Fire and blood (Book2 of Wolves of Milano)

4. Mates? Wolf, are you crazy?

‘She is fun! I was right.’ His wolf chuckles and there is joy in his voice.

‘And she is a great distraction. Nobody paid any attention to me.’ Alessio concurs.

‘Not even that icky waitress that usually crawls all over your face. She just can’t accept a NO.’ The wolf huffs and makes him smile.

‘Maybe I should hang out with Grazia more often? Her presence alone gives me the room and air to breathe. She is like my personal bodyguard.’ He continues and plans to ask her out for a drink again.

‘She would make a great mate.’ The wolf inserts a thought.

‘What? I was talking about going out and drinking my coffee in peace! What are you talking about? Mates? No way!’ Alessio yells at his wolf and stops in his tracks. He is just a few meters away from his bike and Grazia drove off with hers a few minutes ago. Oh, it was a sight to admire. Her elegant, long legs in those black jeans, hug the bike like it’s her lover. He would love to be the one she hugs that way. 

‘See? You’re thinking about her like that, too.’ His wolf’s smug voice brings him back to reality.

‘Not as a mate, I’m not. I would f**k her sensless and let her go.’ He answers. 

'Let her go? Like never see her again?’ The wolf asks and the confusion flows over Alessio like water.

‘Hm? Right now I’m thinking of friend-zoning her. I doubt she would want to hang out with me after a one night stand.’ Alessio continues his thinking and sits on his bike without starting it. He doesn’t want to go home just yet. Maybe a drive to clear his head?

‘But she would make a great mate!’ The wolf doesn’t let the matter go.

‘She’s human. There’s not a trace of anything supernatural about her. She can’t be our mate, you know what uncle Vito thinks of humans. We can’t do that!’ Alessio tells his wolf. he is determined to find a wolf mate someday. He doesn’t want any trouble in his life.

‘I'm just saying, she would make a fine mate.’ The wolf shrugs and lays down to take a nap.

‘Let it go!’ Alessio yells and drives off without a plan. He hopes the wolf can forget this crazy idea. Grazia is a nice person and he likes her a lot, but she can never be his mate, no matter what his wolf thinks about her.

He drives aimlessly around the city and wanders off to the suburbs. With no plan in his driving, he ends up in front of the house his cousin Taz used to live in. He stops by the curb and looks sadly at the house. His Aunt Mary was the best cook ever and she used to treat the kids to all kinds of home baked pastry. And she is human. The discrimination against her and Uncle Ted was something he couldn’t understand as a kid, but he sees just how hard it must have been. And that was before Vito went mad, now he is waging war against the humans.

‘Why did you bring me here?’ Alessio asks his wolf.

‘To remind you how great humans can be.’ The wolf answers him.

‘Could you live like that? On the brink of the pack? With nothing but contempt?’ Alessio wonders, but he gets no answer this time. The wolf is sulking in a corner. Maybe that’s the question he needs to answer himself? Could he live like this? He has no desire for a function in the pack, but living isolated from every member of his own family? He doesn’t think he could. And he couldn’t do that to his mate, human or not, nobody deserves a bad treatment because of what they were born as.

He starts his bike and drives the longer route home. It’s not a pleasant place to be right now and he is thinking that it might be time to move out and find a place of his own. Listening to his parents quarrel is the last thing he needs right now. The situation in the pack is bad and it’s affecting everyone. Even his mild mannered mother is all cranky and agitated. Allegra has all the excuses she can come up with to never be home. His sister slips out of the house early and gets home later and later. If he wouldn’t know who she works for, he would have thought she’s having a lover and she’s hiding him from the parents.

Maybe he should do that? Get a lover and get out of this house? He needs to get out either way. He has savings and his pay is not too bad. What can he afford in the city? He needs to investigate the market for rentals later. He parks his bike out of the way of his mothers sedan and slips inside through the garage. This way he can evade the living room and his parents and run straight up to his room.

He throws his jacket on the bed and fires up his computer. Not for gaming tonight, he will do the rentals search and see what he can afford in reasonable distance to the Fire station. Just looking at the prices, he is wondering how Vittorio manages his two bedroom apartment with his pay. Even as the chief, he doesn’t get that much more than the rest of them. Can he afford to give half of his paycheck for rent every month? What about his bike and the garage he would have to rent? He’s not willing to give up his one joy in life.

A quiet knock on his door disturbs his search and he turns to see Allegra slip into his room and she closes the door carefully. They both take care to have the doors well oiled to avoid any squeaks. Not alerting their parents to their presence is a good thing lately.

“Hiding?” She asks.

“Yes. Are they still at it?” He nods to his little sister.

“I don’t know how long this can go on. And I heard part of the conversation, if you can call it that. It was about Vittorio. I don’t think he’s missing. They know something.” Allegra tells him.

“I figured that out, too. I think it’s all Uncle Vito. Do you think this is because he thinks Vannessa is human?” Alessio asks her.

“Probably.” She nods. “But it’s best if he thinks this way. She is safer like this and we will find Vittorio and get him back.”

“I met her. She is powerful, but too young to do anything. She needs experience to take on Uncle Vito.” Alessio continues.

“Yeah. My advice to her was to train and to keep her secret.” Allegra smiles. “I like her. She is pure and uncorrupted.”

“Do you know what she is?” He asks and he knows the answers, but he just wants to be sure.

“I know, but I’m not telling. I promised to keep her secret.” She chuckles. 

“Like Ty?” He inquires. 

“No. I’m not telling, but she is nothing like Ty.” Allegra shakes her head and nods to his computer screen. “What are you searching for?”

“Rentals. I want to get out of here.” He admits to his sister, because he knows she can keep quiet about it.

“Good luck. I went over everything twice. I can’t afford a place even half the size of what I have here.” She sighs and flops on his bed all casually.

“I know. I wonder how Vittorio manages it?” He says and sags in his chair.

“By not having a car or a bike. The only luxury there is his coffee maker. He insists on good coffee. All his furniture is second hand and he must be saving like crazy.” Allegra shrugs.

“I had no idea that Milano is so damn expensive to live in.” Alessio admits.

“Me neither. I wonder how mom and dad manage?” She says quietly.

“We pay them rent. That counts for something.” He tells her. “Dad has the extra tutoring hours and mom does those museum tours.”

“But that is the last two years. What about before?” She asks.

“They had a mortgage, I know that much.” He tells her.

Shortly after, Allegra leaves him to browse the real estate sites all on his own. He can’t even afford the condos where Marco lived. The rent for a garage in that building is the same as for the single room efficiency condo. Is driving in Milano really so expensive? He looks further out in the suburbs and finds nothing. Real estate there just doesn’t come on the market. The condos in the inner city are all the choices he has right now.

‘Grazia has a big house and a garage for bikes.’ The wolf inserts his thoughts.

‘Not again. Give up on her being our mate. It can’t be.’ Alessio shakes his head to get the point over to his wolf.

‘No. I like her. I want her.’ The wolf smirks.

‘She’s human. That would only bring us trouble and pain.’ Alessio answers and wonders why his wolf had to fixate on Grazia. It’s not like he hasn’t slept with a dozen gorgeous girls over the last few months. Some even wolves.

‘I don’t care. I think she is the one.’ His wolf shocks him and he sits there, quietly staring at the screen without noticing what is there.

‘What are you trying to say?’ Alessio asks his wolf and a suspicion starts to form.

‘I want her. I’m 90 percent sure she is the one.’ The wolf says.

‘Wolf? Are you crazy? She’s human! It can’t end well. Uncle Vito will skin me alive if he finds out!’ Alessio yells at his wolf and he is glad the whole conversation takes place in his head and no one can hear it.

‘I don’t care that she’s human. I want her.’ The wolf smirks at him.

‘No. I can’t do that. I can’t put her in danger! Look what happened to Vittorio and Vannessa!’ Alessio states. And he firmly decides that Grazia can only be a friend. He will not risk it and make her his mate. Friend-zoned and that is final.

‘Fine! Be that way. I’m done talking to you!’ The wolf curls up into a ball of fur and shuts down the mental connection between them. 

Damn! Now I’ve made my wolf angry and I’m miserable. He can’t have anything other than friendship with her to keep her safe and out of the mess the pack is in. And he really likes her! No matter what the wolf thinks about it, he can’t risk his Uncle finding out. He stays awake for most of the night thinking what to do. If she really is his mate, he is looking at a long bleak life without her. He is not a fighter. He spent all his childhood learning and avoiding fights, never even participating in the playful brawls with his cousins.

Well. Allegra is friends with her. Maybe he can ask her what exactly Grazia knows about their world? And he can always hope that she doesn’t like him at all.  Maybe she’s only talking to him because of this calendar project of hers? There is no reason for an upper class model and manager to even hang out with him. He is so far beneath her in social class that it’s not even realistic to think she would see him as anything other than an employee. The way she presents herself, she was clearly raised in a different world and to add the fact that he is a wolf and she’s human, they can never be. Maybe not even friends? Maybe he should avoid her forever? Yeah. He can start right after the photo shoot. He will not back out on his word and the extra cash comes in handy if he wants a place of his own. Maybe she won't be present at the shooting, there is not really a good reason for her to be there.