Caleb narrowed his eyes at the blonde pixie wolf with a wry quirk of his lips. "I'm fairly certain that the boss isn't looking for the help of a sneaky thieving runt of a wolf," he told her. "I know exactly who you are, and I know you can't stand in the same block as a bag of hamburgers, let alone a whole restaurant full, without getting yourself into trouble." And putting her in a room-ful of temptation will only bring her brother back, a lot less reasonable than he was before.
He watched the hot wolf glance back her companion, skeptical. "Are you sure you can even work a job yet? You haven't been a wolf for very long, have you? You don't have the self-control for a job, and like he said, certainly not this one." She glanced back at him and gave him her winning smile again. "I, on the other hand, have mastered the art of self-control, but working for the Irish Burger King sounds about as appealing as pulling my nails out."
Caleb shrugged, grinning. "Can't blame you. This is no prime occupation experience. Certainly not for someone as high up in the pack pecking order as you."
Dayle laughed, genuinely surprised. "You noticed, did you?"
"Higher ranking dominant wolves tend to be the most outspoken, confident ones. Werewolf knowledge 101. Although I'll admit, I haven't seen a female as expressively dominant as you."
"I suppose so," Dayle agreed, leaning her elbows against the counter. "Not too many females make it to third in the pack."
Caleb whistled appreciatively. "Third? I've known females that made it to sixth in the pack, thinking they're hot stuff. But third? I'm impressed."
Dayle dimpled, clearly flattered. "Jeremy comes from a more progressive line of wolves. He's more interested in strong, loyal wolves being near him in rank than strong, loyal males. There aren't a whole lot of us to begin with, so he couldn't exactly be picky."
"An impressive Alpha, your Jeremy," Caleb said honestly. Allowing females into the mad scramble for ranking was less a gesture of woman's equality than it was an act against werewolf nature. Females were seen as weaker, more vulnerable than males, and were altogether far more rare and valuable to a pack than any other male other than the Alpha. That he allowed females to rank themselves among the males either spoke of Jeremy's desperation or his wisdom, and Caleb hadn't been around long enough to determine for himself which was the case.
Dayle bowed her head, accepting the compliment to her Alpha as if it were made to her. "He's a good guy and an even better Alpha. He'll also want to know about you being here," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
Caleb read the cues correctly, and inclined his head, tilting it a tad so that he exposed his throat. "Then I would be most grateful if you could pass on word of my presence to your Alpha."
Dayle giggled and leaned forward to tap Caleb on his exposed neck. Had this been an exchange between wolves, she would have leaned forward to nip the flesh instead of merely tapping it. An exposed throat was a sign of submission from one power to a greater power. Caleb was a man that understood pack rules, and yet exposed his throat to a female anyway. My my, this human is proving more and more interesting. Rosemary was right. He is a vastly entertaining new toy.