone grab my ass roughly. I turned around in surprise to see a couple of men walking away quickly. "Dammit, you idiots!" I said angrily.

"Are you okay, sis?" Luke suddenly asked, taking me by surprise.

"Luke!"

"I switched places with Naomi. Nate sent her home, so I'm keeping an eye on you," he said, looking around bitterly.

"Well... can you tell me, are these all werewolves?"

He looks at me nervously. "Let's just say there are other things as well..."

"Vampires? Witches?" I asked in horror. He sniffed the air.

"Vampires. We still don't know what they're doing here," he said, and I felt a shudder.

I thought things were bad before. They were much worse now. And from that moment on it would only get worse. Especially when Jack talked to me alone.

"Penny, my dear. You can see as well as I do, that this town is changing," he said, very worried. I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't had much rest for a while. "Are you all right, Jack? Is there anything I can do?"

"I... I feel like the town is getting more and more dangerous, and it's affecting the restaurant."

"It's very busy, no doubt business is good...."

"To be honest with you... I am afraid that it will become a meeting place for people who are not good. And that would mean exposing you, all of you...." he said, and I panicked. "What do you mean?"

"I think it might be a good idea to close the restaurant for a while."

"No... that can't be!" He took my hands.

"It's for the better, dear. If something happened to you, I... I don't know what I would do. You know, you are like my family. And please don't worry about the salary, I'll make sure all of you are well paid." "Jack, but... "

"I've been thinking about it for a couple of months, okay? I wanted to wait and see if something changed, and these people went the other way. I also wanted to help understand what was going on in this town. There's a group from the mayor's office making inquiries."

"Jack, promise me you'll be very careful! These people look dangerous!"

"Of course, my dear. Will you help me talk to the rest of the girls and Andrew?" he asked me with loving eyes. How could I say no to him?

I felt even worse if that was even possible. If he closed the restaurant, I would no longer have any excuse to stay here. What Nate said was true. We were all in danger.

I dreaded going back to the Moonstone... and my stomach hurt just thinking about it.

"Hey, chubby, bring us another round!" Someone yelled at me from a table.

"Come on, fatty, can't you move your big ass?" I heard another yell from another table, and I took a deep breath.

In all my years working in this restaurant, I had never felt so humiliated. These men were getting bolder and ruder as they drank more and more.

"Finally! What a slow service! Although I must admit... for a chubby girl, you have good assets!" said a bald man with a disgusted look at me.

"I suggest you start to treat everyone who works here with respect. Believe me, the owner will have no problem kicking you out, and there are no other bars around here," I said as firmly as I could, and the men laughed.

"Do you want to finish this outside, little girl? You and I can have some fun," a tall, burly man taunted me. He touched my hair and tucked it behind my ear. I instinctively hit his face, but he didn't even flinch. "Leave her alone. Now." I heard my brother say, and the man smiled.

"But it's just a little puppy! Are you lost, little puppy?" he taunted Luke, and the other men are now laughing their heads off.

"This puppy is going to kick your ass if you don't leave her alone," Luke growled very convincingly. Meanwhile, my legs are shaking.

"Oh yeah? And how do you?" The man got cut off mid-sentence when I saw their faces change completely. I could feel the tension in the air, their heads tilted forcibly.

"Is there a problem here?" I heard a familiar voice and couldn't hide my joy when I realized who it was.

"No, Alpha."

"I didn't hear you. Louder!" Nate's voice was so authoritative that... it triggered something in me.

"No, Alpha!" they answered humbly.

"This is no one's territory. Keep your filthy claws and your filthy tongues to yourselves, is that clear?" he asked as I watched them be reduced to little lambs.

I knew Nate was from an important lineage, but I never imagined he had such power. Subduing werewolves from other packs like that, even as an Alpha, was not common.

The night ended quietly. When I left the restaurant, he was waiting for me. My brother stayed behind to look after the restaurant.

"I missed you so much. I wanted to see if you were okay," he said, hugging me and I laid my head on his chest.

"Nate... these people... and something is going on at a farm..." I started to explain.

"I know, mate. We'll take care of it," he said, cupping my cheeks and kissing me.

"Nate! Are you okay? You have blood stains!" I asked desperately when I saw his blood-stained shirt.

"It was just a fight. That man grabbed your ass and..."

"You were the one who pushed him away? Nate, you can't fight with everyone..."

"I wasn't going to let him touch you," he said seriously and firmly. "Come on, let's go home." We walked near the forest.

"Penelope... I know I promised you, but I don't know if I can keep it," he said looking at me nervously. For some reason, I started breathing heavily.

"Calm down, my mate," he said worriedly, rubbing my arm.

We suddenly heard hesitant footsteps. I looked up to see, with horror, my brother Luther, blood-stained, one eye completely closed and bruised, walking toward us with difficulty. "Alpha... Penny..." He collapsed in front of us.

'No, no! My boys! no! Please, no!'