Chapter 4

4

R om always carried a bag of spare gear with him in his cars, and he started to see why Laverna had said what she had about his shoes. The Riserva Naturale Valle dell'Aniene was a reservation with areas for family activities, picnics, walking trails, and wilder places that were part of reforestation programs.

Rom took advantage of a block of public toilets to change out of his suit and into boots, jeans, and a tight black T-shirt. Laverna was lounging against his car when he came back out. Her clever hazel eyes skimmed over him with an appreciation she couldn't hide.

His wolf rolled over, his ears twitching. It had smelled her arousal in the car, and it took all of Rom's self-control not to offer to do something about it. She was just as good as him at denying what was between them.

"Fates, Romulus, you look almost normal," she teased as he put his clothes in the back of the car.

"Get your ass off my bonnet," he said without any real venom.

Laverna shimmied her hips before jumping down, leaving a mark where her ass had been.

Rom didn't tell her where else she could park her ass, but it was a near thing. He locked the car and stuffed the keys into his pocket.

"Lead the way," he said.

Laverna smirked. "We might have to jump a few fences. Can a posh boy like you handle it?"

"You seem to be forgetting I was raised as a farmer," he pointed out.

"Yeah, thousands of years ago. Okay, this way," she said, cutting across the grass and heading towards a dirt walking track.

It had rained the previous night, and the clouds were gathering again. Rom hoped that it would keep pedestrians and park goers indoors and out of their way.

He inhaled deeply, letting the wolf inside of him rise to the surface. He could smell people and dogs, rabbits and mice. Mostly, he smelled Laverna, and his wolf wanted to roll in her secret myrrh scent like a puppy in fresh-cut grass.

After fifteen minutes, Rom jumped over a fence and into knee-high grass. There were trails through it from multiple people using the space as a shortcut to the water.

Rom turned, his hands going to Laverna's waist to help her over the fence. She was a lot shorter than he was. She felt so slight in his arms. Laverna made a noise of protest that he ignored as he set her back on her feet.

"Don't complain. I don't want you slipping over and breaking something," he said.

Laverna pulled her shirt and jacket straight with a huff. "I'm not one of your dumb damsels, Romulus. I can jump a fence."

Rom ignored her indignation. He shot out an arm to keep her walking in front of him. "Don't move. I can smell blood."

Laverna nodded, but her hand had slipped to the hilt of the dagger on her belt. Rom tore his attention away from her and back to the grass around him. His wolf woke up, sensing the hunt, and Rom let the heightened senses guide him. He made his way slowly through the grass until he came to the first splash of black blood. It was a few days old, so he assumed it had been a part of the attack on Laverna's people. He followed the blood, crushed grass, and torn-up earth until he came to what remained of their picnic area.

"Did you take things from here?" Rom asked.

Laverna nodded and said, "There were some blankets and bags that weren't destroyed. The families wanted them."

Rom circled the area a few times and finally realized what he wasn't sensing. "There's no trail leading in. I can smell all the people, but not what killed them. It was like it was a ghost."

Laverna walked to the edge of the stream of milky blue-gray water. "You don't think it came out of here as a surprise?"

"Maybe, but there still should be another scent here." Rom closed his eyes and tried to get his wolf's attention.

Help me see what I can't , he asked.

Give me more control , it growled in return. Rom knew it was dangerous, but whatever they were hunting was worse. He let the wolf rise higher and take control. It smelled Laverna, wanting to sink its fangs into her and mark her as his own.

Just hunt her enemy. Not her , Rom chastised it.

The stupid human needed to get his priorities straight. The wolf opened its eyes, and all he could see was her.

"Woah, what are you doing?" Laverna asked, her brows drawing together.

"Hunt," he growled and turned back to the blood.

The beast had attacked fast. By the way the bodies had been torn backward, it must have come from the grass and not the water. He crouched down, his hands sinking in the mud, and stalked into the grass on all fours. He found claw marks in the mud, scattered like someone had tried to cover them up but hadn't gotten all of them.

He reached another fence and sniffed the claw marks in the wood. Belladonna, steel, arsenic, roses...witch magic. He sneezed to try and get the scent out, but it didn't work. He scratched out at his nose, the smell searing his senses.

"Rom? Are you okay?" Laverna asked, voice unsure.

Hmm, mate scent . It turned and grabbed her, pulling her down to the ground with him and into his lap.

"Witch smell burn," he growled. He buried his nose into her neck and her tangled hair and breathed in, the ache inside of him easing.

Laverna didn't struggle. A soft gasp escaped her as the wolf nuzzled her again.

"T-The witches were here? No wonder we could smell magic on the bodies," she said. Her heart was thrumming so fast. The wolf put his lips to the vein in her neck just to feel the vibration of it.

Let her go. She hasn't consented to this .

Hasn't objected either , the wolf pointed out. Rom struggled as the human in him fought the wolf for control.

He came back to himself. He was holding Laverna in his lap, her warm body tucked up into his in a perfect fit. He allowed himself one more brush of lips against her pulse before loosening his grip on her.

"I...I'm sorry," he stammered, lifting her out of his lap and onto her feet. His jeans and hands were covered in mud and grass.

"Rom? Are you...you? What the fuck was that about?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It was nothing," he lied, still on his knees in the mud.

Laverna took his face in her hands and tilted it up so he couldn't look away. "Tell me the truth, Rom. What is happening to you? That wasn't you."

She never called him Rom except when she forgot to hate him or when she was stressed. It undid him every time.

"It's...my wolf. I can bring him to the surface to help me see and smell things better. It doesn't understand personal boundaries," he said, unable to lie to her anymore. Fates, he was so tired of lying to her. The touch of her hands on his skin was paralyzing.

"I'm sorry if it hurt you or made you uncomfortable. It likes...the way you smell. It was only trying to get rid of the witches... I..." Rom realized he was babbling and stopped talking.

Laverna's hazel eyes bore into him, and then she let him go.

"It's fine. I wasn't hurt, just surprised. Witches . Fuck, Romulus," she said, leaning against the fence. "Where to now?"

"They came from this way," Rom said. He jumped the fence and held his hand out to help her over. Laverna took it without complaint. When she turned, he saw his muddy handprints on her ass, and his insides heated. No time to dwell on it.

Rom tracked the stench of the magic until it came to the edge of the spell. "They must have just blasted this area to wipe the scent of their beast," he said, pulling out his phone. He opened up his maps and marked the location's coordinates. "I don't like how exposed I'm feeling right now. I'll send some of my wolves out to map the reserve for us and see if they can find any leads."

Laverna looked up at the sky as the rain started to sprinkle down on them lightly. "Good idea."

They were both drenched when they finally made it back to the car. Rom gave her one of the clean shirts from his bag, and she actually took it without griping. He used a spare towel for her seat, and when she climbed back in the car beside him, she looked thoughtful. Rom liked her wearing his shirt, the red wolf head logo on one of her breasts.

"Fucking witches. What could they possibly be back for? They have known for centuries that all of Rome belongs to us," she said, staring at the water pebbling on the windscreen.

"Maybe they have the numbers again to throw down a challenge. I'm more concerned about this creature they have under their power. Hopefully, my wolves will pick up a scent signature for it," Rom replied, running a hand through his damp hair.

"You still think it wasn't one of them? I know you believe that it's not possible because it's not a full moon, but you just...went wolfy," Laverna said.

Rom shook his head. "I'm different to the others. Stronger. The nature of my curses makes it act differently. They have heightened senses, but not like what happened out there."

Laverna shivered, her expression shutting down. Rom turned on the car's heater and made sure to change the temperature of the seats. Laverna sighed as the heat kicked in and burrowed into his oversized shirt. "Take me home, Romulus. I've had enough of nature today."