Chapter 104 Chapter 104
Two weeks and a long, tiresome journeyter, I arrived at my destination. I could have done it in less
than a day if I''d travelled by ne but I couldn''t afford to allow Leo to track me that easily. Instead, I
had to take the boat option- of the slow, unregistered kind too.
ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
Fortunately, Naples harbour was busy and chaotic meaning, after thanking the kind sailor for his
generosity, I could easily slip off the boat and disappear into the city without being seen. The air was
warm and arid and the streets aromatic with herbs, olives and tomatoes. It was exactly how I imagined
Italy but even more fantastic. I was proud to say my ancestors were from this wonderful country.
I eventually reached the outskirts of the city and farnd and vineyards became farrger in number.
With the help of a few locals, I managed to track down the address I had scrawled on the back of a
crumpled grocery store receipt. It was a singr detached house, kind of solitary and not particrly
boastful in size. Two stories, no car, quiet, peaceful and simple. Not what I had imagined at all.
I made my way up the steps to the front door and knocked. A voice called for me to enter but nobody
came to let me in. Deciding that the upant was expecting me to let myself in, I turned the nob of the
unlocked door and cautiously opened it to reveal a room, which I assumed to be the kitchen and living
room and a balcony at the opposite end of the door. On the balcony stood a man facing away from me
and looking out at the countryside.
Dark hair, tall, mid-twenties.
He was exactly what I was looking for.
"Long time no see, lil cuz," the man said slowly turning around to reveal his face.
He was Max, that''s for sure, but he looked older, more mature, some may even go as far as amiable.
"You''ve changed," I said cing my satchel down on the wooden table and heading through the sheer,
white curtain onto the balcony.
"It''s been three years," Max said leaning on the balcony railings and gazing out over the wine and olive
yards.
"This is where you chose to spend your exile?" I asked standing next to him at a slight distance to
satisfy my caution of him.
"I tried New York and Rio and Bangkok and Paris and London and even Bangalore but they weren''t
right and I couldn''t make them my home. So I came back to our roots. Where it all began," he
exined.
"Right," I said. "It''s nice, I guess."
We stood for a few moments in silence. I felt the gentle breeze through my hair and breathed in a deep
lungful of the fresh air.
"Still no mate?''" I asked.
"I haven''t been looking," he replied. "There''s no rush, no title that needs an heir anymore is there?"
I could tell in the tone and spite of his voice that he was still ming me for that fact.
"Guess not," I said with a shrug.
What did I care?
"So what have you been doing for three years. Giving birth to and bringing up the Alpha''s kids?" Max
asked.
"Amongst other stuff," I said after a short scoff.
"Such as?"
"Since when did you care?" I snapped.
"Since you appeared in my house,pletely alone, thousands of miles from home," he said turning to
face me again.
"I learnt how to fight," I replied eventually.
"The Alpha would never have allowed that," Max stated shaking his head as he walked into the house.
He lifted a jug of fresh water off the table and poured me a ss.
"Did I ever say he did?" I asked. "Maria, Elena and I began a secret she-wolf training camp because it
felt wrong that the ones in the most danger weren''t giving the opportunity to learn how to defend
themselves from it. We got fed up with relying on men for protection so we started to teach ourselves."
"Show me what you''ve got then," Max said raising an eyebrow with an amused smile.
I returned a smile before taking a sip of my water and putting the ss back down. I began to stand up,
but before I had the chance to finish Max was straddling me on the floor pinning my arms down.
"That''s what I thought-"
Halfway through his sentence, I snapped into self-defence mode. Twisting my wrists and driving my
hands down, I freed my hands from his grip before using my legs to throw him off bnce and get
myself out from underneath him and put myself on top. Max retaliated by using is sheer strength and
weight to roll us back over.
"Why did I fool for that? It''s been so long since Ist had to restrain someone that I forgot the oldest
trick in the book," Max said when he was back in the dominant position.
Time for n B.
I used my legs to hook around his so that he lost his bnce and fell onto me giving me the opportunity
to shove him off before he could think to stop me. I then twisted his arms which were still tightly gripped
to mine around his own body so that I was in a kneeling position and above him again.
"I''m impressed E, if only if you could do this three years ago," he said before untwisting his arms and
getting to his feet pulling me with him and driving us into the wall. "You''ve got tactics and you''re strong
but not as strong as an ex Megestanis."
"Do not underestimate me," I hissed with a scowl before raising my knee to his manhood.
He blocked it the first time, but he wasn''t expecting the second with the opposite leg. As he bent over in
pain I reached down to my holster taking the Praesidium Deae Astra. When he looked back up, his
face still in a grimace, I took the opportunity to knock him off his feet so that I was straddling him once
again. Before he could retaliate I took his wrist and carved a tiny slit into his skin. In seconds his entire
body had gone all floppy and unresponsive except for his eyes.
"I guess you could see that as payback for everything you did to me in the space of a couple of weeks.
Now that I''ve let my anger out from you almost ruining my life, we can be friends," I said getting off him.
"Well...in twelve hours when you are able to move again. Revenge stings like a bitch, doesn''t it?"