SWNOVELS Chapter 7 Chapter 7
A few days later,
"We could go back to the Mafia archive,” Max suggested as we continued to walk, exasperated from the heat of the exposed countryside and completely out of ideas of what to do about Milly. I can't remember how we even ended up in this particularly dry sunflower field but the strong powdery aroma was irritating my nose and the thick itchy stalks were getting on my last nerve as we tried our best to wade through them.
"We definitely couldn't. Do you have a death wish?" I responded before letting out a huge sigh. "Hecate's bloody amulet could be anywhere in the entire bloody world.”
"And we only have a limited amount of time before your psycho of a mate turns up and drags you back to America and leaves me in a bloody mess on the floor," Max added.
"Unnecessarily morbid. Thanks, Maximus,” I replied. "And he's not a psycho. He's just very overly protective of someone who doesn't want nor need to be protected.”
"He is the definition of a psycho.”
"He is also the father of my children and my mate so can you shut the fuck up?” I hissed losing my temper with both him and the wretched sunflowers.
"Sorry little miss angsty,” he grumbled quietly. "What's got your panties in a twist?"
"You."
A few seconds later we finally reached the edge of the field and escaped the claws of the sunflowers. I looked up as I wiped the sweat from my brow to come face to face with a slender, tall woman. She was thin and bony but muscular and strong too. Her dead straight brunette hair reached the end of her spine and her harsh piercing dark eyes remained fixated on the two of us. Her skin was smooth over the pointed features of her face and she wore a serious, motionless expression. I'd put her around forty give or take a few years.
After far too long of standing uncomfortably under her glare, her thin lips twitched upwards and she finally opened her mouth to speak. "Are you aware that you are on my territory?" she asked in a cold, authoritative tone.
"Your territory?" Max questioned.
"You are on the land of the Girasole pack. I am the Alpha of the said pack, therefore, this is my territory. What are you doing on it?"
"You're an Alpha? But you're a-" Max began but she interrupted.
"A woman. Yes, congratulations. A wonderous observation. To answer your next question: my mother failed to produce my father a male heir before dying, so here we are, a female Alpha. Do you have a problem with that?" she responded sharply.
"No," Max replied quickly. "Not at all.”
"Good. Now I will ask once more, what are you doing on my land?" "I'm sorry, Alpha. We were just passing through and we didn't realise there was a pack here. we don't even know where here is. We'll be on our way," I replied walking back into the sunflowers and dragging Max with me as he stood still in awe of the concept of a female Alpha. Get over it man. My question is: how did we miss this pack on our search for the Hereditary?
"Hold on," she said and I paused before turning back to her. "American?"
I exchanged nervous glances with Max. I probably should have let Max do the speaking. He hardly has an American accent when he speaks Italian at all. Probably because, unlike me, he was brought up speaking it.
"Yes," I replied after a slight hesitation. "We are here, in Italy, for family reasons.”
"Don't bother lying to me. Every Alpha in the world is aware of your disappearance, Ella Loren,” she said. "There's a big reward for the one that returns you safely home to your mate.”
My face dropped as my heart rate raised.
"Luckily for you, I have never been one for rewards. But I am curious, what is your real business here?" she asked.
"We are looking for something,” I began. "A kind of amulet. It is for my cousin, Max's sister,” I added gesturing towards Max. "And, crazy as it sounds, it is supposed to help her control her magical powers. Trouble is: we don't have a clue where to even begin looking. It could be anywhere in the world and that's if it still exists.”
"I believe that I know someone that can help you," she said her face softening slightly. "Come with me."
She turned around and began to walk away from the sunflowers.
To begin with I didn't follow her and instead looked at Max for some kind of reassurance. Unfortunately, he seemed just as unsure as me. "You can relax, Luna. I will not be sharing your whereabouts with your mate. You clearly have something important to do," she said without even turning around.
Max shrugged his shoulders and began to follow her.
"What choice do we have?" he said to me quietly.