A forest of lush trees and berry bushes, running and panting; trying to outrun the beast that had just bitten him. He stops by a tree; trying to catch his breath, the burning sensation in his chest as he tries to calm his breathing; lifting up his bloodied blue shirt, he tried to get a look at the bite that was now starting to burn, he ran his fingers tenderly over the mark, wincing at the pain; the bushes behind him rustled; there was no breeze, the night was calm and still, he looked up at the sky, the moon was full and the sky clear, not a star nor cloud in sight. Slowly looking over his shoulder, he saw two glowing red eyes and heard a low growl, backing away and keeping his eyes fixed on the glowing eyes that peered at him, the beast, before the boy could turn and run the beast leaped forward and then it ended, waking up horrified and sweating, his breath deep and heavy, Hugo had been having the same nightmare for the past two years, he had tried everything, light reading before bed, a late night jog along the shoreline after dinner, changing his diet; lighting incense sticks, meditation; but all had been failed attempts. Hugo sat up in his bed frustrated, leaning against the headboard, another night of insomnia.
Damien the Alpha of Ocean Crest Pack was the werewolf that that bit him, and about a year after that he died from wolfsbane poisoning, Hugo thought back to that night, the most traumatic and emotionally draining year of his life, after he was bitten Hugo viewed the bite and his werewolf abilities as a curse rather than a gift. Now his mindset had changed, Hugo was now the Alpha of the Ocean Crest pack. Hardly having time to himself, he had the responsibility of an entire pack, a full-time job and family responsibilities. Hugo got out of bed at the first sight of the burning orange sun rising, his head pounding because of the lack of sleep, a busy night at work, at least his Beta and best friend Zeke held down the fort while he kept his dead-end human job. Hugo lived a double life, stressed out human man, but powerful Alpha werewolf… although sometimes he wanted to show his family the beast that resides within him so they would just get of his back and stop piling the financial stress on him so he could at least breath and live a life. Hugo brewed a fresh cup of coffee, as he watched the black water fill his cup, he wondered if his cup would ever be full or even over flow with abundance, he remembered hearing the born werewolves talk about finding their mates or having found their mates; Hugo had just gotten out of an emotionally draining human relationship just a few days before he was bitten, two years prior to that he had to face the painful passing of his father, the man he looked up to as a hero, best friend and sole confidant. Life had been completely unfair these past few years, the only good thing is that Hugo now had abilities and could transform into a giant wolf, but his heart yearned for a love that was honest, true, and pure. The buzzer on the coffee machine went off brining Hugo back to reality, he poured milk and added sugar to his coffee; what was he thinking, his life was just too chaotic and would not allow for him to love or be loved; maybe he was destined to be alone for the rest of his life.
Hugo heard his mother get out of bed, he hastily moved to his room; already had enough on his mind and physically he was quite exhausted from work and recurring nightmares, he just did not have it in him to deal with the daily drama of his human household; he shut the door behind him and plugged in his earplugs, switching to his N*****x and started watching the latest season of The Flash, just as he got comfortable and was about to take the first sip of his perfect cup of coffee, his older sister Rowyn banged the door opened and causing the windows to rattle, Hugo looked up only because from the corner of his eye he saw the door swing open violently, he pulled the earplugs out and raised an eyebrow at his sister, his voice groggy but filled with annoyance,
“Yes Rowyn?”
“You have some things to sort out, I sent you a list last night on your phone”.
“Well, as you know I got in early this morning and I have not been able to sleep, so can’t Paige sort it out?”
Paige his younger, yet older sister screamed from the room next to his,
“Because I have my own things to do”.
Hugo rolled his eyes and scoffed,
“Going for brunch with your girlfriends does not count as your own things to do”.
There was no response, Rowyn started shouting,
“Hugo, just get it done, you cannot live life between work and home”.
“You people give me no other option”.
“Listen you have only night shifts at the hotel, you won’t sleep the entire day either, so you have enough time to run the errands and sleep”.
“You guys know I have difficulty in sleeping”.
“Coffee won’t help you fall asleep”.
“Doesn’t help me stay awake either”.
“Do it, or we will have issues”.
“We do, everyday…”
She slammed the door shut and Hugo growled lowly, same shit different day, by now the coffee was gone cold and Hugo was in a foul mood; He set the coffee cup aside and pulled the duvet over his head to try and get some sleep in, but then came the banging on the door, followed by his mothers voice,
“Hugo dear, are you going to be able to do those things Rowyn asked you to do?”
“A little later mom, I want to just get try and get some sleep in today and its only six in the morning”.
Before Hugo could answer, Rowyn spoke over, drowning out his mother’s voice,
“Stop nagging him Mom, he will do it and if he does not then I guess we will have to sort it out on our own.”
Hugo kicked off the duvet, and there goes the guilt trip, he looked at the time on his phone it was already six forty-five in the morning and his sister and mother had left while his younger sister was in the bathroom and by nine thirty, so he might as well get out his clothes and start his day. Hugo let out a long sigh and rubbed his hands over his face… he looked up at his bedroom ceiling wondering when will his life actually get better.
On the other side of the city, back home from her life abroad, Sarai was trying her best to settle into her life at home, adjusting to living with her parents again and having a full house rather than a quiet apartment, a full-time boyfriend that was proving to be more of a hinderance in her life than her little haven of peace. Sarai thought of her life back in the Middle East and all her exciting adventures that she embarked on around the world in her glamourous life of a Pilot, but also how insecure her boyfriend had been of her long hours and that most of her co-pilots were males and even the crew she was surrounded by men; he always made her cry before and after her long haul flights, she had cancelled multiple plans on layovers with colleagues and friends just to prove her loyalty to him; what was she expecting from getting into a relationship with a man over social media and only meeting him once before leaving. Now that she was back home, she thought the relationship would actu
Weeks turned into months, every day was a struggle for Hugo; between the pack matters and the hotel being busy; the financial burdens from his family crushing him, some days he just wished the earth would open up and swallow him, hell had to be better than where he was… Today marks three years since Hugo’s dad passed away, he woke up feeling the void in his life. Hugo got out of bed by midday and prepared a few snacks, his dads favourite whiskey; a quick shower and slipping on black board shorts and a black t-shirt, Hugo got into his silver BMW x7 2022 edition and headed off to the pack house. It was a twenty-minute drive down to the private beach. Hugo just needed to get out the house and reach out to his father for some sort of guidance. Hugo reached the pack house, by this time of day most of pack members had gone off to their day jobs; kids at school and it will be a little peaceful. Hugo had his private house just a few meters away from the huge pack house, Hugo’s house faced the
All through Winter and Spring Sarai was miserable, her birthday being the absolute worst, Bruce called on the morning of her birthday; making her feel lousy for having a birthday to celebrate her life all because his father had passed away; Bruce expected Sarai to be in mourning with him. No matter how much Sarai tried to explain that she was in no way disrespecting the mourning period, Bruce was always drunk and flaunting how wealthy he was. The day before her birthday Sarai and Bruce went on a “date”, Sarai attempted to make things work, but the very second that Bruce tried to hold her hand or kiss her, just repulsed her and she pulled back instantly and made excuses, this was also done of many of the previous “dates” that Sarai went on with Bruce, each time she was more miserable than the last, Sarai thought back to the last lunch date with Bruce, where he refused to pick her up, or even bring her flowers… ever, claiming that they would die and just a huge waste of money.On many
The next day Sarai was up and about as if nothing had happened the day before, Bruce had tried calling her a number of times to wish her for her birthday, but she was not interested; today was about her, she was a whole twenty-four and she would not let anyone, or anything steal her thunder! Sarai woke up and got dressed, in a few hours her family and some friends would be coming over to celebrate her. Sarai put on her summer dress that was Emerald green, looking down at her bruised arm and torse she concealed it all with makeup, she could not afford for her family or friends to see what Bruce had done yesterday; just last night she had escaped her father noticing her bruised arm and her sisters almost spotted her torso being bruised when she was reaching up on the shelve for popcorn seeds. The colour of her birthstone as well, the dress ended just four fingers above her knees with lace cute out around her waist, earlier in the week she also got a fresh cut of her hair shoulder length
For the duration of winter Sarai avoided Bruce, the more she tried to break up with him, the more he cried and emotionally blackmailed her, Sarai was a gentle and warm person; but Bruce was bringing out a dark and toxic side to her that she did not like. In the weeks that Sarai had been declining to meet Bruce, Sarai had visited the shooting range and got her gun license, she knew that when she did decide to meet Bruce, she would need to protect herself if necessary. After two months, Sarai pulled herself together and agreed to meet Bruce.Sarai arrived at the mall two hours ahead of the scheduled time. She knew when the malls get busier during the lunch breaks and school kids finishing for the day, Sarai chose a spot that was in view of the security guards and a whole lot of people, she kept her revolver in her handbag and sat at one of the tables and waited for Bruce to show up… an hour passed by and Bruce had not shown up, she looked at her phone and there were no texts or calls, a
Two months had gone by and Sarai was finding it more and more difficult to settle in; most days she sat at home with her sisters or they would go out for lunch or brunch; in a couple of weeks her sister Serena would go back to medical college in China and Sadie would start the high school year, Sarai would then be completely alone. A lonely, sad twenty-four-year-old, with no social life and living with her parents; Sarai decided that she would start a cute little bakery at Rockshore Mall outdoor food court now that she was on the verge of being unemployed, she remembered the call she received from work a few months back,FLASHBACK STARTS“Hello, yes this is Sarai Carter speaking”. “Miss Carter this is Simon from BlueSky Airways, how are you today?”“I am well Simon, how are you?”“Well, thank you for asking. Miss Carter, I am sure that by now you are aware of why I am calling”“Yes, I have an idea and that this is for formality”.“Miss Carter, I would like to inform you that this is
Unfortunately, the bakery gotten even busier after valentines day, and Bianca had some wedding duties to attend and interviews for positions in sales. The girls had tried to making time to meet after work just for a sundowner drink and snacks at either of their houses, but something always came up. Sarai hated to admit it but her curiosity was getting the better of her and she wanted to prove a point to Bianca that all those gorgeous men were nothing more than catfish; Sarai downloaded the dating app and waited a few days,“B, I downloaded the app”“No way! We were supposed to do that together babe!”“I know, I know…. But you know how anxious I get”“I know… so, are you going to create a profile?”“No, I will try and wait for you”“Okay, well hopefully this week I will have time and we can meet and do this”Alas, that did not happen, one night Sarai got bored of drawing up budgets for the business and just looking at spreadsheets that focused on analysing the growth of the bakery; her
Thursday came faster than Sarai had expected, she was excited and nervous all at the same time, she couldn’t decide what to wear, some of her clothes too casual, too formal, too sexy and evening wear, too “curl up with a book at home”. Sarai sat on her bed staring aimlessly at her wardrobe; she then pulled out a plain white t-shirt and a three-quarter denim ripped jean and paired it up with a crisp clean pair of white Nike trainers. Keeping her makeup very minimal, she used a little compact powder, black eyeliner, mascara, and ruby red lipstick; Sarai straightened out her hair. Sarai got into her small Hyundai I20 and left for work, a part of her was shaking with nerves while the other part could not wait for the clock to strike two.Sarai kept looking at the clock while attending to customers. As the time dragged, she looked over at her phone that had been buzzing with messages from Hugo, she had been replying but every time she had the goofiest smile on her face, butterflies in her