Fighting her instincts to protect her freedom

Chapter 2

Fighting her instincts to protect her freedom - chapter 2

When Ariel landed, she was tired and excited at the same time. She had already contacted the local pack called GoldenFire and was looking forward to meeting them. They had even volunteered to send someone to pick her up, even though she had told them that it wasn’t necessary. However, since the Alpha insisted, she had thanked them and agreed. So, there she was, walking out of the gates looking for a little sign with her name on it. Finally, she found it. A tall handsome man was holding the sign with a smile on his face. You could see he was a werewolf just by looking at him. Whereas most people were shorter, he was very tall. His broad shoulders and developed muscles were also a good giveaway. When their eyes met, he waved her like a boy and soon they met and introduced each other.

-          Welcome to Lima, Peru! I hope you like it here. My name is Tom.

-          Hello Tom, I’m Ariel… huh, although I guess you already knew that, huh? It’s very nice meeting you. Thank you for coming to pick me up. 

-          It was my pleasure. Now come on, let me help you with the bags or people are going to stare. 

-          They have wheels; it isn’t difficult to move them… 

-          Oh, I meant because they’re going to think I’m rude for not helping you.

At this, Tom winked, and Ariel smiled. She was pleased to see he wasn’t a serious boring guy and she could see herself become his friend.

-          The car is over there, but first, let me pay for the parking. 

-          Oh, I can pay for that, it’s the least I can do. 

-          No you can’t darling; the Alpha would kill me if he knew. Besides, it’s his money, so we might as well spend it, don’t you think?

Ariel laughed and together they walked to his car. It was a nice brand new black jeep. When they started going outside the airport, Ariel looked through the window, eager to find out about this new city. What she saw surprised her somewhat. She knew Peru was a developing country with poverty, but she was still shocked to see the economical differences evident in the architecture and parks’ decoration. The airport was situated in the Callao district, next to the most important port of the city and surrounded by import/export corporations, so the first districts they passed were dirty and ugly, but then they passed a more modern district filled with lights and advertisement signs everywhere. Tom informed her that they were now in San Miguel, and that they were driving near her future University. The drive was long and Ariel saw many different architecture styles passing by. San Isidro was the obvious financial center with modern buildings everywhere. However, those buildings weren’t too tall. Apparently, being in a seismic zone influenced this.

Finally, they arrived at Miraflores, where the pack house was located. The district had a certain charm to it. She felt at ease there. The pack house was a mansion with colonial architecture, very beautiful on the outside. She wondered if the humans found it odd to see such a huge mansion in the middle of a densely populated area.

-          And we have arrived princess. It’s quite late already, so I’m just going to take you to your room and you can meet the Alpha tomorrow. Since you’re probably very tired, he has arranged to meet you at noon, during lunch. So take advantage of the hours of rest you have because tomorrow you’ll be meeting lots of new people. Everyone is eager to meet our newest addition to the pack. Furthermore, the pack initiation ceremony is always very cool, so you’ll have all the attention directed to you. Hey, who knows, maybe you’ll even meet your mate!

Ariel froze at that. She hadn’t even thought about this for a while. She was so excited about her new adventure, she had forgotten about the Sword of Damocles hanging directly above her head: what if she did find her mate here? Her face instantly lost her color. 

-          Are you ok Ariel? You look a bit sick… 

-          Oh, I’m just tired, Tom. Don’t worry about it. 

-          I’m sorry I made you nervous, but don’t worry, everyone in this pack is pretty nice, you don’t have to be shy.

Tom thought Ariel had been frightened by the idea of being the center of attention. Not once did he think it was the prospect of meeting her mate that made her so nervous. Ariel didn’t explain and just allowed him to continue thinking that. It was bad enough that she was the new kid in the pack; she didn’t want everyone to think she was insane too. So she said goodnight to Tom with a smile and told him she would see him tomorrow during the meeting. She also thanked him again for his kindness.

Her room was nice, not too big, not too small; just the right size. She was so tired, she didn’t even unpack. She just took out her pajamas, took a quick shower and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.