Artiface of Strength Ch. 01

"Tone Hell," Tom put in. "The profanity they used would melt paint; they clearly hate his guts."

"So maybe they are not the enemy," Florence allowed.

"They are as long as they still work for Waters," Billington replied. "But keep your eyes open; maybe we can get something out of them if they remain in town."

"They are boss; they got a couple of rooms at the Hotel," Tom said.

"Then they are likely to show up here for dinner. I guess they could drive down to the resort restaurant, but they don't strike me as the type for dressing up for fancy food. Besides that, it's a good forty five minute drive each way. Somehow I don't think they are gonna want to work all day and then waste more time driving."

"So, it's up to Florence then," Sam replied with an evil grin.

"What," she said suspiciously.

"They do seem to like you," Sam said slowly

"Oh, Hell no! The only date I have is with this bottle, and then the bottle after that!"

"Maybe they will buy your next round, Florence; it would save Tom some money," Billington slyly offered. "Then he could buy Beth two outfits... and maybe some boots. Those legs would look awfully good in boots."

"This is my frigging day off," she exploded! "You said so, in fact, you ordered me to take the day off! Then you said that my punishment was to let these two buy my drinks, and I'm not done drinking!"

"So I'll owe you a day. How about next Friday," John said hopefully.

Florence merely glowered at the three male wolves, as she watched them hurriedly stand up and flee out the back door of the roadhouse. "Flo, we're heading for the resort, there's no sense in failing to cover it too; they might show up there... Besides, we're hungry," John said before slipping through the exit.

Florence grabbed her mug in an attempt to throw it at her Alpha, but the wolves had already disappeared.

"I... can't...stand...men," she snarled to herself, as she nursed her whiskey.

"Oh they aren't that bad," giggled Beth as she brought Florence a new mug fresh from the freezer. "Here, let me have the warm one before you decide to throw it at him. It wouldn't do any good anyway; they are out of range. So... how much should I put on Sam's bill," she said, changing the subject abruptly.

"Charge it all to Sam! Plus my dinner, plus whatever else you can add; and give yourself a nice tip too!"

Beth laughed again before asking if she shouldn't put some of it on John or Tom's tab.

"Oh no you don't, not a chance. Put it all on Sam's tab. Tom will be buying you a new wardrobe and some Ropers too! Make sure that you spend his whole check; he thinks you are going to be thankful afterwards."

"Not that I'm complaining, but why is he buying me clothes"?

"He is replacing the clothes that he took out of your locker today, Beth".

"But you brought those back; you even had them washed!"

"He doesn't know that, so make sure that you don't wear any of them again until after you've gone shopping. It would probably cost you the new boots... and remember...you do not have to be thankful!"

"C'mon Flo, it's not like I haven't done Tom before, or Sam either for that matter."

"Well this time, just don't! Do that airhead face that you do; do it when he gets the bill. Then giggle and leave him hanging."

"Like this," Beth grinned malevolently before all traces of intelligence fled her face, leaving a vacant moue in its place. She then giggled and brought her hands up to her cheeks as in astonishment.

"Perfect," laughed Florence! "Those idiots won't suspect a thing! And don't go to Wal-Mart either; hit the western wear store; they charge more.

Beth giggled again and said, "Oh honey, what did they do to you now?"

"They made me wear your stupid shirt to meet a couple of humans who were intruding on our land. And now they want me to play bimbo and try to work the men for more information on what they might have been doing there."

"Hey! I like that shirt!"

"Yeah, I suppose. But would you wear it to meet a couple of humans that you didn't know-one of whom was reasonably attractive?"

"Well... no."

"Exactly, and now I have to play airhead and try to talk to them. Can you teach me to make that stupid face that you make and you'd better show me right now before I get to drunk to remember how to do it?"

"Are you sure that you want to be drunk for this?"

"I don't think that I could do it sober and still be able to look at myself in the mirror."

"Oh come on Flo! You are a girl; embrace it! You said this guy was cute!"

"No, I said he was reasonably attractive for a human...who smelled like a gun...and who had snuck onto our land, and might be an enemy of the pack!"

"Like I said... cute," Beth laughed. "Bad boys are fun. It's not like you're gonna mate with him." Beth then batted her eyes suggestively and said, "Think of him as a rental".

Despite her best efforts, Florence laughed and the two women soon put their heads together and began to plot. Florence wasn't the quickest study on the subject of Blonde 101, but after a few tries, she was able to project a bit of helplessness—even though it did make her growl a bit, but the two women knew that human's ears wouldn't pick up a wolf's growling anyway.

After another pitcher of beer and an hour or so, Florence had stopped growling when she made what she was calling 'blonde faces'. It wasn't so much that she'd accepted her need to play the role, it was more a product of what she'd had to drink, a full bottle of single-malt whiskey and a couple pitchers of dark, rich ale. And while this was enough alcohol to drive the one hundred and twenty pound woman that she appeared to be into a coma, it was not quite enough to cause a wolf like Florence to begin to slur her speech.

"You'd better get something to eat honey," Beth advised on her next trip to Flo's table. "I'll bring you another bottle, but you'd better have a steak first. You want a baked potato and salad with that, or just a plate of fries?"

Glancing up at the front door, Florence said, "No Beth, hang on. Look at those two men who just walked in. Those are the guys. Maybe we can save Sam some money."

"Think blonde," Beth whispered as she put on her welcoming face and turned towards the front of the roadhouse to greet the two men".

At the other end of the room, William and Phil were standing in the alcove, allowing their eyes to adjust to the artificial lights of the roadhouse. Both men were extremely hungry, more in the mood for a quiet corner and a thick steak than they were for alcohol and revelry, although neither man would likely pass on those either. Taking a quick glance around the room, Phil spotted Florence in her booth eyeing them.

"Two o'clock in the booth," Phil hissed quietly.

Normally a wolf would have had little difficulty hearing this whisper, but with the jukebox thumping and the cheerful noises of the Friday night crowd in the only bar in the area, Florence hadn't a clue what the men were saying. She noticed that Phil was looking her way, but William seemed to be examining the bar off to her left. In reality, Will was peering out of the corner of his eyes, making sure to not turn his head and make it obvious where he was looking. He was well trained to not to show anyone his focus; his time in Afghanistan had taken care of that lesson. It wasn't that William was expecting insurgents to leap out from behind the bar and open fire, not here, in a small mountain town way off the beaten track and deep within the Pacific Northwest. Old habits die hard however, and he figured that an excess of caution never hurt anyone.

Seeing that the only threat was a certain pretty brunette, he relaxed, giving Phil a somewhat jaundiced look before saying, "You put me in combat mode for that?"

"She looks dangerous to me, dude," Phil grinned back. "I wonder where that Billington guy is. If she belonged to me; I wouldn't let her out of my sight! Oh hey, whoa...look what's coming our way now; that looks edible too. I think we're gonna like this place!"

Now close enough to hear what the two men were whispering over the din, Beth grinned and greeted them with a friendly wave, "Welcome to the Whiskey Lake Roadhouse gentlemen. Are ya here to eat, to drink, or to dance?"

Phil leaned into her and smiled back with a leer, "Ma'am, I have two left feet and a sore back, but if'n you'll dance with me, I'll give it a shot!"

"Dinner first," William interrupted. "Can you find us a nice dark corner? Maybe over that way somewhere," he said while waving in the general direction of Florence's booth.

Smiling back at the two men, Beth directed them to follow her, and set about leading them through the crowded bar, past a few empty spots, and then directly to Florence's table. She looked down at her friend and said, "Hey Florence, we're pretty full tonight; would you mind sharing?"

"No we couldn't possibly..." William started to say, but the words were barely out of his mouth when Florence put the vacant look on her face and answered, "I was just about to order dinner guys, if you are paying, I'd be glad to share my table!"

Not missing a moment, Philip crowded around his buddy and flopped down next to the young woman. Winking triumphantly at Will, he picked up a menu and pretended not to notice the look of annoyance on his friend's face. Realizing that he had been out-played, Will, scowling, sat across from Florence.

Never in her life had men fought over Florence. She had flatly refused humans and driven off most of the wolves that had been interested in her. Although she had a few experiences with men over the years, she didn't know how to react to a situation like this. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or flattered, or maybe something else. Even though she knew it by heart, she hid behind the menu for a moment and pretended to study it, as if deep in thought over what to order. Suddenly she remembered that she was supposed to be a dim-witted bimbo tonight, a 'brunette blonde' if you will. Why should she react at all? Surely men fought over girls like her all the time, why should tonight be any different?

Her nerves settled down as the three made small talk for a few minutes, discussing the menu and what might be good tonight. Philip confidently drove most of the conversation, frequently making a point to touch Florence's arm while asking questions about the bar and the small town, even requesting for her to tell him about the local countryside. Flo did her best to stay in character, keeping a vacant look on her face and ordering the most expensive things on the menu, while continuing to bide her time as the human men had a few before-dinner drinks.

While they talked, Florence once again found William's voice to be arresting, even a bit arousing. She tried several times to catch his scent, but had no luck whatsoever. The two men had obviously showered after their hike in the woods, but Phil had seemingly followed that up by drowning himself in some sort of cologne. Florence thought it smelled like a gallon of Old Spice, and the aroma was overpowering; so instead of scenting William, she closed her eyes and just listened to his voice. She found herself sinking into it, letting it sweep over... and through her. It had a dark, silky rhythm that seemed to reverberate within her, slipping into her mind and coursing through her veins. When he spoke, it was with a cadence that seemed to match the beating of her heart.

Noticing that the table had gone quiet, she shook her head to clear William's voice out of it and opened her eyes to see the two men staring at her, confusion in their eyes. Blushing, she quickly looked away. Neither man commented for a moment, which managed to extend her embarrassment even longer.

The tableau was finally broken when Beth arrived to take orders for the next round. While speaking to the men, she placed her hand on Florence's shoulder and mentally sent, "Flo, I've never seen you blush... ever. I didn't think our Amazon could blush!"

Her face filled briefly with panic, Florence sent back, "His voice, Beth; he speaks and I lose focus. I never lose focus... ever. I can't lose it right now; I have a job to do!"

Speaking aloud again, Beth smiled at the men and said, "My break is coming up; can I borrow Florence for a minute? I'll send her right back; I promise!" Then without waiting for an answer, she turned to Florence and said, "C'mon honey, come with me to the little girl's room; I gotta share some gossip with you. It's good stuff!"

Florence stumbled to her feet and quickly fled the table, not once making eye contact with either of the men. As the women disappeared into the ladies room, William looked at his friend and wondered if the girl had had too much to drink. "It seemed as she kept fading in and out."

"She digs me, dude," Phil grinned back. "I told you that she needed my firm hands!"

Will snorted before saying, "I still think she belongs to Billington, though she's not wearing a ring. You had better be extra careful bro'."

Phil leered at his friend and said, "Careful is not a word that I intend to use with regard to her. Didya see that ass when she walked away?"

"Dude, you are a pig!"

Phil winked at his friend and began to make oinking and snorting noises.

"Her eyes, Phil, did you see her eyes," William murmured, but Philip wasn't listening any longer. He had already moved on and begun ogling the pretty young singer that had arrived with the band that was currently setting up on the bar's tiny stage.

Over in the ladies room, a different conversation was taking place.

"Beth, I've never lost focus like that! Something about that man... Thank the Goddess that you were there to pull me out; surely I would have done something stupid by now."

"Flo, for once in your life, maybe you should do something stupid. If that man is driving you that crazy, maybe you should try him out. Like I said earlier, he's only a human. Think of him as a rental. Use him, and then return him from where you got him."

"I just couldn't, Beth!"

"Why not, it's not like you're a virgin. You got rid of that over fifty years ago. I know you haven't let many wolves near you since then, but surely it hasn't grown back!"

"I'm not like you Beth! I don't do the girly stuff. All I ever wanted was to be was a warrior; if I let the men sniff around me, I'll be risking my position in the pack. I can't be weak; I have to be stronger than they are!"

"So this guy is perfect for you then. He isn't pack; there will be no struggle over position. He's human, so there's no way that he's your mate. Hell, go enjoy yourself for once!"

"What about my mission though? I'm supposed to get information from them. Alpha gave me a job to do and it's important to the pack."

"Tell ya what," Beth smiled, "I'll work the other guy. I think he is more my type anyway. Besides he'll probably talk more than your guy will; I'll just wave my girls at him and remind him that he owes me a dance. He looks like the type that'd spill his guts if I give him a handful."

"Beth, he stinks. I think he drowned himself in that cologne he's wearing."

The bar maid laughed for a moment and then said, "Yeah, I gotta cover that up somehow. Hey... I've got an idea. I'll 'accidently' dump a pitcher of margaritas on him; that ought to cover up the smell!"

Florence laughed heartily and replied, "Just don't splash it on me; I don't want to stain my boots."

By the time Florence returned to her booth, most of the tables had been pushed out of the middle of the room and into the corners. Seeing that Phil's focus was upon the band and thinking to put her self out of the coming splash zone, she slid back into the booth without speaking, isolating Phil in the corner where she had been sitting. It wasn't too long thereafter when Beth arrived with an overfull tray full of drinks, including several pitchers of beer and one of frozen margaritas. That's when the ladies' plan began to go awry.

Like most bar bands, the one playing was loud, very loud. Because of the volume of the music, Florence never had a chance to hear Beth coming with her heaping tray of ammunition. And just as Beth leaned forward to begin the deodorization of Phil, Florence caught a brief flicker of motion in her peripheral vision, causing her defensive training to kick in. She spun to deflect the 'threat', driving her forearm out to redirect the projectile. She struck the bottom of the tray with a solid shot and managed to dump the entire contents directly into William's chest. The only part of their plan that went correctly was when Florence subconsciously brought her hands up to her cheeks and perfectly executed her 'blonde face'; And while it was a thing of beauty, no one actually saw her performance because now everyone was looking at Will.

William, however, had witnessed Florence's speed. Shocked that this beautiful, yet apparently dim female had executed a defensive move that was faster than anything that he could perform himself, he froze just long enough to allow the entire contents of the tray to completely douse him, the crushed ice from the margaritas managing to slide down his body and settle directly into his lap. He suddenly realized that he'd only believed that he'd been cold in his life before this moment, he'd been completely unprepared for the sensation of flash frozen testicles. Leaping from his chair, he knocked it flying into the dance floor, while managing to miss the look on Florence's face.

The chair, knocked into an extremely congested dance floor managed to drive a couple of dancers off of their feet. This in turn caused a bit of screaming, a lot of consternation and the singer to drop her microphone mid-song. The band stopped playing and the entire bar descended briefly into silence.

Most of the bar's patrons were presented with the spectacle of Will dancing around while lowering his pants and trying to dislodge the ice that had sunk into his shorts. Phil then began to laugh, which broke the tension and the rest of the bar soon followed suit in laughing at the sodden, now somewhat exposed William. Abashed, Will realized what he'd done and hastily yanked his pants back up. This, of course, only caused Phil to laugh even louder.

When the laughter had finally begun to quiet and the band was getting ready to play their next number, Beth smoothly leaned over the table far enough to give Phil a brief glimpse of her areolas, and sighed to William, "I am sooo sorry honey; I hope you can forgive me!" Then she turned her head to face Florence and suggested that she to take Will into the back office and help him clean up while she had a quick dance with the left-footed wonder.

Phil grinned at his luck and got up quickly, taking Beth's hand and accompanying her to the dance floor, his eyes never quite reaching her face. Beth smiled naughtily when Phil leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Been a bar-maid for quite a while have you?"

"Centuries," she responded. He had no way of knowing that she was telling the truth.

After the two left the booth, Florence still bright red from embarrassment, grabbed William's arm and led him into the office area that was directly behind the bar. Closing the door, she directed him to sit down while she went to fetch some bar towels. William watched her walk directly to the closed cabinet where they were stored. He was briefly distracted by her backside when she bent over to pick up the towels, but he nevertheless realized that she certainly seemed to know her way around the back office.

His eyes narrowing, he began to put things together. When she got back to his chair, he asked, "Where did you get your training? Even my sensei never moved that fast; and you can drop the dumb-blonde act too. I am not buying it; there is no way that an airhead could move like that!"