When the day after Tancredi summoned the gang to the hall, the whole compound became silent. Rumors had spread and inflated, and wild stories were being told. The alpha, wearing only a pair of jeans, sat on his throne and kept the audience on tenterhooks for several minutes. The smell of incenses burning in two copper braziers by the side of the throne wafted over the room. As if he had not a care in the world, Tancredi kept looking at the burning coals, one hand wrapped around an iron rod. Then, when anxiety and curiosity mixed, he gave his pronouncement regarding the facts leading to Luisa’s escaping.
With a few words, Tancredi first banished the driver for disrespecting the Red code of conduct. Then he called Rico to the dais. “If you had taken better care of your property and not lost your head, you wouldn’t have challenged your little brother. Had you not disgraced yourself in the cage, you would’ve run with the harem. As a direct result of your negligence and short temper, we have one fugitive. Every action, Rico, has a consequence” He raised the rod to show it was a branding iron, and plunged it into the brazier.
Several of the younger recruits gasped. The older brothers shuffled their feet, but no one uttered a word to save Rico from the horrible punishment. Rico’s eyes widened and some of his usual cockiness deserted him. Shoulders hunched, he kneeled by Tancredi.
“Remove your shirt,” the alpha ordered, and Rico obeyed, remaining with his back bare and exposed for the iron.
To his credit, Rico didn’t beg to be spared.
Raphael winced when Rico’s flesh sizzled and burnt, and he felt nauseous at the familiar smell. His hand automatically went to the spot on the side of his rib where his father had pushed a lit cigarette.
****
A week later, Rico was released from solitary and dragged Raphael to the gym, where he used him like a punching bag for the best part of an hour.
“You disgraced me, but mark my words, one day I’ll make you and that bitch pay,” Rico said before leaving Raphael bleeding all over the cage.
Before fainting, Raphael rejoiced at the notion that Luisa was free from his big brother. A few hours later, Rock found him and called Guts.
“Why did you let him beat you like this?” Rock asked Raphael after Guts had patched him up and left. “I saw you fighting, and there’s no way he could’ve done so much damage and get away without a scratch.”
Raphael couldn’t help but smile. “The man needed a victory.”
He had counted the hours for Rico to get out of solitary and seek him out. The werewolf had been denied his pound of flesh for too long. Raphael knew if he had tried to hit back with too much conviction, Rico would have gone for the kill and damn the consequences. His big brother was a wounded animal and Raphael was the one with the brain and a good reason to live.
“There’re days I regret having let you in that night.” Rock helped him up and walked Raphael to his bedroom. “Do you want to know something funny? I don’t use V.”
“Why did you ask me to get some for you then?” Raphael flinched as he pressed a hand over a bruised rib.
Rock rolled his eyes. “Because I figured it would be next to impossible for a scrawny kid like you to pull it off.”
At his bedroom door, Rock raised his right hand to his temple in a mock salute, but Raphael hesitantly touched his arm and stopped him. “Thank you…”
“You have nothing to thank me for, pup.” With a sad smile, Rock pressed his big hand over Raphael’s and gently squeezed it. “Maybe, one day I’ll tell you about my brother.” His eyes became distant for a second, then he added, “But for now, please stay out of trouble.”
“I’ll try my best.”
Chapter Fifteen
No news of Luisa transpired in the following days, and soon life at the Red compound went back to normal. Meanwhile, Raphael’s tactic to let Rico unleash his wrath worked.
A whole month passed after that first beating, but finally one morning the werewolf knocked on Raphael’s door to announce they would resume their training that night. Raphael forced a, “Thank you,” out of his mouth and tried to sound deferential while at it.
That night, he endured round after round of punches and kicks without complaining. As he had every other day for the last thirty, when Rico had stalked him for a repeat lesson in humility—the werewolf’s definition of kicking someone senseless in a dark corner. But Raphael’s silence over the constant bullying had granted him the truce he needed, and he was glad his plan had worked.
The next morning, Rico doubled Raphael’s deliveries and he didn’t say a word. Raphael was even asked to work on Sundays, but he didn’t care. All he cared was for Rico to feel he had complete power over him. The more insignificant Raphael looked to Rico, the more freedom he had to move around.
Meanwhile, Raphael prepared for when he would meet Luisa again. Although he wasn’t paid much—the Reds gave him a pitiable weekly allowance despite his hard work—Raphael saved every cent to buy two cell phones and prepaid cards. He put aside what was left to buy gas when the time would come for a field trip out of Rome.
Yet another month had to pass before Raphael could visit RYS and check if Luisa was there.
One warm day at the beginning of June, finally his delivery schedule allowed for a break long enough for Raphael to drive his Monster at breakneck speed through the Roman countryside and reach the shelter.
Once there, still wearing his helmet, but having taken care to remove the jacket with the Red insignia, he ventured inside the main house. He was relieved to see that neither one of the two women at the front desk was a familiar face from when he used to live there. He removed the helmet, and smiled a wide smile at the older of the two receptionists. “I’m here to see a friend of mine. Her name’s Luisa and she’s a werewolf.”
Deliberately, he didn’t start by asking if Luisa was there. His heart simply didn’t allow him that line of reasoning. She must be at RYS. If she wasn’t he wouldn’t know what to do, and that he couldn’t afford. All the while, he played with his long straight hair, coiling and uncoiling a strand in his fingers. He was all, “Ma’am and please,” and dimples, while he was dying inside.
“Luisa Caroli?” the woman asked.
Raphael almost didn’t answer, then he managed a nod trying to hide the array of emotions he felt. His heart thumped so loud, he was sure everyone could hear his heartbeats.
“Sure, sign here—” The woman extended a tablet toward him on which he scribbled his name with a shaking hand, then she motioned for him to follow her. A moment later, he was led to the internal courtyard where the younger kids played. “She’s helping with the small ones.” She indicated a corner where several boys and girls made a tight circle around someone who was sitting.
“Luisa, you’ve a visitor.” At the woman’s call, the kids turned and broke the circle revealing the petite form of Luisa. The woman smiled at Raphael, and patted his arm as she left.
After two months of constant anxiety over her wellbeing, finally seeing her was too much to bear for Raphael. Happiness invaded him and he cried tears of relief.
“Raphael—” She stood, gently releasing to the floor the toddler she was hugging. The kid attached himself to her leg as she walked toward Raphael.
“Luisa—” In a few strides, he was at her side, wanting nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss her, but refrained before the young crowd and the adults he knew were nearby watching on them. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” She raised one hand toward his face, and softly caressed his jaw before dropping it to the side.
“I can’t stay.” He saw the light in her eyes dim, and wished he could make everyone disappear for just a moment and give them some privacy. “I came as soon as I could. I had to see you.”
“I wanted to let you know I was safe, but I didn’t know how—” She moved closer, and he could feel her warmth.
“I got something for you.” Still shaking, he reached his rear pocket and grabbed one of the cell phones he had bought and
two of the prepaid cards. “I’ll text you when I’m back in my room tonight.”
When she reached for the phone their fingers brushed and his breath hitched, sending his already too sensitive nerve endings in overdrive. “It hurts to be away from you…”
“I need you.” Luisa’s lips became pinker and her eyes darkened as she stepped even closer.
The alarm he had set on his cell phone chimed and he swore. Without traffic, it was a three-hour roundtrip from Rome to reach the shelter and back, and he had a delivery scheduled with only minutes to spare. If he botched the delivery there would be hell to pay, and he couldn’t afford to have his comings and goings too strictly supervised. “I promise I’ll come back for the next full moon and we’ll spend a whole night together.”
With a willpower he didn’t know he had, he forced himself to step away from Luisa and drove back to Rome.
Later that night, they spent hours texting to each other. And so they did for the next three weeks, as he impatiently waited for their reunion. Calling her from the Reds’ was too dangerous—the bedroom walls were too thin and someone could hear him talking—and he didn’t have time to spare during the day. So, they messaged back and forth. Sometimes they talked until dawn, and the day after Raphael was so tired he had to caffeinate himself to stay upright on his bike. Even though he started every texting session with a promise to himself not to stay up too late, once they started talking he didn’t care anymore.
Amidst the love notes and the pics they shared back and forth, they also talked about their days. During their very first nocturnal conversation, Raphael asked her what had happened after she jumped from the staircase and run away from the Reds.
L: Found the enforcers where you said they were.
L: Asked sanctuary.
L: A woman talked to me. A psychologist she said she was. She asked questions, but I didn’t say a thing.
L: They took me to RYS the same night.
L: What happened to you?
Raphael recounted the salient facts for her, but omitted Rico’s branding and the beatings that followed. They never spoke of that night again, too busy getting to know each other on a level that hadn’t been possible before.
R: When is your birthday?
L: Valentine’s Day.
R: Really?
L: Really. LOL
L: Yours?
R: January 19.
L: Edgar Allan Poe’s b-day.
R: Really?
L: Really. Big fan of his work.
R: Cool.
R: Favorite food?
L: Nutella.
R: Me too!
L: Favorite color?
R: Green, like your eyes.
R: Movie?
L: The Crow.
R: Haven’t seen that one.
L: Book?
R: I, Robot.
L: Haven’t read it.
R: I’ll read it to you.
L: When?
R: Soon.
L: Favorite scent?
R: Yours.
L: I dreamed you were with me in my bed.
R: Miss you.
L: Love you.
Talking to Luisa every night, made Raphael’s days bearable. Their “dates” gave him the energy to stand before Rico, and don’t flip the finger at him when the man added to his workload and berated him in the gym. As he planned his next full moon escapade, Raphael didn’t dare give his big brother any excuse to punish him more than he usually did.
The day before the full moon, Raphael gave Luisa extensive instructions for their rendezvous, then proceeded to talk with her the whole night. They were both too excited to finally see each other again and couldn’t sleep.
L: Our first run.
R: It’s going to be a blood moon.
L: I heard.
R: It’s going to be special.
L: We’ll be blessed by the Great Wolf and the Goddess.
R: Wolf’s whining to see yours.
L: Mine too.
R: Can’t wait.
The next day was torture for Raphael. He couldn’t focus on anything, but had to drive all over Rome and think of the excuse he had yet to fabricate to skip the communal run with the Reds. Despite he’d had three weeks to do so, nothing plausible had come to mind. Late nights, lack of sleep, and a daily workload that didn’t allow for lunch breaks were all conducive to mushy brains. He had formulated plenty of plans, but none sounded right. Of course, he didn’t have to run with the others, but it would have aroused Rico’s suspicion.
A last minute special delivery sanctioned by Tancredi himself sent Raphael to Latina, a city an hour south of Rome. Running on fumes, and six or five cups of espresso too many—he lost count after the first four—Raphael was driving back to Rome when the perfect opportunity presented itself. After rehearsing in his mind the words, he slowed to the sidewalk, grabbed the work cell phone and sent a text to Rico.
R: In Latina. Pierced tire.
Rico’s answer came a few minutes later.
Ass face: Tough luck. We’re not waiting for you. You’re on your own.
With a smile and feeling much lighter, Raphael eased the bike back into traffic and drove to Reserve and Luisa. Once there, he skirted RYS main house, navigated along the path bordering the property, entered the woods, and only parked when he was far away from the shelter, but close enough to Reserve and unable to continue with the bike. He then hiked for more than an hour to reach the crest from where he could see the spot he had chosen to meet with Luisa.
There, he waited for the moon to rise in the night sky, squatting on his haunches. Barely able to keep still, he trained his eyes on the plain below. A cool breeze caressed the high grass and it tickled his nostrils. After what felt like an eternity, RYS buses started pulling over on the clearing before the fenced area of the reserve set aside for the shelter.
The kids were separated back at the shelter. Wolves with wolves. Pumas with pumas. Every shifter group with its own. It made sense to organize them by species to avoid violence when they all ran amok along the plains and ridges of Reserve.
From his perch, hidden in the shadow of a centenary oak, Raphael watched as the first bus opened its doors and a dozen of kids ran out of it, filling the night with laughter. They weren’t werewolves. A second bus spilled its content of happy kids into the night, but yet again they belonged to another species. Only when the shifters from the fourth bus emerged, his nose caught werewolf scent. He scanned the group, but not one of them smelled like Luisa.
Despair possessed Raphael as minutes passed and the night progressed. Howls and barks echoed into the clearing. The moon was higher in the sky and rapidly changing color. From pale silver it had matured into a rich yellow, then the yellow had blossomed into a deep orange, and now it was mutating toward the expected deep red. When he had heard it would be a blood moon, he had rejoiced that he and Luisa would have their first run on such a portentous night.
To have the blessing from the Great Wolf and the Goddess on a rare blood moon sure meant their tribulations were to be over soon. But Luisa was nowhere to be seen, and the moon would wait for no one. With growing dejection, he squinted and inhaled gulps of nocturnal air hoping to sense her among the shifters running toward their corrals. Almost half an hour went by and Raphael felt the first pangs of the imminent shift mixing with bitter tears. When he wasn’t texting with Luisa at night, he dreamed about their first run. To be robbed of something he had anticipated since the first time he had met her was too painful to bear.
When he was about to turn and run into the forest to let his wolf out along with his anguish, a fifth bus slowed to a stop beside the others. His heart told him she had finally arrived before his nose and then his eyes confirmed it. As pain had filled him a moment earlier and moved him to howl, now happiness governed his actions.
Closer to his animal form, all his senses and emotions were amplified as he watched her emerge from the bus. With fast steps, the small figure that was Luisa walked away from her
mates. His wolf was ready for the run, but Raphael used all his willpower to keep him in check a moment longer. Although physical pain shot through him as he denied the shift, he wanted to be sure to be near Luisa when he changed—so their wolves wouldn’t waste time looking for each other—but he couldn’t be caught by the supervisors and sent away.
The more he waited on that perch, the more his anticipation grew, and so did his pain until he couldn’t stand it anymore. The lure of her sweet scent intensified when she finally looked up toward the oak. Her whole body went still when she recognized him, and despite the large distance their eyes locked.
Moving stealthily, Raphael left the security of the big tree and descended toward the clearing. Even in his altered state, he made sure to keep downwind so that he wouldn’t alert the adults swarming the plain after their charges. The red glow from the moon bathed everything, and he hoped he would reach her before they both started shifting. He wanted a moment alone with Luisa to kiss her soft lips and tell her how much their first run together meant to him, before their wolves would claim the night.
Werewolf kids usually had their parents teach them about shifting. When the time came for the adolescent shifters to go through their first change, their parents made sure they wouldn’t be alone. Later, the young werewolves would spend their monthly runs frolicking around with friends. And if lucky, with their love interests. Adults frowned upon that practice among underage shifters, but all of them had done it when they were young and it was considered a rite of passage of sort. Like drinking for the human kids.
Raphael had never had any of that. No loving father carefully easing his son into the way of the werewolves. No explanation for his mood swings and urges, or for the vivid dreams he used to have when ten years old. His first shift had been terrifying. His wolf, a cub like himself, had been scared by everything. Raphael had vomited for hours the morning after. His father had first beaten him, then ordered him to clean his mess.
This run with Luisa was his first at something he had never had before. For that, he was highly excited and at the same time equally terrified something, anything could go wrong. His senses in overdrive and his heart exploding, he took in everything, from the night dewy scents to the bats’ whooshing wings cutting the thermals. The colors were brighter and the smells richer. The breeze caressing his exposed skin was cold and he welcomed it because he was melting from the inside out, burning to be reunited with his mate.
Raphael (The Immortal Youth Book 1) Page 17
