It Started With a Scent

Two Compatible

Saturday morning came and Rachael was rudely woken up by the sound of her phone ringing. "I thought I turned that stupid thing off," she mumbled to herself, wiping the bleariness out of her eyes and reaching for the device on her bedroom desk. 

She was swaddled up to the neck in a thick duvet and it took her a minute to free both arms from underneath. Pushing away the room temperature hot water bottle from her lap, she glanced at the caller I.D before swiping across the screen.

"Tina?" She started, "It's only nine o'clock, you know? I don't start until three today."

There was a shuffling on the other side of the line and a wearied groan of exasperation, "I know and I'm sorry Rach. Joe's called in sick... again, and I'm the only other one working. My pack's decided to come to the diner for their meeting because I couldn't get out of working and-"

"Okay, okay." Rachael got out of bed, slipping her feet into her slippers and rubbing at her eyes. She shivered as the frigid air hit her skin and resisted the urge to raise her monthly bills by turning on the heating. "I get it. I'll be there in an hour."

"Thirty minutes. Pleease, Rach?"

Rachael frowned and looked at the clock. "It takes me twenty minutes just to travel there, let alone get ready too."

"Please, just hurry. I'm going crazy here."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

When the call ended, Rachael rushed around the apartment getting ready, trying to move as fast as possible. 

Her shower took approximately seven minutes and after getting dressed, she settled for scraping her hair into a loose bun, thankful that her shower cap had kept her hair dry. Grabbing her keys, coat and umbrella, she shoved her phone in her pocket and left the apartment.

---

Rachael could see why Tina was freaking out when she got to the diner and saw almost every seat taken. She did a rough count of heads and noted about thirty people total as she walked behind the counter to fetch her apron and sign on. From what she remembered, Tina's pack had about forty members, a fairly average amount, so she was sure the small diner was soon going to bursting at capacity. 

Her nose tingled against the assault of all the various scents, unable to even recognise her friend's amidst the muddle, but she still smiled at the few people who's faces she could remember from the last few years. She had always considered herself better at scent recognition than face recognition and unfortunately that was currently biting her in the butt.

Tina joined her a second later after taking an order from one of the tables. "Thanks hun," she said, passing the notebook with orders over.

"How many more?" Rachael inquired, ripping off the top page to give to the cook.

"I think we're just waiting on six. They should be here soon." Tina said, picking up the tray on the side to take into the kitchen.

Both of the girls walked together through the doors, Rachael shouting out the order to the overworked cook and pegging the paper on the line, Tina searching through the drawers for another notepad.

"Head Alpha wants to eat first, then start the meeting." Tina explained, finally finding a pad and testing her pen on it. "Thankfully I haven't dropped any plates yet and Liam has been fairly tame, otherwise I would have lost it. I swear, I think they run me ragged on purpose."