After his shower, Elijah went downstairs to find the cabin was still deserted. Both Marcus and Zachary must still have been in bed, he thought as he entered the kitchen to put the coffee maker on. He then pulled the fridge open and looked inside at the bacon longingly, but deciding it would take too long he grabbed the milk out instead, in order to eat cereal in place of the bacon, while adding bread to the toaster to finish off his meal. Once his breakfast was made he poured his coffee into a cup and sat at the little table.
He knew it wouldn't be long till the others turned up, and right enough as soon as the scent of the Italian coffee was floating up throughout the building he could hear them start to get out of bed and get ready for the day. His two pack members wandered into the kitchen with growling stomachs as Elijah was finishing washing up his dishes.
"Wait," Zachary said, sniffing cautiously.
Both men turned to him concerned.
"Did you just eat cereal instead of the bacon that's in the fridge? Who the fuck are you, and what did you do with our Alpha?" Zachary accused, mockingly.
Marcus laughed, while Elijah just rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. Then he paused smiling to himself as he thought of how it was the way he would expect Colt would have reacted to the comment, it felt good to think of them even in such a small way as being in sync with one another.
"Not all of us are addicted to bacon Zachary." said Marcus smirking. "Besides, I will bet that Eli went for the quicker option because he has somewhere to be. Am I right?"
"See, at least one of you has a useful brain." Elijah laughed, accepting another mug of coffee from Zachary. "Okay, maybe you're redeemable." he added sipping the sweetened smoky morning goodness.
"I am at your service, oh mighty Master and Commander." Zachary joked offering a mock salute, before striding towards the fridge. "After bacon time, that is."
"Actually," Elijah said after laughing at his comedic best friend. " It's Marcus who has something I need."
"Oh?" Marcus asked, looking up from the eggs he had started to scramble. "What can I do for you?" he asked genuinely curious.
"Can you put me in touch with the jeweller that made Marissa's engagement ring?" Elijah asked his gamma.
"Sure can. I'll ping the contact details over to you." Marcus answered.
"Are you finally going to give in to your feelings for me and pop the question Eli, because I have to tell you. I only think of you as a friend." Zachary chimed in, earning him a whack to the back if the head.
"Will you give it a rest already, funny boy?" Elijah sighed at Zachary's joking around.
Zachary simply shrugged his shoulders not heeding Elijah at all and asked "What do you have in mind for her?"
"I want to get her a necklace, Smart Ass. I have this design for one stuck in my head it seems. So, thanks Marcus." Elijah said retreating out of the kitchen and straight out the front door, beginning his walk across the restort speak to his mate.
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When Elijah made it across to the area that Colt lived he started to get a sense of unease creeping down his spine. Something wasn't right, he could sense it, but what that was he wasn't entirely sure. He could smell the horses in the area, and the two human girls who ran the stable yard, none of which had any traces of fear about them. All seemed normal upon his approach, but it wasn't he could tell.
The little cottage his mate called home was beautiful in the soft morning light, there was a true beauty about the calmness of the place he thought, one he suddenly felt he was lacking within his own life till now. He hadn't noticed the quaint little garden last night, but now he found himself quite enamored with it. Rather than being filled with flowers, he could smell the different scents floating from all the herbs. The only two he could name were lavender and mint though, a scent which he would now always associate with his mate.
It was a that moment he realised what was wrong. His mate's scent was missing. Colt wasn't here. He paused confused before running to bang on the door.
He knew it was useless, the little jeep was gone as was Isla's scent as well. But still he had to try. He spent ten minutes hammering the door before he turned round and gave up. Instead he went and sunk down defeated onto the steps leading from the path to the porch.
Elijah felt so lost, he knew she hadn't just gone to work in his bones, he felt it last night when he left he was losing her, it had sent him into a panic then, and it was that panic he was struggling to stop himself from spiralling into that again.
As such, it took him another five minutes to notice the little bag with his name which was sat beside him. Dejectedly, he picked it up presuming to find only his phone and wallet inside. When he opened it though, his ruined clothing was inside as well. But, more than that, from one scrap of material, he could still smell the traces of Colt's scent. He reached in frantically to find it, and after sniffing and discarding several pieces he managed to pull out a scrap of his shirt from the day before. When he brought it to his nose the smell of his mate invaded his senses, and her presence hit him like a bull dozer. There she was.
Then Elijah realised, the only way this could have happened was if Colt had clung to this piece in particular, holding it close enough that her scent inevitably transferred onto it as well. He could even detect the slight tang from her tears. She felt it too, he decided, and she was hurting over it somehow. Why was she fighting him, he didn't know, but she obviously wasn't as unaffected as she made out. A wary smile slowly spread across Elijah's face as it dawned on him, Colt wanted him back but for some reason that was hurting her. Maybe it was because she wouldn't admit it, or maybe there's another reason, either way the evidence he was reverently holding was his hope and it meant he had to discover why. It might be the way to resolve her reluctance and then they could be together.
He tucked the scrap away into his pocket, wanting to keep it safe and close and had a look in the bag to check his cell messages. He discovered a note inside. Pulling it out he read:
*Elijah,
I have taken Colt home with me for a few days. She just needs some time and space before she acts out in a way you will both regret.
Please don't panic she will be back before you are due to leave the resort.
May I suggest you use the time wisely and perhaps pay a visit or two, to the yoga classes on offer. There are very good techniques being taught there, which might just help you control your temper.
I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of programming Colt's cell number into your phone, use it wisely. Cute wallpaper by the way, or am I to presume the baby sloth hugging a teddy is a prank courtesy of your charming Beta?
Good Luck.
Isla*
Elijah couldn't help but ignore Isla's playful joke at his wallpaper, it wasn't actually Zachary's doing anyway. It was his eight year old little sister Nora's. She was obsessed with the small animals from South America, and as she was too young to have her own phone, she just insisted he had to have it in her place. So what was a doting older brother to do, but download a whole heap of baby sloth pictures for her to choose from.
But, all that was irrelevant at the minute, because he had his mate's cell number. He could contact her, hear her voice, have a connection across a distance with her. He quickly rummaged through the bag and pulled out his phone, swiping straight past the small brown orphaned animal and into his contact list.
There it was, Colt Merrier, his mate's name.
His thumb hovered over the call button for all of half a second, before it made contact and started to call her. Unfortunately for Elijah, the call cut off before connecting through, as his screen went black and shut off. It refused to turn back on.
"Shit!" Elijah groaned as he realised his battery had gone flat.
Standing up, he quickly scooped his wallet from the bag, then stuffed it into his back pocket and started striding home determining to put his phone onto charge.
He had to hold himself back from running at his full speed all the way back to the cabin in his excited state. When he did arrive back he was relieved to discover the cabin was empty and the others had left. First things first, he ran upstairs to put his cell on charge, then came back down to make some more coffee. Once he had finished he busied himself with some small chores, washing up, cleaning the ashes out of the stove, and determining what he would need to fix the damaged wall behind the door from the night before, because he was determined to be the one to fix it. When he was done, he went back upstairs to call his mate, hoping his phone would now have enough of a charge.
As he got to his room, and collected his cell from the unit beside the bed, he couldn't help but feel crestfallen, upon discovering it was now only holding six percent of a charge. He flopped backwards onto the bed in defeat, scrubbing his face in his frustration at how obsessed he was quickly becoming.
Taking a deep breath, he sat up again rubbing his face and looked at the clock. It read eleven thirty-five, it had been nine forty-five when he sat down. He had only went and fallen asleep, he scolded to himself. Though he was relieved at least the time had passed quicker, and now his cell should be charged. Picking up and unplugging his phone confirmed his suspicions as it now read that the battery was full. So, for the second time that day he pulled up Colt's contact details and pressed dial.
It only took four rings before he heard her melodic voice.
"Hello?"
"Good morning to you too, Kitten." he responded. "How are you feeling?"
*Author's Note: Hello everyone, I'm sorry about the delay in getting this to you, between an internet fritz that deleted half of my first draft, and a bit of a hectic personal life at the moment, it took longer than expected. We also had to have one of our dogs put to sleep today and so to her, Roxy I would like to dedicate this chapter. Thank you for reading, and thank you for your patience. B. xx*