Chapter 40 - BREAKFAST WITH A NEW FRIEND

My first stop after leaving EZ's place was a diner that I like to frequent when working. They were open twenty-four hours and they knew me pretty well. They weren't so high class that I felt uncomfortable being in it but it also wasn't the seedy dive that made you worry about the cleanliness of the kitchen.

At just after six in the morning Grace was the one who was working the counter. She was an older lady, human, and sweet as could be. She knew the typical breakfast and coffee order that I made every time that I came in.

"Sit wherever you want, Jacy, I'll put your order in now." She was already walking toward the coffee pot.

"Thanks Grace."

I sat at the booth in the back that I typically chose and waited for the coffee. I had even prepped the jars filled with sugar and powdered creamer.

"Here you are." Grace came over with an empty mug and set it down on the table top. She then proceeded to only fill it three quarters of the way full. She knew I needed the room for the additions that made it easy for me to drink.

I was busy pouring an ample amount of sugar into the life sustaining hot liquid when someone slid into the booth across from me. I had smelled his scent when I first came in but I had hoped that he wouldn't notice me.

"Hey there." He was grinning at me, his right blue eyes that were partially hidden by the bangs of his platinum blond hair.

"What do you want, Laremy?" I asked him as he looked happily at me.

"Can I join you for breakfast? I've already ordered."

"Why?" I was not particularly in the mood for a fight right now, and I hadn't even gotten to drink from my coffee yet.

"I want to work for you? I want to help you."

"Why?" I asked that question again like I was stuck on repeat.

"I've never met a female Alpha before. Let alone a born Alpha. That's what you are right."

"Yes, it is." I sighed the answer, resigning myself to dealing with him for now. "Where is your clan leader? How come you're out here on your own?"

"I've never been in a clan. I never had anyone to help me adjust to my life as a vampire."

"Seriously." I was about to finally take my drink of coffee when I heard those words. "So your creator just abandoned you?"

"Yes. I don't even remember who he was. I met a guy at the bar and went home with him. The next morning I woke up screaming in pain. I was like that for a day and a half before I could finally move again. After that I knew that something was different about me. I wanted blood but I was able to walk in the sunlight still. I didn't know what was happening. Then I finally met more people like me after a while. They told me that the more humanity you have as a vampire the less the sun affects you."

"And how does the sun affect you right now? Any scorch marks?" If he had killed people because he was on his own then he would have lost some of that humanity.

"Nope, I'm unaffected by it."

"Really?" I couldn't believe that. "How many humans have you killed?"

"None. I was a med student when I was turned so I couldn't bring myself to hurt someone."

"Is that how you've gotten your blood?"

"Yeah, I ended up dropping out of school but a friend of mine turned out to be a wolf shifter and knew what had happened to me. He works as an emergency room physician over at St. Elizabeth's. It's thanks to him that I have been able to sustain myself. But I am also able to get energy from eating food too, just not as much."

"Really, I didn't know that." I shrugged my shoulders at the new info he was giving me. "You're quite the open book, aren't you?"

"Well, I want to work with you. It was probably stupid of me to throw away my chance at being a doctor, but I couldn't let them find out what I had become."

"You could go back, you know." I offered him the only advice I could think of.

"Perhaps, maybe one day when it's been long enough for me to change identities.

"True, you might have ruined things for this version of you, but being what you are you will need to change your name a lot."

"Yeah, I figured as much."

While we were talking I heard Grace start to walk toward us.

"You changed your seat." She laughed at Laremy.

"Yeah, I saw a friend and decided to join her."

"Well, that's nice. Here's your breakfast." She set down a huge plate piled high with pancakes and another plate filled with bacon. It was a breakfast that I approved of. "Your food will be right out sweetie." Grace smiled at me before she walked away.

"Their food is amazing." Laremy was grinning as he cut into his stack of fluffy pancakes.

Finally, with Laremy occupied with eating, I was able to take a drink of my coffee.

As soon as the liquid hit my tongue I felt my stomach roll and dance around. I spit the liquid back into the cup and set it aside.

"Is something wrong?" Laremy asked me.

"No, I think the coffee got too cold for me to stomach it." I waved at Grace and called her over. "Can I get another cup?"

Grace came over immediately and filled a new cup for me. I put in the required amount of cream and sugar and took another drink. However the same thing happened again.

"Ugh." I set the new cup aside again.

"What's wrong?" Laremy was looking worried.

"I drank plain black coffee at my friend's house before coming here. I think that it's still affecting me and my body is telling me that it doesn't want to try any more coffee today."

"Are you sure that's all it is?"

"What else could it be?" I glared at him.

"Well, there are some things." He managed to say just that before Grace came back with my food.

My breakfast consisted of a stack of pancakes, three fried eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns, and toast. It was a massive breakfast for a woman but not for a shifter, man or woman.

"That's a lot of food." Laremy commented with a laugh. "Are you sure a little thing like you can eat it all?"

"I'm almost six feel tall, I'm not little." I glared at him.

"I'm referring to that small waist of yours."

"I'm a wolf, this is normal for us."

"If you say so." He laughed again.

I brought a bite of eggs to my mouth but just the smell of them turned my stomach.

"Ugh." I sighed in disgust and tried again. This time with the pancakes. Same result. Then I tried again with the bacon. No one can ever say no to bacon.

Nope, even my stomach was not letting me eat the bacon. What the hell was the matter with me? Stupid black coffee was making me into a monster of some sort.

"What's wrong, aren't you going to eat?"

"I can't." I glared at the food. "That stupid black coffee is still making me sick."

"I don't think it's the coffee." He was looking at me with curious eyes.

"Well, what else could it be?"

"Aversion to food, feeling sick when you taste or smell something. Don't those sound familiar to you?"

"Nope none of it. Just spit out whatever it is you want to say." I was not in the mood for games.

"To me, it sounds like you're pregnant."

"Impossible." I snapped at him. "That's definitely not it."

"Well, sounds like it to me. And just so you know, I was studying to be an OBGYN."

"Well, you dropped out too soon, you can't tell pregnancy from just an upset stomach."

"If you say so."

I most definitely was not pregnant. The only one I had been with recently was Kyle, and he would have said something if I was pregnant. Shifters could detect that shit almost immediately. So no, I'm not pregnant. There's no way.

I tried once more to eat the food but it was to no avail. I just couldn't make my stomach settle enough to eat the food or drink the coffee. This realy sucked.

"Hey, Jacy?" Laremy called out to me after he had eaten. "Can I work with you? Please?" He was a decent guy, and he didn't smell like a liar. Perhaps I could trust him and get him to help me out from time to time. Maybe I could eventually make my own bounty hunting office. I could employ an entire squadron of bounty hunters. And I could start with a vampire.

"Yeah, sure, why not." I smiled at him and I was rewarded with a bright smile from him in return.

"Really? Thank you Jacy. I swear I won't let you down. I will be the best employee you will ever have. I will work my absolute hardest."

"Glad to hear it, Laremy."