It's A Hoot (mxm)

Chapter 4

Toren made his way back to his car and grabbed his bag, then headed into the bed and breakfast.

It was lively for so early in the morning. He spotted two other of the guests talking with Betty in an open doorway. He could instantly smell something delicious coming from beyond them. It was no doubt the kitchen and dining room. Breakfast.

Betty took notice of him and smiled at him, waving him over.

"Hi, hun, good morning. I didn't notice you left. Early riser?" She asked pleasantly.

Toren joined them, nodding in greeting, then adding a shrug at her question. "Sort of."

"Oh, Toren, this is Mark and his wife Estella, they're also guests here and will be staying in town for a couple of weeks." Betty gestured to the couple beside her and Toren gave them a nod.

They were both very tall and had sharp features. They held a lot of charisma in their character. There was something about them that drew you in. Respectable, with no nonsense type expressions, though he could see the laugh lines as they both smiled warmly at him. Okay, so maybe they weren't all business, maybe they could have fun too.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mark held his hand out and as he did, a scent wafted towards him. Shifter. Woods. Wolves. More wolves. Now that he was familiar with the scent, it was easier to pick out. "What brings you to Miller Town?"

Toren shook his hand, matching his firm grip. He looked him in the eye, his gaze unblinking. "I'm thinking of moving here, what about you?"

Surprise flickered across the couple's faces and they glanced at each other. He was pretty sure the surprise wasn't from his question.

"We're here for a little bit of business and a little bit of fun," Estella answered with a smile. "Miller Town holds an annual winter festival. We never miss it."

Betty chuckled, "along with every other festival we throw."

Winter festival? Now that sounded fun. Toren cocked his head to the side and smiled. "So you must know the alpha here rather well?"
He didn't know much about werewolves, but he did know that wolves didn't take too kindly to other wolves anywhere near their own. First treated as a threat before accepted, if at all. Family always came first.

Mark and Estella looked surprised again. They both started to sniff at the air. It was easy for Toren to go unnoticed, Owls didn't have as strong of a scent as other creatures. Shifters usually had to do a double take with him.

Betty hummed and decided that was enough standing about. "Let's have breakfast, shall we? Are you hungry, Toren?"

He nodded vigorously to which she grinned and led them all back into the dining room.
It was nice, with an almost farm style feel. A very large table with a good twelve seats, already set for seven. There were plates of steaming bacon and eggs, sausages, and piles of both pancakes and waffles.

He was definitely drooling.

Two other guests were already seated, a young man and an older woman, both next to each other and talking about something funny, by the way they were laughing.
The whole setting felt homey and Toren stopped over the threshold. He felt like his heart was grabbed and being squeezed. Why was this making him feel nostalgic? It'd only ever been him and his parents.

Betty sat down near the head of table and an elderly gentleman came out of the kitchen, bending down to give her a kiss before sitting next to her.
Something heavy sat in the pit of his stomach and he felt it flip.
His eyes widened and his throat opened up. He bent over slightly and with the loudest hacking sound, he felt the lump push up his throat and drop with a splat onto the floor.