Fighting her instincts to protect her freedom

Chapter 8

Author's note: New chapter, enjoy! The picture is from one of my trips to Ayacucho, just to give you an idea of the scenery. If you like the story, please comment and vote.

Fighting her instincts to protect her freedom - chapter 8

There weren't any new attacks the next few days and Ariel and her friends decided to go ahead with their trip to Ayacucho. They informed the Alpha of the city, but since it was such a popular place for

Easter holiday, it was only a formality. He gave his permission so quickly, Ariel suspected it was just an automatic reply. In any case, they were ready to go.

They decided to go by bus to save money. Huge mistake. The trip to Ayacucho was long and involved going to high altitude places before going down back again. There were so many turns and zig zags that Ariel felt sick and was more than happy when they finally arrived.

After retrieving their luggage, they took a cab to their hotel. It was nice enough, and while they  checked in they were offered some coca leafs tea. It helped greatly, but they still went directly to bed to rest before diner. They were tired and their bodies hadn't adapted to the altitude yet, so they had to take it easy. Fortunately for the werewolves of the group, they felt a lot better in only one hour after their arrival and they wanted to go out and run. The humans, Jorge, Mateo and Mariana, looked at them thinking they were crazy and just stayed in their rooms.

The Alpha of Ayacucho had given them a map pointing out some werewolf approved running  grounds, so, since the humans were still in the hotel, they went there and ran in their wolf form for hours. The place was beautiful, it was full of vegetation and trees. Ariel felt free and relaxed for the first time in a long time. When they returned, they took showers and went to diner with Jorge, Mateo and Mariana. Everybody was already feeling better so they had the opportunity to look at the city and enjoy. Mariana explained that during Holy Thursday, the tradition was to visit 7 churches. Since Ayacucho seemed to have a church in every corner, it was easy enough. However, since they had arrived so late they didn't partake of this tradition and just talked about it.

On Friday, they followed the tradition of not eating red meat, and instead they enjoyed the local meals with fish. Mariana said that once she heard a man order a stake on Holy Friday only to be told by the garçon that they didn't have any because red meat wasn't eaten on that day. They visited the typical touristic spots and Ariel was in awe when she saw the beautiful landscape that  surrounded the city.

Ariel's wolf was so calm and silent it freaked her out. Then again, she didn't want to disturb her and hear her shouting at her for not being with Sebastian. She did wonder where he was, what he was doing, who he was with. She couldn't help herself from thinking about him, but somehow the hug they shared gave her some reassurance. She hadn't wanted to accept her mate because fate  chose it and she didn't have the time to chose him herself, but Sebastian was so nice, she couldn't

stop thinking that he was exactly the kind of guy she would choose. Should she ask him out or should she wait some more time?

- Ariel, did you hear what we said?!

- Huh?

Patricia was looking at her with her hands on her hips.

- Daydreaming again?

- Uh, yeah, sorry. What did you say?

- We were discussing the party for tomorrow night. Mariana knows a good club to spend the night, but I also wanted to go to the front of the Cathedral to watch the fireworks.

- So were are we going?

- To the Cathedral first. Mariana and Mateo will be attending the vigil and the procession. The fireworks will start at midnight to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. I thought we should watch the

fireworks for a while and then go to a club and party. Is that OK with you?

- Sure, that sounds fun.

And it really was. The fireworks were simple, nothing fancy, but watching everybody celebrating made her happy too. Everywhere people were dancing and drinking a lot. The party was fun and she met lots of guys. None like Sebastian though. They just wanted to make out with her and take her to their room, so she decided to surround herself with her friends and avoid the strangers.

Mariana, Mateo, Jorge and Patricia tried to teach her how to dance salsa and merengue, but she just couldn't follow the steps, so she stop caring about it and just let herself go and moved with the music. Claire drank lots of beer and ended up so drunk they had to carry her back to the hotel.

When they finally returned to Lima, Ariel was tired but excited about her trip. She had seen a beautiful new city, partied with her friends and even danced to Latin music. She couldn't wait to upload her pictures to facebook and send an e-mail to her parents letting them know about her trip.

Her good mood lasted for a couple of days until one of her professors asked the class to do an sculpture. Ariel was a painter, not a sculptor, she was terrified by the assignment. She stayed thinking about it for hours but nothing came to mind. Finally she decided to talk about it with her friends. Patricia told her to use some recycled materials. That wasn't a bad idea, she didn't want to cause damage to mother Earth. Claire was as nervous as she was so she wasn't a big help. Mateo and Mariana were already working on their own projects; they tried to give her ideas, but nothing seemed appropriate. Finally, Ariel decided to ask Tom.

- A sculpture, huh? Did she tell you what kind of materials you had to use or a topic for the project?

- No, nothing! We can choose to do whatever we want, but I can't think of anything!

- Calm down. Hey, I have an idea, let's take a tour bus around the city, maybe it'll inspire you.

The idea wasn't bad and at the end of the day Ariel was actually excited about starting her sculpture.

- Thank you Tom! You are the best!

- I know.

He winked at her and they laughed.

- So Ariel, how are you? Anything new with you?

- If you mean anything new with me and Sebastian, no. But I'm doing OK. My wolf has been very calm lately, so that helped. And my friends and I went to Ayacucho for Easter. It was great!

Tom seemed disappointed to hear that she had still not accepted Sebastian as her mate, but he tried to hide his feelings. He smiled at her and told her he was glad she had had such a good time during her trip.

- I have some news I wanted to tell you about. I found my mate! She's called Adriana and she is absolutely beautiful. As Beta female of the pack she will be introduced in our next pack meeting, but I wanted to tell you first.

- OMG! Congratulations Tom! I know how happy you must feel, and I can't wait to meet her.

- Wonderful, because I wanted to take you to Larcomar to introduce you to her and have some coffee together. Is that ok?

- Of course! Thank you for the invitation.

They went to Mangos at Larcomar, a café with a view of the sea. They asked for a cappuccino for each and some desserts. Adriana arrived soon and she greeted with a warm smile. She was tall, with dark almost black hair and dark eyes. She was an engineer and had just moved back to Lima after living for more than 5 years in Arequipa due to her work. Since Tom had studied abroad after finishing high school, they hadn't met each other until now. They were happy together and Ariel was happy for them. The idea of mating didn't seem so bad at that moment and that scared her.