The Great Wolf: A Legacy of Kilkenny Novel Book Three (The Legacy of Kilkenny Saga) (4 page)

“Are you cold?” I ask her. 

Her eyes are haunting as they make contact with mine.  She
has a way about her, something deep and soulful.  It’s a moment before she
answers me, “not really.”

A cat came out of nowhere and came to a stop about ten feet
away from us.  The tabby cat slowly arches its back and starts to hiss.  It is
probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen a cat do unprovoked.  The
next thing we know, the cat is pouncing around, growling with a juicy sounding
hiss.

“I don’t think it likes us much,” Brianna laughs as she bends
down to try and calm the animal down.  Like a rabid animal, the cat Velcro’s
itself to Brianna’s pea-coat.

I reach down and attempt to remove the cat from the front of
her coat.  The now very-pissed-off cat is screaming in a barbaric cat call.  My
attempts to touch the cat are futile. 

Together, we both reach for the cat and it undid itself from
her coat and ran. 

“Are you okay?  It didn’t bite you or anything did it?”  I
ask.

She starts laughing and soon I’m laughing too.  “I’m fine,
oh dat was funny, crazy cat.  Makes you wonder if it would do that if it met us
on a run!” 

“I’m betting the answer is no,” I snorted.

I take her hand into mine and walk her back into the
building. 

I’m so focused on Brianna, I practically run into Oakley.

“You’re lucky I heard you laughing, we were about to sound
an alert,” Oakley complains.

“Yes, I am lucky.  Let’s go save the tour guide,” I maneuver
past Oak and head out to find Dolly.

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

“You have a limo for tonight,” Pru says as she climbs onto
Oakley’s bed.  She’s going out with Oakley tonight so Shaynie will be our
chaperone.  “Oak and I are going to dinner and one of the host families has
invited us over for dessert.  They invited the whole pack if you and Brianna
want to go.”

I squirt on some cologne and double check that my shirt is
tucked in correctly.  “I think I’ll pass, it’s our first date and it will be
awkward enough without being at a stranger’s house.”

Oakley walks in carrying an armful of sodas and a bag of
granola is dangling from his mouth.  He drops the bag on the bed and hands us a
soda. 

“I need to leave if I’m going to be on time.  Thanks for the
drink.  I’ll catch you on the flip side.”

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

We pull into the drive of a mini-mansion bed and breakfast. 
The hotel is like nothing in Oklahoma.  The shape of the tan and grey building
is square but the corners jut out on the sides like round towers.  Vines cover
the upper level of the two stories hotel.  I notice a curtain pulling away from
one of the windows on the second floor, and see Brianna giving me a quick
wave.  My heart races as I step out of the car, my wolf is practically tripping
me to get to the door. 

The carved wooden doors are larger than any I’ve ever seen
on a house.  The doorbells chimes are loud to my ears.  A large man who
resembles Brianna’s brother, Marc, answers the door.  He reeks of pipe tobacco
and a hint of alcohol is on his breath.  He holds his hand out for me to shake
and introduces himself as Philip.  I follow him into the family room.  The
honey colored wood floors creak as we walk across the room. 

I zero in on voices on the other side of the house and
realize Brianna is talking to another woman.  She tells the woman not to
embarrass her and to stay in the kitchen.  The other woman is amused and tells
her
not on her life
.  I guess that means the woman plans on embarrassing
Brianna.  The ticking of heels on the wood floors catch my attention.  My wolf
is impatient and dying to see her face, to be near her, to protect her.  He’s
going to be hard to harness if this other person does anything to embarrass
Brianna.

“Hi Abel, I see you met my dad.  I hope he hasn’t bored you
with tales of winning the Olympics in his youth.”  She smiles at her dad and he
pulls her into a half hug.  They have an easier relationship than she does with
her hotheaded brothers.  “This is my Aunt Rosalie, she’s my mother’s sister.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say and turn towards Brianna.  “Is
your chaperone ready?” 

“I talked with Dolly and she’s comfortable with Shaynie
keeping an eye on you both.  Please make sure she’s home by ten, we have a busy
workout in the morning,” Philip says and kisses the top of her head.

Rosalie is a duplicate of Brianna, only older.

“So you’re the Great Wolf?  What’s it like?”  Rosalie asks
excitedly.  Brianna rolls her eyes as she shakes her head back and forth.

“Honestly, I don’t know how it feels.  I haven’t ever been
any other type of wolf, so I’m not sure how to measure the difference.  I will
say that being a wolf is amazing, I’m proud of my pack and everyone in it.” 

Rosalie smiles at me.  “Yeah, I guess that’s true.  If you
live in America, why are you going on a date with my niece?”

This type of questioning is what I expected to happen.  I’d
been thinking up answers all the way here.  Brianna turns to her aunt and gives
her the ‘
what the hell
’ look.

Philip stands taller and pulls his shoulders back.  “If
you’re not in a hurry, why don’t we sit at the dining table and have a talk.”

“Oh God, Dad, I’m sure Abel doesn’t want to get grilled to
death.  It isn’t as though we’re getting married; we’re just having fun….no
biggie.  I told you already that I’m showing him around town.”  Brianna reaches
over and grabs my hand.

The alpha in me understands why they’re questioning me. 
Hell, I’m questioning myself.  I didn’t plan on dating anyone for a while,
especially someone who lives thousands of miles away.

“It’s okay Brianna, if the General was still alive, he’d ask
the same questions,” I glance in her direction to ease her discomfort. 

Rosalie winks at me before turning to follow Philip to the
dining area.  The large custom table seats at least sixteen people without a
leaf extension.  Every pack house I’ve been to have a large table to seat all
the pack members.  We just had another one made since my parents and a couple
of new wolves have joined us. 

I pull out a chair for Brianna and I take the one directly
to her right.  My wolf feels content with her so close.  Without prompting, a
woman appears with four glasses of water and a plate full of cookies.  My
stomach rumbles with hunger pangs.

Brianna pulls the plate of cookies over and offers it to me,
I nervously take a cookie. 

“Is this your first time to visit Ireland?”  Rosalie asks.

I nod my head up and down, “Yes ma’am, actually I’ve always
had dreams of visiting Ireland.”

Rosalie and Brianna look stunned as if I just told them I
wear girls’ underwear to feel pretty.  It’s a struggle to keep from laughing
out loud.  Brianna looks at me curiously, almost as if she
did
hear me. 
No, she wouldn’t be able to hear my thoughts.   Just like I have to do when I’m
with my pack, I throw up my wall to keep her from hearing me
think
.  Because
her hearing my thoughts wouldn’t be a good thing…no, it would be very, very bad.

“I guess if you have to dream about something, Ireland is a
great place to fill your dreams,” Rosalie says.

Philip takes a sip of water and pats Rosalie’s hand to calm
her theatrics. 

“This might sound strange, but when I met Brianna the other
night, I felt like we’ve met before.  She offered to show me around town and I’m
happy to get out of the hotel and the scrutiny of everyone.  Being the Great Wolf,
puts me under a microscope 24/7, and she promised me a day of scrutiny free
fun.  I promise to have her home by curfew,” I explain.

Philip smiles and stands up.  “Well, I don’t want to hold
you up from having some regular fun the old fashioned Irish way.  Have a good
time, and remember what I said about work-outs in the morning Bri.  You kids
have a good time.”

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

Brianna asks the driver to take us to Yindees Downtown on John
Street. 

Even though Shaynie was trying to be quiet; you get two
girls together who seem to have a lot in common, you get girl chatter. 
Thankfully, they didn’t talk about fashion and girlie stuff.  Nope, they talked
about knives and the best way to use them in combat.  Shaynie can get
descriptive when she talks about stabbing people.

Shaynie isn’t your typical tall beautiful blonde model type;
she’s vicious in a fight and lethal with weapons.  When she first came to our
pack from Texas, she and Pru had issues.  They would glare at each other every
time they found the opportunity.  The tension was immense, and then one day it
stopped.  No one asked why it stopped, but we were thankful it did.  It’s still
unclear if Shaynie was after Oakley, but it never escalated into anything.

“Is it true Shaynie, that you’re a sniper?  My brothers have
talked non-stop about how badass you are!”

“She practically killed me when they were training me to be
a wolf.  I bet the C.I.A. would die to have someone like her on their team,” I
chuckle at the memory.

Shaynie blushes, which is funny to see since she doesn’t
embarrass easily.  She ponders the question for a minute before answering. 
“I’ve been called worse.  I love weapons of all kinds…throwing stars…assault
rifles…butcher knives, you name it, I love it.”

Brianna and I say, “Butcher knives?” at the same time.

“I get bored in a kitchen, if I’m not eating,” she replies
quickly and shrugs her shoulders.

The driver pulls up to an exit area near a parking garage. 
He tells us this is as close as he can get.  Shaynie takes the device he hands
to her and tells her to just press the button and he’ll meet us in the same
spot.  Sounds easy enough.

The tan building is very plain on the outside with a simple
sign that says Yindees Downtown.  As the door opens, I get a waft of ginger and
curry.  We’re at a Thai restaurant.  How unexpected.

Brianna takes my hand in hers and easily leans in to me. 
“Do you like Thai food?  I hope so, because this is the best in Ireland.”

“Yeah, we love Thai food.  The whole pack will go into the
city to eat Thai together.”

We check our coats as we enter the restaurant in exchange
for a ticket to claim them at the end of dinner.  A sign in multiple languages
states we will be asked to leave the dining area if caught talking on the
phone.  It also state, we must silence our ringer. The dining room is rich with
dark wood and candles on the tables.  A semi-circle glass bar is lined with
nothing but high-end liquors.  It’s relatively early so the dining room is
pretty empty.  It’s the first place I’ve been where everyone who is here, is
speaking English. 

A hostess comes over and smiles brightly at Brianna and they
start talking like old friends.  Which I soon discover, they are former
roommates at Trinity University of Dublin. At first my brain doesn’t realize
they are conversing in Taiwanese.  She guides us across the room to a table by
a big window that overlooks the cityscape.  Shaynie sits at the bar to allow us
some privacy.  Pru probably would have sat down with us; she’s annoyingly
overprotective of me.

We sit and place an order.  It’s time for
high tea
,
which the restaurant though Thai, have adapted the tradition.  They serve Irish
Tea and cheese to us before taking our order.  Brianna asks if she can order
for both of us, which is fine because the menu isn’t in English.  I find that
odd since all the patrons are English speaking.

“What did you study at Trinity?”  I ask as the waitress
clears away our dinner dishes.

She licks her lips, which distracts me momentarily.  “I
studied Ancient and Medieval history and culture.  I’ve always been fascinated
with the past.  I mean, even the story of
you
is… well, it’s
incredible.  Everyone just thought it was a made-up story, and then you came
along.”

“Then I came along,” I repeat.  “The story is incredible to
me too.  Life is funny, especially when you find myths to be true.”  I don’t
elaborate on my status.  Even if my wolf was offended that I didn’t tell her
how cool he is and what cool things he can do.  Like the ability to listen in
on other peoples inner thoughts.  It’s harder to do to weres from other packs,
but if I try hard enough, I can.  I don’t do it to people I know, I want them
to have privacy, plus people have dirty minds or obscure thoughts.  I can jump
as high as a three story roof.  We’ve tried to see if I can go higher, but it
gets complicated to do with so many humans around.

The waitress brings me the check.  I had to get Brianna to
help me figure out the Euros to pay for dinner.  The currency translation
hasn’t been my strong suit.

After dinner we walked around the square of shops and places
to eat.  Shaynie falls back as we walk over to a small garden area.  The
temperature has dropped about ten degrees since we arrived downtown.  As
wolves, we are hot natured, but the cold weather will still give us a chill. 
Brianna reaches in her pockets of her pea-coat and pulls out a pair of black
leather gloves.

“Are you cold?”  I ask as I put on my gloves too.

She nods her head at me and loops her arm through mine. 
“I’ll be fine, I have you to keep me warm,” she boldly says.

I concentrate on my breathing, which seems silly but I don’t
want her to know how fast my heart is pounding.  It’s cold enough to see your
breath and I am practically panting.  “How is Ireland in the summertime?”

“I love summer here; everything is so green and beautiful. 
We typically go to England on holiday for a month or so every year.  My father
enjoys going to the Middle East as well.  When we’re in London, there are
werewolves everywhere.  Paris on the other hand, is filled with vampires.  My
brothers track the vampires and figure out what they’re up to and report the
findings to the alpha.  I heard you were in Paris and had a run in with some
vampires.  Is that true?”