2

The next day

Sitting next to her on the hospital bed, I hear her fate breaths – she is struggling to fight for her next breath. My heart aches to watch her laying still in this place. Her ward is cold, freezing cold like she is in a mortuary. I shake my head to shake away that disturbing thought.

I examine my mother and her ghostly pale appearance – Gosh! I am going to miss her. It saddens me to see her like this.  Believe it or not, this woman was the type who would not sit down. She had always been moving up and about – if you needed something, you were to just ask, and she would be running to get it done. She was always so busy and full of life…now, she sleeps most days. I mostly come in to watch her sleep – she is too weak to stay awake, so I let her rest. I prefer her to sleep when I come to visit, I do not want her to see the absolute sadness and fear I have in my eyes – the fear of losing her.

I hear her take in a deep breath this time – an unusual deep breath and for a moment I felt like this was it, that this was the last breath she was going to take. Unconsciously, I hold my own breath – praying to the Lord above for a little bit of time. Thankfully…her breathing goes back to normal. I let out a sigh of relief, this time thanking the Lord for answering my prayers. I just needed a few more days to get her the money for her operation, then everything will go back to normal – well almost everything.

“Mom…” I let my hand graze over her own cold ones.

“Hang in there…I will get the money to get your operation done, just hang in there, please…No matter what happens, remember that I love you and I always will – what I do is to help you, so do not be angry at me” my eyes begin to overflow with tears. They begin to pour from my swollen red eyes.

My stepmom is a human, so she does not possess the ability to heal as we do. I feel my heart throb with guilt, as I begin to replay the accident in my head.

“I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t have called you that night…” I tighten my grasp around her cold hand.

“I’m so sorry mom…I’m-“ I choke up through my sobs. My cries dull down, and I return to my normal state.

“Goodbye mother, I love you,” I say to her, my lips meeting her soft cheeks. I shall remember this kiss for a lifetime as it is filled with hope and sadness – I am thrilled that I will be able to help her, I am just saddened as I will not have the opportunity to see her when she is all better.

“I am going to set things right…” I say, before getting up.

I look at her, taking one last look – who knows if I will ever see this amazing woman again. I turn around and walk away, my heart crumbling of my heart with every step I take away from her. My hurt aches, but my anger burns for my father who refuses to pay for her hospital bills. My father does not love my stepmom, he only married her because I needed a mother figure when growing up. After 15 years of marriage, he looked at the doctor, and without any remorse, he told the doctor to pull the plug. If it were not for me and my begging to keep her alive, she would have been in heaven a while ago.

 I wrap my jacket around myself tighter when I exit the warmth of the hospital – thankfully it was not raining but the coldness of the wind was brutal.

Some coffee would be nice… I think to myself.

Without realizing it I find my feet eagerly taking me to a cute coffee shop that was placed just across the street. The moment I stepped into the café, a wave of the pleasant and comforting scent of coffee beans filled my nostrils which soothed my soul. I walk up to the counter, instantly sniffing out that the waiter was a werewolf – his strong broad shoulders, his almond-colored eyes, his handsome facial features, and his scent were a dead giveaway.

“Good day, how can I help you?” he asks me with a warm heart-melting smile – a smile I could not help but return.

“May I have one americano and one chocolate cookie, please” I order. He types my order down on his computer, but still has a huge smile on his face.

“Please take a seat, and I will bring your order to you…miss?” He tries to ask for my name. I cannot help but giggle, there is a way he does it that is warm and goofy.

“Grace…My name is Grace” I tell him, watching an even huger smile appear on his face.

“My name is Justin…. Your order will be done momentarily, Grace…” he plays with my name, testing to see how it sounds when he says it. I must admit it felt good when he said it.

I chose the seat that was next to the giant window – I always loved looking at others out of the window. Obviously, I do not stare at them like some weird stalker, I rather observe them and wonder what occurs in their lives. For instants, right now I watch a woman in her late twenties carrying a heavy bag pack. Her hair is a mess, her glasses keep falling to her nose, and her eyes are swollen and red – honestly speaking, she looks like she is having the worst day of her life. My attention is drawn to a car that passes the melancholy woman – it zooms past her and stops at the streetlight, as it turned red.

The car is a beautiful one – indicating that the person who owns it is super rich. The back window begins to slide open. My curious mind refuses my eyes permission to look away, I really want to know who resides in this car and what might this person look like – obviously, he or she must look prim and proper.

My mouth lets an unexpected gasp escape as a beautiful man sits in the back seat. He looks like he is in his early thirties, but regardless of his age, he looks like an angel with such heavenly good looks. His reading glasses stay still at the brim of his nose while he reads the book that lay in his hand. His eyes fixated on the pages, his eyebrows scrunch when reading over the words. His hair looks wet but styled back, giving him a mobster kind of look.

I just stare at that man through my window – drooling over a man for the first time in my life. I could not understand why my heart was thumping the way it was. I was taken by surprise when the mysterious man in the car turned his focus in my direction. I almost jumped in my skin when his eyes latch on to me – he looks at me with questioning cold eyes.

For the first time in three years, I heard and felt something that rocked me to the core. My inner wolf, Jinx, painfully and needlingly howled. I could feel her presence for the first time in my life – she began clawing her way to the surface. We both still stared at each other, I could not look away even though my heart rate began to speed up. I was on the verge of a panic attack. I finally pull myself and looked away, my fingers fumbling with my bag’s zipper. I feel like a weight has been lifted off me, and when I let my eyes roam to where the fancy car had been I realize it’s because he was gone. I discreetly open my anxiety pill container and take out a single pill. I slip it into my mouth and swallow it on time before…

“Here is your order, Grace” a cup and saucer with my cookie are laid on the table in front of me.

“Oh, thank you”, I thank him, while discreetly zipping up my bag.  He gives me a wink and turns around to leave.

Jinx?...

I instantly call out for my inner wolf, hoping she replies to me.

Jinx?...

I call out to her again but do not get any reply. A sigh of disappointment escapes me. For that few seconds, it felt like I could really feel her. Was it because of him? Anyway, I shake my head from thoughts and dig into my cookie that looks and smells so mouth-watering.

After eating and drinking, I sit comfortably at the table waiting for Justin to bring me the bill. After paying the bill and exchanging numbers with him – he was persistent – I smiled and walked out of the café.

As soon as I exited the café, I heard my phone ping. I smiled to myself knowing that Justin must have been so eager to message me. To my dismay, when I opened the message thread, I feel my blood run cold. Instantly all the rules that I read yesterday became more terrifying. Was I ready for this? Was I ready to leave my old life behind? Jacob’s message was in big bold letters, making it even more terrifying than it already was.

“AUCTION IS TONIGHT AT 8 – BE THERE AT 6 “