Colt arrived at her office about thirty minutes ago, and she had been pacing back and forth ever since, this was the last thing she had ever imagined happening why of all the wolves to turn up at her door did it have to be the infamous Elijah Lupus. He was famed among shifters for his large scale territory increases, sticking to the old ways as he hunted for his true mate. But why did it have to be her?
"Shit, shit, shit!" SHe cursed to herself. "I'm so screwed, why me?!" She groaned out loud.
She dropped into her chair at the desk with a thud and lowered her head into her hands sighing.
"Let me see," she muttered, as she quickly logged onto the hotel system with her laptop.
Colt’s fingers flew hard across the keyboard as she quickly typed in his name, intending to investigate how long he was staying and where she had to avoid on the property. At least then she could hope to try and somewhat avoid him at the same time.
As she suspected he was staying in one of their luxury cabins beside the forest section for shifters that want to run in their animal form, typical wolf she thought, they all liked the seclusion each of the cabins brought them. Each one was set away from the other the cabins, and bordered by large hedges and trees to increase the illusion for the guests, that they were in their own little territorial bubble while they were staying at the resort. A lot of territorial shifters used them, especially high ranking wolves.
But, at least the area he was staying in wasn't one which Colt needed to pass in her daily routine anyway, she thought, sighing with relief that her life just became marginally easier than it was five minutes ago.
Briefly she thought about calling home, and asking her Dad for advice but she wasn't sure which way his preference would lie. Being a wolf, the true mate bond was sacred to him, it's why he gave up everything for her mother and their children.
But Elijah Lupus had caused so much distress and pain to so many people, her own family included. Colt just didn't know if telling him that, that Alpha, was now claiming her as his true mate, was in fact a good idea.
Especially as even now, regardless of the wolf’s desires, Colt still had no intentions of being tied to anyone; even if he was much more good looking in person than in his photographs from the media would lead you to believe.
No she shook her head free of those thoughts before they took root, she wouldn't allow herself to fall into that trap.
With a sigh Colt decided that heading home for now was her best bet. Allowing herself more space in between the Alpha’s body and her own could only be a good thing. Then she could settle into her own comfortable surroundings while she worked it all out; so she called the general manager, an elephant shifter she studied with while doing her honours degree in business management. Rebecca was probably the closest thing Colt could call a best friend, so she knew she would understand if Colt unexpectedly had to go home for the evening, no questions asked.
Then she packed her things and readied herself. She checked in on Felix in the bar by internal phone, and her "mate" was still there nursing his wounded pride with alcohol by the sounds of it, but all else was quiet on that front. So she told Felix she would slip out the back, then waited five minutes watching the camera display that was tuned in beside her work computer.
"Too predictable" she muttered as a few moments later she saw Elijah Lupus appear, obviously waiting on her at the back door.
Wolves and their super hearing.
Then with a sigh, she headed through to the main reception, nodding at Lucy and Anton behind the main desk. Colt liked to ensure all the staff here knew each other by name, they had become a sort of extended family for one another, so the smile she gave the two humans behind the desk was completely genuine. Then she stepped outside into the fresh air.
It was only eight o'clock and the sun hadn’t quite set completely yet, but instead, was giving off a warm orange autumnal glow to the place around them. She smiled at the sight and jumped into her car, just a little run around jeep for travelling across the property of the resort, she wasn’t one for fancy vehicles, always preferring functionality.
The drive home was less than fifteen minutes and often she walked instead, but the big bad wolf was lurking around tonight and despite being in his crosshairs, she didn't fancy being mistaken for Little Red Riding Hood, one bit.
****
Elijah was sat at the bar wondering to himself what to do. Never in all his time looking for her did he envision an outcome where she would turn her back on him. He was on his third scotch since she left and nothing was any clearer. Marcus and Zachary had tried to find out what was going on, but his head was too awash with this new reality to really focus on them, so they left him to it.
Elijah knew one thing for sure though, he felt it churn in his gut and it was the only certainty he had. He wanted to see her again, no he needed to see her again.
Then he could explain himself, and that after everything he has done to find her and how long he has waited for her, surely she would understand his verbal outburst earlier. She was part shifter, so she had to get it, she had to understand, he convinced himself.
He came on too strong and he could see that now but his beast side got jealous seeing that cat's hands on her. He was territorial, and it was just a knee jerk reaction to finding her.
Though, even he had to admit he was now struggling to stay mad at the lion after he rescued them both from the awkward situation they fell into. It also helped that he had since supplied Elijah with a steady stream of alcohol, as per his requests.
He now didn’t know what to do for the best, all he knew was he needed to see her again. He needed a chance to hold her, to smell her, to claim her.
He was still trying to work out how he could do all this when the phone rang beside the till. That alone wasn't enough to catch his attention, but the melodic voice on the other end of the call however, that was another story. He could listen to her voice all day and couldn’t help but tune in to the conversation they were having, smirking to himself when she asked the bartender about him.
He had listened as she checked in on how things were going, admiring how she cared for her staff, even if he was a lion. But, in that moment where she asked about him, revealing he was still occupying her mind like she was his; he struggled to contain his reaction to just that simple smirk and not outwardly show the call had pulled his full attention.
Or even pull the receiver from the cat's grasp so he could speak to her himself.
Then came his Eureka moment, he knew where she was going. But he would have to be fast, fast enough to find the back door before she slipped out of it like she said.
By the time Felix hung up the call, the bar stool was empty.
It wasn't too difficult for Elijah to find the back door, to be fair. It was nestled between what smelled like the kitchens and the laundry department. He was sure he had made it on time, it took him less than three minutes to get there, but as the other minutes ticked on and no one approached he started to doubt himself.
Maybe she had been called elsewhere on an emergency before she could leave, he wondered, constantly reassuring himself nothing bad had happened.
But as he pondered this possibility, and the possibility of an extra back door elsewhere, he heard footsteps approaching the other side of the door.
His inner wolf was bristling with hope and excitement. It wasn’t the most romantic spot, but this time he would do it right. A softer approach that she didn't feel the need to defend against. Charm over dominance, it would be hard but he could do it, for her he could do anything. He would do anything.
He held his breath as the door opened, but then it wasn't her scent that was infiltrating through his senses, but that damn Lion shifter's.