Chapter 1

Nicholas Jones' hovering arms and legs were in a race against the tick-tock of the clock while rushing to the entrance of the North Bus Station. The time was already quarter to noon when he lifted his fifteen-year-old limited edition wristwatch.

What worried him the most was that his ticket schedule is about to leave in a few seconds. The worst part was that from where he was standing to the entrance of the bus station was flooded with passengers, local and international.

After the life-and-death humanitarian mission in one of the small towns in Chicago, Nicholas has to head back to his booked commercial hotel since today was supposed to be his check-out schedule.

"Tickets please?" says the Security Checker of the bus station before he blocked Nicholas from the entrance. He even used a large black metallic baton in blocking him to make sure he could not pass through when the passenger's long line was immeasurable.

But Nicholas doesn't want to waste a second of his time either, so he reached out to his backpack and handed over his ticket to the Security Checker. With the thought that all his belongings were still in his hotel room, Nicholas' anxiety was about to burst out.

However, the security checker first studied his ticket for a few seconds before he added, "I'm so sorry, young man, but I'm afraid you have to ride onto the next bus. You're already late. The bus just took off five seconds ago."

Nicholas was supposed to argue further against the security checker, but when he just witnessed a little soul, alone and unguarded, who was about to fall out of the bench, he evaporated from his spot like thin air and snatched the kid's body.

The baby burst out crying when he could barely recognize the face that was holding him. He tried to let go of Nicholas' grip but he could do nothing as he held him tighter.

"Thank you so much, young man," an old woman suddenly appeared behind Nicholas and snatched the baby from him.

She was the mother of the kid Nicholas just saved. With her gentle scrub, the baby eased off. "How am I supposed to pay you for helping my son? How much do you want?" she added.

"No. It's fine," Nicholas smiled at her and the kid before he tapped her wrist for a few seconds. Afterwards, he went back to the Security Checker, pulled a few dollar bills out of his wallet and bought a new ticket.

Right after having a new ticket, Nicholas grabbed his seat on the bench in the waiting area. Then, he lifted his left arm when the black one-dimensional six parallel lines that were marked on his wrist glimmered for three seconds.

He could not help but heave an abrupt sigh as he bent the tip of his lips and turned them into a smile when an additional three minutes of his lifeline has been added to his barcode. That three minute comes from helping the kid.

While waiting for the bus to arrive, Nicholas could not help but seriously stared at the barcode for a few seconds. He remembered the day since it got marked on his wrist. At first, he thought it was only him who got that kind of mark out of nowhere but later found out it was all of them, werewolves. But for most of the wolves, the barcodes that have been marked on their wrist was a curse.

A curse under an incurable curse. That’s how they could describe it. For Nicholas, the barcode was a blessing in disguise when because of it, all the werewolves were prohibited to do bad things, not just for their kind but for the humans as well.

For that same reason, furious and hungry wolves, who love to stain their sharp claws and fangs with drops of blood, especially those ruthless alphas and Lunas have been dormant for years similar to a puppet.

And he hasn’t heard any news about those merciless killings, colonization of other packs, and those unreasonable tortures all over the city.

In line with the barcode, Nicholas' werewolf life depends on his accomplished humanitarian missions. In addition to the curse, he was obliged to do good things in return for a minute extension of his life on earth. The more human lives he could save, the more minutes he could get. That was one of the reasons he traveled to a few countries to survive.

On the other side of the story, the more hours he wasted, the earlier he perished as the new generation of wolves was befallen into a system where payments made for werewolves to buy their essentials, leisure, and entertainment were the time they earned from those humans we saved.

Twenty-four hours later.

Nicholas solemnly rested his exhausted body on the soft-scented mattress in his apartment in New York City. After the eight-hours long travel, he could not expect it would have drained his energy even if he was simply sitting on the bus.

Unfortunately, he was forced to wake up when his phone rings continuously.

"What?" Nicholas moaned irritatingly.

"Dude, are you back in your apartment now?" Nicholas removed the phone from his ears and studied the screen for a few seconds. The one talking from the other line of the phone was his best friend, Cedric Lee.

"Ah-huh? Why? Dude, I'm still sleepy. Please call back later..."

"Dude, have you forgotten today was our pack's annual meeting?" Cedric asked. Nicholas immediately lost every piece of his sleepiness and turned his face into horror as he jumped out of the bed and rushed to the toilet. "You shouldn't be late. Our alpha pack have a very important announcement to make..."

While Cedric kept talking over the phone, Nicholas was also busy taking a bath and brushing his teeth at the same time. All his responses to Cedric's statements were his soft moans when he could barely talk while brushing his teeth. Then, he slid to his closet to pick up something to wear and rushed outside.

When Nicholas got the chance to see the outside view of his old apartment, he was in a daze after seeing around ten bodies lying on the ground, all lifeless. Three seconds later, a gorgeous lady in high heels wearing a crumpled and torn-out dress stained in blood suddenly came out from one of the blocks and was heading in his direction, screaming for help.

At first, Nicholas simply thought everything that happened in front of his apartment was a drama shooting when he could compare the scene similar to those he watched on N*****x. A story of a gorgeous princess getting chased by her enemies and his knight in shining armor came to the rescue.

However, that's not what happened when one of the bullets helplessly penetrated his right shoulder, causing his blood to flow like an open faucet. A reminder to his wolf that he should not believe what was being presented behind the screen.

Since Nicholas is obligated to help those in need, he quickly snatched the woman's body, still trying to be a knight in shining armor in the movie that runs through his mind. Trying to be the hero and dragging her back to his apartment.

He securely locked the doors and windows in his apartment and hid in the corner with the woman while enhancing his werewolf senses to check those men who were chasing the woman.

"Who are they? And why are those people trying to kill you?" Nicholas still has the audacity to ask questions when he, himself, was having a hard time standing straight because of the bullet in his shoulder.

"It's a long story but they were my dad's enemies, I guess?" And she worriedly muttered back. "Your shoulder is bleeding. Do you need help with that?"

"No. It's just spaghetti sauce that stained my clothes." Nicholas still have the courage to make jokes even if the woman already seen his face contorted. "Don't worry about this. It's just a little scratch on my skin."

"No, you're not, idiot. Get me out of this place alive so I can take you to the hospital." she insisted considering she could sense Nicholas' limited air that comes out of his mouth and nose.

"No... No... No, hospital." With the fact that werewolf blood runs through Nichols' veins, he can't risk his life for the doctors to know his indifference. "But I'll try my very best to get you out of my apartment..."

Nicholas cut off his words when he suddenly felt the cold tip of the gun that was pointed on top of his head. He doesn't know when did those men step foot into his place when his mind was preoccupied. Leaving no choice, Nicholas and the woman deliberately lifted their hands through the air as a sign of their withdrawal.

But Nicholas knew that if he will do nothing, it will not end well for him and the woman. He doesn't want to die with a bullet in his head as well. So, he magnified his werewolf senses and put enough strength and power on his fist and legs. Then in just a blink of an eye, and with the use of his heightened senses, Nicholas disappeared from his spot and landed in one of those men behind them.

The boisterous screaming from those two men inside Nicholas' apartment did not reach the outside when he covered their mouths with his large hands every time he broke their arms and legs.

"Ruuuunnnn!" Nicholas yelled at the woman.

The woman immediately moved out of her spot and rushed to the exit and did not contemplate turning back. She even ignored Nicholas' bleeding shoulder when all she could think of was her safety heading back to her BMW.

As soon as the woman stepped foot inside the BMW, she flew away back to his dad's mansion. Nicholas, on the other hand, shifted into a wolf and rushed to their meeting place of his pack to get some help. He realized that the bullet that penetrated his shoulder was made up of silver.

And silver was one of their weaknesses to their wolves. If the bullet will not be taken out of his body, little by little, it might cause his sudden death. Nicholas can't die because of that. He still has his younger brother missing.

On the bright side, those men only got a broken arms and legs and were still breathing when he left his apartment since the Curse System was prohibiting him to kill humans. Otherwise, his lifeline might be deducted. And there were two of them. He can't afford to lose an hour or two of his time.

He believed killing humans will deduct his life more compared to helping other. Speaking of help, Nicholas did not get the chance to collect the woman's payment for helping her getting out of the place alive. But if given the chance they cross paths again, Nicholas will not hesitate collecting it.