Delta's Deceit [ShadowPack #4]

"Fresh cabbage straight from the farm!"

"Come get your prawns! They are fresh from the sea!"

"Have a taste of this cooked fish! Get some of your own!"

The vendors' screams and shouting were making Damien felt right at home. He knew that his place was to be around people, not being a recluse in the tight community that he called home. He has nothing against the community, it's just that Damien will be more comfortable and in his elements if he was out in the open.

And not to mention that he was with his mate right now, even though she did not know about it or believed that werewolves existed. She will be in shock when she discovered that Paphos was the birthplace of such a species.

"So, what are we doing next?" her angelic voice his eardrums before Damien turned to look at Anika. Her violet eyes were shining under the sunlight as they were walking around the market. His heart stuttered before he cleared his throat and searched the area.

"What do you want to do? I don't know what you would prefer and—"

"How about we walk and you can tell me about the interesting history of this place?" she asked, smiling at him as if he was the only thing in her world. Damien loved that Anika thought he can show her the world and the place that he grew up in without any restriction.

If she only knew half of the truth.

"So, you want to go around the town square then?" he asked for a confirmation of what she wanted to do. Anika nodded at him before he nodded curtly.

"Okay, we can go toward that street. It will be less crowded and we can get a glimpse at the forest that we will be hiking tomorrow," he said before Anika turned to look at him.

"You have gotten the permission to hike there?" her eyes shone as she was pleased with that discovery. Damien smiled before he was walking with her by his side.

"Yes, I know the leader and we were tight. So, he was easy to persuade that I will bring a woman to hike there. He stated that I should very much like to impress this woman that I'm bringing tomorrow," he said before Damien turned to look at Anika. She blushed and he chuckled softly. Her face turned pink.

"Stop it," she mumbled before Damien was arching his eyebrow. She turned to look at him in the face as if she had nothing to be afraid of when she was supposed to. Perhaps it was an advantage that Damien loved about her.

"What? I didn't do anything," he replied before Anika narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, you did. You think I don't know?" she asked before he shook his head again. Anika rolled her eyes at him before she moved ahead of him, not telling Damien what she asked him to stop. Not that Damien didn't want to know but he let Anika tell him on her own terms.

"Well? Are you coming or not?" she asked after she noticed that Damien was not following her. She arched her eyebrow before Damien smirked as he walked up to her.

"Hold up," he said before they were walking side to side as they were looking around the street.

"So, what's so special about this place then?" she asked while she was looking at the old building that was rather old like the island itself. Or perhaps not that much considering that the island has been discovered since Ancient Greece.

"Well, in this particular area, the town people believed that they saw a creature that was all hairy and buff. However, what's really interesting about their observation is that they only saw it when it was a full moon," he said before Anika snorted. He turned to look at her as she was shaking her head.

"What? You don't believe in folklore?" he asked before Anika pouted her lips. The lips that he really wanted to kiss right there and then.

"I don't know. Please don't tell me that was some kind of legend that got the townpeople to behave like they are," she said as Damien was arching his eyebrow. Anika nodded at the vendors who were cleaning up and were about to close their shops as the sun was dipping on the horizon.

Most of the locals believed that the sunset was the time for them to be inside the house and not wandering around in the town square for the fear of the werewolves will be attacking them if they broke the curfew. Damien looked at his watch and swore since it's almost 4 PM and he had a set tonight.

"We'll continue this tomorrow," he said before Anika turned to look at him. The question was in her eyes.

"I have to be somewhere," he said vaguely before they were heading toward the inn that Anika was staying. She did not ask where he will be and Damien was thankful that she was not a prying person into someone else's business.

"When will you be coming tomorrow?" she asked as she took her meal from his hand as Damien was looking around the town square. Everyone was preparing to leave as well.

"I don't know. Perhaps 8 AM if you like or would you rather do like today, at 10 AM?"

"8 AM sounds good," she said quickly as Damien was smiling charmingly at her. Anika blushed before she turned away.

"Have a safe drive then," she said as Damien remembered that he had his car in town. He nodded before he was brushing her hair behind her ear as he cannot help himself.

"I see you tomorrow, Anika," he said before stepping away and turned his back to his mate when his wolf snarled and demanded him to stay with her. But Damien knew that he had to do something in one week to make sure that Anika will stay by his side forever and how to break down to her about his true nature.

*****

Anika watched her tour guide walked away as her heart was aching for her to stop him. But she can't for she was a stranger and Damien might have someone that will be waiting for him at home. Not her, never her, for she was a foreigner and she only knew him like a few hours ago.

Anika sighed before she went inside the inn and walked toward her room. She pulled out the keys and unlocked the door before she hit the light switch. She was looking around before she put the peaches and the meal on the table that was sitting in front of the window that overlooked the forest.

She sat before pulling one peach and ate it, tasting its juice and munching it before she was looking around the room. It has everything that Anika might need and Damien has confirmed that there were no hidden cameras that might be lurking around her privacy.

Anika smiled before she leaned back as she finished one peach and took another. She was looking at the forest as she knew that the forest calmed her mind. She cannot wait to explore it tomorrow and with Damien, alone in the woods.

It's not the most ideal location for a date but it will have to do. Perhaps, she can make her move on him and—

"What the hell are you thinking, Regio? You're not here to hit a man and let alone flirt. You don't even know-how," she mumbled before she took the leftover of her peaches and threw it away. She put the meal away as she was looking for something to be done while she was waiting for her bathtub to fill.

Anika sighed before she was putting some salt and essential oil into the water as she will be soaking her muscles away after a retiring day. She had jet lag she knew that tonight, she will be sleeping like a baby. But for now, she stripped and stepped into the bathtub as the water was cold enough to massage her muscles but not cold enough that she shivered through her bones. She sighed.

"Perfection," she whispered as she was leaning back against the bathtub before she was looking at the forest that she can saw through the window in the bathroom. Not a minute later, she was fast asleep.

*****

His paws hit the land as Damien was sniffing the air. There was nothing in the area as he was patrolling the territory that was supposed to be under their pack's protection and no hunter or poacher would come here.

Not when Arthur has been reinforcing the pack warriors to be vigilant when his mate, Diana, Xavier's sister, was almost got killed last month when the hunters got the better of her. The Gamma was about to go insane but thankfully, he controlled his wolf and ended the hunters' life, and rescued Diana.

He lied that he had to be somewhere to Anika, made sure that she was thinking about someone that Damien would be meeting later. He wanted to laugh when he saw her face that he can read like a book. She was that interested in his private life but did not dare to pry close since they were practically strangers right then.

But that was about to change when he had something to do for her in the future. And to think that he will bring her to the Folk Festival later this week, was making a statement that Anika Regio was his as a part of the tradition in his tight community.

'Is something concerning you, Delta?' Arthur's voice hit his mind link before Damien was shaking his head as his snout was smelling the surrounding.

'Nothing. Just thinking that I can do something better than patrolling with you,' he said before Arthur chuckled in their mind link.

'And where would you be right now?' he asked before a big black wolf was standing next to Damien's lean brown wolf.

'I don't know. Perhaps with someone that isn't you,' he retorted before Arthur gestured that he was hurt by his words.

'Ouch. Grumpy much, Damien since you're not around your mate,' he asked before Damien snarled at him. Arthur's wolf just strode away from him as he was sniffing the area to confirm that Damien was not lying.

'Well, this area's clear. We have to move so that you can be with your mate later,' he said before Arthur was striding to another area of their territory. Damien shook his head before thinking that he would rather be anywhere but there right now.

'Come on, Grumpy, so that you can go back to your sweet mate,' Arthur shouted in their mind links that made Damien smiled and went after the big black wolf to patrol some of the areas before returning home.