Luciano forced himself to stop staring at the bathroom door and called room service.He realized that he had no idea what Talia liked to eat so he decided to get everything from the menu. In his opinion, the hotel didn’t offer enough options.After placing a massive order for food, Luciano made another phone call. This was important.“Hi Steph…”, Lucaino greeted Stephanie when she picked up the call.“It’s good that you remembered me.”, Stephanie said irritably.“Did something happen?”“Cassie is coming. Where are you?”“We are on the way home.”, Lucaino responded. He didn’t care about Cassie.“When will you reach here?”“Not sure. Something came up. That’s why I’m calling.”Stephanie was struck with concern. “Are you kids OK?”Luciano smiled a little. Stephanie is always treating them like kids. “We are fine, but we are bringing someone with us. I want you to prepare a room for her.”“Alright.” Stephanie didn’t think much about it. “I’m not sure if we have free rooms in the common
Talia sat stiffly next to Luciano and observed him while he held her hand, the same one he licked earlier that morning.She remembered his grimace after tasting the bitter herbal paste and she pressed her lips into a line while preventing a smile from showing on her face. It was comical. She never thought that a scary Alpha could appear so childish.“Look how well it’s healing. I told you that saliva works.” Luciano said, obviously pleased with himself.Talia silently admitted that he was right. It healed much faster compared to other bruises and cuts she had. She wondered if her saliva would work, or maybe only werewolves who have their wolves produce saliva that heals.“Now, let me check the rest.”Talia jolted at Lucaino’s words. What ‘rest’ was he talking about?Luciano extended his hand toward Talia, and she shrunk, making him halt his movements.“Is there a problem?”, Lucaino asked with confusion obvious on his face.“Can I at least get underwear?”, Talia spoke timidly.Luci
Luciano gestured toward the carts with the food. “What do you want to start with?”Talia was about to reach out for something but stopped herself. “Won’t you pick first?”It was ages since she ate in a group setting, but Talia remembered that high-ranking members of the pack eat first. As a child, she always waited for others to have their picks before she could get food. And even if everyone had food in front of them, no one dared to eat before Alpha… and she was with one big scary Alpha in the room right now.Luciano shook his head in disapproval. Talia was hungry, and he ordered all this food for her, yet she wanted him to eat first.Sure, normally, in the pack, others waited for him, but this was not normal, and he didn’t want Talia to feel that she was below him.He grabbed a fork poked a finger-sized sausage and held it in front of Talia’s mouth.“Eat”, he ordered in a voice that didn’t allow for further arguments.Talia was about to get the fork and hold it herself, but Lucian
Luciano leaned closer to Talia, his face hovering an inch away from her left shoulder blade.“Some of these bruises are quite bad and might need a second layer of cream.”Talia flinched when his hot breath splashed against her skin, and she swiftly pulled the bathrobe back up while cursing internally. Why did she allow herself to get carried away like this?Her face was on fire and she was confident that she was blushing profusely.“This is more than enough. Thank you.”, she said in a whisper.Luciano was disappointed at the loss of that addicting touch, but he saw that Talia was uncomfortable, so he didn’t want to push for it.He shook his head. What was he doing exactly?They stopped for some food and first aid, and they needed to head back on the road.Besides, didn’t he decide to bring her with him and keep her safe, and there will be nothing more to it?He reached into his suitcase and got a T-shirt and shorts with a string at the waist.“Wear these for now.”Luciano tossed cloth
Maya hummed in satisfaction at the sight of Talia’s hair that was parted in two neat braids.“All done.”, Maya announced.Talia touched the braid that fell over her left shoulder. “Thank you, this is wonderful.”“You are welcome.”, Maya responded and inched closer. “You have beautiful eyes. Will you let me put some makeup on you?”Talia blinked. Unsure how to respond to the compliment or the makeup offerings.Seeing that Talia was flustered, Maya patted her shoulder. “We will do makeup next time. We need to head out now.”Maya told Luciano through the mind link that they were ready to go, and it took him a minute to reach the hotel room.Luciano stood frozen at the door and stared at Talia who was collecting fruits, cheeses, and granola bars from the food carts, wrapping them in napkins and arranging them in a paper bag Maya gave her.Eventually, Talia noticed Luciano and paused.He didn’t say anything, and she started squirming under his unreadable gaze.Did he not approve that she
~ The Dark Howlers Pack ~The sun was rising from the East when our group of four reached their destination, and Caden announced, “Home sweet home. Welcome to the Dark Howlers pack, Talia!”.Talia observed the dense forest through which the road snaked, and Caden slowed down the car as they passed through a town.“This is Darkbourne.”, Maya said. “Every person living and working in this town belongs to the Dark Howlers pack.”Talia nodded in understanding while observing the residential buildings with nice backyards that gradually turned into densely packed two-story-high buildings.“We are getting closer to the center of the town.”, Maya continued her tour.The two-story-high buildings had various shops on the ground level. Talia spotted a bakery, a coffee shop, a clothing boutique, a shoe store, a restaurant, a butcher’s shop, a tattoo parlor, a bookstore. There was something for everyone and quite a number of pedestrians filled the sidewalks.On the left, the road opened into a wid
When Travis entered the exam room, Talia was wearing the hospital gown.While Jill was drawing Talia’s blood for the lab work, and Cathy collected swabs from Talia’s mouth and nose, Travis observed Talia’s bruises.Luciano told him that Talia doesn’t have a wolf, and that would impact her healing, but it was a long time since Travis saw so many cuts and bruises on a person.They would be nothing much for a werewolf and would heal within a day or two, but for a human (or a werewolf without a wolf), it can take a week or two until they completely fade.Travis’s sight was drawn to Talia’s bandaged wrist. Considering that most of her injuries were exposed, he had to ask, “Who did this?”“Alpha Luciano.”, Talia responded.“That was very…”, Travis paused while choosing his words.Talia smiled a little while remembering Lucaino’s intense expression while bandaging her.“I know. That was very kind of him.”Travis cocked an eyebrow. “I wanted to say, unskilled, but we can go with your versio
“Are you alright?”Luciano asked Talia when they exited the pack hospital.“Yes, thank you, Alpha Luciano.”, Talia responded.Luciano cocked an eyebrow at her. “Did you forget already?”She looked at him questionably, and he said, “Just Luciano. Say it.”Talia glanced around, to make sure no one overhears them. He is the Alpha, and she should listen to him, but if anyone else hears that she is addressing him casually, she might end up in trouble.Everyone they met so far addressed Luciano respectfully with his title, and Talia learned a long time ago that standing out is not a good thing.“Luciano.”He smirked victoriously. “Do you want to walk, or should I get a car? The packhouse is about fifteen minutes walking from here if we cut it straight through the forest.”She was not sure why he was giving her a choice. “Anything is fine.”“Then, let’s take a walk. I got stiff after so much time in the car, so it will be good to stretch my legs…”…Talia followed after Luciano, elated to be