Beta's Bride [ShadowPack #2]
Chapter 2: The Town

Stella tossed and turned as she was trying to sleep but it never came to her. she sighed before she was sitting up from the bed as she was looking at the small local town that was hustling and bustling in the mid-morning.

She smiled to herself, reminding the town of Verona where she was an undergraduate there for 4 years, 3 months, and 5 days. Only just yesterday she was there and right now, she was on this little island that she has wanted to visit since forever.

Her stomach growled before Stella moaned. She did not find joy when she was forced to eat the food on the airplane but she did it anyway since she paid for it. But right now, it was time for her to get some adventure going and maybe get some brunch for her hungry stomach.

Stella got out of the bed before she went into the shower as she was feeling icky from all the sweats and the jetlag that she was having right now. It did not make her sleepy but energized with the new prospect of life. She sighed after getting a good shower before she was putting on her cotton summer dress and get out of the room to explore the town.

She locked the door of her suite before she was putting the keys into her handbag that she carried around as it was a present from her father. She missed him terribly as her father has passed away when she was a Junior in college. She sighed before she was walking down the stairs to get to the town square.

Father was right. He wanted me to explore the world and I will do it, no matter what Mum said, as Stella mused before she was walking out into the sunlight. It was refreshing as she can hear the people were talking and battering but not in the usual language that she spoke but it was a nice change for her.

She looked at her cell signal and it has a very good reception down here. Whatever complaints that she read on the internet about Paphos being a backward town, it was not true. Perhaps they just have the wrong service to get the reception in Cyprus.

Stella smiled before she pulled out her itinerary on the phone. She has been planning it for years and the first thing she wanted to do on the list was to taste a good brunch at this café which was known for its good hot chocolate.

Perhaps she will get that as well.

Stella had the directions from her hotel to the café on the phone as well and she was walking down the streets to get there. She saw the farmers market that was going on there as people chatted and bantered with the vendors to get a good price. She smiled as it reminded her of her own town in Italy.

Then, Stella stopped at the sidewalk before she was about to cross the road. She turned to look at her left and right before she turned to look at the left again. Then, confident that there was no car approaching, she walked across the road to get to the famous café. But she did not hear the car that was honking on her as it was speeding toward her.

Stella turned to see and it was too late to prevent it.

*****

"I am telling you, that old man was tough but you're tougher," Zack said before he was smiling at Xavier who was smirking at the newcomer. Zack has been found surviving the attack of the rogue two weeks ago and they also discovered that Zack was Arthur's brother.

Half-brother anyway but they're family nonetheless.

Xavier was smiling at his protégé before his wolf was sensing something. something that smelled like summer and sunshine before he can register what was going on. Then, he was focusing on the moment that was playing in front of him in slow motion.

There was a car fast approaching the woman that was about to cross the streets. Xavier did not know what was coming over him as she was still smiling down on her phone when the vehicle was speeding toward her.

Maybe this blonde is dumb, can't she sense anything at all? Xavier mused before she looked up and saw the car. She froze and everything in Xavier was frozen up as well.

'Save her!' his wolf demanded and without anything to think about, Xavier was leaping across the road to get to the woman. Everything was happening so quickly. He was running after her before he was scooping her in his hand and pushed her out of the way as the car drove past them. Xavier covered her with his body before he was screaming at the driver.

"Watch it, will you?!" he shouted in Greek before the driver was giving him the middle finger. People these days, I swear...he mused before he was focusing on the new heat that was under him. Xavier turned to look at the woman that was underneath him and the first thing that he noticed was the blue, blue eyes that were staring at him.

It was magnificent and he cannot stop staring at it. He sensed that he must be looking at her more than it should be in a polite manner but Xavier did not care at all. All he heard was one word.

'Mine!' his wolf said before he blinked and his chest was giving a little thump in his chest. He pulled them up before the blondie was standing tall in front of him as Xavier was taking in his fill.

She was most likely to be five foot seven inches by the looks of it as she came close to his chin. He was a good six feet but this height worked out him. He could have her beneath him in all sweat and panting his name...

What the hell was that about? Xavier frowned before he was looking at the woman and he spoke to her in English, seeing that she was not around from here. With a blonde mane and pale complexion as well as blue eyes, she was not one of the locals.

She's a tourist.

"Are you alright?" he asked before she was blinking her eyes and looked at him. Like, really, looked at him as if she just got out of trance or something.

'Interesting,' his wolf purred before he frowned at her.

'Not interesting, this is trouble and I don't want any trouble in my town,' Xavier reasoned with himself but his wolf did not reply for he also knew that it would be a lie.

*****

Mamma Mia! Am I dreaming right now? I am sure I am not for I was almost got into an accident that would have cost me, Stella thought before she was blinking her eyes at her savior. He was all tanned and muscular but in the lean spectrum. He has been shielding her from the speeding car before he was shouting at it.

Then, he turned his face to look at her and all she can see was the grey orbs that were staring down on her. she sucked her breath as this was the first time that she ever saw a beautiful man this up close. Then, he pulled them up to stand before asking her the question.

"Are you alright?" he said and Stella found herself jelly in her knees. She never had this reaction before by a man's voice alone but there was something about this man that made her react like this.

I am must be dreaming. There's no way in hell this man would be attentive to me, she mused as if trying to remind her that she was not worth the work to be getting his attention. But the man did not look away as she was finding him checking herself out as well.

Stella blushed before she was nodding at him, not finding the courage to answer him.

"Do you have to be so careless when trying to cross the road? That car would have to kill you just now," the man said with a little accent in his voice. If Stella would guess, he must have been speaking English since he was a little for there was an American accent in them.

Or maybe he just spent his time studying in America.

"Sorry, I did not know there was a car coming but I do know that I checked my left and right to make sure that there was none. I don't even see that car beforehand," Stella said before the man was sighing. He was shaking his head and Stella found herself frowning when she knows that this man should have not come to save her.

But he did and right now, he was getting angry with her.

"Well, I am sorry then if I was to give you a heart attack. You could have just let me be run over and get on with your life. No one would miss me anyway," Stella said before she flinched. Of course, there will be someone who missed her. Her mother, Laura, her best friend, the staff that worked at her house, and the one that has known her since she was a child.

Maybe there was someone that will miss her if not deeply but she would make her mother go crazy if she was injured during one of her 'disapproved' vacations.

Stella sighed before she was rubbing her hands on her arms. She was looking around and the people were getting hype with the almost accident and the fact that this handsome stranger was in front of her. It attracted more attention than it should.

"Are you okay, sir?" there was a voice that coming from behind the handsome man. A young man by the looks of it, maybe in his early 20s but Stella knows not to judge the book by its cover. The man in front of her was nodding before the young man retreated as her savior was speaking in Greek to him. The young man nodded before he left her with his boss.

Oh my God! What if I have pulled a powerful man to save my little ass? This is unbelievable! Stella shouted in her mind before she was looking at the café that was supposed to be her final destination.

But just thinking about it right now, she wanted to barf.

The handsome man was looking in the direction of her view before he arched his eyebrow. Stella glared at him.

"What? It was all over the internet. Of course, I wanted to get a taste of it even though it would cost my life," she said before she was crossing her arms in front of her chest. The man chuckled before he was turning to look at her.

"Then, perhaps you should treat me as I just saved your life. Isn't that sound fair enough?" he said as he was arching his eyebrow again. Stella blushed but there was a little part of her that wanted to stay in his presence a little longer. Then, she sighed.

"Well, since you asked nicely—"

"Xavier," he said before Stella blinked.

"then, I should be obliged to it then, Xavier," she said before they were moving toward the café, knowing deep down in her heart, she loved to say his name again and again and again.

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