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Giovanni on the side--->

Chapter Two

Love Away

"I never knew you were gay." Nathaniel said for the tenth time since we arrived back at our hotel. I didn't know I was gay either until I saw that guy. My god, just thinking about him sends shivers down my spine.

And I was going to be meeting him tonight.

Nothing, not even words, could explain how nervous and excited I was. Hell, my hands wouldn't stop shaking, even now that I was sitting on them.

"Surprise." I said softly, my eyes not leaving the ground as I tried to look interested in the design of the rug laying on the wooden floor. I waited for some kind of remark, but after being met with silenece, I decided to look up, only to see my best friend looking at me.

"You're scared, aren't you?" He asked quietly and I shook my head.

"Beyond scared. Terrified." What type of person just agreed to go to a foreign club with a man he just met? Me, that's who. What if I got drugged, kidnapped and sold off on some Greek sex-trading ring? Great, scare yourself even more Nikolai.

"Will you go with me?" I asked, meeting Nate's eyes, hoping he would see the pleading in them. Thankfully, he gave me a small smile and a laugh.

"Of course. You think I'm going to let you run off in Greece without me?" I chuckled and he got up, walking towards our room. "Besides, by saying I would come with you, that means I go with you. Everywhere." And with that, he closed the bedroom door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Great idea.

COUPLE DAYS EARLIER

The awkward was so heavy in the air, I literally couldn't breathe.

I had asked to leave multiple times, only to get glared down by my dad and then kicked in the shin by my mom, which hurts like hell in case you're wondering.

I was waiting for my mom to drop the miscarriage on them, but she hadn't yet and I was wondering why. Wouldn't it be easier to just get it over with now, so if they have problems they can leave? At this rate, I could feel a full-blown fight about to happen and I'll be damned if I was going to watch that go down.

I always felt like shit whenever my grandparents would degrade my mom. Like, seriously? She's your daughter. Yeah, she left and went off and got pregnant and married, but at least she's happy.

They didn't see it that way however.

Instead, they saw it as her rebelling and going against the perfect live they had set up for her. So now, they decided to carry out everything my mom didn't do, with me. Jokes on them, because I'm about to do exactly what my mom did.

I stabbed the lettuce on my plate and flung to the side. They never put dressing on it and I hated the way it salads tasted when they were just plain. Why is it that everyone just assumes since I'm a werewolf, that I love everything earthy?

Because I don't.

Only think I can think of that is remotely earthy that I eat is nuts. Give me some walnuts, and I'll be set for life.

I heard someone clear their throat, and looked up to see my grandpa sliding his plate back. I rolled my eyes and sat up straight, preparing myself for whatever was about to be said.

"Seeing as the last time we were invited here we were told bad news, I'm going to take a wild guess and say you have some more for us?" I gave my mom's father a bland stare and suddenly found no interest in my food. Why couldn't he just ask in a nicer way? I could come up with like three alternative ways to ask what he just did, and not sound like a complete pompous ass.

"Your father is right, Scarlet. What has happened now?" My grandmother said in a bored voice and I saw my dad's jaw clench.

Keep it calm dad. I reminded him telepathically and he looked at me, giving me a small nod. My mom cleared her throat and pushed her sunglasses up her nose.

"I've lost the baby."  She said her voice small, almost weak sounding. I felt a pang in my chest and my heart clench at the sadness in her voice. I saw my grandparents jaws drop, and expected them to say something nice for once, but of course, that would only happen when Hell freezes over.

"What did you do? Were you not eating healthy? You went out and did heavy labor, didn't you?" I zoned out of my grandmothers accusing tone and just stared at her with the most disgusted look on my face.

"Mom, no. I- I don't know wh – "My mom tried to explain, but my grandma just cut her off, continuing with her accusations.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me?" I found myself saying as I shook my head.

"Nikolai!" My mom and dad said at the same time, but I turned to look at them.

"No! Don't even try and stop me. I'm going to say what needs to be said, so listen up." I looked at my grandparents, pleased to see there shocked faces. "All you two do is gripe and complain about how someone's not doing this right, or so-and-so didn't cook this right, or why is someone wearing that? Just stop! How about you look at yourselves? Because right now, I don't think three hours' worth of talking could explain all of your flaws. My mom, your daughter, just told you she lost her child. Did you even stop to consider how she feels before you started making it out to be her fault? It's no one's fault, no. You know what; it should be your faults. Who's to say it wasn't her stressing out over ways to try and please you for once that caused her to lose the baby?" I stood up from my chair and threw my napkin on the table.

"So you know what, why not instead of trying to make me everything your daughter wasn't, you forget about the past and realize that here and now, your daughter only wants the love you never gave her. Not the fake love, real, heart-warming love.  Right now, all you guys are is fake, and I don't know if I want to be seen or known as the grandchild of such horrible people." I turned around and stormed off, not stopping until I was safe behind the walls of my room.

And that's when I had a mental breakdown of everything I just said.

Holy shit, this was bad. What if everything I just said only caused a bigger fight?  I silenced my thoughts and listened for any sounds of yelling or banging, but when I heard nothing, I started pacing around my room. Okay, now fighting, but that's doesn't mean I'm probably going to be grounded for ever for everything I said. And if I'm grounded, I can't leave before my birthday, and if I can't leave before my birthday then...shit!

I quickly scribbled on a piece of paper saying I didn't want to be bothered and stuck it to the outside of my door, closed it and locked it before throwing myself on my bed. I reached down and grabbed my laptop, firing it up and waiting. .  I stared at my phone, contemplating whether or not to call someone.  After an internal battle in my head, I gave up and grabbed my phone, dialed Nate's number, put it on speaker and set the phone down on my leg.

The computer finally loaded up and I opened Google, and stared at the blinking cursor as I tried to figure out what to type.

"What the fuck you want?" I jumped at Nate's sudden voice and scowled.

"Scare a man why don't cha?"

"You're the one who called me, so." He dragged out the 'o' and then smacked his teeth. I rolled my eyes and looked back at the search engine.

"Give me something to type into Google." It was silent for a while and I thought he had hung up on me.

"Well what are you looking for? Cause I could give you a ton of things to search for." The suggestiveness in his voice reminded me of why he was my best friend, but also why I never came to him for advice. On anything.

"Places to go." I said simply and Nate gave a long sigh into the phone.

"Type in Interesting places to travel to." I typed in what he said and waited as the pages loaded.

"Top ten places to visit" I read out loud and heard Nate give a grunt, so I clicked on the link and scrolled through the places listed. It wasn't exactly places listed, but things to do.

"Unique train trips?" I asked into the phone.

"No. I am not leaving the pack and going to ride trains all the time." I nodded in agreement and looked at the other choices.

"Ohh, how about the Opera house? Australia sounds fun." I suggested only to be met with a groan.

"I hate koalas'." I looked at the phone, squinting my eyes.

"Well we don't have to see any?" My statement came out as a question, but I honestly did not understand this guy.

"I hate kangaroos too. After seeing that movie Kangaroo Jack, nope. Not gonna happen."

"Alright you're pissing me off." I heard him chuckled and I considered throwing the phone across the room, but then I remembered he was just talking through the phone, so doing that wouldn't hurt him. I rolled my eyes and continued scrolling through the listings, and then I saw it.

"How about Greece?" I prepared myself to hear another shitload of reasons of why he hated it.

"Sounds interesting. How much are tickets to get there?" He asked. I nodded my head and opened another tab, typing in Greece plane tickets and waiting. I filled out all the information and clicked "Search flights".

"How long are we staying?"

"Three months." I answered nonchalantly.

"Three months? Where the hell do we go after that?" Nate asked, his voice sounding stressed.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Dunno. I'm feeling Romania." I could practically see him rolling his eyes at me, but the page loaded and I smiled.

"Cheapest flight is one thousand three-hundred and eighty three per person. I can pay for you though."

"Where in the world are you getting this money from?" Nate asked breathlessly.

"I'm the Alpha's son, when it's my birthday; I roll in almost ten-thousand bucks. And that's for Every. Birthday."  Nate started laughing and I clicked a couple buttons and closed my laptop.

"Flight's booked and hotel reserved." I said, lying back with my hand behind my head.

"When's our flight?"

"April seventeenth, one day before my birthday."

"Sounds good bro. I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded, said goodbye and hung up, throwing my phone in my blankets. I rolled over onto my stomach and closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep only until I heard a knock on the door.

"Nikolai?" I heard my mom's soft voice call from the door. I jumped out of the bed and walked over, unlocking the door and opening it.. I stared at my mother and a small smile fell on my lips. I was glad she couldn't see me, because I was supposed to be her son that was arrogant, and showed no emotions. If anyone saw the smiles I gave to her, or when both my parents were together, my reputation would be ruined.

"Your grandparents left." She said softly and I nodded, and then remembered she didn't see it, so she probably thought I was ignoring her.

"Really? That's great." I said, clearing my throat. She slowly nodded her head and then sighed.

"I appreciate what you said down there. Makes me feel kind of pathetic since I couldn't say it myself and my son did instead." She laughed and I frowned.

"Mom, you're the farthest thing from pathetic. You're strong, smart, loving and by far, the best mom I could ever want." When the words left my mouth, I felt my heart clench. She was the best mom I could ever have. I wouldn't replace her for anything. But here I was, getting ready to leave in three days to go live across the ocean. I couldn't back down though. I had to do this to show my dad and everyone else in the pack that they couldn't force me to do what I didn't want to do. The lineage thing can kiss my perfect ass, because I'll be damned if I ever made my son become Alpha. IF he didn't want to do it, I wouldn't force him.

My dad didn't see it that way.

"You're pretty quiet. Well, you normally are, but this is like, an eerie quiet. Kind of freaking me out." I laughed at that, and my mom joined in before pulling me into a hug. "I love you Nikolai. I really do."

"I love you too mom." I whispered into her shoulder. I pulled away and looked at her, chewing my bottom lip. Should I tell her? No. Then she would tell dad and everything would be ruined. Maybe I could make up a scenario and ask?

"Hey, mom," She tilted her head at me, signaling she was listening, "Let's just say, I left one day. Like I didn't tell you were, but I still had my phone and everything. Would you be okay with that?" She was quiet for a while and I started to breakout in a nervous sweat. I just gave myself away, didn't I? All this careful planning and now

it's just gone down the drain.

"Would you come back?" She startled me with her question and I looked at her, eyes wide.

"Of course. I mean, maybe in like a year or two, but I would never permanently leave you guys." She smiled and patted my shoulder, or at least tired too because she ended up patting the air. I moved her hand to my shoulder and she snorted.

"Well, as long as you come back, I have no problem with it. Your dad on the other hand." She drawled and I rolled my eyes.

My dad could suck my big toe if he wanted to ruin this plan for me. And if he did, oh lord. If he thinks how I'm acting now with not wanting to be Alpha is bad, just wait till he sees me after ruining my plan. He won't ruin it though.

Because I am leaving without anyone stopping me.

"Okay, I'm going to let you go to bed now, but promise me something Kolya. Don't leave." She said the last part softly and I felt guilt take over as she closed the door.

Fuck.

This was going to be harder than I thought.

******************************

I was shaking from head to toe.

Partially because I was cold, but also because I was doing the deed. And no, I do not mean sex.

I, Nikolai Savage, was leaving my house and town with my best friend to go to Greece.

Yeah, who would have thought that would happen? Not me, that's for sure. Nate and I picked up the tickets last night, and now I was waiting outside his house with my bags. Technically, I wasn't in front of his house, I was behind it. Kind of defeats the purpose of the saying "stole away in the night" when you're standing dead center in front of someone's house with your belongings.

I checked the time on my new phone and sighed. We had forty minutes to get to the airport, not counting the ten minutes it takes to actually get there, and there still was no sign of movement inside Nate's house. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer, only to get his voice mail.

"You little shit. You better be dying because I am not freezing my tits off out here for – "

"What tits?" I jumped at Nate's voice and gave him a disgusted look.

"What took you so long?" I snapped, putting my hands on my hips and pursing my lips at him.

"I was dying?" I snorted and smacked his arm, causing his bag to fall and him to groan. I rolled my eyes and smiled, feeling proud of myself for fulfilling my duty as the annoying friend. We snuck around to the forest, making sure to avoid the posts set up around the perimeter and made it to Emery safely.

"Where's the car?" I asked Nate after we had stopped in front of the diner. He looked around for a second before nodding over by the bookstore.

"Down that alley." I gave him a deadpan stare and he looked back at me confused. "What?"

"You put the car. In an alley. At night?"

"Yeah, and?" I watched him turn on his heel and start off to the alley. You need him alive, Nikloai. You can't  go to another continent without a companion. Well, I could just take pick a random person and have them come along...

I gave up the debate in my head and marched over to Nate, who was already in the car, turning it on.  I threw my bag in the back and sat down in the passenger seat. "Does anyone know about this being here?" I asked as he backed out of the alley and started down the road.

"Nah. I piled stuff on it, to make it look broken." He said dryly and I shook my head and looked out the window. In no time, we were ditching the car and walking the rest of the way to the airport. I flipped out my phone as we walked through the door and smiled.

Twelve minutes early.

We walked up to the stewardess and handed her our tickets. She gave us a smile and told us to have a safe flight, but I could tell she was wishing we all would crash and burn. This job must suck. We walked through the tunnel and once we arrived on the plane itself, I was surprised to see it almost empty. I shook my head slowly and followed Nate as he walked to our seats and popped open the cabinet overhead. I handed him my bag and he threw it in, along with his, before closing it and taking a seat next to me.

Throughout the flight, I kept checking my phone so much that Nate actually took it from me. I didn't put up a fight though because I knew it was better that way.

"You're worried their going to call, aren't you?" Nate asked after a couple of hours. I jerked my head to the side and saw he was reading a book with a bored expression on his face.

"No." I drawled. They wouldn't call me, they didn't even have my new number. Only people who had it were Nate and Navaeh, but only because she was to keep me updated on everything going on in the pack. I was leaving, but I still cared about everyone's well-being. Even if I didn't want to be Alpha.

"Yeah, okay. Just go to sleep or something, we still have three more hours before we land." I rolled my eyes at his fatherly tone and turned to look back out the window.

My dad would find someone better for the Alpha. I knew he would, because the pack was filled with nothing but strong, smart and loyal men. Every male in the pack was forced to become everything the Alpha would be, because their parents wanted them to be friends with the Alpha. Now, one of them actually gets to be just that, the Alpha.

And I know you're probably like, well, why don't your mom and dad have another kid. Well, there are some problems with that. No one knows if it's going to be a boy, or a girl. If it's a girl, they would have to try again and my mom is already weak as is. I know my dad would never put my mom through that.

I fell ended up falling asleep and when I woke up, the plane was empty. I quickly unbuckled my seat belt and sat straight up, hitting my head on the compartment overhead. I yelped and grabbed my head, shuffling to the aisle. I opened our compartment and saw my back wasn't there. Oh god. I was left on a plane, and my back was stolen. I looked around the plane and sighed in frustration. What the fuck was I supposed to do now. I started to think of a plan when I felt a presence behind me. Without thinking twice, I swung my elbow back, connecting it with whoever was there. I heard a grunt and took the chance to throw my fist back. When I heard I thud, I smiled in triumph, turning around and then the smile fell.

"Nate?" I snapped. My best friend was lying on the floor, both our bags in hand and holding his already healing nose.

"Don't yell at me! I should be yelling at you! You fucking broke my nose!" He yelled and I smiled sheepishly.

"You left me alone when I woke up. I thought someone killed you and stole our stuff." I defended myself and Nate rolled his eyes. He got up and threw my bag at me.

"Come on. They'll get mad if we're here for too long." I threw my bag over my shoulder and followed Nate out of the plane. I started to feel guilty about hitting Nate and wanted to apologize. I opened my mouth, but quickly shut it as we entered the airport. I felt my stomach drop and my body freeze.

Wow, this was so new. Everyone was walking around, talking in Greek and some in other languages. I heard a couple of people speaking English. I sighed. Great, I was going to have to learn Greek. I turned to see Nate looking through his phone. Now's my chance.

"Nate, listen, I'm sor – " I stopped speaking as my eyes fell upon the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. Even better looking than my dad and Uncle Tyler, and that's saying something. His chocolate brown hair was tousled around in the front, giving him a shaggy look and he had stubble growing along his jaw. His eyes looked like he was squinting them, but I wasn't sure if he was, or that's just how his eyes actually were. He was wearing a black short sleeve shirt with a low cut collar, a light grey vest over top and a long necklace that looked like it had a feather. Ripped jeans hugged a pair of muscular legs and he had a pair of boots adorning his feet. I saw him bring a cigarette up to his mouth and cocked my head.

They could smoke in here?

I was brought out of my thoughts when I saw his eyes on me now and a smirk forming on his lips. I felt my cheeks get red and turned to Nate, who was staring at me, and impressed look on his face.

"Just got here and already checking someone out?" He chuckled, I punched his arm, which caused him to laugh harder. Jesus Christ, I hated him.

"I wasn't checking him out." I muttered, trying to cover up my burning red cheeks.

"Really? Cause he's coming over here." I snapped my head up and, sure enough, the guy from before was walking right over to us. My heart started to race and my palms became sweaty. Wait. Why am I getting so flustered over a guy? I was straight. Or at least I thought I was. The man reached us and a smug smiled fell on both his and Nate's face as they looked at me.

"You two are tourists, no?" His accent was thick, but tolerable. It was actually really attractive on him. I opened my mouth to tell him, but Nate jumped ahead of me.

"Wow, your English is good." He exclaimed. I gave my friend an irritated look and he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Thank you. My parents they – do a lot of work overseas. So, as their son, I learned quite a few languages." He told us. I nodded my head slowly at his words and when I opened my eyes, he was staring at me, a lustful look gleaming in his eyes. "May I ask who you two are?" He was talking to me when he asked the question, so I decided to answer first.

"Nikola Savage." I said, trying to sound confident, but it came out like a soft whisper.

"Nathaniel Waters. We're visiting for three months from America." The man nodded his head impressively.

"America? With a name like Nikolai, I thought you were from Russia. But then that wouldn't explain why you didn't have Russian accents." Nate laughed at that and I forced a chuckle. God, I was feeling so uncomfortable. Either from the man standing so close to me, or from the sexual tension rising in the air.

"Wait, we never got your name." I found myself saying. The man looked at me, his eyes wide in surprise. Probably cause I actually spoke with a full voice.

"I am Giovanni Krause. I'm actually waiting for my cousin." He stopped talking and looked up, his bright face falling. "And he has arrived." He looked back at us.

"Listen, I would love to meet you guys up later. Meet me at the local club around nine, 'kay?"

"What's the clubs name?" I quickly asked, but Giovanni was already walking away. I stood there, watching his backside and sighed. I looked up at Nate to see him looking at me with the same amused expression.

"What?" I snapped. He chuckled and shook his head, grabbing his bag.

"Nothing." He said, walking away. I huffed and grabbed my bag to follow him, but not before I stole a glance over my shoulder and I wish I hadn't, because Giovanni was staring at me. I quickly turned my head back around and tried to calm my breathing.

Well this was going to be an exciting night.

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