A Were Story Ch. 03

"Clean yourself up and report to me in an hour." He ordered before walking out of the large hall, his cloak flowing behind him

"Thank you Alpha, thank you." Gianni croaked.

Alejandro made his way to the upper room of his house, it was apparent he would be needing Trina's help once again, this time, he hoped his actions would be timely

****

The arrow zipped through the air and hit the target with a precision any veteran marksman would be envious of, splitting the last arrow to hit the bulls-eye in two. It was a rare precision in these parts or any at all in the entire country, its rarity made it only available to the sight of a few people once in a long while. Some treasures were shared with others, and others were to be enjoyed in the solitude of the one who possessed them.

This was one of those gifts that rarely left the secrets of the woods. It was shrouded brilliantly, even though in existence for almost two decades, only the forests witnessed those rare moments when focus met resilience and precision was born. For many years, only the forests had known, until recently when a few people were welcomed into the fold, but even they seldom participated or witnessed the kind of peace only archery could bring to an otherwise troubled soul.

Roy slowly lowered his bow, his rough hands running over the equally rough wood of the weapon. One of his few treasured possessions, he had gotten it from the man who had taught him to shoot an arrow when he was in his later teenage years, Adahy had been just over fifty when Roy had first met the man shooting arrows, he was a Cherokee Indian, with an unmatched skill of the bow. It was during one of his many runs borne out of restlessness and boredom, he had just barely missed being shot by an arrow zipping through the air, his wolf had yelped at the near contact and scurried fearfully to hide behind a bush.

He had remained in the safety of that bush, waiting for the lurking danger to move away when the human had done something that greatly surprised him. He had approached the bush where he hid and moved the shrubs aside, he had a large smile on his face as he stooped down to look at the now curious wolf.

He ran his large hand over golden fur, "Hello young wolf, sorry to scare you, I was just practicing." He spoke in a deep, soothing voice.

Roy's wolf had been much too surprised by the man's actions to attack, rather, it cocked its head to the side and watched the man. Humans were a rare find around these parts, there had been too many confrontations between straying humans and the wolves most of which ended in the death of the humans, hence, humans had long learned to stay away. To actually find one here was a story to be told, and young Roy wondered at how much at ease the man seemed to be in his presence when his race usually cowered at the sight of a were.

The young wolf had spent a good time just watching the man in fascination as he worked with his bow and arrow in a way he had never seen. It would take seven more visits and a lot of coaxing before young Roy finally met with Adahy in his human form. From then on, he became not just an audience, but a willing participant in Adahy's practice sessions. At first, he couldn't quite grasp the technique involved in holding the bow and pulling the string far enough for the arrow to go a distance, but he dedicated so much of his time to trying to learn that he soon became a decent shot. He kept knowledge of Adahy to himself through his early twenties, enjoying his time with the older man more than he enjoyed time spent with his peers and fellow weres. Of course, more than once, pack members would question his whereabouts and even his parents had cause for concern at some point, but Roy was always cautious knowing if he exposed his human friend, the repercussions could be great. Adahy never seemed alarmed by him or the ways of the werewolves, hell, he acted like he was familiar with their kind. Roy never did ask him about the origin of his knowledge of the Weres, there was so much wisdom from the man, he just assumed his knowledge came from reading.

Adahy died some thirty years after their first meeting, some days before his death, Roy had visited him in his small cottage where he conspicuously lived alone. He had handed him over his bow and the small carving knife he used to make his arrows. Roy had accepted his friend's gifts and listened keenly to him for the rest of that night as he regaled him with even more tales of his adventures as a young man, it didn't matter that his friend now repeated stories, they were no less interesting to Roy. Three days later, Roy had sent the old man's burning remains floating off the river in his final tribute to him.

Coming out here to shoot arrows was a good way to remember his friend, it was the only time he could sit and imagine Adahy sitting next to him and explaining the intricacies of the bow and arrow, whenever he would set the pair against each other ,he could just make out the timber of his voice, telling him how to aim, correcting the position of his fingers, making jokes of how large his hands were as opposed to the size of the bow and Roy would smile to himself before letting the arrow loose.

Only Caleb and Rinaldi had been here, the former because Roy had brought him to his little sanctuary and the latter because he was too damn nosy for his own good, he almost shot an arrow through the Cuban Were when he first invaded his privacy with his snooping. And the silly Rinaldi's consequent yapping made him wish he had shot an arrow through him, nobody talked as much as Rinaldi when he was in his mood. He was best taken in doses as far as Roy was concerned.

He walked over to the tree where he marked his target and pulled out the good arrow, he would have to carve a few more before his next trip here. Thoughts of the next time he would visit his little hide-out brought up other thoughts- specifically those in relation to his mate.

He wondered if Rinaldi was successful in convincing the sisters to come with him, his friend did have the gift of the garb, but sometimes, that gift was a curse depending on who he was talking to. If his mate or her sister were anything like he was, Roy didn't doubt Rinaldi would have a hell of a time getting them here. He wondered what his mate would look like in the flesh, if she was just as beautiful in person as her pictures promised. Would she look anything like her cousin did? He thought Caleb's mate was quite attractive and wouldn't mind if his mate took after her in build, he didn't have much of a preference as far as women went...maybe he was just a little biased towards shorter, curvier women than Cassandra.

He wished he could see her in this moment. Caleb had been such a sourpuss before he met his mate, perhaps some of his antics had rubbed off on his friend because Roy figured he had been a cloud of gloom much longer than Caleb, in fact, there was a time Caleb was similar to Rinaldi in behaviour, when he was much younger, then he would tease Roy about the constant scowl on his face and how hard-headed he was. So, Roy was a bit surprised when his friend all but tumbled into the same brooding pit he had long made his home.

He was genuinely happy for Caleb, yes Cassandra was being a bit difficult currently, but considering the circumstances that led her to this place that was expected, he admired Caleb's patience with his mate, he doubted he would be this patient if his mate proved as difficult as her cousin, he had spent two hundred and twenty years of his existence waiting for her, he wouldn't give her a moment's respite when he finally had her to himself.

He pulled out the arrow and examined it, seeing that it was still in good shape, he slid it into the tin where he kept his arrows that was constantly strapped to his back. Sunset was fast approaching, he had left the compound since noon, Caleb had contacted him a couple of times through their telepathic bond to ask his whereabouts, he understood his friend needed his support, but being in the house today would have caused his agitation to skyrocket as he awaited the outcome of Rinaldi's visit. He needed this, to just go out and be where he was free. Being in the house would have choked him up by now.

Roy.

He stiffened as he heard Caleb's voice in his head. Every time Caleb contacted him, his heart rate accelerated with the thought that his mate had perhaps arrived.

Yes, Alpha

He replied through their bond.

Rinaldi just called me, they're on their way

His immediate reaction was mild panic. He wanted to reach the house as soon as possible, he wanted to get the chance to at least have his bath and look good for his mate, Roy wasn't one to dwell on things such as personal hygiene, but he didn't know what she was like, maybe she was particular about such things. He needed to make a good first impression on her, he didn't have the sugar-coated tongue like Rinaldi nor was he as patient and caring as Caleb, he was brash and uncoordinated in his actions, with time she would come to find that trait in him, he didn't want her to add unhygienic to the many flaws she was sure to pick out. Yes, he had been told lots of times that one's mate saw no faults in him, but there was nothing to substantiate such.

Thank you.

He replied and then shut their link, he rid himself of his clothes, if he was going to get to the house on time, it certainly wouldn't be in this fragile human form. He morphed into his wolf which was excited to be let out for the first time the entire day, and then he was off, whizzing through the trees and shrubs that served as his companions when he wanted no interaction, with the promise that the next time he visited them, he would have his mate by his side.