Lone Werewolf

Shopping

"Wh-what does Caccia mean?" I asked hesitantly.

"Chase," he replied, "You're at one of the best parts."

I nodded, returning to the book I had been ploughing through and now, if I compare the halves, I was about one quarter of the way through.

"And, um, strumentalizzare?"

"It means exploit."

"Oh, thank you."

He smiled at me from over his book and I blushed, feeling heat emanate from my cheeks.

"You are very clever, you know that?" he praised me, "Fate has done me well to mate me with such an intelligent girl who speaks my native language. I never dreamed my mate would read my grandfather's originals."

The blush deepened, if at all possible and I had to look away from him, squirming in the praise. Was he expecting a compliment back? I knew many people like to exchange them in that way.

"Thank you, I think you're smart too."

He smiled, eyes twinkling with amusement – as if thinking of something fond.

"Oi! Brother, I thought you wanted to go shopping!" A female voice trilled in a strong Italian accent, causing me to flinch and cringe into the cushion. Cesare only rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and took out his phone, sending some kind of message to her. He waited to hear her steps thundering out of the room before standing up and offering an outstretched hand to me.

I hesitated to accept his offer, remembering that these gestures could quickly be made cruel – just when you had almost made it to your feet. Instead, roiling with guilt, I hauled myself up, wincing at the pain that laced through my sides. I rocked a little on my feet, caught off guard by the knifing pain in my ribs.

Cesare was quick to reach out a hand and stabilize me, eyes filled with concern.

"I'll get you some more painkillers – they must have lost their effect," he reassured me, although I was still wary of the hand still hovering around the small of my back, even as he helped me out of the hidey-hole.

I pulled away from him at the first opportunity, placing distance between us whilst he foraged in the bathroom cupboard for the promised pain medication. It felt pretentious and selfish to be so waited upon but I wanted the agony to disappear again, as it had never before.

He came back in and passed me a cool glass in his hand, small escaping droplets splashing onto my hand before he placed the pills in the other. I glanced towards him, unsure.

"It's only paracetamol, its fine, you just swallow them with the water."

I nodded with relief and popped the pills into my mouth before taking a big gulp of water and swallowing before I could rethink. I could feel them pass down and scrunched my nose up at the uncomfortable feeling.

"We best get going," Cesare said, leading me out of the room and down the stairs towards the entrance way. When we arrived, a flamboyant young woman was standing by the entrance – wearing a bright pink kimono, a black top and jean shorts, oh and sunglasses.

"Eden!" she exclaimed, "It's lovely to meet you, Luna. I'm Celia, his sister."

She came forward and reached out a hand, which I eyed warily. She glanced towards her brother and shrugged, turning around, out and down the marble steps of the entrance.

The word 'Luna' echoed in my brain and I shivered, my mother had been the Luna – never me. Cesare gestured for me to follow and I did, ending up outside a sleek, black car which looked very fancy and expensive. Celia was already in the driver's seat when Cesare opened the back door for me and I was sat in the confined space of the car, tensing up at the proximity of the situation.