The Boy Who Cried Wolf

All Shook Up

Elijah Midas was besides himself. From the moment he woke up in the morning he was acting like a complete spaz and an all around mess. Despite how much time he'd spent of the prior night a sleepless slave to his thoughts, he'd been up since five in the morning. Most of that time was spent lost in thought again as the light from his phone screen was too bright and hurt his eyes.

His head practically ached with longing to be with his mate, and he knew it was only bound to get worse. Usually two wolves would already have gone much further than an introduction upon meeting, but Daniel was insistent that Elijah not overwhelm Teddy. In the meantime all Elijah could do was try not to focus on it and stare at the ceiling for the few hours left before the other wolves would awaken. Wolves generally were later risers than most humans, though occasionally they would be up for early training back at the pack house. It wasn't that they were nocturnal or anything, but with how sensitive wolves' eyes were, the sun was occasionally difficult to manage. That, and wolves had something of a special attachment to the moon which led to many nights passing before they'd even realize they were gone. 

Wolves were restless sleepers, so Elijah was careful not to awaken his mates. In the quiet of the night his mind worked altruistically and he didn't fear showing concern for the well beings of others or appearing soft. He wished he was confident enough to show his true devotion to his back, but in the presence of others everything became jumbled, and only his anger would show itself. 

Alphas were territorial, angry, and occasionally power hungry, but they also had a deep natural care for their pack. Elijah had built his identity around the idea that he was too strong for that part of good leadership, and yet in the quiet of the night, again in the darkness, his anger was softer and his generosity increased.

It was Daniel who woke first, probably because Anna had been awake with Elijah the night before, and he and Elijah awkwardly nodded a greeting to each other. Now, as the morning reared its ugly head Elijah couldn't put off getting ready and he slipped from the room to brush his teeth in the bathroom down the hall. 

He looked like hell in the mirror, perhaps from desperation, perhaps just from lack of sleep. His eyes were sunken and his face was reddened with his hair a mass of messy dark brown. Elijah certainly wasn't one to find himself attractive, in fact he'd always been quite repudiated by his own appearance, but at the moment he looked even more ghastly to himself. Elijah doused his face in the cold water of the porcelain sink hoping it would do some good to wake him up. It was ineffective.

When he looked again he saw the same mess as before, just wetter. Wetter, and reddened with irritation from the scratchy towel he used to be dry his face. The water dripped slightly from the tips of his hair as it hung down in front of his face. He looked like a wet dog. 

Elijah sighed to himself and pushed his hair back lazily before leaving the bathroom. The night before he'd taken a scalding shower to burn away the bad feelings and he longed to do that again, but feared using all the water before the wolves who hadn't showered yet got the chance. More than a shower, Elijah thought as he wondered down the pink hallway, more than anything he wanted to change his clothing.

None of the traveling group had thought to bring clothing. Presuming that the meeting would go as wolf meetings generally did and they would have been back within a couple of hours. Now, Elijah was in need of a few essentials with no means of obtaining them or any idea of how to get to the store. He could ask Ms. Dupont, but from the way she'd looked at them he wondered if that too might be futile.  That necessity left another question in the air because Elijah and the wolves hadn't thought to bring much more money than they'd already given her, and now they still needed food, clothing, and personal care items. Alpha's didn't work part-time jobs, but if he needed to get money to be able to stay around Teddy, then he'd do whatever it took.