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
{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
"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
"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
Letter from Josh The boisterous knocks on the door got me startled to the point that I accidentally fell my papa's nine-year-old feather dip pen to the floor. "Shit," I muttered to myself, not because of my drastic irritation towards my brother for knocking on the door, but because of the pen. Every time a feather dip pen fell to the ground, it was either I have to throw it away or take it as a souvenir because its feathers will probably detach from its base. But one thing is for certain, Papa will get extremely mad at me for that reason. "Brother Josh, are you alright?" My eight-year-old brother Justine said in a worried tone. Perhaps he gets the chance to see me rushing to my room at the speed of light, sobbing. Even at my adult age, I used to cry every time the world was so mean to me. I'm not into crowded places. One to mention is the school. I hate being surrounded by a lot of wolves. So, I stopped schooling at the age of ten. But despite the fact tha
A Letter From the Stranger My hands are shaking, started to feel anxious. Accompanied by my ascending heartbeats, the temperature of my body is getting hotter despite the cool breeze coming from the ocean. Aside from that, my forehead has started producing sweat. Though the job was that simple - to open the bottle and read the letter; however, I don't know why I have these unexplainable feelings. And the letter goes like this... "Dear Josh. I heard and felt your pain. Though we haven't shared the same experience, I heard you loud and clear. I'm not gonna pity you but feel inspired instead. That despite the adversaries in life, you still choose to fight. It's called bravery. And found this kinda cool when sending a letter using an empty bottle was already out of trend. How old are you by the way? Are you from the forgotten centuries?" the stranger then put a curve line with both of the tips pointed upward after the last letter as if it formed like a smile. As I
The Alpha's Death "I need to get the bottle first, Jas," I muttered in a hopeless tone. "That was the reason why I did not fly back to New York City with my mum." "A bottle?" Jasper muttered while digging into his brain about what it was for. "You mean, the bottle that I gave you the other day?" he even made it clear. Fresh from his memories. Then I dropped my very disappointed body on Jasper's bed and locked my stare on the ceiling, thinking about backing out from our three-day vacation before the pain, discouragement, and disappointment go deeper. "Come on, Nathalie. It's just a bottle. Don't ruin your day just because of that fucking bottle." Jasper added. This time, the tone of his voice ascended and sharpened. He then moved out of the bed and slide closer to the window to get some fresh air. With the immediate silence, he was showing, I assumed his mood has already changed like mine. "It's not just about the bottle, Jas. There's a letter in it. And it
The Next Alpha "What?" I muttered to myself, thinking the phone was still leaning against my left ear. But when I realized it dropped to the ground, I simply stared at it ad though my body wasn't responding at all. My entire thought got wiped out of my brain, leaving the unexpected and terrible news mum brought me. Did not even get the chance to glimpse at the bottle I threw into the ocean. And I started to feel regret for being such a hard-headed type of a wolf. I was supposed to fly with my mum back to New York City, but I refused, believing my nonsense and the childish game will come into reality. Nevertheless, with the sudden news, the pack badly needs me since dad already entrusted me with his alpha badge as soon as I reach eighteen. Giving me the sole position to lead a thousand members of our pack. I'm not ready yet to become the Alpha of our pack. Don't even have enough experience in the battleground. Needless to say, my wolf was still unprepared to do the
"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