♫ I Want To Know What Love Is ♫
Russell was only half aware of anything else that went on during breakfast. Seemingly all his senses were focused on the waitress, Tessa. The pounding of her heart beat drowned out any sounds, not even the smell of the breakfast could delude the sweet scent that emanated from her. It was almost like he and her were the only ones there. He barely registered the children, Tessa's siblings, showing up. He tried to keep from glancing at her, or at least try not to let her notice that he couldn't keep his eyes off her. Michelle watched with an amused smile at what was now Russell and Tessa just playing peek-a-boo as they avoided looking at each other directly, or get caught looking.
As he watch her interact with her siblings he couldn't help but have a small smile creep up on the corner of his face. There was something so comforting about her, almost motherly. It was the strangest feeling, the more he spent around her, even from across the room as they were, he wanted to get closer to her. He felt a strong urge to get closer to her, one that he was finding difficult to fight. It almost felt like she walked right out of a dream, and would disappear if he wasn't close to her.
Finally after it was no longer amusing Michelle cleared her throat, and poked Russell's hand with her fork. Russell's attention was brought to his sister as he glared at her. "If you and waitress are done making googly eyes at each other I'd like to talk about tonight. Y'know the full moon and whatnot." Michelle glanced over Russell's shoulder, making direct eye contact with Tessa, and giving her a knowing grin. "I haven't forgotten. And I thought I told you to drop the waitress." Russell's face turn ever so slightly red as he lowly growled at her. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. It stopped being funny, and started to get painful how awkward you two are. Don't get me wrong it's cute, but it has it's limits. You have many talents dear brother, but subtlety isn't one of them. And neither is it hers apparently. But from what I can till you'd both make a pretty cute couple." She made sure to speak increasingly louder by the end of sentence, just loud enough for Tessa to have heard the last bit clearly.
"Keep your voice down." Russell groaned as he brought his head down on the table, trying to hide the embarrassment. "Anyways make sure you're by the cabin before nightfall. Don't want anybody to turn in town. You guys know the drill. There’s some game around to hunt, so at least we won’t be bored." Russell said, trying to steer the conversation away from Tessa. They all nodded in agreement as they chowed down on their breakfast. For lack of a better word, wolfing down their breakfast, well save for Lizzy who only peaked at her food, and moved it around her plate rather than actually eating it.
"You need to eat, especially on days of the full moon." He said as he squeezed Lizzy hand lightly. "Yes, I know. I'm not a little girl." Lizzy said as she ripped her hand away from his. "No matter how much you like to pretend I am." She muttered lowly to herself, but of course it was loud enough for any werewolf to hear. Russell couldn't blame her for her increased aggression, and irritation, the full moon was upon, and with it comes the more aggressive side of werewolves, well that is the case for the inexperienced. Control over oneself during the full moon was a difficult ability to learn for most, save for Russell. He has always possessed a strange aptitude towards controlling his feral side.
"And I told you I wasn't hungry. But it always has to be your way doesn't it?" Lizzy took in a deep breath, and let it out again, trying to regain control of her emotions. Eventually she drops her fork on her plate, making a loud clanking sound, and stomped her way out of the diner. Russell let out a loud sigh. How was he supposed to survive two teenage she-wolves? "I'll go talk to her." Michelle volunteered before she ran off after her.
'Smooth one Alpha.'
It wasn't long before the rest of the pack to finish up their breakfast, and began pouring out the diner one by one to explore the town, their temporary territory. Apart of what makes the Talbot pack unique is that they prefer a life on the move, never staying one area for more than a years. Werewolves are as diverse a people as humans, and many different packs have different customs than each other. Soon Russell was the only one left as he continued to sip on his coffee. Looking around at the walls of the diner. It was decorated with pictures of people, no doubt of loyal customers, or the other residents of the town.
His eyes immediately fell upon the pictures of Tessa. Her smile was the first thing he noticed of the photos, they drew him in like a bug in a light. And then he saw him, glimpses of the late Sheriff in the background of some of the pictures. There was only one direct picture of his face, he was pale, and ragged, looking like ghost of what he once was. He used to be one of the most powerful Alphas in the U.S., and a well respected leader in the werewolf community, but now he was a mere phantom of that man, a walking corpse. The sight of it sent a flood of emotions including anger, disgust, hate, sadness, and grief.
Russell stood up from his chair and walked over to the picture. He pulled out a box of cigarettes from his jacket pocket, and a silver zippo lighter from his other one. As he lite up he let out a deep, and calming breath, breathing out a puff of smoke right into the face of his father's picture. "You were dead a long time ago, your body just finally caught up." He mumbled to himself. After a couple more puffs of his death stick he flipped the picture over, no longer being able to stand the sight of it.
He turned away, and leaned down over a small table with a ashtray that sat against the wall of the diner, and put out his cigarette. He pulled out his wallet, and tossed a couple hundred dollars of his wallet on the table. As he went to leave he stopped in front of the door, hesitating to open it. There was something, some invisible pull that didn't want him to leave the diner, didn't want to leave her. He felt like he needed to keep her in his sights, like she'd just disappear forever if he left her. But there was something else. The brief touch they shared moments ago. The flash of electricity he felt, even now he could still feel the lingering sensation, it was something that he wanted to experience again. He knew what that meant, what she might be. But he needed to test it to sure.
Russell turned away from the door and headed over to Tessa. "Sorry if we were too noisy. My sisters have been having a rough time lately. Long time ago your sheriff used to be our father, and they've been having a difficult time lately. We haven't seen him since my mother's funeral." Russell stated, surprising himself by how much he was sharing with a complete stranger, a human no less. But there was something about her that made it easy to trust her. "Oh, I'm Russell by the way, Russell Talbot. We’re planning on sticking around town for awhile after we do our funeral. So expect to see us around for the next couple weeks." He introduced himself as he held out his hand to hers. A simple handshake would do, a handshake is normal a thing to ask for, perfect to test if it wasn’t a one time fluke.