Sins Of The Mother.

Chapter 25- Free Range Chickens.

ELLIOT

Waking up at the ungodly hour of 5 am does not make Elliot a fun hybrid, weirdly I'd curled up in Butthole Bob's bed and was immediately lulled into the kind of sleep where you wake up with drool on your face and boneless, until Aden had shuffled in groaning in his boxers, dumped a bucket of ice cold water over me, muttering something about cockerels. Torn from my movie and dripping wet, I found myself an inch from his face, snarling. He shrieked and ran away but I threw the bucket after him, catching him behind the knees. He slid on the polished wood floor until he crashed head first into the couch with my shrieking voice in his head daring him to wake me up like that again.

Wide awake and wishing I wasn't, I glared at the men, BB had turned into a proper Chatty Cathy, he hadn't shut up at all. Glowering, I ate my way through a massive plate of bacon, sausage, omelettes and fried potatoes. I suppose I'd be well rested and fed when he was around, it was why he was going to be around that bothered me, unable to see where he fit in my life. Fen and the viper felt safe with him but none of us felt any need to cower from his powerful Alpha presence. Watching the object of my consternation pack his things in the truck, I knew he knew my frustration was growing by the marked amusement in his mist, more than once I caught myself making faces behind his back, my inner Lolls surfacing childishly. Aden came up to me, whispering, "What's his deal? He's set all his chickens free, an eagle grabbed two of them already." Too irritated to speak out loud I thought, "Free range chicken, two for one special, today only," Aden and I chuckled, watching Rob shut the door, leaving it unlocked and pinned a note to it. Curiously we went up to the door. "Help yourself. Deeds on the table." Aden read out loud, muttering, "just giving his house away... bonkers."

I spun on my heels to ask the source of my mood why he had no plans to come back here, only to see Gramps climb behind the steering wheel and BB sliding into my seat. "Oh hell no! Get out, I'm not sitting next to you!" I snarled at him, incensed.

"What's the matter Lass? Where's that cocky attitude of yours today?" He taunted, patting the space next to him. "Come on, I saved you a seat." Aden glanced at me, hearing my thoughts, he ran, claiming the passenger seat beside Gramps. Unwillingly I trudged into the last seat, screaming into my brother's head for the second time before six am.

*****

I hate curiosity. If I want answers, I can squirrel them out of people with relative ease, yet here I am, an infuriating three hours later and curiosity scratching at my skin, my mood dialled all the way up to seething and huffing my hair out of my face loudly. Fen was no help, content to accept the alphas cryptic non answers, the big, smug butthole continuously pushing my buttons, deliberately repeating that he didn't like repeating himself so I would have to wait till we reached HQ. Sullenly I sat with my arms crossed, staring out of my window, refusing to interact with any of them. Gramps eventually broke through my gloomy mood the only way he knew how, food. "Okay sweetheart, mask your scent and ensure it stays masked. We'll stop for lunch in the next town and it's next to a pack boundary. We could walk right into a diner full of wolves." As we pulled up outside a quaint little diner Fen was weirdly restless, warning me to be careful. Warily I stepped out of the truck, like Fen, I knew something felt off, unable to feel the layers, I covered my neck with my hair and pulled a baseball cap down low over my eyes as an extra precaution, but I was on high alert while Butthole Bob strode inside like he hadn't a care in the world.

Heads turned to stare at us as we sat in the booth closest to the door, in case of an emergency. Only humans seemed to be present, a couple of love struck teenagers and an older man sitting at the counter nursing a cup of coffee and a hangover but scents of wolves lingered faintly. Telling myself I was being silly I shook off the tension I had been holding and picked up a menu eagerly. Rob leaned in, smirking evilly at me, "Make sure you don't order too much Elliot, these humans are used to wolves coming in, look, they have a lighter bites menu." And just like that Butthole Bob became my number one enemy.

My single solitary plate that used to hold my single solitary meal now lay mockingly clean, I'd ordered the biggest thing I could find, the triple bacon cheeseburger with all the trimmings, fries, onion rings and salad but I'd eaten it in minutes and covetously I eyed up Gramps half eaten mixed grill, BB's stupid face was just plain mocking. Aden and I both smirked as the solution came to me. Calling innocently to the waitress whose attention hadn't left Gramps and Rob since we walked in, "Hi, Angie isn't it? We'd like to order dessert if that's okay?" Her eyes lit up and she skipped over to our table.  I started speaking once she was in earshot, "dessert, amazing idea of yours Uncle Rob..." Rob's brows rose, realising something was afoot.

I paused as Angie took out her pad and winked at Rob, "what else can I get you honey?"

'Watch and learn Butthole Bob.' "My generous Uncle here wants to order dessert and put a takeout order in, we're meeting up with family and he wants to surprise them with lunch from your fine establishment. Isn't he the cutest?! We'll take dessert to go as well. My brother fancied that apple pie didn't you, in fact why don't we just get the whole pie, and the chocolate cream one, ooh and the cherry looks delicious" I smiled at Rob in adoration, making sure he saw the spark of victory in my eyes. His eyes widened further as Angie hurried to take out her pad, while I reeled off my considerable order enthusiastically. After she had filled four pages of the pad, I gushed in the open mouthed Alpha's face,patting his hand, "You are the best uncle ever, it's so nice of you to treat us all like this, especially with such big appetites to feed." He narrowed his eyes at me imperceptibly as he forced a smile but his eyes twinkled with humour.

Angie gushed, "aw sugar, ain't that sweet of you, your nephew and niece sure are lucky to have such a wonderful uncle."

"Oh, I'm the lucky one darlin'... don't know where I'd be without them" He conceded wryly, digging his wallet out of his back pocket, the timbre of his voice reached my ear but I was studying his true reaction, green as deep as the pine needles on fir trees, his mist was strange, appearing almost solid, dense. I sank against the back of my seat, openly studying the enigma of this aggravating, confusing male, grey eyes swung to mine and held them. Instead of the resistance I'd expected, Butthole Bob became an open book, he was impressed at how I'd bested him but he also gave me some answers at last. He meant it, for some reason he was happy and excited to dive into this crap headfirst, but he truly believed that I had saved him somehow. His mist didn't move, instead it gleamed, sunlight bouncing off emerald, "Get everything you needed Lass?" he asked quietly, the question held weight, one that settled around me and planted roots, strong, solid roots. Inside me the last layer lit up and specks of emerald green shone brightly as I accepted my true father.

"More than I bargained for." I grinned, "Words you should probably remember if you're taking us on."