Chapter 5. The letter

ADRIANA

I hear a loud growl behind me and I quickly slide back in my place as I see it is the woman from stage. Us werewolves are always so possessive as it comes to our mates, with Alpha’s it’s even worse. I see her eyes flicker from their natural brown color to the gold of her wolf. I bow my head out of respect, not to upset her and her wolf. As soon as they lock eyes you can see the Mate-bond falling into place.

I pull myself up and wink at the others to leave them alone for the evening and give them some privacy. My stomach growls vigorously and I head over to the food stations. I spot a station with different types of salads and tortillas. Everything looks so tasty, I almost start drooling. Anatoli walked with me to the stand and picks two different beef tortillas and waits for me to decide what I want to eat. I choose a chicken tortilla and a colorful looking salad. “Good choice, that looks damn tasty.” He speaks. “Where do you want to sit now? Jenna and Ximena are practically eating each other’s face, maybe best to leave them alone.” I chuckle. “We can sit with some friends of mine.” He doesn’t even wait for my answer and wraps his arm around my neck. He guides me across the square and to a table flooded with guys.

They are already eating dinner, cracking jokes and having a laugh. One of the guys spots us approaching and I see a huge grin forming on his face. “I see you already pulled yourself another one!” Anatoli smiles wide and tightens his grip around me. “Yeah, couldn’t help myself, these Dutch girls are something else.” He shouts at his friend and I push him away. “Yeah, yeah. You tell yourself that, I just took pity for you after my friend left you for another woman.” I smirk at him and pet his back.

Anatoli introduces me to his group. The guy that shouted at us is Alexei, next to him sits Borya and Dima, on the other side of the table are Oleg, Pavel and Sacha. Borya slides to the side a bit and pets the bench. “You can sit here, I promise Alexei won’t bite and neither will I.” I drop down between him and Alexei. “Thanks. So, are you all from the Bolshoy Iremel Pack or how do I see this? You guys are attending with a lot of weres.” I ask curiously. “We are from a neighboring pack, Narodnaja Pack. Our packs share the Ural Mountain range.” Borya explains. “Alright, alright.” I say while taking a bite of my tortilla. “So, is this your first time at the games? I haven’t seen you guys last year.” I ask quizzingly. “Yes, this is our first. Normally packs from Russia are not invited to the Games, but with this new pack hosting them we also received an invitation.” He speaks. “I think it is a good strategic move to ensure a good relationship with the more powerful packs in this part of the world.” Alexei contemplates. “Yeah, I also heard that the Alpha of this pack is still searching for his Mate, that’s why he invited every pack even remotely connected to Europe.” Borya counterparts. “Yeah, well I know for sure his sister was looking for her Mate. My best friend Jenna just found out she is her Mate. But it sure is a good possibility he also is still unmated.” I say in between bites.

Pavel turns to me. “Do you know what to expect from the games?” He asks curiously, excitement shining on his face. “Nah not really. Every year is different, but it always revolves around teamwork, athletics and strategy.” I muse and everybody is silent for a moment, thinking about what this year might bring.

Alexei is the first one to break the comfortable silence that has settled on the group. “Adriana, I think everyone here on the table is wondering if you are here for a Mate or for the adventure of it.” He says draping his arm over my shoulders, a mischievous grin on his face. “Well Alexei, I am here to find my Mate, but a little adventure never killed no one.” I coo. Alexis’s smirking in my head. “I’ll show him a little adventure.” She snorts and my eyes flicker between my normal non glowing eyes and her powerful, glowing gaze. Alexei freezes over, shocked by what he just saw. “What... Your eyes... What happened?” He stutters and I feel the others also staring. “That was my wolf, I know you are here for the adventure. It’s obvious, so Alexis showed you an adventure, something unknown.” Alexei stares at me, still lost for words. “Well now we at least know not to mess with you, that was amazing!” Borya calls out excitedly and I blush at his enthusiastic reaction to Alexis.

We chat a bit and finish our meal, not long after I say my goodbye to the guys. I really need to check on the others I think to myself. I wasn’t worried about them, simply curious how their day went. I haven’t heard anything from Laura and Ben the entire day and I imagine Jenna is still pretty occupied with her Mate.

I arrive at the cabin we call home for the coming days and I am the first to be back. I walk up to the front door and see a white envelope with green cursive writing on it. ‘Lowlands Pack’ it says and it’s sealed with a golden stamp. I quickly mind link Laura, Ben and Jenna to get their asses over here and get inside.

I grab a beer and place the envelope on the small table. Within a few moments Laura and Ben come storming in, both equally excited about the mysterious envelope.

Laura snatches the envelope and squeals excitedly. “Oeh! I’m dying to know what it says!” “So am I, I hope Jenna hurries up a bit.” Ben says. I grin at the both of them. “I was able to mind link her a few minutes ago, so she wasn’t that busy.” I choke out.

Precisely at that moment Jenna comes running in. “Hi guys.” She says panting. I look her up and down a bit. She’s a mess! Her hair is a chaos, her lips are swollen and several hickeys cover her neck and collarbone. I feel a smirk creeping up my face. “So, I assume you had a good time getting to know Ximena.” I say deviously and a blush spreads through her face. “Yeah, well, I just can’t help myself when I am close to her and neither does she. I mean she smells and tastes so good and Goddess, the feeling of her body against mine is pure Heaven! She is beautiful and smart and funny and sarcastic and she has this mysterious feel over her. I just can’t get enough of her!” She blurts out and I pull her in for a hug. “I am happy for you babe, you deserve nothing but the best.” I say lovingly.

In the meantime, Laura found the envelope sitting on the table and asks for our attention. She opens up the envelope and out comes a letter, the same green, cursive writing as on the envelope decorates the letter. Laura scrapes her throat and begins reading the letter aloud.

“Dear Laura, Adriana, Ben and Jenna,

You all are expected tomorrow morning at 09:00 at the town square for the first of three games. Tomorrow will be a team effort and further down this letter you can find the team in which you belong. Be ready for the unexpected!

Laura – Team Red

Adriana – Team Yellow

Ben – Team Green

Jenna – Team Silver

Kind regards,

Lobo Furioso”

“That’s it, guys. No clues to what we are going to do, nothing.” Laura sighs and she passes the letter around so everyone can check it out. Nobody can find anything else on the letter. Ben even holds it up to the light and above a lighter, nothing.

“To bad we aren’t in the same team, everybody is spread over different teams.” I say a bit disappointed. “Yeah, it sure is. I just hope my other teammates will be nice, chances are we’re spending the entire day with them.” Jenna sighs. “Huh, the entire day? So, I’m not seeing any of you for lunch tomorrow?” Laura quizzes. “Nope, probably not. I mean, the whole idea behind the games is you finding your Mate and making alliances.” I answer her. She nods her head, humming in response.

We talk a bit about how everyone’s day has been. Jenna has spent her entire day with Ximena and Ben and Laura have spent their day with a pack from Greece. They were all girls and Ben quickly made it to their gay best friend. Laura had already found an ally in one of the girls who was also an Alpha’s Daughter.

I am happy we all had such a good first day and call it a night. With the day being this eventful already, we all are quite tired. As soon as I hit my bed, I fall asleep.