The day at the diner was just like any other with a constant stream of customers for the breakfast rush. They kept things simple for the morning with build your own omelets. Everyone that remained in town, met back at the diner for lunch. Specialty for the day was Indian tacos which were quick and easy. Ms. Emma and Ester made a large batch of fry bread which was kept warm in one of the back ovens. All that Xael had to do was cook up the meat, beans and add toppings. During a break in the orders, She joined the group at the larger table in the back of the diner. All she ate was some fry bread with honey. Adam noticed she hadn't really eaten much for breakfast and was having even less for lunch.
{You feeling okay babe?}
{Yeah? I'm just not that hungry}
Adam gave her a smile and finished up his meal as there was no point in forcing her to eat. Xael took care of the empty dishes and the males all headed out to finish up their errands with Adam and Beau returning to the station. Now that lunch was over and the diner almost empty of customers, the ladies began cleaning and prepping things for the following morning. Since lunch had been simple there wasn't much that Xael had to clean up. The leftover fry bread the ladies split amongst themselves. Ms. Vicki and Ester got their hugs and called it a day. Xael and her Grams did a final check of things.
"You know you don't have to help out in the diner while I'm here Grams? You're supposed to be retired."
"I know! I don't mind hon."
Open sign and lights off, doors locked; The two walked over to the jeep to get the cleaning supplies.
"Hey Grammy?"
"Yes dear."
"Have you noticed anything different about Adam?"
"Yeah, he's like a damn lumberjack! What are you feeding that boy!"
"It's not me! I noticed his muscles are more defined and he seems taller."
"Well Adam is a sexy Alpha Xael. Muscles are to be expected!"
"Grams!"
"What!? Every single female in town had their eye on him dear! Prime Mate material he was. Emphasis on 'was'!"
"Oh good grief. I wonder if it has anything to do with whatever he's been working on while I'm asleep?"
"I don't know hon."
"Oh!! Did you hug Vivi when she left?"
"Yes? What's with you and all these questions?!" Xael gave her Grandma a silly face. "What about it?"
"She's pregnant!"
"WHAT!!"
"Not so loud!! Beau is right across the street!"
"There's no way you can know that, you little stinker!!"
"But I do! Her scent has shifted. She...she doesn't know yet, which is weird."
"Not really, we can't sense things until the fetus is about 2 weeks along."
"Ohhhh. I'm so excited for her! She's gonna make a wonderful momma!"
"Mn." Emma gave a smile but inside there was a little sadness that Xael would never get to experience that for herself.
The two of them headed over to Adam's apartment to start on the de-scenting process. Xael carried the buckets filled with supplies while her Grandmother carried the brooms and mops. Entering the apartment, the first order of business was to open the windows and allow the space to air out. Xael had to admit that she kinda missed the coziness of the place. Adam had left two of the large plants in front of the windows so Xael gave them a healthy drink of water.
"Aren't you going to take the plants home Xael?"
"No, the guys will need a bit of nature in here. I still can't believe everyone is moving to town!"
"Neither can I! Whatever prayers you put out there has been answered!"
"I didn't put any prayers out, Grams."
"Neither did I."
They just looked at each other dumbfounded when the older one just chuckled. "Spirit knows we need to be together! One big family pack."
"Indeed!"
Xael dismantled the bed, while the elder cleaned the kitchen. Leaving the bedframe where it was, the mattress rested against a portion of the wall. Xael gave the living area a good scrubbing with the special cleaner. She would also scrub down the bathroom even though they had already cleaned the place when Adam took his stuff out. She wanted to make sure any lingering blood scent was gone. While Xael did that, her Grams went around and smudged.
"Oh Xael?! Do you know when the boys will be back?"
"Uhhh...which ones do you mean?"
"Oh! Ha ha ha haa Chris and Eli."
"Hm. I don't really know."
"I thought we could all have dinner together. Skylar wants to cook up some of that deer he has in the freezer."
"Oh nice! I'll grab a cake and pie from the diner. I'll text them later to let them know."
"Excellent!"
"But I don't really know if they were planning on coming back to town today."
"That's fine."
Finished with Adam's apartment, Xael linked him to find out what he wanted done with the bed. He told her to leave it. A new human family had moved into town. The man had stopped by the station to inquire about a few things and had mentioned needing a bed. The couple wanted it for their guest room and didn't want to buy anything new. It would be fine for them sinse they were human and their Wolfen scents wouldn't bother them. They would be by in a few hours to pick it up.
"Ready to start on the other place dear?"
"Sure! I didn't even know there was an apartment above the station."
"Yes, Wes owns the building." Ms. Emma made the sign of zipping her lips shut.
"Oh! Got it."
Down at the Station, Beau was busy finalizing things along with writting up a letter of resignation for not only Shado, but the Tribal Council. Beau looked around the station. He would miss these boring four walls and ratty desks. His time there had been wonderful and being a tribal officer was truly one of the best jobs he ever had. But Vivi was a city girl and didn't really care for life in small towns. It wasn't entirely Vivi's reluctance to live in a small town. Beau had been wanting a change of scenery and a faster pace for a while. After he and Vivi decided that they wanted to establish a Mate bond, leaving seemed like the next logical step. He would have a new life and Mate to look after now and hopefully Pups in the near future.
Continuing to look around, Beau caught a glimpse of Adam trying to move one of the desks away from the wall.
"Shit Shado! What is Xael feeding you?!"
"What?" Adam looked over his shoulder with frowns in his face. He was trying not to cause the old and worn piece of furniture to fall apart in his hands.
"You're built like a freaking tank!"
Adam stopped and looked down at himself. "I've put on about 20 pounds, she's a pretty damn good cook if you haven't noticed."
"That ain't come from no home cooking!" Beau got up and walked over to him and squeezed Adam's bicep. "That all muscle brother!"
Adam laughed and flexed his arm.
"You even got taller! You're almost 2 inches taller than me!"
"Okay, now you're just exaggerating. Grown adults don't have growth spurts Beau."
"Don't tell me that! You're the one looking like a damn lumberjack."
Adam moved his arms about. "Eh...My shirts are kinda tight. I need to order a bigger size when I get the other guys their uniforms."
"Yup. I think Xael's slipping you some miracle grow!"
"Whatever. Hey, things don't work out for you in the city, you know you can always come back, right?"
"Thanks man. You and I both know that Vivi wouldn't survive two weeks in this small town. We'll be fine. I have plenty saved up so I'm in no hurry."
"Well, just know that the door is always opened for ya."
"Thanks, so how are things going with Xael?"
"Great. I'm a little worried about her pups leaving though. I've never seen anyone so attached to their pets like her. Other than that, we're just getting settled into the new place. Got some repairs I want done before winter sets in."
"Ohh, that's right this is your first winter up here huh? They can be pretty brutal."
"So I gathered. Xael and her Grams have been canning stuff like crazy."
"Yup. Second reason why Vivi wouldn't last up here. She's not into all that prepping and roughing it."
"Ha ha haha. I'm sure she would do just fine."
"I wouldn't hold my breath on that. You have seriously bulked up Shado. You got the whole Alpha vibe going on."
"Uhh..I'm an Alpha and so are you!"
"Yeah but I ain't built like that. You're like Alpha x10."
"Whatever."
** Yes I republished this chapter as I didn't like it after publishing the first time. It's been edited and is a slightly better read in my opinion.