Chapter 5

Alisha POV  

I dragged my sorry ass into my small one bedroom  apartment , dropping everything in my hands just  inside the door. Locking it behind me , I began to strip my clothes off as I walked the short distance to my bedroom. I passed the mess I left behind when I left for Montana. I'm not usually a very neat person but I wouldn't have left the place like this if I hadn't been in such a hurry. The food on the dishes and pans that were sitting on the counter had gotten hard , I could smell the rotten stuff in the garbage can . Things were tossed about on the couch and floor. It looked like someone left in a hurry and I had. Now I just added the clothes I had been wearing to the growing piles on the floor.

I'm not messing with cleaning it now and I turn a blind eye to my surroundings as I focus on one think...my bed. By the time I get to it I'm in nothing but my underwear , the trail behind leads from the door to here. I crawl into my unmade bed and am out like a light. Exhaustion winning out over all other things at this point. 

It seemed like I just fell asleep when someone is shaking me hard trying to wake me up, damn I feel like I'm in a earthquake. 

"Someone's going to die if they DON'T stop that shit right now. I'm not playing either" I don't have to open my eyes to know who's doing it. That's the awesome wolf thing happening right there, my sense of smell. It's my friend Paola , who before I knew about being a wolf, was my assigned protector and I had thought was my best friend . I had a bone to pick with her, I gave myself a little mental laugh at that one. You know bone and dog ,well wolf anyway.

At least the shaking has stopped , it amazes me how the threat of death makes things happen. Not that she is really afraid of me after knowing me for almost a year.

"Get your ass up" That's the one thing I love about her, she takes no shit from anyone just like me. Her accent isn't strong, but I can still detect it . She grew up bilingual and has travel to many countries before I knew her.

"I need a good reason, you do know that I just got back after being on a plane for almost fourteen freaking  hours. I'm entitled to get a little sleep ." I grumble at her, pulling my blanket over my head. Why did I ever give that girl a key to my place, oh right , because she was my friend.

"That was yesterday when you got back." She plops down on the side of my bed and starts to bounce on it making the bed shake. "I've been calling and texting you . And since I didn't get any reply here I am, now get up. No one needs to sleep that much and you have to get back on this time schedule. "

"Fuck" I pull the blanket off my face and open my eyes. Blinking a few times to focus on her,  who by the way was giving me the eye. "Did I really sleep almost twenty four hours?" 

"No , but I knew it would get you up. It is getting  late in the evening , almost six and you should get up now or you won't sleep tonight."  She moved off my bed and stood by the door.  "Let's go eat and you can catch me up on everything. But first ,you need a shower. That stink off you is really strong."

I throw my pillow at her and she leaves the room closing the door behind her. I drag myself out of bed and head to the bathroom.  I'm hungry and food is the real motivation that made me get up. I sniff the air  when I get there, ugh I do stink. I don't waste anytime getting into the shower.

When I'm cleaned and dressed , I head out of my bedroom to meet up with her. Looking around I see that the place doesn't look the same as when I got home. She used the time to clean up the small area, washing the dishes and sweeping the floors after picking them up.  

"Thanks for doing that, I had to leave in rush and it wasn't a priority at the time" It nice to not have to face this mess, the trip to the States just drained me.   I still have to unpack my bags but that won't take long. Mom did all my laundry so everything in them is clean and I don't have to deal with that. She is a awesome mom.

"No problem my friend. Are you ready to go " That one word, friend, bought those  doubts to my mind again. Was she really my friend or was she only around me because of this whole protector thing. I know my sister had the same kind of set up for her, but her protector was a good friend too. The relationship didn't change after she discovered the truth, but then again the girl ended up being her sister in law too. 

" We need to clear something up first. Sit down please." She looks a little confused but takes a seat on the couch. I sit next to her and turn to face her before I continue. 

" I know you were assigned to be my protector when I got here. Forcing you  to be around me and be a friend because choices were made to keep me in the dark about many things. But that's not the case now, I'm in the loop and know everything.  I don't feel the need for protection and you don't have to play that role anymore." I take a deep breath before continuing . I gave this a lot of thought on that long plane ride and I'm going to just lay it out. 

"In other words, you don't have to hang around me anymore. You can go about your life like before." There , she has a out if she wants it. I'll miss her but I don't want any fake friends.

"Do you really believe that were aren't friends after all we been through together?" She has a hurt look on her face. "I wanted to be your friend the first day I met you. You are just as crazy as I am and you just can't find that everyday. "

"We have done a lot of crazy things together, partners in crime for sure" I let a smile cross my face as I think of some of the shit we got into together.  " I don't want to lose you as a friend, but I don't want it forced either."

"If my Alpha found out even a third of the shit we did, I'd be kicked out of the pack. I wouldn't have done any of it if I wasn't with a true friend." She isn't lying to me and I can tell. "Now lets go eat before I go all wolf on you and chew off your arm"

We head out to a small bistro down the street , the food was good and fit my student budget. It was still early here for the evening meal, people usually don't eat dinner in Spain until nine or after so the place wasn't busy. We sat in a private corner away from the few other patrons who were eating. After ordering , I gave her all the details about my trip . I didn't share any of the details that Katya had told me, but she got the general idea it was terrible. 

Alpha Perez had updated her about my grandparents and there was an alert out to all the packs regarding them.   When I found out about them and having a wolf, I didn't share it with her. I had only known them for a short time before I flew to the States. They had convinced me to keep their presence a secret and I  did. It was a bad time for me because I knew that  everyone had been lying to me. I didn't know who to trust anymore so I avoided everyone.  I just went to class and home. They gave me some stuff that masked the scent of my wolf , so when I was around anyone I still smelled like a human . That shit worked really well too because I could smell who had a wolf but they didn't know about me.  I still have some of that stuff stashed in my bathroom, never know when it might come in handy someday.

I finished my meal and my story about the same time. There wasn't anymore to tell and just rehashing it was giving me a stress headache.

"I didn't know anything about your history, just that your wolf was hidden and you needed to be kept safe." Paola was shaking her head in disbelief at all the things I shared. " That's some fucked up shit. But now no more secrets between us "

"No more secrets, I want to know anything that involves me or my family so no holding out OK." I held up my hand and extended my pinkie "Pinkie swear"

With a laugh she does the same and we lock our pinkies together " Pinkie swear. Now that is official, lets talk about girls night out to celebrate and party. " 

Paola is my clubbing buddy and we have hit almost every club here in Barcelona at least twice since I arrived here less than a year ago. So this doesn't surprise me.

"It's going to have to wait until next Friday, I have to catch on my classes that I missed. "It my last week here before I leave for my internship. " I leave for the coast in less than two weeks remember."

"Then it's a celebration for many things, I'll plan it out and all you have to do is rest up because it's going to be a all nighter."  I know her well, it's going to be club hopping and dancing until the sun comes up. We have done this many many times since I've known her. She knows all the best places and the bouncers just wave us in. This is going to be a blast.

"I'm game. " I don't even have to think about it, no way am I'm passing on this.  We pay our bills and head back to my apartment. I just need to know one more thing about her pack yet. "Hey Paola, when I was at the pack house today there was this guy driving a golf cart"

She begins laughing and pulling on my arm , "I'll tell you all about him, lets get you home"

 She knows me all too well , and begins to give me the dirt on "hotness".

What a good friend she is.