Poppy walked through the town swiftly but casually, hands deep within the pockets of her plaid pea-coat jacket, hood up, hiding her face. She knew what she was doing was dangerous, being on other Werewolf territory considering she was an Omega, but she needed to rest a couple days before leaving again, and that was something she was determined to do. Walking into a small cafe, Poppy let her hood fall as she breathed in the scent of coffee and soup and warmth. Letting a small smile grace her lips, the young wolf walked up to the counter and gave the cashier her most disarming smile.
"What can I do for you?" He asked, looking up and giving her a smile in return.
"Caramel mocha, please," she said, barely taking more than a glance at the menu as the boy nodded and went off to make her order. She liked places like this, where they always made sure you had your product when you gave the money and no earlier. Turning and leaning her back against the counter, she looked around the cafe, taking in all the different people. She could occasionally feel a pair of eyes glance her way. She paid it no mind, Beacon Hills was a small town, it was obvious most of them knew each other, so they would be apprehensive toward strangers. Poppy totally understood. She smelled her coffee and turned to face the counter just as it was being slid before her.
"That'll be four ninety-five," the boy said, and Poppy pulled a ten dollar bill out of her pocket, pressing it into his hand and smiling as she leaned in slightly.
"Keep the change," she winked and took her drink, leaving the cashier looking somewhat dazed. Poppy knew she had that affect on people, her mother always said it was the eyes. Her family all had eyes that were a captivating shade of grey-green, and Poppy was really beginning to miss them, but they were overbearing and she needed to do her own thing, regardless of her status as an Omega. Exiting the cafe, Poppy took a glance at her phone for the time, and bumped into a boy walking the other way.
"Oh! I'm sorry," She said, at the same time that he started with- "No, it was totally my fault."
"No, I'm really a klutz," she lied, tucking some shortish blonde hair behind her ears. "I'm Poppy." she held out her gloved hand and smiled brightly.
"Isaac," he took her hand and shook, giving an apprehensive smile in return. "Nice to meet you."
"You too," she said, gnawing at her lip and taking a sip of her mocha. "I should probably be going-"
"You're new here aren't you?" he blurted before blushing, which immediately made Poppy like him as she chuckled.
"I guess. I'm really just passing through, needed a few days to stop and rest." She answered. "Kinda taking a vacation from my family." Isaac nodded in understanding, and Poppy blinked and shook her head as her wolf whined at her, desperate to get away.
"You okay?" Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm fine," she ran a hand through her hair out of habit. "Tired, I guess. Anyway, I'll let you get going. Nice meeting you, Isaac." She turned and started walking away, inner wolf whining desperately and the word floated into her mind: Beta. She was only lucky he didn't see her for what she was. Pulling her hood up, she sped her pace fractionally and took a sip of her coffee, trying to calm her racing heart.
Isaac frowned as the girl walked away, but shrugged it off and continued to the cafe where he was supposed to pick up Stiles. The Sheriff had managed to convince his son to get a job, so he'd applied at the town's best cafe and got the job because of his people skills.
"Stiles," Isaac called as he walked over to the counter. "What's up?"
"Not much," Stiles shrugged. "You want a hot chocolate before I get off?"
"Sure," Isaac accepted as he sat down at one of the stools by the counter. "It's getting cold."
"Definitely," Stiles agreed as he started making his friend's drink. "Cute girl was in here earlier," he mentioned. "Really cute. Can't have been local." he sighed, as if debating his chances of meeting her again.
"Let me guess," Isaac started, "'Bout five four, fair skin, blonde hair, grey-green eyes?"
"Yeah. You run into her?" Stiles asked, handing Isaac the hot chocolate as he took his apron off and hung it up.
"Yes, quite literally. Her name's Poppy." He informed his friend. "There was something off about her."
"Off or not, she was… wow." Stiles grinned. "Maybe we'll run into her again."
"Doubt it. Said she was just passing through," Isaac shrugged as they walked toward Isaac's new car- courtesy of Derek. Isaac was the pack's little brother, they did pretty much everything for him, including buy him the midnight blue mercedes. He smiled as he looked down at his baby, sliding gracefully into the driver's seat as Stiles entered the passenger side. "Straight to Hale house or you wanna stop at your place first?"
"We can just go to Hale house," Stiles replied. "I kinda wanna rub it in Scott's face that I met a cute girl while his ex is a psycho nutcase."
"I agree on the psycho nutcase thing," Isaac told him, "but I don't think Scott's in the market for a new girlfriend currently." Stiles only shrugged, making a dismissive noise in the back of his throat as Isaac pulled out and started heading to their destination, where they knew that the pack would be waiting.
"Good, you're here," Derek said as they stepped into the living room with the rest of the pack. Stiles sat next to his best friend, Isaac on his other side. "Peter and I have agreed to take you to the Werewolf Council gala in two weeks," Derek stated, and everybody but Peter gave him confused looks. "It's basically to register any bitten werewolves and acknowledge any changes in status. Like, say if a Beta leaves their pack to become a lone wolf, that sort of thing."
"There's a werewolf council?" Jackson asked incredulously.
"Yes," Peter confirmed. "There are councils for the major Supernatural groups. Vampires, Werewolves, Fey and Shape-Shifters are the four big ones. Nobody keeps track of ghosts and demons, too many, and all other creatures are too uncivil to sit down and have a meeting."
"I need to be registered as an Alpha, and the rest of you as my pack. Even Stiles, Danny and Lydia." Derek told them. "It's basically a big party with a lot of food and alcohol."
"Alright," Erica said. "Sounds interesting."
"You don't have to be so worried about wolves and their territoriality there," Peter said, sensing their apprehension. "It's held on neutral ground." The pack all glanced at each other before nodding.
"We'll go," they agreed.
"Alright, now let's go get dinner," Scott suggested.
"Do you ever not feel hungry?" Lydia asked him and he shrugged.
"I agree with Scott," Isaac offered. "We never eat out as a pack." And it was agreed they would, mostly because nobody could argue with Isaac about anything.
When they entered the diner, Isaac perked at the familiar scent. Sure enough, sitting on her own and flirting with a waiter was the girl from earlier. Isaac chuckled. "Hey Stiles, there's your new love." He teased, and Stiles turned to look where Isaac was looking, seeing the familiar blonde as the waiter walked away.
"Stiles' new what?" Scott asked curious, looking over at the girl.
"She bought a coffee earlier and Stiles wanted to rub it in your face," Isaac answered, smirking. Scott nodded.
"I approve. She's hot." At this, the rest of the pack looked over as Poppy leaned back in her seat, looking the epitome of relaxed as she crossed her ankles and the waiter came back with a dark soda. She flashed him a dazzling smile and he stumbled back to the kitchen as she regarded her menu.
"There's something off about her," Peter echoed Isaac's earlier words.
"Oh well, I'm going over to introduce myself," Stiles said, leaving the pack as they got one of those large tables. Poppy looked up from her menu as the guy from the cafe sat across from her and beamed.
"Hi," she said, arching an eyebrow.
"Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself, since I never got to earlier. I'm Stiles Stilinski, and if there's anything you need while you're here, you can always talk to me." He said.
"Okay. I'm Poppy, and I'll keep that in mind, thanks." She shook his hand and he noticed what looked like a paw-print tattoo on her right wrist.
"Cool tattoo," he said. She chuckled.
"It's actually a birthmark. Weird, huh?"
"Weird yeah, but cool. Anyway, I gotta get back to my friends. You're welcome to come sit with us if you like," he offered. Poppy glanced over and saw the Beta from earlier, Isaac. That must be his pack.
"I'm fine, but thank you. I don't want to intrude." She fought to keep her heartbeat under control.
"You wouldn't be, honest."
"I think you're really sweet Stiles, but honestly, I'm in a bad place right now, and I think it's best if I keep to myself." She took his hands and smiled at him, a sad smile, before releasing his hands. "You should get back to your friends." Stiles nodded.
"Nice meeting you, Poppy."
"You too, Stiles." And he wandered off toward his friends as Poppy ducked her head, feeling her phone buzz against her thigh. She pulled it out of her pocket and her Father's number flashed across the screen. With a disgusted noise, Poppy hit the decline button and shoved the phone deep within her pockets, hand circling her drink as the waiter came back to take her order.
"Bacon cheeseburger with curly fries, please," she said weakly, looking down as the older boy nodded and left her. Poppy looked out the window and leaned back, pulling her feet up so her knees were at her chest before wrapping her arms around them. She knew she had to leave tomorrow, early the next day at the latest. Her father and his pack wouldn't leave Beacon Hills alone forever.
A/N: Haha, there you goes. I'm not fully into this story yet, so updates may be slower than with Alpha Female... although, I updated that abnormally fast...