Chapter 76 - Just wine please

Chapter 76 - Just wine please
Gora / The monster’s pov
If it weren’t for the strong wolf blood pulsing inside me, I would probably be sitting hunched over in a dark corner, shaking with fear like a small child.
I looked at Andy’s body lying in a contorted position on the floor, still with a surprised expression on his face. One of his cheeks was against the rough carpet on the floor, his arms twisted at an odd angle after not catching him when he fell lifeless to the floor. Through a large gash in his chest, you could see shiny entrails. There was minimal blood around the body. A body contains about five liters of blood, and considering how my insides were buzzing, I had probably ingested most of it.
“Fuck…” I nervously fingered my dreadlocks, rubbed my face, and repeated.
“ There was no choice, you understand?”
“No choice? NO CHOICE?? We just killed Cathy’s right-hand, her temporary beta. Tony’s friend for years! In a house full of vampire-hating San Marino wolves!!! We’re so dead, I hope you’re happy, because we can’t get out of this!”
“Calm down, the damage isn’t that bad…”
“Not that bad?” I felt a nervous, slightly hysterical laugh rise from my throat as I continued to rub my face and pull at my dreadlocks.
Father’s torture chamber suddenly seemed very tempting if the alternative was to be torn to pieces, not only by San Marino Wolves but also by pissed off rankers from Great Falls.
“Calm down and listen. No one knows he was here, so we’ll make sure to stay one step ahead, okay?”
“How?”
“We say in passing that Andy was over at our place, that he seemed a little absent-minded or something, then we’ve been transparent in case anyone saw him go to our room, and we have planted a seed of an explanation for why he’s missing. You’ll think of something…”
“Me?”
“Well, unless you want me to take over, I can probably handle it, but if anyone notices it’s me, it’s hard to explain away.”
“I hate you…”
“I know…” The answer wasn’t understanding, but more mocking. He enjoyed this. Enjoyed causing chaos and letting me clean up the mess.

It took me a little over an hour to wrap Andy in the rough carpet and hide him in the closet. The windows were wide open to let in the chilly evening air and to vent the smell of blood. I had emptied some of the blood bags I had packed at Father’s into a decanter, with all the bodies the monster had emptied, the bags had stayed untouched. So if anyone came in and smelled the scent, I could point them there. Nothing strange about a vampire having blood in the room. I would have to leave to get rid of the body, but that would have to wait until everyone was asleep. I took a quick shower, scrubbed my hands and nails until I was sure all traces of Andy were gone. After an equally thorough brushing of my teeth and carefully chosen clothes, I looked in the mirror and tried to tell myself that I could handle this. A few deep breaths, and then I left the room.

“Gora! Welcome!” The dinner table was already full when I entered the room Cathy had shown me earlier. A smaller, more private dining room for the group that, for some reason, didn’t eat in the main dining room with the rest of the pack. The feeling in the room was anything but warm and welcoming. I could feel the hatred pulsing from the wolves around the table. Most of them were from Italy, but there were a few who were more relaxed and didn’t seem to mind me entering. I assume they were Cathy’s pack wolves.

“Thank you, Cathy.” I smiled and gave her a light kiss on the cheek before sitting in the empty chair to her left. I could only assume it was the Alpha from San Marino sitting on her right, given the power of his aura hitting me. I met his gaze, which was almost black, and I could see that his knuckles were almost white because he clenched his hand so tightly.
“This is Alfonzo, my dear friend from Italy. He was so welcoming and an excellent host to me when I was there on a visit. Afonzo, this is my friend Gora, and yes, he is a vampire, but I promise you, he is the most human vampire I have ever met.” She smiled warmly, and I don’t know if she was putting on a show to calm him down or if she meant what she said. Either way, it made my nerves and muscles relax a little. His hand relaxed and regained some of its color. 
“Very nice to meet you. I love Italy, but I have never been to San Marino.” I gave him a polite smile, and he gave me a short nod in return before starting to talk to a muscular man at his side.
“What do you want? We’re having steak and potatoes today…” Cathy looked a little unsure as she asked the question.
“Thank you, but I’ve already…ate…but I’d be more than happy to have a glass of wine.” I smiled at her to assure her that she didn’t have to worry about what she was going to feed me.
“And who got to open a vein to serve you dinner, if I may ask?” The man next to Alfonzo glared at me, and all the small talk that had started around the table immediately fell silent. I waited while a woman, probably an omega wolf who was working to serve us tonight, filled my glass with wine. I took a deep sip before meeting the mountain of muscles’ gaze.
“PVC…”
“Excuse me?”
“PVC, that’s the plastic that blood bags are made of, that was what I opened for dinner. The blood is voluntarily donated, I might add.” I could see the gears working to come up with a counter-comment to build up the heated atmosphere. When Alfonzo put his hand on his man’s arm and whispered something, he relaxed and dropped the subject.

“Wouldn’t you enjoy tearing their throats out? Not for drinking, although I’m a fan of Italian. No, this bunch can bleed to death in their beds…” The monster’s voice whispered hatefully in my head. “It would be so easy, a little blood in their wine glasses to make their wolves relax, a little more to make them helpless.” I tried to ignore him and turned to Cathy.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Cathy. It means a lot.”
“Don’t let me regret it.” She winked at me, and her eyes wandered around the table until they stopped on an empty spot. She waved to one of the omegas who hurried to her side.
“Could you do me a favor? Go up to Andy’s room and see why he’s late, tell him I want him to join us as soon as possible.” The omega nodded and hurried quickly, my stomach clenched, and I felt nauseous. I drained my wine glass, and another omega was quick to refill it.
“I met Andy earlier, he came by my room.” I tried to sound as nonchalant and ordinary as I could.
“Yeah? What did he want?”
“Nothing in particular, I think, he said he didn’t mind vampires, that he’d even been good friends with one for years…so I guess he just wanted to make me feel welcome, considering…” I glanced at the Italian guests so she would understand what I meant.
“Hmm…that doesn’t sound like the Andy I know.” Fuck! Had I gone too far?
“No? Well, you know him, which I don’t. I thought he seemed a little nervous, on edge even, but I thought he was just like that, is he? Nervous, I mean?”
“Andy? Nervous?” She laughed a little mockingly. “No, Andy is one of the most confident and cocky wolves I’ve ever met.”
“Oh? Not the impression I got, maybe he was just having a bad day or coming down with something…” Before I could say more, the omega was back and murmuring in Cathy’s ear. Cathy nodded and thanked her and then dropped the subject and hopefully all thoughts of Andy, for the time being anyway.