20 Choose your battles

The last few days, Lana had the feeling that someone is watching her. She chased it away, writing it off on agitation caused by recent events. The days went by. Working in a cafe brought some new colors to her life. The owner, an elderly lady with a shock of gray hair, always decorated with colorful flowers and beads, even allowed Lana to start selling sweets of her own making. The first batch of almond cookies and cream puffs were sold like hotcakes. At first, Lana was a little surprised by the people, coming to the cafe. She was expecting hurrying office workers, stopping by for some coffee to go or students, who came to get something delicious on the way to classes. Instead, they were increasingly visited by girls who seem to have forgotten part of their clothes somewhere. Or dangerous looking men, with a strange addiction for sweets with a special seasoning from the owner. Sometimes they even bought this seasoning just like that. Apparently, it could be added to other dishes, accordingly to the explanation of a regular, Afro-American with a broad smile, who had a strange nickname - Skull. He was very courteous and even accompanied Lana to the club and back a couple of times when he found out about her second job.

So today, as soon as Lana went downstairs on the way to her workplace, she immediately stumbled upon this man at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look charming today, baby!" - He rumbled, smiling broadly so that his golden front teeth began to gleam in the sun. Lana smiled in return.

"What are you doing here, Skull?" she asked, stopping a few steps from him.

" Of course, I'm waiting for you, darling. How can I allow such a beauty to walk around without an escort! And call me Joseph, Lana." - He purred her name in a low, intimate whisper. Then he straightened up and offered his elbow to her with a dramatic gesture. Lana was a little embarrassed. Something told her that the man was courting her. As much as he was nice, Lana was not ready to participate in any kind of heartfelt adventures. So she hurried to explain it to him.

"Skull ... that is, Joseph. I'm happy for your attention, but it's not necessary. You see, my children and I just recently went through a very difficult ... divorce. And I would not ... It's still very hard ... I hope you can understand."

Joseph-Skull narrowed his eyes slightly, studying Lana's face. Then, having decided something for himself, he again smiled and spoke.

" I don't know what kind of idiot could let such a woman go, but I understand. Still, let me escort you. Like a friend. We are friends, right?" - He asked gently, but the strange gleam in his chocolate eyes made Lana shiver a little. Perhaps it is because she was unaccustomed to the courtship of any kind and chivalry from the opposite sex, Lana thought with gratitude, taking her hand.

On the way, they had a nice talk on different topics. Skull joked a lot and laughed with his low deep voice, which every time caused a smile on Lana's face. Skull was something like a mentor to a group of youth in their area. So he talked a lot about mischiefs of his boys.And a lot of stories about his own childhood. Lana listened and didn't speak much, since her stories would hardly suit the ears of a human, or told him some light stories about her children. Soon they reached the club. It was only twenty minutes walk. Lana thanked the man and said goodbye, went inside, feeling his gaze on her back up until she disappeared behind the door.

The club met her with unusual silence. After several nights of work, it was so strange to see the dance floor empty, the rhythmic music did not break out from the speakers, and the staff was just preparing for another shift. The first night Lana felt dizzy from the abundance of sounds, people and bright flashing light, so she had to lock herself in the staff room to try to calm down. She was so nervous that she even began to turn. Fortunately, the sharp eyes of the wolf, even in the darkness, noticed traces of claws on the walls and characteristic cracks on the furniture. Obviously, she was not the first one to let the steam out here. This thought helped Lana to reason with her wolf.

Her guess was confirmed by Kiki himself, a huge bold man with a beard, owner of this establishment and a full human, who was waiting for Lana at the door when she finally got out.

Seeing her, his face broke into a friendly smile:

"You're fast,"- he said, patting Lana on the back. He didn't really measure his straight doing this, so Lana had to use her shifter half straight to remain standing.

"Usually beginners spend hours there, and you only needed two," - he complimented. "I bet, I don't even need to change furniture."

Lana instantly looked ashamed and averted her eyes. She, unfortunately, had some time to chew on a little sofa and tear one leather pillow to pieces. But in her defense, this pillow just asked for it!

"You can deduct from my salary," she said, blushing.

" Forget it. I have a special article in the budget for this purpose. Especially since girls were telling me for a long time that I shouldn't buy this sofa. These pillows are like a tasty bone for any of the canines. I just wanted to check how long they can hold themselves in check. We even made a bet."

Kiki laughed and put his massive palm on Lana's back, dragging her towards the bar. There all the employees of the club were already waiting for them. All of them turned out to be a very friendly bunch and a real team, even though most of them were normal humans. Both humans and non-humans accepted Lana without any questions.

Over time, Lana started to like the work in the club a lot. Shifters mostly worked in the VIP hall, Lana also was assigned there. It was a wide balcony, placed over the dance floor with its own private bar and spiral staircase down. People from below could not see what was happening at the top. It was a big plus if some of the werewolves began to have problems.

Meanwhile, Lana did not come across any troubles yet. But some issues always followed the drunk werewolves. Luckily, waiters just needed to pay attention so that the amount of consumed alcohol didn't exceed the norm. If it did, it was enough to delay the next order for at least twenty minutes to give the shifter a little sobering up time. Rapid metabolism was real salvation here.

That night everything started as usual. Entering the staff room, she went to her locker and inspected the new suit. Every week Kiki changed the theme of the evenings. And the clothes of the waitresses, like everything else, had to match. This time, apparently Kiki decided to arrange an Arabian nights week. On the hanger were translucent bloomers of crimson color with a wide golden belt adorned with a multitude of coins and chains, a narrow top that looked more like a bra, also strewn with trinkets and two see-through sleeves in the tone of trousers.

Lana inspected the outfit closely. Thanks to the shifters genes, her figure was pretty good, but the two pregnancies did not pass without a trace, and now she was a lucky possessor of a little round belly, and on her thighs she could see the extra centimeters formed due to the enormous amount of cookies she tried to cure her grief with last month.

"Lana, girl, stop staring at your ass," - she heard the familiar mocking voice of her colleague from behind - "if I had your magic genes, I would stuff myself with a ton of burgers and a cake every day. How lucky you are! Some people just don't appreciate what they have!" - She proclaimed, slapping Lana on the butt.

The girl was around 25, and there was not a drop of shifters blood in her. Lana was still too shy to ask, how she got here. The girl was sometimes a bit rude and even harsh, but getting used to it, Lana realized that it was just her style and if you ignore all the rudeness you can tolerate her just fine.

Deciding not to annoy her colleague anymore, Lana put on the suit and went out into the hall, preparing for a new working night. Today was only Thursday, so there were not many visitors. The first couple of hours passed in the usual routine. The dance floor was half empty. On her part of the VIP zone, only two tables were filled by the couple kissing like they tried to swallow each other, definitely Mates, and a company of girls, who came most likely here immediately after work. Exciting music from the speakers set the rhythm to the job and Lana, shaking her hips to the beat, stood at the bar, waiting for a new batch of drinks. Suddenly her attention was drawn to the movement on the left. Another visitor from below tried to get into the VIP zone. At the entrance to the balcony, he was stopped by Kiki himself, who liked to pretend to be an ordinary bouncer, besides, the whole club could be seen from this place.

An unremarkable man was slightly tipsy and after some reasoning agreed to go back to the hall downstairs. Lana already wanted to turn around to pick up her drinks, when a sharp sound and an almost animal roar made her literally jump.

One of the clients has leaped from his chair, at the same time knocking the table over and grabbed the waitress by the neck with a swift movement.

"You dare to speak to me like that, human." - He roared, squeezing her throat and slightly lifting her up so that the unfortunate girl had to dance on tiptoe not to choke.

Lana rushed to their side without hesitation. This man, though looked quite dull, was definitely a shifter. If he puts a little too much strength in his finger, the girl will be dead in a second.

Lana snicked behind the man and came closer, taking a deep breath, and then sharply roared in his ear. The instincts were strong even in loners. Lana was raised as an Alpha bitch, so she knew how it's done. The guy instantly released his victim in surprise and began to turn around. Lana, not giving him a chance to attack first, swung and with all her might landed a nice punch on his ear. She felt a stroke of pain in her joint. The man recoiled, but apparently, her blow was not enough to stop him. With panic, Lana noticed that his pupils started to shrink, and big ass fungs appeared from under his lips. Lana froze inside and started to back off. Fortunately, at this moment, the real bouncer arrived, the bear shifter named Bob. He had to use only one slap on the head of the raging guest to take him down for good.

Lana started to shake. All hers newfound confidence and independence was enough for just one blow. And then, as soon as she saw his wolf eyes,she felt petrified. As if her past had caught up, and she was again in this cursed house alone with Ralph rage.

Someone softly hugged her by the shoulders. The wolf senses immediately prompted that it was Kiki.

"Are you all right, baby?" - he asked gently. -"I told Gwen that she would someday get into trouble because of her sharp tongue, but she didn't listen."

He said something else, but Lana did not listen anymore, she leaned her head on the big man's shoulder and tried to calm down.

"Do not worry, I'll send her to work downstairs, she won't create any problems there. Not the shifters scale problems at least. And forgive me for not coming to your aid. But unfortunately, if you couldn't handle it yourself, I wouldn't be able to help either. It's very annoying to feel so weak next to you guys."

Lana frowned and turned, peering into Kiki's face. She had to tilt her head far back, as he towered over her like a mountain.

"Are you saying you were frightened, too?" she asked incredulously.

" Baby, leave me at least a piece of my male pride. I wasn't scared. I would have interfered if Bob had not arrived in time. I just know perfectly well that if I hinder in every fight of your touchy kind, the club will lose his owner in a week time. If you want to stay in the saddle, you have to be able to choose your battles, Lana. Sometimes it's not a shame to back off if you know ahead of time that you will not win."

" But what about - fight to the end and all that?!"

" The borderline between heroism and stupidity is very subtle. Everyone is afraid once in a while, even if not everyone can admit to it. Plus I always recognize on whom I can rely."

He patted Lana on the shoulder and left her pondering his words. The rest of the evening passed without incident, and Lana felt somehow lighter in her heart.