Crew Mates Season One, Episode One Read online

  Crew Mates

  Season One Episode One

  Ellie Pond

  Mountain Keep Publishing

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  1

  A loud crash and quick steps echoed in the hallway. A thump on her door made her jump. Something bounced off her cabin wall. Muffled cries of “Stop being loud” came from other rooms as laughter floated under her door.

  She slid down from the top bunk. She could nap between lunch and dinner services tomorrow? Naomi laughed. That would never happen. Her passengers moved to the Hoard dining-room tomorrow, which meant she would have to spend the time getting dressed in the gold pantsuit.

  She put on her black sleeveless shift dress and a pair of black sandals. At the last moment she snatched her canvas pack from her desk and slid the long strap across her body. Something snagged the button on the front of her dress. She examined her bag. Her embroidered patch from Denali was loose. With a little tug she decided that it wouldn’t fall off tonight. She opened her small crew cabin door. Daniel stood in the hall, again. She rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted or needed to deal with tonight was him.

  “Daniel. Collette’s not here.” Zach, Daniel’s roommate, stood beside him. She nodded to them and swooshed past to the crew lounge.

  “Hey, Naomi, where are you going?” Zach called out. Naomi raised her hand over her shoulder and waved. The stupid lynx reminded her too much of her own brother. A thud rang behind her. What were they, twelve? She didn’t want to look but couldn’t stop herself. Zach pushed Daniel as he kicked at the ball wedged between Daniel’s foot and the wall. Two more guys ran down towards them, their attention at the ball. Billy and Chad.

  “Hey, girl.” Billy waved at her as he kicked at the ball. She was surprised to see them hanging out with Chad. But not that much. Friends on the ship were important. Technically they were all a pack and Captain Matthias their alpha. But friends were the thing that kept you and your animal tethered. And Billy was a good friend.

  “Hi, Billy.” Naomi stopped as her roommate Collette rounded the corner near the elevator. Collette pushed her way through the now four guys gathered near their cabin door.

  “Naomi, wait.” Collette weaved through the guys. “Move it, wolf,” she said, shoving Daniel aside as she jogged down towards Naomi. The guys quieted. No doubt watching Collette as everyone did. A Viking princess with grace, she had the curves that shifter guys loved, wavy strawberry hair and cloudless blue eyes. Even in her uniform from the Hoard restaurant—the uniform that no one looked good in—brown pants with a gold shiny top with a ruffled collar—she held court in it.

  “What happened to the nap?”

  “Too much noise.”

  “Yes, that is becoming a problem, isn’t it? You could talk to Edvard about it. I am sure he would be happy to take care of the problem for you.” Collette glanced at the pack near their door.

  Naomi shrugged her shoulders. “No. It’s not an issue. Just a little hard to sleep with all the noise.” And she wasn’t taking anything to Edvard. He would use it as an excuse to get to change their arrangement. And right now, she liked the friends with benefits. She didn’t want to make it more. And who knows what Edvard as an officer would do to Daniel and Zach. Daniel’s assignment kept him at the front desk, but did lots of special tasks around the ship. If a supervisor or officer needed gofered around the ship, they asked Daniel. And Zach worked in the guest administration office. Naomi had no idea what they did, other than walk around the ship in quick step from place to place.

  Collette put her arms up. “Sleep isn’t something I have problems with. Lion shifters can sleep anywhere, anytime.” Collette’s face scrunched up. “Sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay. I know it’s weird.” Naomi turned. “I am going to the lounge if you want to come by later.”

  “Definitely. You sure you’re okay? I didn’t mean to…”

  “Collette, I am fine. Don’t worry about me. I have a thicker skin than most.”

  “I know.” Collette linked arms with Naomi, leading her away from their cabin. And away from the sensitive ears of the guys. They zigged down the hallway, past the block of larger interior cabins, reserved for large shifters and senior crew, to a sitting alcove far enough away from where they had left the guys. Collette sat on the little chair across from the sofa, Naomi sat too.

  “I’ve never met a cat shifter with insomnia. I’ll say it again—go see Dr. Cottage.”

  “Collette, I feel like I’ve known you my entire life. But it’s nothing. I’ve been thinking about home a lot lately.”

  “You mean thinking about Braxton.” Collette crossed her legs.

  Hearing his name hurt. Naomi didn’t say it often. They were inseparable. For five years they dated. They talked about how great they were together. How they were fated mates. Naomi believed they were mates. But her mother didn’t want her to go through the ceremony until she finished college. The ceremony would let make her an official adult, with all of her senses unlocked. She would be able to find her real mate. But she didn’t need to find her real mate. Because she knew it was Braxton.

  “He was my fated mate. I’ll never have a mate; he’s dead. It rips me apart that he’s gone. It’s selfish, but I watch happy passengers and it guts me.” Collette didn’t respond. This wasn’t the first time they had this conversation. “Braxton was my mate.”

  “Naomi…” Collette paused.

  Shit, this conversation made her frustrated.

  “There’s no way you could have known. You hadn’t gone through your adulthood ceremony.”

  “When I was with him I was so happy. It was more than love.”

  “Sounds like lust to me, but…I don’t doubt that you loved him. That’s obvious, but he’s gone. And if he was your mate, wouldn’t he have come back for you? Even if his family disowned him for it?”

  “I told you I think he’s dead. I can’t feel him.” Naomi glared down the hallway. She could hear the guys playing ball and they were coming this way.

  Collette sighed. Naomi stood and stepped away. Collette grabbed her hand. “Naomi, stop. What if he wasn’t your mate? You have to at least consider it.” It was the same thing her brother had said, and he was Braxton’s best friend. They were practically brothers. Naomi’s lynx hissed.

  “Don’t you hiss at me. You’re an appetizer for my lioness.” Collette released Naomi’s arm. A growl emerged from her core. “If you want to keep you head up your own ass, that’s fine with me. You’re only hurting yourself.”

  Daniel and Zach were steps away from Collette now. Naomi’s face flushed. “Leave me alone, Collette.”

  “What the hell is going on here?” Daniel jumped in between Naomi and Collette.

  “Looks like a real catfight.” Billy said.

  Collette’s eyes flashed her lioness.

  Zach pushed Daniel against the wall. “Are you trying to get sent to the infirmary? What’s going on, Naomi?” Zach asked his fellow lynx. His tufted blond hair still flapped around on his head, but his usual easy-going smile was replaced with a stern face.

  “Nothing. I was just leaving.” Naomi stomped down the hallway, each step difficult as her lynx fought for control. She needed to stay in control and prevent a shift. If Collette shifted, it wouldn’t be good for her or any of them in the little hallway.

  Music drifted out of the propped open door from the crew lounge. While it wasn’t as large or as glamorous as the passenger lounges or bars on the upper decks, their little hideaway on the second deck was comfortable. With black upholstered walls, velvet furniture, and a black illuminated dance
floor, it reminded her of a womb. A womb designed by a turn of the century madame. Along three edges, booths hugged the walls. On the fourth side, a battered stainless bar top gleamed. Kellen, the bartender, towered over the bar. At the end of the bar Naomi found an empty stool. She dropped her bag on the floor. Kellen directed two young shifters around, mixing drinks and waited on other crewman. Naomi knew them from the kitchen, both were dish washers. They hung around together constantly. Neither of them could shift. Most shifters experienced their first shift as children, some as early as babies. Almost all could shift around or right after puberty. Rarely a shifter would have their first shift later in life. And then some children, born to shifters, never shifted. They couldn’t call their animal. Naomi shifted for the first time at eighteen, not long after she and Braxton had started dating.

  The two apprentices behind the bar—dish washers by day—were canines. Though non-shifting, their wolf scent stuck in her nose. Ever since Braxton had disappeared, the smell of wolves made her sick to her stomach. Naomi’s favorite mixed drink appeared in front of her. Kellen motioned for her to take a sip.

  “How’s it?” he asked.

  “Good.” Naomi raised the glass to Kellen’s apprentice, who beamed back at her before taking off down to the end of the bar.

  Kellen smiled down at her. “Now what’s going on with you, lass? I haven’t seen you so sullen in a long time.”

  “I yelled at Collette, for no reason.” Was it no reason? Collette had no right to push her that way.

  “Aye.” Kellen grabbed a glass out of the tiny female apprentice’s hand. “Not that way.” He tilted the glass more, shaking his head as he took over pouring the beer. Kellen had on a black T-shirt and orange running shorts, a far cry from what he wore while helping the guests upstairs. “You’ll not learn if you don’t listen,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Naomi waited for him to say something else to her. His words of wisdom were legendary amongst the crew and passengers. But he didn’t return. Her stomach churned. She drank her drink, but watching Kellen being frustrated with his apprentices didn’t give her the usual amusement.

  Rama sat down next to Naomi, but in the next moment she stood on the side of her barstool, leaned over, grabbed a glass and expertly poured herself a beer. She turned to Naomi. “Hey, I am not having either one of those idiots pour for me. It’s bad enough to have to watch them. But what’s a girl going to do?” Kellen nodded and waved to her from the other end of the bar top.

  Naomi laughed. It was impressive that Rama could reach that far being that petite. Rama ruled the roost as the head bartender of the small bar on the pool deck, the one by the churro stand. If Rama could get over her aversion to alphas and alpha waves, she could be the head bartender of the large bar on the pool deck.

  Not that Naomi spent much time on the pool deck. If she wanted sun, she went to the small crew pool on the aft of the ship. It wasn’t much, but it was fun when you had a minute off.

  “You’re being watched,” Rama said as she sashayed across the bar to booth on the far side.

  Two drinks later, she searched the room for the person watching her. The dance floor was now crowded. Bodies gyrated in unison. While most shifters wanted their true mate, they were all sexual creatures and more than willing to help fulfill each other's cravings. When Naomi had come on board, she had found friends with benefits relationships. But when the waves of Braxton settled over her all. At times all she could think about was how much she missed him. How he was gone forever, without an explination. She wanted to be left alone. She expected to see Collette staring at her from across the room. But Edvard’s hazel eyes beamed at her. Her head pounded, and while drinks didn’t normally affect her, she had to admit that maybe the apprentice had poured her last one a little stronger than normal. Naomi shook her platinum short hair and let it settle away from her ears. Edvard watched her every move. Maybe that was what she needed tonight, a little human roll around with Edvard. Naomi gave him a crooked smirk as she walked towards the booths. But three yards out from her target, Daniel stepped in front of her.

  “Dance with me.” While he didn’t have the bulk of shifter male, he was taller than her by half a head over her and she was tall for a female shifter. She didn’t see Edvard anymore.

  “Daniel, I don’t want to dance. Right now.” Naomi stepped to the side of him, and the music changed to the current song, the one that the sous chefs kept singing. And while normally that would irritate her, she loved this song. Daniel pointed up to the speaker.

  “It’s a good one. One dance. It won’t kill you.”

  Naomi laughed. Why did she laugh? Her eyes skimmed over Daniel. Was he bigger than the last time she really looked at him? On the off load of the last cruise they had lunch together on the deck. It hadn’t been that bad of a time. He was funny. Persistent, but charming in his own way. He hadn’t asked about Collette either—an oddity for most of the guys on the ship.

  He took her hand and led her out into the crowd of familiar bodies. He twirled her to the song and dipped her once. Edvard watched them. He didn’t seem amused. Well, it didn’t matter; they didn’t have a relationship, only an arrangement. Daniel pulled her in to his chest, her hand landing on it. He whispered into her ear, “I don’t see what you see in him.”

  “Who?”

  “Edvard.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s just a thing.”

  “You deserve better than just a thing.”

  The music morphed into the next song, and Naomi leaned back and peered into his blue eyes. “That’s all I will ever have.”

  Naomi pulled away. With a glance over her shoulder, Edvard still glared at them. Collette stood near the rear door, talking to Zach. She needed air, and with a few quick steps she left the lounge and was back out into the corridor and up the service stairs.

  The kitchen door swung behind her. She wove in between carts and the stacks of dishes, waiting for the morning service. Back to the far end of the dark kitchen. A light shone onto the floor from the crack in Marilyn’s office door. She stopped to knock.

  “Naomi? Get in here.” Marilyn’s round voice rang out. Naomi opened the door. Marilyn sat behind her desk wearing a floral dress with a realistic fake flower behind her left ear and one long gray braid hanging down her back. Piles of papers towered on the desk—recipes from the chefs, lists of schedules for staff, and a large purple ledger lay open on her desk.

  Marilyn pointed to her nose. “Best sniffer on the ship.” She hadn’t looked up yet. Naomi hovered near the open chair across from her desk that held a large white tote bag full of books. “Move the bag.” Marilyn peeked up. “Oh, Naomi.” Marilyn stood and put her hand on Naomi’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s nothing, I didn’t mean to bother you.” She went to stand, but met resistance from the little woman’s hand, who pushed her back into the chair.

  “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me why you came here. It’s not nothing, baby.” Marilyn leaned on her desk, paper pushing in towards the empty space by her chair.

  “I didn’t mean to bother you, I just…” She propped her head up with her fists. She would not cry.

  “You could never bother me, now spill.” Marilyn scrunched her nose at Naomi, the kitchen so silent that her heartbeats echoed. Marilyn’s was steady and her own a double time. She looked away and back again.

  “It’s nothing, Collette doesn’t believe me that my mate is dead.”

  Marilyn bit her cheek and waited.

  “But he is. Braxton is dead. There is no way that he would leave and not come back for me.”

  Marilyn smoothed her dress.

  “I know what you’re thinking, He was my mate.”

  “And are you sure? What if it was a big crush? A massive life-altering crush. I mean, I only thought about David Hasselhoff for a whole year. Doesn’t mean he’s my mate.”

  “Right well, the Hoff isn’t exactly hanging around your cabin. And my instincts ar
e usually right.”

  “And you both had shifted and had the scent? Gone through the ceremony?” Marilyn asked.

  “No. But it’s hard to explain. It’s my instinct.”

  “Instincts can be wrong and they can skew your perception of what your reality is. Who is hanging around your cabin? Hmm?”

  “Daniel. Because of Collette.”

  “No, he’s totally got the hots for you. You have some mighty big blinders on.”

  Marilyn stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk. She sat in the chair and propped her feet up on the tiny, tattered, lime green ottoman under the desk.

  “I am not saying that you don’t know it. But I will ask you to think hard about what you believe to be true. Make sure it’s the truth and only your truth. That you don’t rule out other possibilities.” She paused. “You are one of the most assured young shifters I’ve ever met. I have not doubted that you will find your way.”

  “Thank you. I am not ruling anything out, I need others to see that. Thank you, Marilyn.” Naomi stood up.

  “Naomi?” Marilyn called.

  Naomi paused and held on to the office doorjamb, her body half out of the room.

  “Naomi, you’re welcome. But you don’t have to make others see anything. You need to live your own happiness.”

  Naomi ran to Marilyn and hugged her. “I will. You’re the best.”

  “True.”

  Steps far behind her in the hallway picked up. She rounded the corner and flattened herself against the first near wall. Edvard charged around the bend and jumped at the sight of her so close.

  “What are you doing?” He gazed at her.

  “Nothing. Are you following me?”

  “What if I was?” He put his hands on the wall on either side of her.

  “Then I would have to… Run.” She ducked under his arm, moving quicker than he could snatch at her. Naomi jogged down the hall. She laughed over her shoulder at him, stopping for a second until he took off after her as she ran towards his cabin.