"Did you see the way he looked at me? It was like he thought I was about to tear him to pieces." Elijah complained gruffly as they walked away. There wasn't much light to begin with on the cloudy day, but what was left was fading quickly. 

"Well, you've got to make progress Alpha,"  Anna explained softly. It was meant as encouragement, but she was only half paying attention. She'd never been within a human village before and her eyes were a cheery yellow matching some of the exteriors of the shops. The longer they were there the less the sheer act of existing felt like an assault on their senses, and Anna having the weakest senses anyway was quickly warming up to Belford. 

"This is our alp- Elijah!" Daniel scoffed sarcastically, bumping her shoulder. She turned round and rolled her eyes at him. "Neither of you have any idea how to talk to humans. If we're gonna be kicking about Belford Bay for a while, we're gonna need to work on that."

"Shit man, it's just weird. We never really use each other's names." Anna shrugged.

"What do you mean if we're gonna be 'kicking around Belford Bay for a while,' Beta?" Elijah asked. His voice paused both those who walked down the wet stone street ahead of him.

"We're not just gonna drag him back by the tail, Alpha!" The girl snorted before being cut off by the sharp glare of the Alpha. She pursed her lips in annoyance and went back to cataloguing the buildings and signs that they passed. The inn was only two doors down, but Elijah was stalling so they didn't move fast. 

"She's right. You need to build a relationship with him. It's very easy to overwhelm humans, their emotions move a lot slower than ours do." Daniel stopped walking to explain. He spared a cursory look back towards where he knew Teddy had been. 

"I don't have time to be worrying about human emotions." Elijah gruffed, crossing his large arms across his chest pestilently. "I don't have time to be worrying about humans, period. My brother is hungry to take my place, do you understand? I've got to get Te- the boy back as soon as possible. I don't have time to move slowly."

"Alpha," Daniel attempted calmly. "You said it yourself... he was frightened of all of us, and that's only natural--"

"I'm not letting some damn human ruin our whole pack, Beta."

Anna, noticing the other two had stopped walking, dwindled in her own steps and stared up at the second stories of the shop buildings they were passing by. Each window above the little blue building marked 'Bakery' had a box of white flowers blooming and dripping from the water. 

"I'm not asking you to let a human ruin the pack," Daniel sighed heavily. "I'm asking you not to let your impatience ruin it."

Elijah's eyes flashed red and he growled deeply in warning. Daniel dropped his head in submission, but he didn't back down from his principles. With the most experience in human ecosystems under his belt, he knew he was right. Teddy didn't seem like the 'throw caution to the wind type' and demanding he act like that would only serve to seed resentment.

"If the human rejects you because you kidnap him, they'll be no going back. If you take your time and Sampson happens to make a move, you'll just have more of a reason to take him out than you already do." Daniel challenged, though his eyes were trained to the floor.

Anna let her eyes drift down from the buildings and over to her companions. She knew she ought not to get involved with the dealings of the higher ups of the pack, but she'd been invited on the trip regardless--- that meant her opinion must be worth something... she hoped. 

"I think Daniel's right, Alpha," Anna offered weakly. Both Daniel and Elijah looked to her, one in mild surprise, one in anger. "But not about everything. Love moves fast even for humans, maybe Teddy already likes you, and it's just a matter of flirting.... but you should test the waters before you jump in." 

Elijah looked between the two with rage. His anger wasn't just at the fact that they didn't agree with him, but it was rooted in Teddy's look at him. He was tough on the outside, but within his feelings were hurt. He'd wanted Teddy to be attracted to him, he'd imagined his mate and he having a perfect meeting--- but he didn't get that... perhaps even because of the same reasons his Beta and Omega were suggesting. That was difficult and it stung. 

"He has two weeks." Elijah stated firmly in a tone that demanded not to be argued with. "In two weeks I'm going back with or without him." He began walking again brushing past his two companions. It wasn't long before he reached the hanging sign of the inn as it swung gently in the wind. 

"Of course, Alpha." Daniel nodded. "Shall we go in?"

Elijah gave one harsh nod. 

The inn was a colonial styled building with thin white siding. It had small paned windows each which had black shutters that matched the black of the roof. Towards the side was a thin brick chimney that stretched to the roof and softly pumped white smoke out. In the din of the outside, the windows glowed with yellow light, but they were each shielded with a sheer curtain on the inside. 

The building had a large wrap around porch with iron fences and a red brick flooring. The whole of the porch had been done up with flag bunting hanging from the spandrels and surrounding the porch. Beneath the windows were large flower boxes filled with red and orange mums that gave the exterior a cheery disposition. In the corner was a small porch swing with a seersucker cushion, and an old man sat on it and sipped his coffee. 

The sign that hung on a chain between the two columns above the front steps read 'The Lafayette' in gold lettering that stood out against the navy background. Elijah growled angrily as the water on the sign dripped behind his jacket and down his neck.

"Evening," the man greeted. Daniel looked at him strangely for a moment, but decided against saying anything to him. The man probably should have been taken aback by the group, but perhaps there was something special in his coffee to keep him calm. 

Elijah harshly grabbed the red door of the building and yanked it open, marching in followed closely behind by Daniel and Anna.

Inside there was a woman at the front desk looking down at her computer, and another standing over her shoulder and bouncing a baby on her hip. They both looked up at the intrusion and their faces went equally blank with shock. The wolves weren't shocked at this reaction, but Anna-- the weakest in feelings of the three-- was still hurt by it. 

The rest of the inn had been done with oak paneling up to about the waist and pink floral wallpaper to the ceiling. The floors were a matching wood, but the center of the room was covered with a large pink rectangular rug. Aside from the desk, the room had a large wooden staircase, an archway into a dining room already set with silverware for the next morning, and an old grandfather clock in the corner. The windows had cream dressings and white sheer under curtains that tied in both the carpet and wallpaper together.

To a human, the inn probably appeared quaint, charming, if a touch dated, but to a werewolf it was garish and tacky. Wolves hardly ever liked bright colors, which were difficult on their eyes, and they detested pink most all colors. 

The wolves stared at the humans. The humans stared right back at the wolves. 

"Ma'am?" Daniel attempted after a moment of silence. The woman at the desk recoiled when he stepped forward as if he'd moved to hit her. "We were uh.... wondering if we could purchase a room?"

"Oh..." A darkness passed over the woman's face and she looked up to the other who was standing above her, as if asking confirmation as to whether or not this was a good idea. "Well you see--"

The baby in the second woman's arms looked over at Elijah and smiled playfully. Elijah met this reaction with fierce glare, and the baby quickly burst into tears. 

"Oh goodness gracious," The second woman snapped into action, pulling a pacifier from her purse and attempting to give it to the baby. "I'm sorry, I swear he isn't usually like this... My name is Mrs. Sullivan, and you are?" The woman reached out her hand to greet the group, but the baby at this action began crying even more frantically, and tossed the feeble pacifier to the ground. "For the love of--" 

"Why don't you take him on back, and I'll handle our guests," The first woman suggested. The second nodded and disappeared through the door behind the desk which presumably led to some kind of back room. As soon as she was away from Elijah the baby stopped crying. 

"Now you all said you wanted a room?" The woman raised her eyebrow in challenge. 

"Yes, Ms..."

"Ms. Dupont," The woman said firmly. "You want a room, Sir?" 

Her temper was short and she appeared annoyed by the suggestion that someone might want to rent a room... at an inn. 

"Yes Ma'am."

"For all three of you... large people?" The woman pushed her glasses off her nose to look at them above the lenses. 

Daniel looked to Elijah for confirmation and he just shrugged. They had a finite amount of money, so if it was just one room, it was just one room. 

"Yes Ma'am."

"Now you're aware our rooms each only have one bed? There's a sofa too, but-"

"We're aware, Ma'am."

The woman gave Daniel another strange look, before rolling her eyes and pulling the drawer beneath the computer open and digging around in there. Behind her on the wall were all the large old fashioned room keys.

Elijah looked down at his feet; patience had never been his strongest virtue and he had to resist the urge to yell at the woman to hurry herself up. Elijah hated the way human's looked at them. Just hated it. It was one of the only things in life that really made him feel small. He wanted to shout at them, assert his dominance. 

Teddy hadn't looked at them like that. He was afraid, sure... started, even. But there was no hint of judgement. Most human's glares carried a hint of judgement... but Teddy's fearful glance held none. 

Perhaps he was fated by the moon, Elijah thought.

"You want to stay here?" The woman repeated again, pulling a pencil from the drawer. It was as if she couldn't quite, or didn't want to, believe her ears. She caught herself, and shifted slightly in her chair. "Sorry.. I have a room.. that'll be fifty dollars for the night. Sixty-five if you all want breakfast in the morning."

Elijah shelled out a crinkled hundred dollar bill. "We'll be staying a while," he grunted. "We don't need breakfast." 

"Oh." Ms. Dupont did not attempt to hide her displeasure, apparently having hoped the price would scare them off.  She turned around and grabbed one of the old fashioned keys off the board that hung behind her. "It's going to be the first room... just up the stairs to the left. The bathroom is at the end of the hall. You all.. I hope you all enjoy your stay... alright?"

"Thank you, Ma'am." Daniel nodded, reaching out for the key. Ms. Dupont dropped it into his hand as if afraid to touch him, then nodded gently towards the stairs. 

"Enjoy your stay." She repeated with a knowing look, almost suggesting 'enjoy your stay, and don't get in my way.' 

Daniel handed Elijah the key as they walked up the stairs. He turned it over in his hand; it was an embossed medal, probably a bronze or something of the like. On the rounded base it had a depiction of a canon on one side and a Revolutionary War era soldier wearing a tricornered hat. Behind the man was a flag with only three stripes which Elijah assumed was meant to be the French flag. 

At the bottom there was slogan that read "Liberté, Souveraineté, Indépendance et Alliance : Maintenant et Pour Toujours." Elijah, unable to read French, shuffled the key into his other palm and made his way down the hallway. 

It, like the rest of the inn was pink, but the wallpaper in the hallway went all the way down to the baseboards. There was a pink floral runner that covered a good portion of the length down the hallways. 

The group's door was oak, like most of the wood in the inn, and had a large golden number one marking it. There were three doors on one side, four on the other, and another grandfather clock at the end of the room. 

Elijah pushed the key into the clock until it clicked, then pushed the door open. Inside their room it was just as pink as the rest of the inn, but to the wolves this was particularly offensive. They'd figured they could shut the pink out at night, but they were wrong. 

"It's... really something." Daniel chuckled, pushing his way into the room first. "She was a weird lady, but I wouldn't accuse her of being anything less than distinct." 

Anna smirked in agreement. 

The room had the same floral wallpaper and a similar rug that covered the majority of the space. There was a small wooden dresser in the corner, a queen sized bed fitted with a pink comforter, as well as a loveseat and chair on one end furnishing the room. 

Elijah and Daniel looked around in disappointment, as higher ups in the pack they were used to having whole suites to themselves, but to Anna, an omega, it was a perfectly good sized room. The wardrobe reminded Elijah that he had stupidly not thought to bring a change of clothes or anything else with him. He had just supposed he would grab his mate and be back home within the hour like fast food, but that had proved to be far from the truth. 

"One bed." Elijah repeated Ms. Dupont's words, looking at the small bed. "She was probably right about the bed being too small."

"She was." Daniel agreed. "Two boys in the bed, and girl on the couch?" Daniel elbowed Elijah playfully, earning a glare. 

"We can't share. Werewolves don't share." Elijah stated angrily. It was true, werewolves were far too territorial. If the group had to share there would be three very angry wolves in the morning-- stir crazy and frustrated. Nobody wanted that. 

"I was only joking, Alpha." Daniel let the smile fall off his face. "Anna can sleep on the sofa, I'll sleep on the ground in my wolf form. You can have the bed all to yourself."

Elijah lifted the pink covers and sniffed them incredulously. "I'm not sleeping on this. I'll just go out and sleep in the woods. We don't have enough money to stay here long, might as well get used to it."

"Alpha, I don't think that's wise." Daniel frowned.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because when you pass Teddy's house you'll catch his scent and you won't be able to go in the woods anymore." Daniel explained. "The last time we stayed outside his house, he saw you. The bond should be starting to take form in him as well. He might be starting to get a sense of your location, it's too dangerous." 

"Let him see me." Elijah shrugged. "Let the whole damn town see me. They'll make up whatever stories they want anyway."

Daniel frowned, but let the comment go unchecked.

"I know you've got a rash streak, Alpha, but raising more suspicion about the already strange strangers probably isn't the best plan." Anna pursed her lips. "We can go see Teddy in the morning."

"I-"

"A wolf sighting on the same night as our arrival doesn't look good. Who knows how superstitious these humans are. You saw how that lady at the desk looked at us!" Anna frowned. "We've got a bed. Just sleep in it." 

"Fine." Elijah grunted. Anna and Daniel looked at each other in shock that they were able to get the Alpha to relent, but let it go. "I'm showering." 

Elijah disappeared out the door and his heavy stomping footsteps could be heard moving towards where they assumed the bathroom was. Ms. Dupont was sure to be thrilled about her whole business shaking every time that wolf needed to walk somewhere.  

Anna watched the door after he left for an extra moment, before turning to Daniel who was already watching her. His eyebrows were arched in challenge.

"Don't even think about it." Daniel crossed his arms across his chest. 

"Think about what?" She frowned in confusion.

"About Alpha Elijah. You're lusting after him, it's a mistake."

"I'm not lusting after him!" Anna glared defiantly. "You just don't understand that he and I are really friends.. you're only friends with him because he's the Alpha."

"Don't think about it. The bond is-"

"Incredibly strong. I know." Anna sighed. "I know how bonds work. Even if I can't have one since I'm only and Omega... I know how they work. I don't have any feelings for Alpha Elijah."

"I think you should go home." Daniel shook his head. 

"Why? So you get to look like the perfect new Beta? And I look like the deserter Omega"

Daniel winced. 

"No. I think you should go home so you don't have to watch Elijah fall desperately in love with someone else."

"Don't worry about me." Anna frowned. "The Luna asked me to be here because even with all of his moods and everything I'm still the best person at calming him down. I have to do that, it's my duty to the pack."

"You have a duty to yourself, Omega." Daniel exhaled gently. "That should come first. I can handle the Alpha, you need to handle yourself. This is going to get very difficult for you very quickly."

"How do you know?"

"Because I have a mate." Daniel crossed his arms. "I know what it feels like, and Alphas feel that five times over. Look.... he's not going to reject Teddy and run into your arms, and you shouldn't want him to, because if he rejects Teddy he'll lose his wolf and Sampson will take over the pack."

"Shining moons," Anna rolled her eyes. "You don't need to worry about me. I know Elijah isn't going to reject his mate for me."

"We're a pack, and if one of my pack mates is hurting, then..."

"Well don't. I'm not hurting. I knew Elijah and I weren't mated from the day I turned eighteen. I'll have to face it even when we get back, so I might as well be here to help him anyway."

"I understand, Omega. But feelings have a way of-"

"You don't understand," Anna shook her head, sitting softly on the side of the bed. "You're a Beta. You have status, you have respect. You're from a good family. I'm from an Omega family... being close to Elijah... the closest to Elijah, gave me some of that... it gave my whole family some of that. Ever since his dad passed... it's like I'm still playing the old game and he's moved on to a new one. It's like he's a totally different person."

"He seems the same to me."

"That's because you don't know him like I do. Elijah... he's grumpy, but he's got a really good heart, he just doesn't know how to show it. He used to show it to me, but now... now that his dad's gone he won't let anyone in." Anna explained. "Look, I know you've always just seen him as the Alpha's kid, but to me he was just Eli-- my friend. He's not Eli anymore, not to me."

"And that doesn't make you want to just let him go?" Daniel asked.

"No. I still care about him, even if he's struggling. Besides... this position, whatever it is that I have, is the only thing giving my family respect back home. If I have to lose it to a mate, then I'll demonstrate my responsibility to the Alpha here and carve out a new place for myself."

Anna let her head fall to her chest, her curls bouncing around her face. As he chin touched her chest she let out an extended exhale and her mask of emotions cracked. 

"It's my fault... I knew he never loved me... I should have seen it coming... It's my fault, now let me make my usefulness known, please." 

The pair sat in silence for a moment. 

"I'm sorry..." Daniel offered, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"I'm not offended. I'm an Omega... we're used to being treated as dispensable."

"I'm sorry."

 (A//N) Thanks for reading this chapter! The 'Bunting' described as hanging from the spandrels on the inn refers to the rounded American flag fans people hang off their fences and the like. It's a pretty common thing in New England, especially on an old inn. I wasn't sure if everyone knew the word for it, so I figured I'd define it just in case. Happy Reading!