>>Portia (Parisa)Since the place is reserved for people having meetings today. The basement was empty. I was performing for the people who sat behind the screens on the second floor in the rooms and a few of the people sitting in the bar. I was up first and the other girls were to follow up after me. I was first for the sole reason that my performance was going to be short since I was new and then I’d go back while the girls will keep performing.Seeing the empty space made me feel less nervous but it was a different feeling knowing that people were staring at me from behind the screen. It was sort of thrilling, the unseen that can see you but mostly it was nervewracking.I step out onto the stage as the music began to blast, my heart racing with excitement and nerves. I've been practicing for days, pouring every ounce of energy into perfecting my moves the best I could. And as I approach the pole, I can feel someone watching me. I don't know who it is, but I can see their eyes on me
>>Portia“How did you find me?” I glared at him and stood up to face him.“Doesn’t matter how,” Egon folded his arms, “But what matters is what you’re doing?” He looked down at me with an angry smirk, “No wolf would stoop so low.” His voice was so low, I could feel the malice coming out of it, “As to work in a place like this.” He looked at my body and I saw his eyes flash golden.“Well, good news,” I stood my ground even after his insult, “I’m not a wolf. I’m a human.”“Half,” He replied, “And you grew up with wolves,” He was clenching his jaw pretty tightly and I could see the veins pop on his neck.“No, I’m a human,” I folded my arms, “And that’s all I’ll ever be.” I kept my glare on, “And I grew up with a bunch of bullies.’ His eye twitched at my remark“Even humans have pride, and you gave it up and came to work in this place.”“I like it here.” I gulped, “And you’re the one to talk, you’re here too.” I smirked, “Didn’t you enjoy my show?” I just said what came to my mouth, I don
>>Portia (Parisa)I stood there with my lips pursed, fists clenched, and a frown on my face when I heard the sound of heels clacking. The clicking sound made me snap back to reality and I looked around to see someone come in through the other door.Jena came over to me with her gaze fixed on my face while my eyes went a little wide when I noticed her. I wasn’t expecting her and honestly, I didn’t want to face her either. But she came and stood in front of me, then looked at me from head to toe.“What?” I asked nervously.“Your lipstick’s smudged.” She answered in a normal voice but there was something different in her gaze. Something odd,!!!The realization startled me, and I immediately started cleaning my mouth in a panic.I just had a makeout session, a pretty rough one at that, so, I must look strange!I ran to the mirror and noticed how obvious it looked that I kissed someone. The smudge extended a lot of the right side of my lips and it looked quite prominent on my pale skin.A
>>Portia (Parisa)“Tell me something,” Jena asked, “Are you in debt?” I shook my head, “No,” We were walking to the club and today was going to be my day as a server.“So you’re just broke,” I nodded and she scoffed playfully, “So why come to work at this place?”“No other place would hire me because I have no ID.”“Ah~” She nodded, “Makes sense.” “But why though?” I asked, “Is it that big of an issue?”“It is,” She nodded, “Because you could be an illegal immigrant. You could be a spy, maybe even a criminal.” My chest tightened at her words.“Oh…” But it made sense, “I see,”“So you don’t even have a birth certificate with you?” The club was in view and we sped up our walking pace.“No,” I shook my head, “I’ve got nothing,”She chuckled, “Well then, there’s absolutely no chance any normal place would hire you.”Her words stung like lightning.“You’re a little too brutal with your words” I complained but she just chuckled in return.“Just telling you the truth.”Yea well, Jena does
>>Portia (Parisa)“Hey,” The bartender, Nial waved at me, alerting me that I had to come back to reality.“Hi,” I waved back at him.“The boss told me about you.” He winked at me playfully“Oh?” I blinked at him in confusion, “What did he say?” I began to panic all over again. “Just that you’ll be helping ‘behind’ the counter,” He smiled at me, “First time he’s giving any woman this much favor.” He gestured with his head for me to come inside.My heart sank but I felt gleeful at the same time.The feeling was so queer that it jumbled up my brain. I love that Derek is so tender to me but everyone would notice and even I know this is wrong. I know they’ll all think ill of me if this keeps going but I can’t stop, I want him to be more attentive to me.“Maybe he’s just being nice since I’m new,” I didn’t meet Nial’s eyes because I knew I was lying. “Hmm~” He hummed but didn’t say anything to me after that. I went to stand inside the bar and started helping him out while the club began t
>>Egon“What is it?” Ulric tugged my shoulder while we sat in the lounge of his penthouse, “Hello?” He waved his hand in front of my face since I was spacing out, “Egon?”“No,” I shook my head as I snapped back to reality, “I-” I shrugged it off, “It’s nothing,”“Are you sure?” He asked with a frown and I knew he was suspicious.“Uh,” I paused, “I think,” I scratched the back of my neck, “I’m just getting a bad feeling.”“About what?”“Portia,” I looked out of the window at the night view. It’s a common thing between mates, being able to tell something is wrong.“How bad?” Ulrich stood, “Should we go to her?”He immediately stood up and was ready to leave when I grabbed his hand, “No,” And sat him back down on the couch, “I already risked it enough by meeting her alone and acting on my impulses.” That was very dangerous and stupid of me.Far more than one can think but it was also inevitable. I mean, how could I stop myself when I saw her like that?Pole dancing!?! Where’s her pride a
>>Parisa (Portia)It was my first time drinking and I had no idea what to expect. I’ve seen many wolves drink in the pack and they all seemed fine so I have no idea why my head suddenly started getting a little dizzy.“It’s getting to your head.” Derek snickered and drank some fancy drink from his fancy glass while we both sat in his office on the two-seater couch. It was 3 am on a weekday so the club was now closed and almost everyone had gone home.“Why?” I looked at him and frowned.“Probably because it’s your first time drinking.” He finished the neon blue drink and placed it on the table and picked another glass with a pink drink from it.Another bartender was asked to make our drinks and Nial was given a short leave to recover. Derek asked me again if I had seen that man who attacked me anywhere before but I denied it because I truly hadn’t. I still have no clue why it all happened and I couldn’t really think about it either because my mind wasn’t working properly for some reaso
>>Portia (Parisa)The feeling was somehow very familiar. And the moment I saw and recognized Derek’s wife I knew I was going to go through hell again. Just seeing her made me feel bad, and so, what followed was obviously going to be worse.“Wait-” Derek raised his hands up in the air and glanced at me, “She-” He wasn’t sure what to say to her, “It’s not,” He kept stuttering, “It’s not what it looks like.” He looked at her and said firmly breaking my heart.I know full well, why he said those words, but it still hurt me.“Then what was that?” His wife stomped toward him with an angry disappointed look, “What was that!?” She slapped his chest in disgust, “I’m not blind!” She yelled, “I saw you kiss her!!”“That was a mistake-” He blurted it out immediately then paused at his own words yet he couldn’t bring himself to look at me. He stood there with his eyes wide and a troubled expression with his hands still in the air next to his chest while I stared at him in horror and agony.My hear
>>Jena“It was a wonderful event.” Ulrich and I sat on the rooftop open bar after attending Jenny's wedding.“It was nice,” Ulrich replied, “I like the pastel blues in Portia’s theme.”“I know!” I got excited, “And it went wonderfully with Jenny’s theme of pastel yellow.”“Looks like they both put in a lot of effort and time for time.”I let out a satisfied sigh, “Yea,” I smiled and leaned into Ulrich, they sure did, “I’m glad it all went well.” The cool breeze caressed my skin as I took a sip from my drink and let it relax me.As I gazed out at the city skyline,
>>JennyI can’t believe the time is here. I know I was waiting for this day. I wanted to marry Koen so badly so that he would mark me. But I’m still reluctant about moving to The Silver City. It hasn’t even been a year since I started working as an officer. I don’t want to leave my job.Portia is leaving with Egon directly after the wedding ends, she’s more than happy to go with Egon now. I saw the mark on the back of her neck this morning and I found myself anticipating the one I’ll be getting.I was sitting in the bridal room, all dolled up when my mate came to disrupt the thoughts that were torturing me.“What are you worried about?” Koen came and sat down nex
(Further two years later)>>Portia“Hey hurry up!” Jenny whined, “We’re already late!” Jenny graduated from the police academy and now is bossier than ever even though she still hasn’t passed her National Detective and Investigative Test (NDIT) She’s working as an officer now while I just finished my final exam two weeks ago.“Just a minute.” I told her, “We’re leaving for good, I have to make sure we’re not leaving anything behind.” I got an Education degree from a university near Jenny’s and we shared a dorm for four years.I looked around the place that was now empty and I tightly clutched the hand bag in my hands, &ld
>>Jenny“Alright then,” We waited till another music piece started, “It’s really not hard. Since you’re smart. You’ll do great.”I nodded and as another piece started we swayed to the rhythm of the music, our bodies moving in sync. It was really easy to follow Koen’s lead, especially because he was going slow for me so that I could catch up.In the midst of the dance, I couldn't resist the urge to tease him, probably because I was on an edge and needed to divert my attention from the problem tugging at my brain. I was being bolder than usual. Leaning in closer, I whispered into his ear, my voice laced with a playful edge. "You know," I murmured, my breath tickling his skin, "I heard that kissing burns calories, wanna test that theory?"
>>JennyThe grand hall was adorned with opulent decorations, Jena, dressed in regal attire, stepped forward with confidence. She was wearing a breathtaking gown, a creation of exquisite silk and delicate lace. The fabric cascaded around her, flowing like a waterfall of opulenceThe officiant, the highest-ranking werewolf elder, stepped forward and began the ceremony, reciting ancient rituals and blessings. He spoke of the qualities that define a true leader: strength, wisdom, compassion, and the ability to unite the werewolf clans under a common purpose and blah blah blah. I couldn’t concentrate much on it really.One by one, the leaders of the packs stepped forward, offering their allegiance and loyalty to Jena. They pledged to support and follow her, recognizing her as the rightful
(Two years later)>>PortiaDuring the summer vacation holidays after our second year, Jena and Ulrich held their marriage ceremony and Jena’s coronation as Queen. Jenny and I made our way to the Silver City. Considering Jenny doesn’t have a full mark and hasn’t gone through her shifting she has to be accompanied by a wolf to pass the barriers of the Silver City even though she has special permission from the king himself to enter the lycan city.The forest was dense and we had to travel a lot on foot to reach the entrance of the city. It was exhausting but when we reached and saw the two people waiting for us there outside the entrance, our fatigue flew away. It was like a happy moment, where the chemicals in our brains shifted, causing us to forget about our tiredness.
>>JenaWe both waited for them to make a decision, we stood quietly while they glared back at us. It was quite unnerving to just stand there in the awkward and deadly silent while two God knows how old lycans stared at me.Then the previous Queen let out a sigh“Bianca dear,” Mother in law turned to her, “I’m sorry we called you here.” She shook her head, “You can go back. I apologize for inconveniencing you.”!!!Does she mean what I think she means by that?!?!Bianca was baffled at the apology, “Are you taking the human’s side?” She looked at the couple in di
>>UlrichShe nodded, “Yes,” Her answer held no doubt, “You need a Queen. And it has to be someone educated. You need a noble lycan to help you with your work as king.”….“NO!” I answered back in disbelief, “Not happening.” I removed her hands from my face and stepped back, “Absolutely not!”I had a bad feeling on my way here too but I wasn’t expecting them to say something so stupid.Marry someone else? Make someone else my Queen? Does that make any sense??!The depth of my love for Jena was unyielding. Every fibe
>>JenaBianca Beez!?Why is she here? I keep hearing her name but the only solace I had was that I didn’t have to see her myself or see her near Ulrich. So why is she here, in the palace, out of the blue?“Oh?” I raised my brow at her, “I’ve never heard of you.” I gave her a confident smile.“Oh?” She looked a little offended at that, but it seemed my words didn’t bother her much, “Well, men tend to hide their lovers.”Her words pissed me off. Lovers? Is she trying to imply that she and Ulrich were lovers?“Oh, no,” I shook my he