Chapter Seven

 Shameless

“What?” Navaeh and Nate yelled at the same time. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“I said I found my mate.” I repeated for the fifth time. They were really slow at gathering information and it was kind of pissing me off.

After my encounter with Lysander in the bathroom, I returned to watch the rest of the movie. I felt extremely guilt about everything, and still do. Even when Giovanni kissed my goodbye and the look Lysander gave me when he did, it all just made me feel like shit. If Lysander was my mate, than seeing me if Giovanni must really hurt him. Or is that not how it works?

“I knew something was up with Giovanni the minute you mentioned him.” Navaeh blurted and I shook my head at her in confusion.

“It’s not Giovanni.” I said and Nate snapped his head to me as Navaeh’s eyes went wide.

“What?” They both yelled again and I groaned.

“Seriously? Stop doing that!” I snapped and I heard Navaeh snort.

“Who is it?” Nate asked and I felt my cheeks heat up.

“Lysander.” I replied softly, but I knew he heard me because he gasped.

“What? What did he say?” Navaeh wined and I heard Nate repeat my answer, causing her to gasp.

“Your mate is the sexy cousin? Talk about scandalous. This is like an episode of Degrassi or something.” I rolled my eyes and slouched back in my seat.

“You guys this is serious. I don’t know what to do. I like Giovanni and want to try something with him, but on the other hand, I also really like Lysander. Plus he’s my mate and judging from the look he had when Gio kissed me goodbye, he’s not thrilled with me being with his cousin.”

“I’d choose the hottest one.” Navaeh blurted and I sat up immediately and slammed the laptop shut. I groaned and covered my face with my hands. This was so hard.

“Nikolai, you know you can’t be with Giovanni if Lysander is your mate.” Nate said softly.

“I know.” I groaned into my hands and I heard him sigh.

“You have two choices. You can either continue this thing with Giovanni while seeing Lysander behind his back or you can tell Giovanni the truth and be with your mate.”

“Which ones going to be less painful?”

“Neither. The first one will hurt Giovanni because you’re cheating on him with his cousin and will also hurt both you and Lysander because you’re with someone other than him. The second one will hurt Giovanni because you chose his cousin over him.” I groaned into my hands again and felt Nate pat my back. “Get some sleep. No sense in trying to make a decision while you’re tired.” I nodded my head and I felt him get up and heard his footsteps then his door close. I sat on the couch for a while before deciding to get up and go to my room.

I stripped my close and took a quick shower, then texted Navaeh a sorry for hanging up on her and cuddled into my sheets.

 I liked Giovanni a lot. He was sweet and caring. I couldn’t take it if I saw his face when I told him about Lysander and me. And how was I supposed to explain that? I couldn’t just come out and say the truth because that would expose me being a werewolf, and if I just told him I liked Lysander and kissed him, he would know I was cheating on him.

But would it even be considered cheating? We weren’t together, just dating, testing the waters. I could tell him that I just didn’t like him as much as I thought I did and that there was someone else. No, because then he would ask who the other person was.

I groaned and rolled over, stuffing my face into a pillow. This was going to be a long night.

And indeed it was a long, sleepless night.

I got a total of three hours of sleep while the rest were spent going over the situation and different scenarios in my head. Even with all those hours spent wrestling my thoughts, I decided I would just avoid Giovanni and hopefully, the feelings would die and I would be fine.

But I didn’t think of how I was going to handle Lysander.

I shuffled into the kitchen and smiled as a plate of French toast landed in front of me as I sat down at the bar. “Figured you would get no sleep, so I’ve made a big thing of coffee and some sugary treats.” Nate said, spatula in hand and smile on his face.

“You’re too good to me.” I sighed, tearing of a strip of toast and stuffing it in my mouth. I finished two plates of French toast and five cups of coffee and now, I was on my sixth while Nate and I sat down in the living room to have a talk.

Or in other words, talk about my new found mate.

“Listen, I was thinking about this and I know youre going to hate me for suggesting it, but I think you should tell Lysander the truth, about everything and then we should go home.” I breathed in my coffee and started choking, almost dropping the cup.

“Excuse me?” I wheezed, putting the cup down and letting out a huge cough. “Do you think it’s that easy? I just go up to him now, tell him I’m a werewolf, the future Alpha at that, and then say he’s my mate and we have to go home? I just met him! That’s like me saying let’s get married and have kids!”

“Well obviously, you can’t have kids becau – “

“Shut the fuck up Nate.” I snapped and he pursed his lips.

“What I’m saying is, ignore Giovanni. You just met him, the feelings aren’t that strong. In about three weeks’ time, he should be moved on already. But in that three weeks, talk to Lysander, get to know him and then when you guys are madly in love, tell him the truth and then we go back home.” He said all of that as if it was the simplest thing since sliced bread, even smiled at the end.

“Nate, I’m not going back home just because I found my mate. That defeats the purpose of us leaving in the first place.” Then I suddenly understood what he was getting at. Nate slowly nodded his head with a smirk.

“See. If you go back with your mate, you can tell your dad that that is why you were gone. He can’t punish you for leaving to find your mate.”

My best friend was a genius.

Oh wow, this was perfect. I could do this. Ignoring Giovanni? I ignore people all the time, it’s a piece of cake. Just then, my phone rang and I nearly fell off of the couch. I started to get up to go and get it from my room, but Nate reached out, grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto the couch.

“Ignoring.” Was all he said before he got up and walked to my room. I heard the phone stop ringing and he walked back into the living room. “I have confiscated your phone for the time being. You will get it back when I see fit.” I huffed, but made no arguments. He was doing this for my own sake, I would respect it.

“Now, we just need to call Navaeh and double check on something and then we head out.” I looked at him in shock.

“Head out? Does the word shape shifters mean nothing to you?” He looked at me slowly, his face bored, before looking back at the computer and pulling up Skype.

“We are heading out to do some recon. We need to find out why they’re here and why they are following us, because using the fact that we’re werewolves isn’t going to be a good excuse.” I nodded thoughtfully at his logic, because it was true. There was no way in hell that these bastards were following us just because we are werewolves. The only shape shifters that hated werewolves were the ones in Emery, and there was a reason behind it.

The rest of the shape shifters apparently had no problem with the other otherworldly creatures out there. Everyone was the same. We have no problems with you unless you give us a reason to hate you, then, its all-out war but only to that side. So, the shifters in Emery started the war, they were the only ones we loathed. Shape shifters everywhere else were peachy keen.

I never got to answer as Nate hit the call button for Navaeh on Skype. We waited, and she never picked up. I pursed my lips and Nate raised an eyebrow.

“That’s weird. She always answers.” I told him to try again, so he did, and she didn’t answer again.

“Huh, why don’t I call her?” I suggested and he handed me his phone. I gave him an unimpressed look and he raised his hands in defense.

“You think I’m going to give you your phone? Nice try brodobaggins.” I snorted at his nickname and dialed Navaeh’s number. I put it on speaker and we waited for her to answer, but instead was sent to voicemail.

“Okay, this is officially weird.” I said, handing Nate back his phone. He nodded and closed the laptop. “Why did you need to talk to her?” I found myself asking and he sighed, standing up.

“See if there was any more info on the hunter. I did some research of my own, and dude. She’s good. Like she’ll appear as a maid or some shop owner, lure in and then knock you out and pig tie you to her car.” I made a disgusted face and stood up next to him.

“Yeah, let’s just go do that recon because now I’m going to have trust issues.” He gave me a soft smile and patted my back before walking to the door.

We better find these shape shifters soon, because I was terrified of not only confronting Giovanni, but this thug of bounty hunter.

Three days.

We had been searching for three days and found no signs or even traces of shape shifters. It’s like they completely disappeared from site. Even when we asked around if anyone say any mob like men hanging around, we were told no. One lady even insisted on telling us the history of the town because she swore “no one is violent here.”

I sighed and flew back onto nicely made bed, the comforter fluffing up around me.

Three days of searching and three days of ignoring Giovanni.

He had called a total of twenty-two times and Nate was to the point where every time the phone rang, he would shove it under the couch cushion. I don’t understand why Nate is so hostel with the subject of Giovanni. It seems like every time I mention his name, he looks like he wants to rip someone’s heart out. I was going to ask him about it, but he shushed me and said he was calling Navaeh again.

So, that’s where we are.

I don’t know why we keep calling her. She obviously is mad at us and by us continuously calling, she’s going to get even more upset.

But Nate just doesn’t listen.

“It’s ringing.” He narrated for me and I rolled my eyes.

“As it does the other billion times we called.” I said sarcastically, looking at my nails. He reached over and smacked me. “What? I don’t know why you’re narrating. It’s on speaker.” I defended and he gave me a droll stare. We waited through more rings and right when I thought it was voicemail…

“Stop. Calling.” And then she hung up. We both stared at the phone wide eyed before looking at each other. Nate’s face turned sour and he curled his upper lip.

“If you hadn’t of shut the laptop case, she wouldn’t be mad.” He accused and I scoffed.

“Clearly she didn’t sound mad.” I snapped and it was true. I knew when Navaeh was mad. Everyone knew when Navaeh was mad, but her voice sounded more distressed than upset. Nate seemed to understand that and made a silent ‘oh’ and nodded his head.

“Well, it’s our last recon. Let’s see if we can get any leads and make it count.” I said, standing up and dusting of my jeans. I don’t know why I do that; there’s nothing on them to dust off. We walked out of our room and into the elevator and the same thought entered my mind, just like every other time we left for a recon.

Why were we unprotected?

We couldn’t just wolf out if the shifters decided to attack and they most definitely had guns and the like. It was like bringing knives to a gun fight, or in case, just our hands to a gun fight.

“Hey Nate, why don’t we have weapons?” I voiced my thoughts as we walked out of the elevator and into the lobby.  He looked over and gave me a sour look.

“Do you even know how to shoot a gun?”

“No, but I’m pretty sure if someone was shooting at me, I could learn pretty quick. Plus, it would make me feel protected if we had weapons.” I stated. The other boy just shook his head and continued walking, refusing to comment on the need of weapons. The nerve he had! We could die, and then on my death bed, what would I say? We couldn’t go wolf on them and Nate wouldn’t get us weapons so we were sitting ducks.

God, this was kind of stupid now.

If the shifters were just hiding out, they would notice us sniffing around for them and come out and attack.

Guns blazing.

We didn’t have any guns.

Do you see my point now!?

We started down the main street and I sighed as we passed by the same shops. The usual customers say us every day now, so they waved and of course Nate waved back. I didn’t want to get too friendly with civilians, even though my relationship with Giovanni and Lysander contradicted that. But they were two men; these were mothers, children, and old people. I couldn’t afford to put their lives in danger.

We stopped by the same coffee shop, to get the same drinks we had been getting since we started the recon mission. Their hot chocolate was great the first two times, but now, I wanted to dump it on Nate’s head. The guy could order me something else, I mean seriously. He would make a lousy boyfriend. Ah, well no. His cooking would make up for it, I’m sure.

“One piping hot, hot chocolate.” Nate said, appearing in front of me with our drinks. I took the cup and gave him a deadpanned stare.

“It wouldn’t be called hot chocolate if it wasn’t.” I mumbled. He cocked his head at me and I rolled my eyes, bringing the cup to my lips and taking a sip. I regretted it soon after as my stomach flipped around and I grimaced.

“Nikolai?” My heart stopped as I heard my name being said with a familiar voice. Nate saw my reaction and he looked behind me and his eyes widened. I saw him mouth Giovanni and my heart sank lower. I took a deep breath before turning around with a smile.

“Hey Gio.” I said softly and I felt Nate come up beside me. Giovanni stopped in front of us and smiled.

“I’ve been calling for days; I thought you might’ve gone back to America.” He said and I could hear the sadness in his voice.

“Ah, no. Huehe. We actually – um, we are doing a job for my dad. Yeah that. Anyway, I’ve been super busy with it so I haven’t had time to check my phone or anything.” I lied smoothly and he seemed to buy it because he smiled.

“Well, I’m sure your father could spare you some time to go on a date with me tomorrow night? Just you and me.” I was tempted to say no because last time he said that, Lysander ended up coming along and I found out he was my mate later on. I glanced up and saw Nate looking at me from the corner of his eye, and he did not look pleased.

But hey, why not rebel for the day. This can be payback for getting my fucking hot chocolate every day.

“Tomorrow night sound lovely.” I told him with a smile. I heard Nate groan and I suddenly felt pissed off. My wolf started growling and I decided now would be a good time to excuse myself before I tore this whole street apart.

“Get our address from Nate; I have to use the restroom.” I said simply and took off without waiting for an answer. I walked past the café and turned the corner, and it wasn’t then that I realized I had been clutching my cup. . I unclenched my hand, letting the poor cup try and reform to its original shape.

I have no clue as to why I was so close to having a panic attack. I mean yeah, sure, I just saw Giovanni after forever. That could be the cause, but it wasn’t. It felt as if the minute I said yes to the date, my heart started beating frantically. Was it my wolf’s way of telling me that he wasn’t okay with me going on a date with someone other than our mate? If so, he needs to calm down, because I wasn’t having any of this.

I should probably finish my drink and head back. It doesn’t’ take this long to use the restroom and the last thing I want is Giovanni thinking I have a bowel problem. I shuddered at the thought of embarrassment and chugged the rest of my drink, before walking to the nearest trash can and disposing of it. I was about to head back when I heard a familiar voice. They were speaking Greek to someone and if I could tell from the tone, they were flirting.

I whirled around and scowled as I saw who it was.

Lysander.

With a girl.

My face was clearly showing anger, but my heart and mind felt something else. It wasn’t until I saw the girl reach over and kiss him that I felt like crying.

Reject her. Push her off.

But he didn’t. He just allowed her to continue.

I wanted to run away. No, I wanted to run over there and throw that girl off of him. Either choice was impossible to do though, because I couldn’t move. My feet were frozen in place. I watched as the released their lip lock and he smiled at her before looking up…and meeting my eyes. I gasped and turned on my heel, quickly walking away. I felt someone grab my arm and I refused to turn around.

“Let go of me.” I snapped. He must have sensed the heavy amount of venom in my voice, as his grip on my arm released. As I continued to walk away, I could’ve sworn I heard Lysander say something in a chocked voice, but I choice to ignore it.

He deserved to cry. He deserved so much more for what he just did to me. Wait; doesn’t that make me a hypocrite? I shook my head. I would talk to Nate about it later on.

I joined up with Nate again, and saw Giovanni was gone.

“What, were you taking a shit?” Nate snorted as I reappeared in front of him. His expression changed when he saw my face. “What happened?” He asked, his voice laced with concern. I shook my head and motioned for us to walk back to the hotel. On the way back, I told him everything that had happened, not leaving out a singled detail.

“Wow. That’s—something.” He sighed and I pursed my lips.

“That makes me a hypocrite though, right? Because I’m dating Giovanni, and it obviously hurts him and I do nothing about it. But the minute I see him with another girl, I want him to suffer.” We walked into the elevator and I pressed the button for our floor.

“Not necessarily. You know about this whole mate thing, so it hurts you more. Lysander has no clue. He probably does what he does, because he can’t figure out why every time he sees out with his cousin, he wants to kill him.” Nate explained like it was the easiest thing since sliced bread. I nodded my head slowly as the elevator doors opened and we walked off.

The conversation ended as we entered our hotel room and I flopped onto the couch.  “We need an apartment.” I sighed and Nate made a noise of agreement as he sat down next to me.

“How much was the bill this time?” The payment for our suite was getting expensive, fairly quickly. I had money, but not that much. A small apartment would be better, and cheaper. Now, we would just have to find the time to look for one in-between hiding from shape shifters and a bounty hunter.

I didn’t get to tell Nate the amount of our bill, as an ugly scent hit our noses and we jumped up in alert.

Shifter.

I felt my nails extend into claws, as my defensive instincts took over. We waited for the scent to fade, but it only got stronger. We moved closer to the door as we heard footsteps approaching, but I noticed how they weren't normal footsteps. It sounded like the person was running. I could hear their uneven breathing and the scent of blood mixed in with their natural scent.

I jumped as the person started banging on the door.

“Please! You have to let me in!” It was a woman’s voice, and she sounded scared. I looked at Nate and he looked at me with same confused expression. “Please!” She yelled again. “I know what you are! I need help!” If we opened the door, it could be a trick. She baits us and we get ambushed, but it could also be real. She could actually be in trouble, and the heavy scent of blood was leaning me towards the latter.

“Open the door.” I mouthed to Nate and he looked at me like I had a boob on my forehead. I jerked my head at the door and he sighed, retracting his claws and slowly turning the nob. I walked up behind him, in case they did attack and what I saw made me realize this woman was no harm to us.

Her skin was pale, making the cuts and bruises all over stand out. Her pale blonde hair was stained and covered in blood I assumed was her own. Her lip was cut and her left was swollen and also bruised. She was breathing heavy and clutching her right arm, which seemed to be bent in a weird shape.

“Thank god.” She sighed, before fainting. I reached forward and caught her, looked around for any sign of people before dragging her into the room.

Lord have mercy.