When I reached the unit where her scents led me, I was in my utmost confusion after seeing the door was slightly cracked. For that same reason, my feet were hesitating to get inside. I haven't encouraged myself to believe they got out of the precinct that easily because I've been there unless Nathalie and Jasper bribed the cops with their money. There are no doubts Nathalie or Jasper cannot afford to transact with cops under the table. But I know Nathalie more than that. She will not allow Jasper to do the easiest way to get out of the precinct without proving they're innocent. I just hoped Jasper would follow Nathalie's mindset when he was the kind of a man that has gotten squint right away. "Babe, we should invite our neighbours to our party tonight. What do you think?" A woman's voice suddenly vibrated in my ears as soon as the door of the elevator dinged. Before she and the man with her could step their foot out of the elevator, my wolf was forced to step inside Nathalie's unit
"Do you think she was telling the truth?" One of the cops muttered to his co-officer. "You mean, about the money?" "Well. The money is part of it. What I meant is about her alibi. That the man who died in 16th Street was an assassin. And that neither of them killed him." Two of the cops just stepped into the storage room. Luckily, I got the chance to hide the two luggage bags in the ceiling along with my body. But the rest of the luggage bags remained on the floor. I don't even know if I got the right luggage bags when I was in a hurry to hide. What worried me the most is that my wolf is terrified of closed spaces. Even in just a few seconds of being hidden in the ceiling, my forehead and neck were already producing profuse sweat, starting to feel uncomfortable. "But that's not what the evidence told us, right?" Evidence? What kind of evidence are they talking about? As far as I knew, the evidence that could lead to him being an assassin can be found in the luggage bags. And his
"Okay, doc. I'm gonna pick up Will from the school first then we'll follow you to that restaurant, would that be fine?" I adjusted my body in the middle of the doorway when Doc dropped his gaze to the bed. "See you at six. But don't forget everything that I told you before you guys leave the clinic, okay?" he clapped my shoulders and smiled. "Switching off the lights including the AC and the faucets. Make sure the doors and windows are locked. Plants should be watered. And pets must have enough food in their food container. Got it, doc." I smiled back. Those were part of my job being his clinic attendee with a rate pay of six dollars a day plus overtime. Though every little thing in Chicago comes with a price, I haven't felt the difference or the inflation yet when Doc provided us everything already. "Jack, have I told you how lucky I am to have you in the clinic?" he asked in a profoundly serious tone. Doc, why can you just leave already? You're making me more
"As much as I love to see Lady Nathalie, brother Josh, Doc Ross has been part of our lives already. And besides, he rarely invited it for dinner. For what it's worth, you already know we studied in the same school and where she lives." Justine seems to have considered his answer when he did not hesitate to say it upfront. "But we can check her place after dinner. What do you think?" The thought of staying the night in the storage room is already giving me goosebumps. We need someplace to stay tonight so I could think things through. "That sounds perfect, brother Josh. Can't wait to see Lady Nathalie tonight." Justine extended his hand to help me secure the clinic before heading out. But he had changed his clothes already. He wore something decent with aromatic perfume attached to it. I don't know if he was wearing them because he wanted to look good while having dinner with Doc Ross' family or to see Nathalie. "What are you smiling at, Brother Josh? Better get this
I was about to turn around and decide to get back to the clinic but Justine declared our real names to the Reservation Officer without any signs of hesitation. The Reservation Officer grabbed an old book from the shelf next to her and kept muttering our names while staring at the book. To my surprise, she announced that both our names were listed in the book who are allowed to visit Nathalie in her unit. She even provided us with a card key to the room and assisted us to hop into the elevator. However, before the elevator ascended to the seventh floor, she advised us that Nathalie and his bodyguard went out five minutes before we stepped foot into the building. That means to me that the cops who brought the two luggage bags were right about rich people like Nathalie and Jasper. Their money can manipulate or bribe the cops to let go of their cases. But what does it have to do with the murder case when none of them killed him but me? "Aren't you happy that we got pas
Everyone shut off their mouth as they could barely expect that to happen in the pack. Even if my wolf wasn't that supportive since dad was still alive, I'm completely aware that never did it happen to the pack someone from the other pack joined ours. And I will not back out and disappoint Nathaniel with my promise to him to become one of us in due time since he was more useful and protective compared to the rest of them. All they did since I took over the pack was to complain. "Let's just say we're not against the idea. You, yourself, told us that you're Lady Nathalie's werewolf advisor. How are you going to propose how to solve the issue?" one of the elders asked. I thought everyone already shut off their mouths when Nathaniel took over the floor of our endless debates. However, his unexpected announcement did not stop them from uttering profanity, not about Nathaniel, but me. If and only my wolf could have the right to choose who will be our pack members, I might
"Wait. Are you accusing me that I stole the money?" Even if he did not point out names from his tone, my werewolf sensed that he did. "You tell me, Nathalie. It's just me, you, and your bodyguard who knew about the money being there in your condo. Don't tell me you were accusing the Sheriff that he falsified some details about the case. For what?" Jasper insisted. Good thing I tasked Nathaniel with a job with the cops. If he heard Jasper about his accusations, he might be in trouble. Nathaniel hayed the idea of being accused for no valid reason. And if he was the one who stole the money, perhaps he would be gone by now, not obeying the task I asked him to do. But how am I supposed to know that right now? He's on his way to the precinct. Or worse, he didn't. No. I don't want to believe that Nathaniel stole the money. He's been with me all this time unless he did it while we're locked up in the precinct. But if he did, why would leave one luggage bag if he intends to
Before I hopped out of the cab, I left Nathaniel a test message that I'd be spending my night in the mansion since the condo unit was still under investigation by the cops. And that he can stay in the unit if he wants to. But my text message was pretty clear that I highly advised him to stay the night in the mansion since mum and I are not in a mother-daughter relationship. At least if mum and I could have our debates again, someone could stand in the middle. Then, I jumped on the bed and waited for my phone to buzz. {Joshua's POV} The next morning, Justine and I woke up when my ears could hear the boisterous sounds of the alarm clock coming from Nathalie's room. When I checked out the time from the clock that was hung on top of the door, it was already past five in the morning. Undeniably, I somehow felt excited upon hearing the boisterous alarm clock inside Nathalie's room, thinking she might come home last night but she did not wake us up because we were in
"Do you believe in what the news is saying? That's completely ridiculous, right?" The cab driver broke the bridge of silence between us in the car. "I mean... There were a lot of problems Chicago was facing these days - heavy traffic, death rates, and poverty. It's not that I am against their plan of eliminating those monsters, but, I've heard no such thing as werewolves." I dont know if I should be pleased or not with what the cab driver told me. He sounded like monsters such as werewolves are not the main problem to society but the government itself. However, the government was right. We are monsters. "... Now, we have on the other line of the phone, the man behind the list. And he wants the public to address him as the Benefactor of this werewolf hunting trip. However, his safety is our main concern. So, we secure his basic information such as name, address, and contact number." added the reporter on the news. "People of the United States. Recently, we, the people o
"Josh, wait up!" Nathaniel whispered as he removed his clothes and shifted into a big bad wolf before he jumped over the fence and followed me. As soon as we heard the sounds of the gunshots, I bumped my body into the door by force, especially when it was locked. When we got the chance to see the image of the house, a flood of fresh drops of blood greeted us. The worst part is that I could barely sense anyone's presence in the house anymore aside from the body lying on the floor with an axe dug in straight to the woman's heart. "We're late," I muttered to myself with much regret that pinched the deepest part of my conscience. I could barely sense the woman's breathing anymore. Neither was her heartbeat. "She's dead." Nathaniel roamed around shortly, checking every corner of the house. We sensed the murderer's scent ten seconds ago but it disappeared like thin air all of a sudden before we could get in. But the house was already deserted. So, he went back to the
{Joshua's POV} "Baby, always remember what I told you, okay?" I muttered to Justine as soon as we stepped foot in front of his classroom. Undeniably, an entire part of me was feeling skeptical of the idea that he will go to class despite the situation he was in. Justine doesn't know yet that someone has put a price on his head amounting to four million dollars. I mean, my little brother was just a grade-schooler. He hurts no one and barely knows about Chicago werewolves. He doesn't deserve to be part of this nonsense and unreasonable dilemma. I don't want him to worry about his life either. All I want for him is to continue his study to have a better future similar to most humans. "That I should reach out to you or Lady Nathalie in case of emergency? Are we in danger, brother Josh? I heard you guys back in Lady Nathalie's place talking about werewolves who are in danger. Are we included in the list?" Justine asked back. And he's started to worry. "No, we're not
And I know he somehow noticed our surprised expressions, especially his brother, Justine. He cared for his brother very much. His little decision, whatever it is, also matters to Joshua. "My entire week is available. But once the clinic gets back its operation, I'm gonna focus my undivided attention so Justine and I could save enough to get back to the island." Joshua said back, trying to ease off Justine's awful expression. "But I thought we are going to stay with Lady Nathalie, brother Josh. Does that mean you're lying to me?" Justine said back in an unhappy tone. My brain was frozen for a few seconds. They only have each other's back if Joshua will insist on ignoring my help. Breaking them apart would be the last thing I would do. So, I tried digging into my brain about how to convince Joshua to stay in Chicago instead of going back to the island knowing they are no longer welcome to live there as her mama told us. That's why she willingly entrusted her two sons
Every one of us, including Justine, exchanged glances, trying to read each other's minds to know which side of the choice we are on. But no matter which side Joshua chooses, I will forever be supporting him. "Then, we'll help them. But, for the record, this is not an assurance that we could protect all of them," had to point that out. I don't Joshua would blame not just me when things go south. My family may be that wealthy enough to have billions of dollars in my bank accounts but I'm not desperate enough to kill the wolves, including our pack members. What good could I get about that? Let alone paying millions of dollars to eliminate thousands of them. "Besides, we still don't know who's madman is behind all these. Putting millions of dollars in our heads requires a massive amount of money in their bank accounts." "So, does this mean my head was priced at a hundred million dollars? 'Cause that was the figure written parallel to my name." Joshua's confrontation ma
Despite Joshua's weakened wolf, he still has the strength to punch Nathaniel in the face. His rage exploded like a volcanic eruption. Aside from that his explosion was extremely hot, no one would dare block his way unless you were ready to get a punch from him too. "Wait... You told him?" Could not help but lush out my frustration to Nathaniel instead of taking his side. I pushed him by force when I could not believe he preceded me even if he knows there was no slight chance between us. And I thought of our sex as a huge mistake driven by the call of alcohol in our systems. "No. I didn't. But I thought you already told him since you heard it yourself, he was referring to our..." Nathaniel cut off his words before making things worse. "No. I haven't told him yet, you idiot. That was already part of my plan, but not now when all our lives are in great danger including the kid. I'm afraid my name was already included on the list." "What list are you talking about?" Jo
"Rescue was on their way, Nathalie. Please hold until we reached the road you're in, okay?" Those were the last words coming from Nathaniel from the other line of the phone before the call got ended. "Okay. Thank you so much, Mr Nathaniel. But, please, come quick. Brother Josh started not to look good." Justine's words made me stealth a glimpse at the rearview mirror and found out indeed, his brother doesn't look good. The colour of his skin started losing its normal glow and was soaked in profuse sweat. I could barely hear his heartbeat either. Neither was his breathing. "Joshua, can you talk? How are you feeling?" I asked and stayed focused on driving the car to avoid getting hit by those arrows and axes as much as possible. "Lady Nathalie, please, help Brother Josh. He's not breathing anymore." Justine's voice even increased my worries and fears, especially when Joshua is not responding to my inquiries. Justine suddenly screamed when Joshua's half of his bod
"Young man, is she your girlfriend?" the cab driver asked. "Are you dumping that kind of woman? Are you kidding me?" "First of all, she's someone's girlfriend. Next to that, I'm not talking to her. So, please, tell her that she needs to move away if she doesn't want to get hit by the car." Joshua said back. "You heard the man, Miss gorgeous. So, please, I'm not gonna say it again. There are a few cab drivers and passengers at the back who are more furious than you are. If I'm not gonna move away, they will put the blame me." Indeed there were a few cab drivers who just hopped out of their respective cars and some continued beeping their horns, making the entire waiting area into chaos. "I'm so sorry, Josh. What you see back there is not what you think it is. I tried to explain to you the reason but you were gone already. But, please, give me a chance to hear my reason. If you don't want to believe me afterwards, then I'm letting you go." "Hey, you? Will you mov
Nevertheless, the only face I see was Nathaniel who was heading in my direction, somewhat bothered. "Nathalie, you need to get back to the unit. Now. The guests are staring at you." "It's all your fucking fault he left." I made sure most guests on the ground floor heard it to make sure their sharp eyes were pointed at him. Then, I rushed back to the elevator and ascended to my unit alone. In a few minutes, Nathaniel followed with a blushing face and sharp eyes. He slid to the fridge and gulped a bottle of water in one go but I could sense the anger that was bothering him. "You know what, Nathalie? If you fucking want to blame it on me. Better say it in front of my face, not in front of the other people. And don't forget, it's also your fault since you've done nothing to make things right. Grow up." Nathaniel let go of the empty bottle of water and threw it into the trash bin. Then, he slid to the couch and switched on the television. And I just stood in front of