The soft pitter patter of muffed footsteps had Quintin awake again, he didn't stir, he only laid eyes closed, listening.
Of all the noises in that busy city, it was the sound of footsteps that made Quintin wake up, a defensive method that grew on him through the years.
Even if that air-conditioning unit he slept behind turned on, it didn't wake him like footsteps does.
Up and down, up and down they went, behind the door of his room, wait? His room? He dared open his eyes, there was blue light coming through the window, a sign of dusk approaching, his chest felt heavy, looking down he saw Naomi sleeping with her head on top of him, but she wasn't a werewolf anymore... Could it really have been a dream?
The footsteps again? He slowly tried to get out from under her, but she groaned and rolled over by her self. Relieved Quintin headed for the door and opened it, someone passed by and saw him.
"Oh good morning sir" She said politely. 'Again with the sir' he thought.
"Uh, morning, who are you?"
"My name is Sinthia, you must be mister Quintin right?"
He closed the door, wanting for some reason not to disturb Naomi.
"Please, don't say sir or Mister, call me Quintin straight"
"Okay Quintin straight, as you wish"
"No, just Quintin"
"Oh, okay then"
He saw Cleopatra approaching with a smile "You're up early?" She said.
A few other maids joined them, all bowed politely at him, so it was them he heard.
"I get woken by footsteps easily" He said, still trying to figure out if what he saw last night was real or not?
"Footsteps huh? Sorry Quintin, I didn't realise we were living with elephants!" She scolded the women around them.
"I'm sorry Miss Cleopatra, we didn't know we were treading so loudly!" Sinthia pleaded, Quintin noticed the confusion on the faces of all the maids, the carpets were thick, and barely made any noise when walked on.
"Hold on don't scold them" He said smiling "It's my fault"
"How is it your fault they woke you?"
"It's a defensive mechanism in my head, because I slept on that roof and there was no reason for anyone else to be up there but me, footsteps would wake me, the only reason someone would come up there was to rob me or be up to no good all together"
A sigh of relief came over the women.
"Lucky aren't we?" Cleopatra still said harshly and they all nodded.
"Okay Quintin, since you're up, we'll start preparing breakfast, where's Naomi?"
"She's still sleeping"
"Wow, you must have really worn her out if she's still napping? Usually she's an early bird" Sinthia said smiling slyly.
"What? No!" Quintin said quickly.
"She's so lucky, next time I want a turn" Another one said.
"It's not like that!" He yelled but they laughed.
"Come on girls, hop to it, we need to prepare for the trip" Cleopatra said.
"Yes mam" They all replied and dispersed.
Cleopatra held a set of clothes out to him "These might fit you, get dressed and come down to the living room, okay?" She said and walked off.
Quintin dug in his mind to find the answers, wait! the window! He broke it last night! The wound on his arm, there the bandage was covering the cut, he knew it! Quintin went back into the room and opened the curtains, the window was whole, that was quick!
Naomi stirred in the bed, he saw her reach for where he was, but when he was obviously not there she scanned the room until she saw him "You're up early" She smiled.
"What happened last night?" He asked.
"You don't remember?" She asked with a grin.
"All I remember was you becoming a werewolf, but it makes no sense, the window is whole..."
"Yes, you really went full force into it, I'm sorry" She said.
"I oh, never mind, it's not that bad" He said feeling the pain in his head from the collision with the bars "I'll go get dressed quick" He mumbled walking to the bathroom.
When he came out afterwards Naomi was gone, he shrugged and headed to the living room.
There Sinthia was waiting for him "Please follow me" She said and headed through another door that led to a dining room, it was huge, as the rest of the house was, there was a long table in the middle, with more than twenty seats easily, but right at the end Cleopatra sat waiting for him.
"Please, have a seat, Chantel makes a great breakfast, she'll be done soon, while we wait I need to talk to you"
He silently sat down with her, she took a sip of juice first before she continued.
"I haven't been completely honest with you so far" She began "These unruly wolves I speak of, are not at random, yes there are one here and there, but the main problem I have are my pack members"
"Pack members?"
"Yes, I'm a pack leader"
Uneasiness settled in him again, what she said last night.
"How big is your pack?" He cautiously asked.
Cleopatra quickly counted in her head "Twenty with me at my house, the rest, about thirty in Angola"
"Why Angola? Isn't that where the bush war is taking place?" Quintin said remembering how he never had the chance to enroll to go join the fight, he was too busy avoiding wolves.
"Yes, the perfect cover up for a werewolf territorial battle" She smiled.
Quintin was stunned "Are you serious right now? A war amongst werewolves?"
"It's primarily over territory, specifically the Okavango delta in Botswana. You see it's a marchland almost completely deprived of human inhabitants, and lush with wildlife, it's the perfect place for a werewolf pack to stay peacefully"
Quintin realised this werewolf thing ran deeper than he thought.
"So the pack who wins, gets the territory?"
"Bingo, it's been years since we found a piece of territory that perfect to live in, it's really worth the effort, if you could see it out of a werewolf's eyes.
Packs from all around the world swarmed there when they heard of the Delta, but there were already three native African packs and because of this swarm of werewolves, they suggested we battle it out in Angola the victorious clan gets the Delta"
"So? What's wrong with your clan that involves me?" Quintin asked.
"War, is the only exception where the third and fourth law falls away, since werewolves use their fangs and claws to fight, it's inevitable that they would ingest blood and flesh, but as for my clan... I was such a fool, I sent all the males up, but they were still young and inexperienced"
A woman brought a tray around and served breakfast, as she did, like clockwork, all the other maids came in and joined them. Naomi made it clear she wanted to be seated next to him.
"So..." He slurped his drooling mouth dry first, the food smelled fantastic "So they are losing?" He asked.
"You can start eating if you wish" Cleopatra smiled "And no, on the contrary, they're winning, but, the blood got to them, they crave battle, and through that crave the power they're gaining"