Not your Typical Tourist

After a nice cold shower and a quick meal at the restaurant, I took a stroll around the area near the hotel. I had booked to see one of the musical shows tomorrow, but tonight I was free to explore and enjoy the sights and sounds of the afternoon atmosphere. It was still busy and crowded, but at least I didn’t need to catch any further busses or trains to rush to my next spot.

To my surprise, there weren’t as many Hunters in the area as I thought there might be. Or at least, I hadn’t run into any. There were quite a few people that didn’t quite smell human, but so far many of them didn’t seem phased by my presence there. I wondered if maybe people were simply used to seeing werewolf tourists in the area, or if they were just too busy rushing to their next destination that they just hadn’t noticed me.

I shrugged it off and continued to wander along the streets. I had to admit; it was all rather overwhelming; I had never seen such a busy place before. The other cities had been busy, sure, but nothing came close to how busy London was, and this was just one small area!

Not taking me long at all, I found a few shops and looked through some of them. Although I wasn’t interested in buying anything, a couple of things caught my eyes. I picked out a small gift shop and got myself a postcard and a stamp, which I mailed to my mother. I knew she’d get a bit of joy out of my travels this way, even if I could just face-time her on my phone.

After writing out a cheerful message and posting the postcard, I continued to window-shop until the afternoon turned into evening and the shops were closing up. I wondered if I should grab something to eat out at a place nearby or go back to the hotel. I could make it if I left now, but my choice to not rush and take it easy tonight meant I had already made my decision.

There were far more choices than I knew what to do with. From Falafel houses to burger joints. I then smelt something rather mouth-watering. Steak. I followed my nose and found what I had been looking for. A wonderful steakhouse. It was quite busy but luckily enough, the waiting period wasn’t too long. Once seated with a cool cider, I allowed my senses to pick out the various voices and smells around me.

There was no sign of my destined mate, but I heard a lot of interesting little bits of information. On one table, someone almost had their bag stolen. Another table was talking about being married soon, and a third had mentioned seeing a group of large dogs on the streets the night before.

I wondered if those ‘dogs’ had actually been one of my kind in their true form. We are far larger than the average canine, but very few people would have guessed we were werewolves. We looked more animal than not. Not that everyone was as naïve about it, of course, but the average human would never understand that what they were looking at was not actually a dog.

I noted where they had seen this group. I wondered if I should check them out or leave them well enough alone. Some packs were very territorial while others were a little more welcoming so long as you didn’t plan on staying too long in their area. I did not doubt that I would run into them eventually, but it was usually best to make your presence well known if you wanted to avoid any misunderstandings.

As my steak arrived, I dipped my head in thanks to the server and then dug into my meal. It was divine. The meat just melted into my mouth and I made a low, pleased sound in my throat. Nothing else happened during my meal that sparked my curiosity, and I hate the rest of my meal in quiet leisure.

After finishing my meal, I wandered near the area where I assumed those ‘dogs’ had been, but there was no sign of them other than the scent that suggested they had moved on some time ago. I decided to not worry too much about it. Perhaps they were also visitors, and this wasn’t their pack’s land at all.

I took out my phone and took notice of the time. It was getting late in the evening now, and the streets were getting less and less populated. Now would be the time where the night time supernatural beings would stir and move about. That would include my kind.

I realised how close I was to some places that I was sure my mother would get a kick out of and headed towards the closest one. I could visit more of them in the morning, but it would be nice to get a good look at some while there were fewer crowds.

The London Eye was still fairly busy, but luckily, I didn’t have to wait long. I took a few photos of myself in front of it, making silly little poses, and then when it was my turn to get on, I had a magnificent view of Big Ben across the River Thames. I did another selfie and sent them to my mum’s number.

Me: Next time I’ll bring you here to visit.

After our little texting, I glanced out at the view and smiled. I still had smelt nothing that could be my mate, but I really was enjoying being so relaxed and seeing all the sights and sounds of the bigger world. I had never really travelled much before. My mother had always been worried someone would try to harm me, so we stayed where we knew we were safe. Of course, I was older now and although she worried about me, my mother knew I could take care of myself.

The sounds of yelling down below soon took my attention. A few people were getting rather loud, and it was clear from their movements that they had been drinking. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore them. Some humans never knew their limits, and I just hoped they would leave before my ride ended.