supposed to take you both sightseeing.”
Jared’s eyes widened. An entire
day with Mr. Lucciani, no wonder Elena had not wanted to tell him last night,
she knew if he had the chance he’d have tucked his tail between his legs and
ran.
“And just how many sights are we
going to see?” Jared asked.
Giovanni shrugged, “Rosa wanted
to show Elena the new shopping center, I assume once we get there they’ll spend
a good three hours looking around and that will most likely conclude the tour.
So, with all the other things Rosa said she wanted to show you all, my guess is
it’ll be about five hours.”
Jared internalized his groan;
his assumptions had been right, and it was going to be a very long day indeed.
-x-x-x-
Jared had to admit the day
wasn’t going as bad as he had expected it to be. Gio rarely interrogated him,
likely because Jared clung to Elena’s hand for dear life to ensure he was never
alone with the man, and Rosa hadn’t tried to convince him to shave once since
she had thrown herself into the role of self-appointed tour guide and was too
busy explaining the sites than concerning herself with the length of Jared’s
hair.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa had
been cool, and Jared had wolfed down three pieces of pizza from all the
exploitative vendors that circled the tower.
It seemed that everything was
going just fine until Rosa led them through a dog park. As soon as they had
stepped in and Jared had got a whiff of the other canines his hackles
immediately began to rise. Elena noticed his tenseness and chuckled, patting
his arm reassuringly.
“Relax top dog; they’re just
puppies.”
“Right” Jared said, grinning
tersely, “here we go.”
They had made it about a fourth
of the way in with Rosa and Giovanni laughing to each other a few paces ahead
and Jared and Elena lagging a few steps behind when it began.
It started with a few low
growls, the attempts of some of the bigger dogs to pronounce to everyone in the
near vicinity just who was boss.
Jared resisted the urge to growl
back and instead looked straight ahead, Elena’s hand tightening around his to
remind him to be calm. “Everything’s fine.”
“Easy for you to say; you’re not
about to be attacked by a dozen Miniature Schnauzers.” Jared sighed heavily,
deciding to not look any of the dogs in the eyes, not because he was afraid but
because he didn’t feel like getting in a fight. At least, that’s what he told
himself.
They had made it about halfway
through the park when Giovanni and Rosa were first alerted to a potential
problem.
A few of the dog owners had
begun noticing their dogs’ odd behavior and had started their exclamations of
surprise and confusion as their dogs began straining against their leashes,
attempting to make a break for the center path, specifically towards Jared.
“Ouch!” Jared grunted, grabbing
his ankle in pain after a Chihuahua had broken free of the loose grasp of its
distracted owner and decided to make a statement that the territory of the dog
park belonged to him.
Jared knew he could shut that
pesky dog up in a second if he shifted, and his body vibrated with the desire
to shift into his wolf form and assert his dominance. Elena did a pretty poor
job of hiding her giggles and Giovanni looked like he wanted to hug the
Chihuahua like it was his firstborn son. Rosa looked concerned, searching for
the dog’s owner and shooing the proud Chihuahua away from her son-in-law.
But the Chihuahua was only the
first of their worries. Soon, a black poodle had broken free of its confines,
followed shortly after by a black Lab and a Scottish terrier. The freedom the
other dogs had claimed incited an even bigger struggle from the other dogs in
the park and one by one they had either chewed through their leashes in
desperation or had dragged their owners along, all to attack Jared.
Elena had let go of Jared’s hand
in the dog park mad dash, having been separated by the sudden influx of dogs
rushing to get