(This is a spin-off from Alpha to Omega from around chapter 28-29. This story will feature brown wolf and can probably be considered stand-alone to a point, once it gets going.)
Too many people.
After being under the care of the local elder vampire's heir for nearly two weeks he was finally able to walk again. He probably shouldn't yet, but he wasn't very good at following directions.
Mainly because he was the one that always gave them, never the other way around.
Reaching up, he rustled his unruly mane of dark brown hair and gave a quiet grunting-growl. His human form really didn't suit him. He was a pretty bulky, dark brown werewolf but as a human... tch.
Tall, scrawny, and with a head of messy hair that just made him look like a young human that hadn't had time to tend to his hair properly... or just decided to leave it be intentionally. He was nearly seventy, and even though wolves could live much longer than humans, some even reaching two-hundred, he didn't want to look too young!
Pausing at a busy corner, he glanced around, then tilted his chin up slightly to sniff the air.
Fish.
He'd been following the scent ever since he'd stepped out into the overcast early morning. At the beginning it was only a faint scent brought in by the wind, but now it was easily traceable.
The elder vampire who had assisted him in healing his leg and the pup he'd brought to his town had given him some human money to go buy food, but the few fish he'd found at the market closer to the home he was temporarily staying at didn't smell nearly as fresh.
If he was going to buy food for his pack's last remaining pup, he wasn't going to get anything but the best. The little guy had survived a terrible attack from an invading pack while a lot of their larger wolves had been out hunting. He was the only one that made it.
Thanks to the vampire's heir.
The heir, Taru, was a fantastic doctor, and he hadn't hesitated to treat either his broken leg or the injured pup he'd been brought, even though human towns were rarely tolerant of werewolves, let alone willing to let one step inside their borders safely.
He knew that the locals wouldn't tolerate him for long, though. The only reason they weren't already aiming silver arrows at him was because of his benefactor.
I owe elder Vrasje.
He really did. To be able to simply walk through a human town as a werewolf was not something to laugh about. He would definitely return the man's kindness when he was able.
Until then...
Turning his head, he sniffed the air again, then hurried in the direction he smelled not just fish, but salt water, too.
He was approaching the sea.
The thought of being close to such a large body of water was intimidating. He'd never been the best swimmer, and he highly doubted that his human body would fair much better at the task.
Thankfully, he didn't have to go fishing.
Almost there.
As he climbed to the top of a small cobblestone hill, he saw what he'd come for. Tons of it.
A massive fish market was set up on the long street leading directly to a string of wooden docks. Ships of all sizes were moored within feet of each other.
There was so much going on.
Too much.
Uncomfortable but determined, he forced himself to act calmly and headed for the market. The smell of fish drowned out every other scent by the time he got to the first booth.
"Fresh snapper! Sir, you surely can't pass up such a beautiful fish!"
He fidgeted, startled by the man's yell. There had been no reason to raise his voice... he was already stopped right in front of him.
Disgruntled, he continued to the next booth, but made sure to step back a few paces.
It didn't seem to matter. The next seller quickly chimed in, seeing his chance to make a sale.
"Our grouper is freshly caught just this morning! You can't get anything better than this!"
He really could get something better. It was called peace and quiet.
Licking his lips nervously, he hurried forward, mixing in with the bustling crowd as best he could. His leg was beginning to ache but he refused to limp. He already stood out enough to the local vampires being a werewolf. Even with the bracelet Vrasje had given him to warn vampires about trying anything with him, it wouldn't be able to trick their eyes.
Even with Vrasje's protection, an injured werewolf wasn't likely to be ignored.
Just find some fish and go.
Determined to get out of the busy area, he hurried up to another stall and, thankfully, wasn't yelled at.
"Hello sir, I don't have as much as my neighbors, but I caught all of these myself early this morning. Please have a look and let me know if you'd like anything," the tanned young lady in front of him said with a pleasant tone.
He nodded as he looked over the fish. They all looked fresh and weren't stacked up on top of each other like all the other booths.
They look good.
Now he just had to figure out the prices. They were labeled, but math wasn't exactly necessary out in the forest. He could count to ten, but he'd never used money before, let alone had to add up monetary amounts.
I shouldn't have been so stubborn and accepted an escort.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when a cold hand suddenly slid along his wrist until the money was no longer in his hand!
Turning his head to the right and the slightest bit up, he was about to demand his money back when his slightly parted lips slowly closed.
Pirate.
He'd seen them from afar several times when he was looking out over the sea on a hunt, but he never dared come close to the saltwater waves. He'd lost several of his old packmates to their curiosity. Kidnapped to foreign lands.
Now that he noticed, everyone that had previously been crowding the area had drifted away. There was only one person besides the man to his right that dared come close.
"Captain... he smells a little like that elder who's always trying to get ahold of you," the man behind them said, drawing his attention to him for the briefest moment before he returned it to the man still calmly standing beside him.
He knows elder Vrasje?
He also wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was a pirate.
The man was wearing a weathered tricorne hat with a faded skull carved into the side and a dark, worn long-coat. His face was in need a decent shave considering the other males he'd seen around, and his hair was clearly just tossed up into a ponytail without much thought. Dark tendrils even hung down haphazardly. A few were gently being nudged by the wind in front of his left eye every so often.
He couldn't see much else without leaning forward, and he didn't dare. What did it matter what the man looked like, anyways?
"What would you like?" the man finally asked, his voice raspy, as if he'd had too many salted dishes recently and hurt his throat.
Unsure of his situation, he turned his head back to face the now-nervous seller and pointed at a random fish.
"How many?" the man asked as he counted the money he'd taken in a blur of fingers.
How many was a good question. He had no idea how much money he had been given, nor could he understand how to compare it to the prices of the fish.
"As much as I can get," he eventually said.
"Any specific preference?" the man asked, his eyes calm behind his bangs as they silently assessed him.
Prefer... ance?
"Um... fish?" he replied, not quite understanding what he was asking but hoping he got the answer right.
On hindsight, though, it didn't make much sense to ask him if he wanted fish twice.
Unsurprisingly, the man gave a quiet huff that sounded suspiciously like a stifled laugh.
"Alright, fish it is," the man said as he pointed at several on the table.
The proprietor quickly packaged up everything he requested, then accepted the money. After counting everything out, she handed the man a single coin back and thanked them for their business.
I got so many fish!
If he'd been in his wolf form his tail would have been swishing back and forth contently. As it were, he was still human, but that was fine. He gladly accepted the large packages, then turned to face the man still beside him.
He was nice for a pirate. Maybe they aren't all bad?
His attention was snapped back into focus when the man tossed the single returned coin upward, then caught it between his dirty gloved fingers before holding it up to him at eye level.
"My charge, little Ilio," he said with a half-smirk.
Ah, that's fair.
Nodding, and figuring that their interaction was complete, he hurried around the man and began heading back up the hill.
It was a much easier walk since almost everyone had cleared out of the market by the time he'd gotten his fish. It was also bone-chillingly quiet besides the faint sound of the waves brushing against the docks and the few birds calling overhead.
Perfect.
He walked a few more paces before realizing something.
The bracelet lord Vrasje gave me is gone.
That's when he realized something else.
The pirate's payment hadn't been the coin at all. It had been the silver bracelet that was already on his wrist right beneath it!
Turning, he looked over his shoulder. The pirate had turned and walked away a short distance, but as his eyes found him, the man turned and met his gaze with a calm smirk. He was nearly to the docks already with his subordinate at his side, too.
He considered going after him to retrieve the bracelet, because it hadn't been a cheap item and he wouldn't be happy losing something that was entrusted to him, but...
I need to get this fish back before it spoils and if he stole it, he probably won't give it back so easily.
The faint scent from the bracelet was also likely to wear off quickly now that he no longer had it on his person. The smart decision was to leave.
Damn.
Resigned, he turned back around and hurried toward Vrasje's home. There were quite a few more eyes on him as he moved into the busier portion of the town, but thankfully no one tried to bother him.
By the time he got back it was drizzling lightly and his leg was just about to give out. Thankfully, one of Vrasje's servants was waiting for him and quickly took the fish from his exhausted arms and carried them away to the kitchen.
Sighing with relief, he stood in the doorway for a few moments before he felt eyes on him.
Looking up, he quickly frowned and looked down at his bare wrist.
"Someone took it," elder Vrasje said as he descended the steps in a blur, taking the words from his mouth before he could speak them.
Vrasje slowed down a few feet away, then finished walking forward with such an air of authority that he quickly lowered his gaze.
Normally, he wouldn't show submission around a vampire, or even another werewolf, but the man had helped him immensely, so he would gladly show his gratitude with a few simple submissive gestures.
When the vampire gently took his wrist in his own and narrowed his eyes, his heart suddenly sped up and he quickly looked away again.
"I apologize, a pirate took it from me when I was distracted. I was going to go retrieve it as soon as I brought the fish back."
The hand holding his wrist dropped away before Vrasje turned and began heading back toward the stairs.
"No need. Do not return to the docks since you got enough fish for several days. Your pup was just fed and is sleeping so you should get some rest, too," he said before disappearing up the steps and around the corner.
He had been dismissed that quickly.
Furrowing his brow, he looked down at his wrist in confusion, then back up to the spot where the vampire had disappeared.
He considered going back out to try and retrieve the bracelet anyways, but in the end his leg prevented it. There was no way he'd be able to walk all the way back to the pier without causing serious damage.
I'll rest then. Perhaps tomorrow I can go find it.
Instead of returning to the room given to him, however, he walked through the house and straight out the back door.
He'd rarely spent much time inside since coming to the vampire for help after his pack was attacked. He felt more comfortable outside, so Vrasje had ordered his servants to set up a few hammocks in the back gardens for him.
The light rain had stopped, too, so he happily wandered to his favorite hammock beneath a large oak tree a little ways into the greenery. It was comfortably hidden. A small wooden overhang had been build into the upper portion of the tree to block the rain, too, and it had done a fantastic job of it.
Content, he hopped into the hammock and stretched out with a yawn as his arms lifted over his head and he arched his back the slightest amount.
Feels so good.
He would have tossed his human clothing at that point, since it was just a pair of loose black slacks and a gray shirt, but as soon as he closed his eyes everything else quickly began to fade away. He had no trouble at all relaxing into the taut fabric and within just a few moments he was drifting off as the hammock swayed gently in the comfortably cool breeze.
The last of his fleeting thoughts before falling asleep were of the strange man he'd met down by the pier and how, even though he'd stolen from him, he still couldn't quite consider him so bad... for a pirate, of course.