Chapter 81 Rose

*Rose*

After work, we went to the corner cafe to wait for Diana. I seated myself near the window about two tables down from where Josie was seated. I felt bad betraying my bestfriend, but I needed money. She had a lot of it and wanted to retire to the Caribbean. I wanted to do that too, eventually, but the money I had saved up wasn't enough to enjoy the rest of my days sitting at a beach enjoying mojitos.

I watched quietly as Diana walked up to Josie and noticed the joy on Josie's face when Diana started talking to her. Diana definitely had her bone structure and you can clearly see they were related. Josie was a Lockwood by marriage. She was the former Luna of the Lotus Pack.

When I met Josie, I was a rogue without shelter. I was hoping I could find decent work in the Big Apple after I was banished by my good for nothing greedy Alpha, but there was just so many of us seeking employment that I could never make the final cut of applicants.

When Josie passed by, walking towards the hotdog stand I was planning to rob, I caught her scent and discovered she was also wolf, yet she looked clean and decent. I was surprised that instead of buying a hotdog, she was given a small sachet filled with white powder. She was a druggie.

"That isn't a hotdog," I told her when she passed by me again to head back from where she came from. She sniffed me and she automatically knew I was wolf too. "You look like you have food to eat, but if you continue with your little habit there, in the long run, you won't."

"Why would you care about what I do, Rogue?" The she-wolf asked.

"Aren't you a rogue yourself?" I scoffed at her. She and I were alike, the only difference was, she obviously had taken a bath. Ugh! What I would give just to take a bath! That's when I came up with the idea to help her out of her 'predicament so I could stay at her place for free. "How about this? You give me some food to eat and a roof over my head until I find a job of my own and I will help you get clean. One month. That should be enough to stop that little habit of yours."

She looked at me, debating whether to get clean or not. She then sighed and nodded her head, agreeing to my terms. "Fine," she said. "My place isn't far from here." She pointed towards the direction of her home and was about to take a step towards that direction when I stopped her. She still had the sachet in the palm of her hand.

"Let's go and buy a couple of hotdogs. Give that sachet back and ask for a refund. Don't worry. I got your back. Come on." I pushed her towards the hotdog stand. Once we got there, she handed the sachet back to the vendor and asked for a refund.

"Jo, you know I don't give out refunds. I'll just keep the money until you decide when you want some merchandise," the vendor said, smirking at her. "Knowing you, you'll be back begging in a couple of hours."

"No refund?" I pressed my face so close to his, he could smell my stinking breath. "How about I take all these hotdogs and tell the nice policeman over there what you actually sell?" I told him.

"How about I kill your friend here, snitch?" The vendor pulled out a pocket knife. I laughed at him and showed him my fangs.

"How about I rip your throat out and keep your hotdog stand?" I sneered back. His eyes widened like saucers and he quickly pulled out the money from his pocket, handing it back to Josie.

"I want two hotdogs with everything on it. Oh, and a can of Pepsi. And if I catch you selling to her again, I will hunt you down and make you bleed to death." He nodded his head while he prepared the hotdogs I ordered. I needed to eat so I could have enough energy to take care of Jo.

Withdrawal is never a pretty sight. I had to strap her to the bed so she wouldn't give in to the cravings. She was also in a very, very bad mood. Good thing she couldn't shift because off all the drugs in her system. If she could shift, I'd be another wolf who died because I wanted to play  hero.

When the monkey sweats began, she had hallucinations and would talk in her sleep. I ate whatever I could find through the whole entire process. Unfortunately, the food inside the house was gone after a couple of days since I never stopped eating so, I had to go out and do some grocery shopping.

I rummaged through her purse and found several thousand dollars in cash. Her ID's said her name was Jocelyn Walker. No wonder the hotdog vendor called her Jo. I took some cash and did our grocery shopping. I came back and took care of her until the monkey sweats stopped. That's when I unstrapped her from the bed and made her soak into the tub to get the horrid smell off of her.

I'm no saint. I went through her belongings when she was asleep. I found some gold bars and a briefcase full of money. I could have just stolen the money and the gold and left her to rot, but I decided we were better off together and maybe if I stuck by her, she would help me get to where I wanted to go.

When she was a hundred percent clean and able to go back to being a productive citizen, she purchased a two bedroom apartment for the both of us. She said I was her lucky charm and didn't want me to leave. We needed each other and if she could make me stay by providing a roof over my head, so be it.

We started as chambermaids in a small disgusting hotel. We bought the no-scent elixir from some mage that owned a laundry shop near Central Park. Before, the elixir only cost twenty dollars a vial because there were so many mages selling the stuff until the Council of Wolves started cracking down on the use of the elixir. When Charles Vanderbilt became the High Lord Wolf, the elixir became an illegal substance, the mages became wanted felons and human and wolf relations became an abomination.

When the Wolf Troops began knocking on every mage's door, the mage who we bought the elixir from said he would give us all his stash if we could provide him with the money up front. He needed to pay off some Wolf Troops so he could have safe passage to the airport to leave the country and he was strapped for cash. Josie bought all his stock which were just a couple of full boxes. She gave me a box and told me to use it sparingly.

Well, unlike Josie, I didn't have a lot of money and most of my hard-earned money went to food. As an omega in my pack, my family and I weren't given the luxury of eating until our bellies were full. Although Josie did most of the grocery shopping for the both of us, I would splurge on food, dining at any restaurant and fastfood joint my money could afford. So to make extra cash, I sold the vials Josie had given me, a few at a time. Anyway, after all the stock was gone, we had to go back to buying from the black market.

As chambermaids in some shitty hotel, we heard a new hotel named the Crowne Plaza was hiring and decided to apply. We were hired to do housekeeping and our wage was a significant increase from our previous employer. I started pulling my weight around the apartment, purchasing groceries we needed and appliances we both could use.

Fast forward to the beginning of the 21st century. Josie and I were now chefs at the Four Seasons after going to culinary school which Josie paid for. One morning, while we were getting ready for work, I saw her bank book lying on the kitchen countertop and decided to take a look. My eyes widened at the amount. Aside from that briefcase of cash and gold, she had a bank account worth several millions of dollars! Josie obviously was part of wolf high society so why in the world was she working double shifts with me cleaning toilets and picking up condoms for the past years when she should be going to the spa and having her nails done? I had to get answers.

One day, after visiting our black market elixir supplier, Josie was shocked that the price of one vial was now worth two hundred dollars. We heard there was a new kingpin in the city who answered to the name of One and what One decrees, it is followed by the rogues.

"So what, Josie? It isn't like you can't afford it," I remarked infront of our supplier.

"That's not the point, Rose," she said, saying my name firmly. "I just bought a vial a couple of months ago at eighty dollars. Now it costs two hundred!"

"Take it or leave it. If you aren't going to buy, beat it! I'm a busy wolf," our supplier said.

"Fine! Give me five vials so at least it will last me until the end of the year," Josie said.

"What about me?" I asked her. She knew me as her freeloading friend.

"Buy your own," she scoffed at me. She slammed the money infront of the supplier, took her five vials, put it in her purse and stormed out of the supplier's bar unto the open sidewalk.

"Hey! Wait up for me!" I ran after her, grabbing her hand and spinning her around to face me. "What is your problem, Josie?"

"My problem is you. Didn't we agree NO NAMES? What the hell, Rose?!" She exclaimed.

"Why do you have to hide, Josie? What are you hiding from me?" I asked her. I placed my face so close to herd and whispered, "Why do you have millions of dollars in your bank account? Why do you have gold? Why do you have to work as a maid when you can afford to hire a maid of your own? Hmmm, Josie? Why?"

She looked at me stunned. "You've gone through my things?!"

"You left your bank book on the kitchen countertop. I just wanted to see how much you've saved for retirement. I was expecting several hundred thousand dollars, not several millions," I told her.

She looked around, making sure no one was listening to us. "I can't tell you here. Let's go home and order Chinese. Then I'll tell you all you want to know."

When we got home with my favorite Chinese food infront of me, she told me who she was. She was Josephine Lockwood, the Luna of Eric Lockwood and the mother of the missing Alpha Lucas Lockwood. I was so stunned, the noodles slipped from my mouth. I knew she was rich, but a Luna of one of the richest packs in the country?! No way!

She faked her death because she embezzled millions from her mate and because Eric had found out about her cocaine addiction. Her mate was known to kill anyone who was an obstacle in achieving his ambitions and he would not allow his Luna, of all people, to besmirch his good name.

She was so grateful to the Moon Goddess that she brought me to her. I had helped her get clean and because of that, she had saved all her money which would be a substantial amount in ten years time after her investments mature and  pour in more money into her bank account. She even promised me a couple of millions of dollars in her will as well as all the property she had under the name Jocelyn Walker once she dies. The rest of her money, on the other hand, will be put into a trust for her grandchildren.

I promised her I would keep her secret while she promised me she would take care of me and help me financially so I wouldn't have to think of money again because she had enough money for the both of us. Josie had one request though. She made me swear that when she neared her deathbed, I would contact her youngest, Athena Lockwood. She had an important message for her and it was a promise she had to fulfill in the name of her dead father. If she were to die before Athena made the effort to contact her, Josie's lawyers will make sure that Athena recieves a letter she had written for her.

"Josie, why do you need to put the money in a trust? Why can't you just give all of it to your daughter?" I asked.

"The money needs to be in a trust to ensure future generations will do as I ask. The task I need them to do for me has to be passed on from one generation to the next until the vow has been fulfilled," she answered. I raised my eyebrow at her, a puzzled look on my face.

"What is this vow you keep talking about? And why does it have to be fulfilled?" There were just so many questions that needed to be answered, my head started to hurt. I rubbed my forehead with my fingers, trying to ease the pain my brain felt from the information overload.

"Sorry, Rose. That question is on a 'need to know basis'. Right now, you don't need to know. Anyway, it's nothing really. Just keeping something safe until I need to give it away," she said. "Hopefully to Athena if time permits."

Well, she now had someone better she could pass on that vow she spoke of. She had a granddaughter who was mated to Ethan Crowne, a socialite, the richest in the Pacific Coast.

Unfortunately, her granddaughter was on One's  list. He promised he would pay good money on any information about her, especially on anyone who was close to her and if possible, Diana's location.

I'm sorry, Josie. I need the millions of dollars you have stashed away. For the past few years, I have been practicing forging your signature and I have already bought colored contact lenses that match your eye color to take your place as Jocelyn Walker.

I also have a son and with your millions I can make him an Alpha who could stand against the atrocities of your kind and make the Omegas rule this world.

I was right about sticking by you, Josie. You are going to help me get to where I want to go.