The Royal Wolff

Chapter 7: Expect The Unexpected

“Is everything alright at the back there, Señorita?” Santino asked and I looked away from the window to give him a nod and smile.

“Si, si. Bien. Gracias, Santino.” I replied to him in Spanish even though he speaks pretty good English.

At this point, I figured I should start brushing up on that language if I want to not look like a total foreigner here. Not that that was bad, but it would make me stand out more which was absolutely not what I wanted. I wanted to blend in amongst everyone as much as possible. That was my plan during my entire stay here, outside and inside school.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes, Señorita.” Santino told me and I nodded to acknowledge.

“You can just call me Anita, by the way. Please call me Anita.” I chuckled softly.

It was weird constantly being called such a… fancy honorific, because all I want is to feel normal. Magnus probably feels otherwise as Santino looked at me confused over my request. I can tell Magnus has made them used to calling him and people he knows those honorifics.

“O-okay, if you want, Miss A-Anita.” Santino struggled to say my name without adding another title to my name and I decided to just brush it off. It was better than the first one, at least.

It seems Spanish people just have this innate behavior in them to be ridiculously nice, which I am thankful for because Moon Goddess knows I need as much niceness as possible while still adjusting to things around me. I just desperately hope the ones in my new school will be the same.

I bit my lip nervously as I thought about my impending doom also known as my first day back to school which was only a couple of days away. It was supposed to be after the weekend, but Mathieu, that annoying hardworking brother of mine, made a suggestion to our parents that it would be best we start as soon as possible since we already missed a few days. Darn his studiousness.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, the only thing I remembered to bring and a few Euro bills Mathieu gave to me before he left. I tapped on the search app and stared at the blank screen for a few seconds, debating whether or not I should search the school I would be studying in soon.

There was no doubt that I have been putting it off for quite some time now. The dread and the denial inside of me was strong because as Mathieu researched every single thing about our new school, I on the other hand kept deleting things he would send to me. Maybe it was time to finally face reality.

“Mi-miss Anita, we are here.” I immediately looked up from my phone when Santino spoke up.

“I was not sure exactly where you wanted to go, but Señorita Martha mentioned you wanted some peace so the sea is what I thought of. Is that okay?” He looked at me worriedly as if his decision was going to cost his job.

I was quick to reassure him. “This is perfect, Santino! Muchas gracias. Me lees la mante (you read my mind).” I told him and he looked to have felt better with my words.

He parked the car and told me that he will be waiting. We exchanged numbers so that if ever I needed him he was one call away. I thanked Santino for all his help before making my way to where I could hear the ocean.

I felt excited and nervous all at the same time, but mostly more nervous when more people started nearing me. It wasn’t that I was an introvert or anything, it was that I didn’t know how to act around them yet. I felt anxious that they were looking at me weirdly and thinking bad about me already because I wasn’t from here.

“Keep it together, Anita.” I mumbled to myself before letting out a deep sigh and reassuring myself that in fact, no one was looking at me and I was just making myself scared.

I tried to focus on where I was, which was a beautifully lit up place right next to the sea. There were small stalls and shops around the street and a few steps from it you would already reach the sand. They definitely didn’t have this back in New York. Well, the closest drive was about half an hour to Coney Island, but even that place didn’t feel as peaceful as this because of the amusement park rides right next to it.

Sàrria-Santa Gervasi somewhat felt like a hidden gem, like you could just lay down on the sand and forget all your worries. Which is exactly what I am going to do.

I began to head to the sand area, walking as far away as possible from the people because I didn’t want to be a bother. The second I felt the sand on my feet, I felt even more excited. There was just something about the feeling of a million molecules of Earthbeads massaging your foot all at once and with the smell of the salty sea, this was exactly what I needed.

Although I was born during the winter season, for some reason my parents said I had always been more fond of the warmer weather. Every time we went to beaches and nature in general they said I looked more content. Mathieu was the opposite. He could stay outside the snow for hours and never get tired of it.

I found a spot that was further to the side and looked around to see that there was practically no one there.

“Don’t mind if I do.” I chuckled to myself lightly before sitting down on the sand.

I closed my eyes as I let out a deep exhale and felt myself finally relax.

“Aaahh… I can get used to this…” I said as I laid down on the sand, using my jacket as a small blanket.

I looked up at the sky and couldn’t help but admire how clear it was around here as the stars and the moon lit up the whole place so beautifully. The moon shone on the sea which gave it its own glow and it looked mesmerizing.

“You’re not so bad after all, Spain.” I chuckled amused at my own thoughts.

“Ah, crap. Right.” I muttered when I remembered what I was meaning to do earlier - look up our school so I could at least have some knowledge on the hell I was entering.

Fine. It’s better late than never. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I started typing the name.

Academia de Luna Llena. It was Spanish for The Full Moon Academy. I got goosebumps just reading it. After studying in normal schools for my entire life, I had no idea what to expect with a supposed exclusive school for… our kind.

I started scrolling down the page and stopped at the picture of the school. What in the Moon Goddess? Is this a school or a freaking Renaissance Castle? I couldn’t stop staring at the aerial picture on the site. It was built exactly how you would imagine Royalty to study in, which I guess only made it right since the wolves who studied here were far more than just the average.

Sure there were a few normal wolves, but the majority of the ones here were apparently big time. They were either children of Alphas or Betas, pretty much anyone who had a title.

“Every member of the Royal Family has graduated from Academia de Luna Llena.” Every single one of them? Damn. That’s one big achievement.

I didn’t know much about them since it wasn’t like my classes had Lycan Royals in it. I learned more about the Queen of England than our own Lycan Queen Mariana, which may or may not be some form of treason. Is it? Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say that out loud, then.

But I wasn’t completely clueless. I did know, in fact, that we somehow go way back with the former Prince Aléxandros now King. That was the river story, wherein they helped find the hunter who tried to kill us all. Another thing is the rumor that their son was some kind of excessively powerful wolf. I only know about this because Mathieu told me it was the reason our father went to war when we were younger and it was when he got his wolf back. Until today, no one really talks about what happened then. They said the King forbade it.

Well, other than those things, I am clueless. I chuckled to myself realizing just how detached I was with all that, but it didn’t really matter to me. It wasn’t like I was going to be part of this whole Royal shenanigans and whoever high and mighty person there was going to be in that exclusive academy.

My plan was simple. Go day by day being unnoticed and graduate as peacefully as possible then be back home.

“Ooh, a video.” I scrolled down to see a video tour of the whole place and was getting ready to get myself immersed in it when all of a sudden, someone took my phone out of nowhere!

“WHAT THE HECKING HECK?!” I shouted out in shock as I turned around.

I then saw a man dressed in all black running away from me and although I was a little bit flustered, I was able to immediately stand up and run after him. I hadn’t even had a chance to put my jacket back on or my shoes that I had taken off earlier.

Oh stupid annoying robber ruining everything when I was having such a good time!

“Hey! Stop! That’s mine! You better get back here!” I shouted out while still trying to catch up to him.

I kept running as fast as I could and at the same time dreading the amount of cardio I was doing right now. I was starting to realize I really lacked actual exercise. Even during this time I could hear my brother telling me “I told you so”.

I noticed at the side of my eye that there were a few people by the beach area and I felt embarrassed to be shouting. So much for me wanting to not be noticed by others. Let’s just hope none of them actually understand what I’m saying.

“Give that back to me, you stupid piece of poop!” I shouted out again, but I could feel my stamina betraying me the more I continued to run.

My heart felt like it was going to give up on me, the beating getting louder and louder. When I felt as if I was going to collapse and my mind was already thinking of what to tell my parents on how I lost my phone on our first day away from them, a gust of wind made me turn to my side and I saw another man running faster than lightning.

“What the-” Was all I could say before he disappeared and albeit utterly confused, I was suddenly motivated to keep going.

I took a few quick breaths to regain myself because I knew if I didn't, I would definitely faint and collapse here. Right after that, I continued running as fast as I could. This time I wasn’t appreciating the sand because it made running way harder.

“Crap.” I muttered when they went out of the area and continued running into the street. Am I supposed to follow them without my shoes? Ah, man. This is going to be not so pleasant.

Seeing as I had no other choice, I continued to destroy my lung capacity and use up all of what's left of my stamina following the two men. It was still lucky that it was a weekday night so there seemed to be not as much as people. I ran with my head sort of down in the hopes of not being seen by them and remembering my face.

What a terrible way to spend my first night in a new place - being dubbed as the weirdo running barefoot.

“Oh shoot, where did they go?” I looked left and right, panic starting to take over me when I realized I might have just lost the men I was following and inadvertently, my phone.

Well that is just great. What happened to Spanish people and their innate niceness?! Maybe I am just terribly unlucky.

“Vete a la mierda!”

I let out a shocked gasp as my head immediately turned to where the faint sound came from. I noticed the small corner at the side of the street and knew instantly that was where they were.

Bless you, my enhanced sense of hearing.

I continued running to that area with my head down and a few minutes later, a lot of panting, my feet killing me, and most likely looking like I just got ransacked by a bear, I made it.

“Hey, I got you now!” I managed to shout out to a man in all black turned around.

My forehead scrunched into confusion when I didn’t see another man and only a pile of boxes in a mess in front of him. I think it was the adrenaline rush in me that was doing this, but whatever it was, I found myself running towards him with some kind of intent to show him what I was capable of.

Sadly, that was not how it turned out. The man had some kind of stupidly fast instincts and moved to the side just a second before I reached him, causing me to become imbalance and I was already internally slapping myself for doing this knowing full well how embarrassing it would be to hit the ground when I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist.

My eyes shot wide open as I turned around and came face to face with him. He was wearing very dark shades and a cap so I could barely see anything, but there was something about him that gave me goosebumps.

“Let me go, ugly!” I contested before pushing myself off of him annoyed. I realized he was not the man who took my phone, but the other one who started running out of nowhere.

“Give me back my phone!” I angrily told him. I was trying so hard to seem unbothered, but my lungs felt like they were going to crash and my heart was begging for a rest.

When he spoke up, I was slightly taken aback. I wasn’t expecting such a deep and smooth voice. He explained that he wasn’t the one who took my phone and pointed out to the direction where the other man went.

He managed to catch up to him, get my phone, but he let him go? I don’t know what happened there, but whatever, as long as he got back my phone.

“I know.” I muttered before moving closer and hurriedly grabbing my phone away from his hand.

I no longer wanted to stay there. One, because I felt like I was going to die from tiredness. Two, I felt embarrassed enough that this happened. Three, this man was giving me goosebumps and I still wasn’t sure if it was in a bad or good way.

I swiftly turned around and started making my way out of there when I heard him shout.

“No thank you?” Crap. He was right.

Although the circumstances were weird, he did go through all this effort to get my phone back even though he didn’t know who I was. I guess I should at least thank him.

Slowly, I turned around. I kept my head on the ground not wanting him to see the obvious embarrassment written all over my face. “Gracias.” I mumbled hurriedly. I didn’t care if he heard it or not, I said it already! That’s fine enough!

As I was getting ready to run away again, he asked another question.

“What’s your name?” His voice traveled my ears and I felt a tingle in my spine. I felt slightly frozen, unsure of what was going on.

Ah, stop it! I managed to snap myself out of it and immediately turned around and started walking away from him again.

“That’s none of your business, stranger!” I shouted out and ran as fast as I could.

Who does he think he is? I was already dying from humiliation. No way in heck I was going to let him know who I was.

I continued running and running even though my heart was begging for me to stop, but eventually, I reached where I was relaxing just minutes ago until my terrible luck happened.

I hurriedly flopped down onto my jacket, parts of my body not even covered so bits of sand were sticking to me, but I didn’t care. Tired would be an understatement right now. Maybe I really should start doing real cardio like my brother said.

“Ahhh darn it, I’m so tiiiired…” I complained to the stars, wondering how things had gone so wrong so fast.

And then my thoughts suddenly brought me back to the man in the dark glasses and the word ‘lucky’ lingered in my thoughts. I felt unlucky when I got targeted by the robber, but I was also lucky that someone like that man came along and helped.

“Oh, what is this torn feeling?!” I grumbled before sighing deeply and getting a fistful of sand and throwing it to the sea.

Whatever. It doesn’t concern me. I got my phone back and didn’t die from a heart attack. All’s well ends well.

All of a sudden my stomach started to grumble. “Oh great.” I looked at the time and realized it was past nine in the evening and I haven’t even eaten anything.

I took my phone and decided tonight was over for me. I scrolled down to look for Santino’s number and pressed call. It started ringing a few times and then suddenly it was cut. I tried again and it was hopeless.

I was tired, hungry, and my feet were all dirty and a little bit bruised. I was tough, but I too could feel a little demotivated from time to time. I don’t feel like I could move anymore and I couldn’t contact Santino.

“Guess I’ll just let myself get swept away by the sea.” I joked to myself as I stared up at the stars once again.

“È così che sarà (is this how it’s going to be)?!” I asked out loud to the stars, but mostly to the Moon Goddess.

Feeling defeated, I closed my eyes and just let everything get tuned out besides the sound of the waves crashing against one another.

My phone started ringing out of nowhere and without opening my eyes for lack of energy, I just answered it.

“Hm..” I said inaudible, not sure if I even let out a proper sound.

“Anita? It’s Magnus. We just got back and Mathieu was knocked out. Martha told me you went out with Santino to Sàrria, but I’ve been trying to call him with no luck so he must have lost battery again. That happens to him a lot. Anyways, are you good there?”

Hearing Magnus’ voice and being glad about that was the last thing on Earth I would have expected, but here I was. Practically on the verge of tears by how touched I was as I was completely surprised he even thought about me.

“Can you come pick me up? I’m by the beach.” I said without a second thought. It was a favor I wouldn’t have thought of asking Magnus, the usually irresponsible and annoying cousin of mine.

“The beach? Okay, I’ll be there in a few. Tieni duro (sit tight).” Magnus said before hanging up.

Who would have thought that I would one day feel better hearing his words?

How unexpected the things that happened today, but maybe, that was exactly what I was to expect living here from now on.

New experiences, new discoveries, all new everything…

I looked up once again and stared straight at the big bright moon, nervously biting my lip.

Moon Goddess, conto su di te (I’m counting on you).