Serialised Exclusive for Steemit - Deadlier Than The Male - Werewolves Abroad in Ancient Italy

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The very last villa that they were to visit was occupied by two sisters. No-one knew for sure if they were blood relations, they certainly did not resemble each other facially, but physically, they were as much twins as Romulus and Remus had been. Elizabeth whispered to Hazel to watch the reaction of Santi as the hostesses received them. A near naked male servant opened the door to the sumptuous villa. His attire, what little there was of it, was complete with golden bands around his wrists and upper arms and a golden nose-ring that glinted as he bowed his head.

The three were led through to a dining area where low couches surrounded a low and food laden table. Other scantily dressed servants were serving wine and offering food. The two women were lounging on couches, stuffing their faces with fruit and wine. The largest of them attempted to sit up and needed help from her attentive servants to do so. She barely waited until she had swallowed her mouthful before she started to speak.

“Elizabeth, my dear, it is lovely to see you. And you have brought with you the beautiful Santi. How considerate you are.” She held out her hands to Santi in order that he greet her by kissing them. “And who is this delightful creature?” She at last gave her attention to Hazel.

Before Elizabeth could answer, the other woman gushed: “Santi hello, sit next to me, have some wine.” Then in a complete alteration of her manner, she snapped orders to the servants “Fetch goblets you swine, and plates for our guests!” Then she took Santi’s hands in a sweet gesture, which looked so false after her outburst that Hazel was quite shocked.

Elizabeth now had chance to answer the larger woman by introducing Hazel. “Encresciuta, Belafanta this is my good friend just arrived from France. Hazel, these ladies comprise the core of society in Ostia, their parties are more lavish than any other you may be fortunate enough to attend in your short time here. Hazel is visiting with another friend of mine, Anton; I think perhaps you met him a few years ago? And also another young man is travelling with them, his name is Nichasin.”

“How remiss of you not to have brought them along too, Elizabeth, you are most selfish in keeping them all to yourself.” Belafanta moved attention from Santi for a second to scold Elizabeth. “Still, you must visit with us in a few weeks, for we are having one of our legendary parties then. You will of course bring along Anton and Nichasin was it? And you must also bring Santi of course.” As she said this, she beamed a wide and lecherous smile at Santi who tried so very hard to suppress a shudder, but Hazel noticed it, even though his returning smile looked much practiced.

They did not stay long as it was very late and they made their excuses and left. On the return journey, Santi dominated the conversation with complaints.

“I am not going to that party Elizabeth, I refuse to! They are horrible women, they maul me and the last time we went to a party, they both cornered me and tried to drag me to a bedchamber and it was not even their house we were in. They disgust me, even I do not care how much money they have.” He said impassioned.

“You will do as I say Santi. Your presence is requested by them and is required by me. You will escort Hazel and Anton will escort me on the night of the party. You will be attentive to Hazel and therefore be able to stay by her side, out of the reach of those two harpies.”

“I want to escort you Elizabeth.” He said, whining just a little.

“You will do as I ask or you will not accompany us at all. Nichasin can escort Hazel just as easily as you can, perhaps even better.”

During this exchange, Hazel tried to distance herself from the quarrel by looking out over the passing scenery. Her Wolf eyes seemed more accustomed to dark than her human eyes and they were ever improving it seemed, as was her hearing and sense of smell. A downside to all the Wolf instincts flooding her senses was that she seemed to feel more uneasy than she would have done inside the villas -even allowing for her very humble background – and she was worried how she might react in the company of so many people. The experiences were amazing and disquieting at the same time.

As they arrived back at Elizabeth’s villa, they saw three figures also approaching the door. Elizabeth was on the alert in an instant, as was Hazel; they had both sensed Wolf and were not sure if it were Anton and Nichasin or other less welcome visitors. Santi did not seem to notice how aggravated the two were because he went to get out of the carriage first but was surprised when Elizabeth pulled him back to sit back down. She opened the door with due caution and Nichasin opened it wider for her on the other side. Nichasin helped Elizabeth and then Hazel out of the carriage. Anton was standing with another man and Hazel guessed at whom it could be, she was dismayed to find she was right in thinking it was the man from the ship.

Hazel walked past Anton and the man, but Anton grasped her arm as she passed. She did not look at Anton, but rather looked down at his hand then looked him in the eyes, raising one eyebrow. Shocked, Anton let go of her arm and she went on her way into the Villa.

“Hazel, I need to speak with you!” Anton called after her. Hazel ignored him.

Hazel was not downstairs when they got there, nor was she outside in the gardens. Elizabeth assumed she would be in her room, but she was not there either. Anton went up the stairs, looked in every room then went out onto the balcony and climbed up onto the roof. There he found Hazel, sitting watching the town below.

“This is not like you Hazel, sulking.” Anton said as he approached her.

“I suggest you take that throwback out of here unless you would prefer me to leave?” Hazel replied.

“I prefer neither of those choices and I in turn suggest you do not tell me what to do.” Anton warned.

“Fair enough then.” Hazel said as she stood. Anton blocked her way back down to the balcony and therefore she had to stay to discuss this matter. Or so Anton thought. Hazel looked at Anton, realising he was not going to allow her past him, then she turned her back on him for the second time that night and ran towards the edge of the roof.

“Hazel, no!” Anton yelled, but she was gone, he ran to where she had dropped off the roof and found she had most likely decided on an alternative escape route for there was a roof just below where he was standing onto which Hazel had jumped, then to the ground.

Anton decided against following her and went back down to the rest of the party.

“Where is Hazel?” Elizabeth asked as Anton arrived downstairs once more.

“Gone.” He snapped.

“Gone where?” Nichasin said.

“Off the roof and away.” Anton said, sighing.

“We must find her! It is dangerous at night for a lady such as my Hazel.” The man from the ship said.

Nichasin and Anton looked at one another, Elizabeth was just about to say something but Anton warned her with a shake of his head. “You are right of course Stephan, Nichasin and Santi will go looking, you must stay here, for you do not know the town and may get lost.”
Nichasin and Santi left right away as though in terrible urgency, though once out of the villa, they slowed and Santi asked: “Well where do we start to look?”

Nichasin laughed and said, “You think I would know?”

“But I thought you and Hazel were…”

“Lovers? I wish that it were true, but she is faithful to her husband, even though he neglected her teaching until she could bear it no more and abandoned him back in England.”

“She is alone then? Not related to Anton or you. I thought she was family or that you were, as you said, lovers.”

Nichasin shook his head. “Hazel is not alone, she has Anton and me and we are as close as family can be because of our blood.”

Santi nodded and said, “I too will soon be part of your family.”

They continued walking, not aiming for anywhere in particular, Nichasin’s instincts were no help in finding a wolf that could cloak her presence, so it was more luck than judgement that they saw her.

She was wandering along a wide road, and then she looked around her as though lost and then turned left. Santi went to follow her but Nichasin had seen something and he held the other back. True enough; a man followed Hazel into the narrow alley she had just taken. Nichasin and Santi followed at a safe distance, but kept the man in their sight. He turned left again into what appeared to be a yard. Then as they approached, they could hear a conversation taking place, mumbled and indistinct, even to Nichasin.

As they rounded the corner with caution, they saw what appeared to be two lovers kissing. Santi recoiled as soon as he realised what was occurring. Hazel was holding the man’s throat by her jaws. Only her face was transformed to Wolf but she was holding the man using her Wolf strength to overpower him. Soon he slumped and Hazel looked up at her companions as though she had known they were there all the time.

“He is not dead, just unconscious.” She said in a rather matter-of-fact tone. “He has been following me for some time; obviously a woman alone at this time of evening and in this part of town cannot be virtuous. He approached me a few streets back and was angry when I refused his advances. Stand back please.” Hazel turned Wolf and her clothes dropped to the ground. “Pick them up for me please, so that I don’t get blood on them.”

“Hazel, are you sure you know what you are doing?” Nichasin said.

“Of course I am. I want blood tonight.”

“Hazel, perhaps Nichasin is right, you should not kill this man.”

Hazel glanced up at Santi and snorted her dissent. Then she skilfully opened the victim’s throat and removed his glands from either side of his neck. As she moved down his body, her teeth making the minimum of cuts, she then tore open his breeches and bit into his groin, removing his testicles. The man had died soon after she had opened his neck but that did not comfort Santi as he grimaced and turned his head away.

When she had finished her task and eaten the glands she had removed, she turned back to human form and took her clothes from Nichasin. Santi had the grace to turn his head once more, even though he was a little slow at doing so. Hazel stooped down and picked up the victim’s testicles and wrapped them in a piece of cloth she tore from his body.

Then they continued along the alley and Santi led them back to the villa. As they walked, Hazel talked to Santi. “Why did you not want me to kill that Hume, I thought Elizabeth was tutoring you in order for you to become Wolf? Surely you should know not to question a kill by another?”

“I beg forgiveness Hazel, I thought that you wished for him to stop following you is all.”

“Really, is that what you thought? I had been making sure he was still with me for quite a way. I am afraid I did not feel much like hunting, so I allowed a predator to find me. There is more than one type of predator. When you become Wolf, you may find that out, though, even now, you should know about predatory Humes, are you not afraid of two such beings?”

“No, I am not… Oh, you mean Belafanta and Encresciuta. No, I think I am not afraid, but they make me feel uncomfortable when they are close.”

“They are predators of young men. They feast upon their prey sexually. I too was disgusted; you would be justified in being afraid. They are very powerful women are they not, both very wealthy?” Hazel said.

“Yes, my only hope is that they realise I am escorting you and that they will direct their attentions to Nichasin.” Santi laughed, as did Hazel, but Nichasin looked worried.

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