Chapter 9

• ~Foxy~
• “Wild! My office, now!” my boss yells at me with a snarl, letting out just a bit of his wolf.
• He thinks that intimidates me, but with him, it just pisses me off. He’s actually a big coward. He has a lot of goons around the bar who do his dirty work to make him look tough.
• “Shit. What did I do this time?”
• The girl beside me checks her makeup for the strip club that is starting to open back up for its regulars. “Good luck, Foxy. Jack is in one of his moods. He’s been bitchy all night.”
• “Yeah. Just my luck.”
• As I walk to the boss’s office through the sketchy backstage hallways, I notice security is all over this place tonight and it’s not our own. I know mafia henchmen when I see them, and these guys make my skin crawl just at the sight of them. It’s obvious these guys are here guarding the Alpha. I guess money and power get you special privileges, even in a skanky strip club.
• Taking a deep breath, I walk into Jack’s office, ready to catch hell from my sleazy boss. “What’s up, bossman? Did you like the show? The crowd was on fire tonight, don’t you think?”
• “Well, I loved it until you pulled the I’m a little branch routine. What the fuck was that?”
• “Sorry. I saw the Alpha, and I panicked.”
• “Yeah. His men came to see me today. They are tightening the reins on all pack businesses.” He throws a wad of cash on his desk in front of me with a groan, as if he didn’t want to even give me whatever it is he tossed my way. “Here. Take this.”
• When I flip through the cash roll, there’s at least five thousand bucks in my hands.
• “What’s this for?”
• “To keep your smart-ass mouth shut.”
• “For what?”
• “You know what for,” he says, lighting up a cigar. “My books are off. They’re going to be coming around asking questions from my regular girls.”
• Shaking my head, I threw the cash back at him. “Nope. I’m not being paid hush money. I’m a sly fox and damn good with numbers. I told you I’d help you with your books and you refused. Now, deal with the consequences.”
• “This isn’t about the side deals I’ve been running. I’ll deal with that. This is what I owe you.” Rolling his head, he looks up at the ceiling with complete guilt written on his slim-ball face. “Those are your extra tips for the past four months from the champagne room.”
• “You’ve been stiffing me! You son of a bitch!”
• Jumping up, he reaches across his desk and covers my mouth. “Shh! If the Alpha’s men hear I’ve been undercutting my girls, he’ll take over. He owns this place now. You know I got divorced. That bitch was taking everything and I’m barely keeping my head above water.”
• “So, you decided to take from us?” I whisper. “So, help me, Jack. If you do this shit again, I’ll go to the Alpha’s men myself. My father has been out of his medication for months and you know that.”
• “I know. I’m sorry. Tell you what. If you keep this quiet, and just take the cash, I won’t tell the Alpha that was you on stage. You can’t risk it, Foxy. He’s probably not too keen on his housemaids stripping in this place to begin with.”
• Shit. He’s right. I have to keep a low profile.
• “Fine. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
• ***
• Well, ya think you can trust a guy. So much for that bullshit. That weasel, Jack, screwed me over. Had the Alpha’s men not been bringing the heat down on the club, he would have never paid me. I told him that I’d do his books and get everything straight. I’m good with numbers, and I’ll fix it for him so that the club doesn’t get hit with an audit by the new Alpha’s people. I can’t afford to lose that job and I’m sure the other people who work there can’t either.
• Another thing about me; I may be smart with numbers, but it’s not always a good thing. Instead of going to a good online college, I chose the road that should never be taken. Crime. I was helping a local bookie a while back for the old Alpha’s people. I made that fat fuck a boatload of cash, and he didn’t even throw me a little scrap to get by. I hated Alpha Jones and I’m glad he got what was coming to him.
• I guess you’re starting to see I’m not exactly the most upstanding citizen in the community. I try to be good. I really do. But my fox genes make it hard to stay on the right path. Fox shifters are known for being mischievous, and I’m not any different. Hell, maybe even more so than the rest. When I get bored, I get in trouble. That’s why dance has been good for me. It keeps me busy and works off all that extra pent-up energy.
• It’s the day after the strip club performance and I’m exhausted. Today I’m working at the pack house, and it’s beyond boring. I’ve folded more laundry than I care to in a lifetime and it seems to never end.
• “Fox!” the pack house manager yells from down the hall.
• “Yes?”
• “I need you to go up to the Alpha’s house and do some cleaning.”
• “I thought the twins always did that,” I mentioned as I folded another towel.
• “Not anymore. They asked for a transfer to work at the new homeless shelter that’s being set up in the old gaming hall.”
• “Wow. That was where they took care of all the gambling transactions.”
• “Yeah, well, not anymore. Alpha’s really streamlining things down around here. He says his people come first, and it looks like some of the elders are pissed that he’s moving the staff around.”
• “Yeah, because they will lose money from all the cash they slip under the table.”
• “You got that right. There’s been a lot of unaccounted-for funds, and the Alpha’s people have been coming down hard. Well, get going,” she says, shooing me away. “Here’s a list of chores they say need to be done. Now go. It’s a lot, so you’re going to be busy.”
• As I look over the list it’s more work than I even do now. It’s honestly more than one person should be asked to do.
• Shoving the list in my maid uniform, I grumble, “This is like cleaning his whole damn house by myself. That’s not fair.”
• “Well, you know Alpha Jones. He probably left the place looking like a dumpster fire. He was such a slob. The new Alpha doesn’t like a lot of people meandering around his house, so you’re on your own.”
• “Okay. I’ll head there now.”
• “Oh, and Foxy,” she says with a scowl, “Keep your grubby paws off the silver.”
• “I know. Jeez. One time I slipped up and you’ve never let me live it down.”
• “One time you were caught, but what about the other times that you weren’t? There was a whole hoard of stuff found in that log in the back of your parents’ farm. You can’t just go around stealing every shiny thing you see. You need to control your wild instincts.”
• “I know. I’m sorry,” I pout, as I wring my tail in my hands. “I can’t help it. I told you it won’t happen again.”
• With a finger pointed in my face, she means business. “I mean it, fox. Don’t screw this up. This Alpha won’t let you get by with your shenanigans.”
• “Fine. I’ll be good.”
• “Be sure you do.”