9. Avoiding the muse
2136 Words
“Are you going to hog the running track all week?” Evan asks Alessio on Wednesday.
“Yes. I need to run.” He is court and snappy. He feels bad for the guy right away, but Evan only nods and walks away. One of the two humans on the team learned a long time ago to not question the weird things the shifters do. That gives Alessio an idea and he slows down a bit. Evan is human and he knows, he might be the one to ask how to approach telling someone about shifters.
“Evan? Come back, please.” Alessio calls the guy.
“Sure. What do you need? Water?” Evan smiles at him.
“No. I’m fine. I want to ask you something.” Alessio smiles. “And I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
“A hard week?” Evan inquires.
“You have no idea.” Alessio sighs. “The worst. That is part of the reason I need you.”
“Shoot.” Evan shrugs. “How weird can it be?”
“You are astonishingly cool about everything.” Alessio laughs. “How did you find out about shifters? Who told you? What was your reaction?”
“Vittorio told me, shortly after the academy. We were on the same team and I had to work double time on the machines to come even close to his results. And the guy never trained a day I knew him.” Evan tells him. “Then one night on a gruesome bad accident site, Vittorio said we don’t have time to wait around for the tools truck that was stuck somewhere in traffic. He can do it, but I have to lie and say the door of the car was blown open before. He trusted me and explained everything on the drive back to the Fire station. He even shifted for me a couple days later.”
“You believed him on his words?” Alessio inquires.
“Yeah. And the fact he tore the door of the car off with his left hand.” Evan nods. “I think I would have believed everything even without the show, but seeing the wolf was...huh? I don’t know how to explain it. Magic? Maybe? I don’t know.”
“I see. I can’t exactly go that route.” Alessio sighs.
“Let me guess. The girl you fancy is human and you want to tell her?” Evan laughs.
“Yes.” Alessio cringes and wonders who else knows about his fixation with Grazia. “That obvious, huh?”
“Mhm. But I’m married, I tend to see these things.” Evan nods. “I can tell you, you have a tough time ahead. It’s not an easy thing to explain.”
“I know. I have until Saturday to come up with some plausible thing.” Alessio tells him. “I’m trying to avoid her till then and I hope she’s not too mad because of it.”
“My advice? Show her. You and Vittorio are cousins, so I guess, your wolf is the same kind of magnificent?” Evan suggests to him.
“Yeah. We are similar.” Alessio nods and another idea strikes him. “Wanna see?”
“What? Here?” Evan sputters. “Isn’t that a bit risky?”
“I was thinking in the locker room. It’s off limits to outsiders.” Alessio shrugs. Any distraction away from thinking about her is welcomed at the moment. And it’s kind of a practice run, too.
“I’m up for it. And we can kill some time that way. I just hope the alarm doesn’t go off while we goof around.” Evan says and Alessio can see the enthusiasm on the guy’s face. He hides it well most of the time, but he shows it now. Knowing something and believing is so different from seeing it.
They go to the locker room and Alessio strips to save his clothes while Evan studiously ignores the nudity part by retying his laces. The bonus of choosing the locker room is that there are no windows low enough for someone to look inside. Alessio smiles and lets the wolf out. He alerts Evan by a low whine and sits by his side.
“Yes, you are just as magnificent. Maybe a little more black in your fur, but the eyes are pretty much the same.” Evan nods and extends his arm out. Just like he would to a dog. Alessio looks at it suspiciously, but he was never one to turn down a free petting, so he comes a bit closer and leans his head on Evan’s thigh.
“Do you want your ears rubbed, or something?” Evan asks him and scratches just behind his ears.
‘You are a sold soul.’ His wolf comments.
‘But it feels good, admit it.’ Alessio retorts and the wolf chuffs out a puff of air.
‘Guilty. But it’s only Evan.’ The wolf replies.
‘I know. I would want it to be Grazia, too. I hope she doesn’t freak out.’ Alessio tells his wolf.
The door opens suddenly and he can feel a change in Evan. The guy stiffens and he stops petting his fur. And he knows exactly why. Busted!
“Alessio, I know you’re all bummed out because you can’t see her.” Vittorio growls. “But exploiting your co-worker like this is beneath you.”
“I wanted to make him feel better. And it’s a way to practice.” Evan explains. “I think you know more than I do about the matter.”
“Yeah. Sorry, Evan.” Vittorio nods. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
“No problem. I count this as a privilege. Not many humans get to experience this. I know he’s deadly and he can kill me in a few seconds, but the thrill and the trust is worth it.” Evan smiles at Vittorio and gets up to leave. “Thank you for the trust.”
“Alessio, shift back. The sad puppy routine won’t work on me.” Vittorio raises an eyebrow at him and waits. He pads over to his clothes and shifts back to human. Getting dressed is a speed contest with himself and he is ready to face his cousin and chief.
“I know, but Evan agreed. And it felt good.” Alessio sighs. “I just wish it was her. I hope she doesn’t freak out when I show her.”
“I know. I hope it goes well for you. I’ll even distract Elio for you to give you a chance to get away.” Vittorio tells him. “I hope we’ll find a way to overthrow my father without a bloodbath. I really don’t want to be the next Alpha.”
“I feel you.” Alessio says and his heart is heavy at the thought that someone will have to face Vito to stop this madness. “But what else is there? Who else can take him on and hope to win?”
“I don’t know. I think that not even I can win. Not with all the training I got lately.” Vittorio admits his fears.
“Your heart's not in it. You can’t win if you don’t really, really, badly want it! And you have to be prepared to fight dirty.” Alessio nods.
“Yeah. That’s part of the problem. I don’t want it.” Vittorio nods. “I can wait for a while, Mateo is planning something, but he doesn’t want to tell me what.”
“I just hope his plan doesn’t get him killed. He did come up with the worst of our childhood’s mishaps.” Alessio bites his lip and glances at Vittorio.
“Hope is all we’ve got right now.” Vittorio says. “And we are all alone in this mess. Veles will look out for Vannessa, because we want to avoid disasters, not create new ones. Vesna can’t help, because of those stupid rules and she made Ty promise he will nor risk exposure and stay out of it.”
“So, the ones who could easily end things with just a snap of their fingers are out of the plan? Great.” Alessio sighs.
“Don’t be so dramatic. We’ll figure out something.” Vittorio tells him.
“Like what? All answers lead to one of us sacrificing everything, maybe even life, to bring him down. None of us is really a fighter.” Alessio points out the obvious.
“If all fails, I’ll let Vannessa have him and worry about the consequences later.” Vittorio shrugs and the tone of his voice scares Alessio.
“That’s a joke, right?” He asks and looks at Vittorio. He waits for his cousin to say yes and start laughing, but Vittorio only shakes his head.
“No joke.” Vittorio whispers. “Her restraint is good. Veles is teaching her control as well as martial arts and magic, but if my father comes for me again, she’ll kill him. Then we’re really in trouble.”
“What kind of shifter is your mate?” Alessio asks and swallows hard. He knows the answer will hit him hard. He spent some time with Vannessa and he knows she is powerful. The only thing Allegra said was that she is nothing like Ty and the dragon scares him to death. Vannessa is more powerful than that, but she is young.
“Vannessa is a Firebird.” Vittorio whispers and makes a ‘lock the mouth’ motion.
“s**t!” Alessio whisper-shouts. “Not the answer I wanted to hear.”
“I know. Why do you think we’re all keeping her away from my father? Veles is only acting to be her bodyguard, right now he’s her keeper and trainer.” Vittorio tells her.
“It goes without saying, I’ll keep my mouth shut. No wonder Allegra kept it from me.” He says and wonders how they can keep something like this a secret for the long term.
“She’s come a long way in the past weeks. She can pass for human even without the perfume. And I trust you that you won’t say a word to anyone?” Vittorio reminds him.
“I won’t. Who else knows, besides Allegra and Veles?” He inquires and makes a list in his head about the things he is not supposed to talk about with anyone.
“Ty and Vesna.” Vittorio says. “We keep it close. We don’t know who we can trust.”
“Smart move. I’ll try to forget that I know.” Alessio nods at him.
Coming back home, he sits by his computer and searches the rentals again. There is nothing to be found that he can afford. Even the cheapest option would dry out his savings in half a year. To make his bad mood even worse, he has a few missed messages from Grazia. It’s time to respond to her and he still doesn’t know what to tell her. A lame excuse might be worse than the truth, but the truth is hard. He decides for a middle way.
-Are we on for the weekend? Grazia
-Did I do something? Are you avoiding me? Grazia
-Please respond! Grazia
-I’m sorry, I’m busy this week. But I’m looking forward to the weekend with you. Alessio
-Call me. Grazia
-I can’t. I will explain on Saturday. Alessio
After a while with no response from her, he starts to think that she’s angry with him. He would be. The vague and empty excuse would make anyone angry. He will have to apologize and beg, if she doesn’t just cancel the trip. He hopes she doesn’t, because he’s starting to feel the withdrawal and it’s making him cranky. How the hell can he live without her? And they’re not even mated yet.
Then another thought comes to the surface. How will he resist her if they spend the weekend together? It will be torture and no amount of cold water will help to quench the attraction and need for her. What will he do if she rejects him? What if she finds his wolf repulsive? What if she doesn’t like him after he tells her what he really is? What normal human would want to be with a beast? This is not a fairytale! And he’s got no castle to kidnap her and lock her in and then hope that she’ll fall in love with him. Why does his life have to be such a mess? Who did he insult or are the Fates bored and he is their new toy?
- Writer
