16. Spain
2231 Words
Otto
~
Scotland was amazing once I got the hang of a kilt. The Scots seemed a lot like Navajo, keeping with their traditional clothing. I had to respect that. I loved learning how to use the claymore but the food was odd. I ate everything that I was handed and never complained out loud, but f**k, some of the food was gross.
Norway was kind of the same way, but their Alpha was crazy and Grant got along with him just fine. The food there was even odder and I had no idea how the hell Grant ate the f*****g Rakfish. It smelled horrible and I didn’t want to put it in my mouth. I was happy to meet another Beta in Norway and I was happy to have him along with us. Grant assured me that I was his Beta and that Aksel was just looking for a new home. Aksel might also be a good option for the future Luna to have a strong Gamma.
Now we were in Spain in the Canary Islands being welcomed into the pack. The she-wolves here were friendly. Really friendly! After we introduced ourselves to Alpha Antonio, he started walking around showing us the place and introducing us to the she-wolves. Krew and I lost count of how many times we were physically touched and kissed on the lips or cheeks in greeting. This was nice!
Then one touched Grant and I could hear Skoll get angry. We kept walking after Grant apologized to the she-wolf and to Antonio. He tried to be invisible while walking around, but the poor guy had no luck. He was a large-bodied Alpha and the she-wolves just seemed to flock to him. He was going to go insane here, but Krew and I were in heaven.
I looked over at Krew and he was smiling like a damn fool watching the she-wolves here. He was a f*****g gonner. He was gonna end up getting laid while we were here. I just know it.
Poor Aksel didn’t know what to do. He seemed sweet and innocent, but in reality I just think this was all a shock to him. The first she-wolf that kissed him on the lips, he stood there with wide eyes just frozen to the spot until I grabbed him by that arm and pulled him along with us.
Aksel had the same body style as me, with pale skin, dark brown eyes, brown hair and a bushy brown beard. He was a good looking guy and it showed by how the she-wolves stared at him but it made him uncomfortable. I wonder if he was like Grant and still innocent in the ways of a bedroom with a she-wolf. He acted like it.
~
Grant
Alpha Antonio was older than my dad. He had salt and pepper hair, a thick beard that was almost white and dark brown eyes. He was a nice man and everyone respected him. I just wish people would respect my boundaries and I wish Skoll would respect the fact that I can't stop the she-wolves from kissing me in greeting. That’s just what they did here.
After being introduced to Luna Camila, Beta Pablo and his mate, Sofia, we were shown to our rooms. We then got to go to the dining hall, which was part of the building we were in. All the buildings were connected to each other and it was almost like it was one big stone estate.
Everyone sat down and we were introduced to the Alpha and Beta pups, Mateo and Tomas. They were two years younger than me, so soon they would take over the pack.
Once everyone was in the dining hall, they served a dish called gambas al ajillo. It consisted of Spanish garlic prawns with rice that had been seasoned to perfection with roasted vegetables on the side. It was amazing and I smiled happily as I ate without anyone touching me.
When we finished dinner, everyone retired to their rooms and I sat on my bed texting Sean before I messaged anyone else. I needed to vent and see what his thoughts were.
“I shouldn’t have come here,” I told him.
“The she-wolves too much for Skoll?”
“Yeah.”
“I warned you and you know you didn’t have to go there.”
“I know, but I wanted to learn about the weapons here. I can tell I won't last long with Skoll acting the way he is,” I told him.
“Then stick it out for as long as you can. Antonio is a great teacher and always has valuable information.”
“Ok.”
“When you need to leave, just tell him and be honest. He will value that.”
“Got it.”
That ended our conversation and I went to shower. When I was done, I went to my bed and sat down. I started messaging Madison to see what she was up to.
“I just got home from school. Let me guess you’re getting ready to go to bed?” she asked.
“Yeah. Why did you have to say it like that though?”
“I didn't say anything. I typed it.”
“Smartass.”
“Yep. Is everything ok?” she asked me.
“No.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have come here to Spain and my uncle even warned me. I thought it would be fine though.”
“Grant, what happened?” she pressed.
“The damn she-wolves keep kissing me in greeting which is there custom, and f*****g Skoll has growled at every she-wolf here. Mated, unmated, young and old.”
She sent me a series of texts after that.
“LMAO! I’m sorry for laughing. That’s so horrible. Why did you go there if you knew that this would happen?
I groaned because I did know this would happen and yet I still came.
“I didn’t know it would be this bad. I really want to learn from this Alpha and Sean says that he always has valuable information.”
“So you're going to try and stick it out?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“For how long?”
“Maybe two weeks. I don’t know yet.”
“Good luck with that.”
I groaned even more and kept messaging her until I was exhausted and needed to sleep. Skoll kept snickering in my head because he knew what he was doing. He just wanted to only have our mate touch me and in all honesty that didn’t bug me, but he didn’t have to be this big of a d**k.
~
The next morning, I avoided the she-wolves like a plague and every time one got close to me, I would grab Otto or Krew and put them in my path so I wouldn’t get touched or kissed. Was this horrible of me? Yes, but it was also saving me and they didn’t seem to mind the attention they got. Aksel seemed uncomfortable with it, so I wasn't going to put him inbetween me and the she-wolves. I would respect his boundaries.
We had a nice breakfast with coffee, toast, pastries and omelets. My first taste of coffee here was pure heaven. I hummed in happiness before eating my food. If there was anything more amazing than this coffee I would be flabbergasted.
Once we were finished with breakfast, we all went out to the courtyard with Antonio and Pablo. They were talking about training and how they did things here at Canary Moon. I watched Antonio and Pablo spar for a while and noticed just how quick and light they were on their feet. I was that quick, but I wasn’t very light on my feet.
During hand-to-hand combat, I watched my guys against Beta Pablo before I turned my attention to Antonio. We started sparing and I was quick to end the match as I made him tap out.
"Damn. Sean warned me about you but I had to see for myself," Antonio said.
"Yeah. Everyone is being warned about me, it seems."
"Well, let me show you my favorite combatives," Antonio said.
I watched as he went and grabbed two rapiers from a wooden holder against the stone wall. Pablo went and grabbed four more. They were about to teach all of us how to use them and that made me smile. We were all handed rapiers and told about the history before they started instructing us. We worked for hours with them when it came to the light swords.
When we were done, Antonio turned to me and said, “You hold the sword well but I noticed that you were trying to figure it out because it’s so light. You were already in Scotland with Angus weren’t you?”
“Yes. It’s very different from the claymore.”
“That it is. We will work on your footwork tomorrow because using the rapier is more of a dance than it is just steps to advance or swing a mighty weapon.”
I loved the way he said it and I smiled at him. We spent our day exploring the city and then returned to the pack for dinner and bed. That night, as I was texting Madison about how I was enjoying learning how to use the rapier, I heard someone knocking on the wall, then the sounds of a she-wolf screaming in pleasure.
I looked at the wall and shook my head, realizing that it was coming from Krew’s room. He was right next to me while Otto was across the hall and Aksel was next door to him. I guess shoving them in the way of the she-wolves was a blessing for them.
~
After training today, Antonio called me into his office to speak in private. Part of me worried that something happened that they were offended or possibly worried about me or my members. This was the part of leadership I didn’t want to deal with, having to possibly control my people.
I walked into his office and closed the door before having a seat in front of his desk. He stopped typing on his computer and shut it before turning his attention to me.
“I know you probably won't stay as long as your uncle did because the she-wolves greetings make your Lycan mad. I wanted to talk with you before you decided to go,” he began.
“Ok. What is it you need to speak to me about?” I asked.
“I get information about a lot of things going on in Europe. I guess you could call me the collector of information here. In collecting that information, I was told about a fire breathing man. Either it’s a man that is just spitting fuel on fire or there’s a real life dragon shifter out there. I thought all of them had been killed off thousands of years ago but it’s possible they have survived and stayed hidden.”
“Where’s this at?” I asked in curiosity.
“Italy. There might also be other supernatural creatures there to look for and help.”
I nodded my head and asked, “do you have any detailed information about this guy?”
“Yes,” he said as he grabbed some papers and handed them to me.
I looked at the guy's picture and then the location. He was in Rome. I had a reason to go to Rome! I studied the guy's face and details. He was my height with a good build. He had short dark brown hair and the darkest brown eyes I had ever seen. They looked black, not brown.
“It’s worth checking out,” I told Antonio.
“I figured you might want to. Also, be very careful when going there. The Vatican can be a beast you don’t want to mess with.”
“Got it. Stay away from the catholics.”
He laughed and nodded his head, then said, “You can take the information with you. I will also teach you what you want to learn until you leave.”
“Thank you,” I said with a nod of my head.
I got up and left his office. I pulled the guys into my room for a quick meeting about what I had just learned. I let them look at the information and we talked it over.
“Going there is going to be dangerous,” Krew said.
“That’s why we have you,” I told him.
“You want me to be your eyes,” he stated.
“Yes. I will get the plane tickets there and secure a house for us instead of a hotel.”
“What do you plan to do when you find this guy?” Aksel asked.
“Try to figure out if he’s human or something else,” I answered.
“What if he’s something else?” Aksel pressed.
“We will figure it out from there. We are going there to see if he’s really a dragon, not to start some shit.”
He nodded his head. Everyone was in agreement on going to Rome, so now I needed to decide how long we would be here.
- Writer
