Tricked

<<Narrator>>

Zoe and Xavier were done having breakfast when a boy, a few years younger than Xavier walked in, wiping greasy hands on his dirty apron. 

"Morning everyone." He said cheerfully.

His father immediately got up and started getting coffee ready for his son while the boy nodded at the guests before going to his room to change. He returned a few minutes later and received the steaming cup of coffee from his father before taking his seat at the breakfast table.

"The car is all fixed up and ready to drive many miles." The boy said to Zoe and Xavier.

"What was wrong with it?" Xavier asked keenly, trying to read the boy and his intentions.

"The electronics were fried, among other things. Happens in modified older models." The boy said and started buttering a slice of fresh bread. Zoe got up to get the coat she was wearing last night from the guest room.

Before anyone could say anything else, the old man placed a piece of paper in front of Xavier, who looked quizzically at the old man.

"What is this?" Xavier asked as he looked at the contents of the paper.

"This is the receipt of your bill." The old man said like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Bill?" Xavier echoed and read the list. It started with car fixing services, worth a hundred dollars, and went on to two full meals, dinner and breakfast, a bath worth eighty dollars, and ended with two rooms for a night worth a hundred and fifty dollars each. With added taxes, the whole bill turned out to be more than five hundred dollars.

Xavier's eyebrows shot up as his heart rested calmly. This was the expected surprise that he had been looking for all evening yesterday.

"We take cash and credit cards," The old man smiled hospitably but Xavier was on the verge of getting upset.

"What kind of cheap trick is this? We won't be paying for anything," Xavier stood up annoyed as Zoe walked out of the room confused at what was Xavier getting upset about.

"This is no trick. You enjoyed our services since yesterday evening and now it is time to pay for the services. Nothing comes free." The old man's smile had turned taunting and Xavier was not having it. 

Money was not the problem. He had enough to smack his face with the cash but it was a matter of principles. How dare he scam travelers like that?

"Something tells me we are not the first ones you are scamming with your services like this." Xavier said and Zoe walked closer, "What is going on?"

"If you refuse to pay for our honest and high-quality services, we will take legal action against you." The old man said confidently.

"Pay for services? Xavier, what is he talking about?" Zoe asked.

"My father has asked your boyfriend to pay for the services that you two have been enjoying since yesterday evening and he dares call us the scammers." The boy answered Zoe calmly.

"What services?" Zoe asked frowning.

The boy silently handed her the receipt that Xavier had refused to acknowledge after the initial read.

Zoe went over the details and it had added that one bath bomb in the list that she had used for her bath worth twenty dollars. The inflation was insane. The prices of everything, even if they were to pay them, were quadruple the real prices offered by active hotels in towns.

The old man had threatened Xavier with legal action not knowing that he was talking to a Werewolf Councilman and Alpha of one of the strongest packs in North America. Xavier tried to breathe slowly, to keep himself from losing his temper.

"This is diabolical." Zoe exclaimed as she went over the list a few times, "You cannot ask us to pay this. We didn't ask for any of these things. You did it yourself." 

The old man smirked and pointed at the corners of the ceiling, "The cameras have recorded you using our services. We have proof that we can take to court. Isn't it better to just pay and get this done and over with?" 

Xavier was starting to lose his temper and Zoe needed to get to where her mother had wanted her to be. It took an hour of loud arguments, Xavier almost losing control to Spike, almost getting into a fight with the old man and his son before Zoe finally managed to calm everyone down when she realized that the old man was a human who probably had no idea that they were wolves. 

She allowed Dahlia to establish a mind link with Spike and tell him to keep Xavier calm and not receive unwanted attention as they were technically on the run. 

Xavier calmed down instantly at the mere thought that his mate was willing to establish mind-link with him if needed. That was enough for him to get his wallet, smack the unjust amount being charged on the breakfast table, and walk out angrily. 

The boy sat down on his chair satisfied and went back to sipping his coffee. The old man handed Zoe a plastic bag with Tupperware.

"What is this?" Zoe asked still upset at the way the old man had scammed them.

"Leftovers from last night. It was your meal, you should keep it for the road." The old man said.

Shaking her head, Zoe took the bag and followed the rough path through the woods after Xavier. The weather was fine. The storm clouds had passed and given way to soft sun rays filtering through the foliage. The puddles in the ground were the only remnant of the storm that had shaken Zoe.

Zoe reached the car and saw Xavier checking the engine.

She wanted to ask if he was alright but decided otherwise and placed the plastic bag in the car. 

Xavier on the other hand was furious. The old man and his son had scammed them harder than they had initially realized.

On the way back, Xavier had noticed another small shack, close to the cabin which they hadn't been able to notice due to the rain and dark at night. And the parts of the car that were fixed were the ones that could only have been fried if an EMP had been detonated deliberately to make it so. Which meant that the old man and his son might have broken down the car on purpose to scam them. The boy had probably stayed in the shack for the night and not even gone to the town.

Before he had a chance to react or walk back down to the cabin to confront the old man, Zoe started the car and honked the horn as if telling him to get in or she'd leave without him. 

Silently, he slid in the car and they went on like they had been going since they began the journey.