JAX:
Being an extraordinary being in a world filled with ordinary beings, I've managed to be careful in the last five years since I've been here. It wasn't a permanent thing but then I had my priorities set right.
So if someone told me that a mistake from one night could almost ruin everything for me, I would not believe it. But then it did and now I might have to account for it.
Manuel looked like he wanted to punch through something. The look on his face said it all that he was not liking what I told him.
"So you marked her unintentionally?" he sounded surprisingly calm for the reaction he was exhibiting.
I run a hand through my hair nervously. "I had no idea what I was doing. One minute I was trying to get down with her, the next my fangs are out and I have bitten into her neck. I don't understand how it all happened,"
I was getting tensed so I walk away from his presence back to the spot I was in before. But going back there wasn't helping matters as the hypersensitive noise of the activities in the city was contributing to my stress.
"This could jeopardize everything, Jax. Everything." Manuel stated.
"It's not my fault it all went wrong. I wanted to live life a little," slowly I turned back around. "You told me to live life a little," I accuse him.
"Because you were letting the pressure of being the next Alpha get to you," then he walks over to me, stopping only about two to three steps away. "I only wanted you to relax your mind a bit. I didn't expect you to get a human marked."
"You're not helping."
He holds both hands up. "I'm sorry." he apologizes before putting his hands down. "Do you have a plan to curb the situation before the Alpha and the whole pack finds out about what you did?"
"She could die from the poisoning," I say, mostly to myself.
Manuel was quick to counter my statement: "Or she could as well turn," he declares. "Let's just finish her off and forget this ever happened. It's better that way before a new bond is felt by the rest of the pack members."
"We won't be doing that, no. I already put her in harm's way with the mistake I made. I don't want to make it worse for her."
"You think it won't be worse for her when the Alpha finds out she's an unnatural bred? He would have her head as soon he does find out."
"Which is why I need you to watch her for the time being. It usually takes days so if you see she's about to turn, then you can do what you need to do."
He shakes his head in disagreement. "I don't think that's a good idea, Jax. You're about to expose yourself and it could as well lead to your exile."
I wasn't getting the encouragement I needed to know that I was not doing things wrong. I will put myself in his shoes, though. It's the same reaction I would exhibit if it was the case.
"Just do this for me. I'm sure you'll be able to handle this the best way you can." I tell him.
He sort of reflects on it first before agreeing to it. It made me feel more relaxed knowing that he was going to do as requested.
Seeing that I have managed to reach a compromise with him, I tell him, "I will be heading back to the packhouse tonight. But I should be back in the next two days,"
"The Alpha summoned you, didn't he?"
I nod once. "He did."
*****
ROZETA:
A splitting headache woke me up from my sleep. It was worse than any hangover that I have ever suffered in my existence and I groan from how bad it was.
"Lay back down!" I hear that order from above as I try to sit up to get my head in proper shape. I haven't even gotten a proper vision of my environment but I could easily recognize the voice to be Lauryn's.
"Why?" I wearily mutter while feeling the force of her hands hindering me from sitting upright.
"You're not okay enough to sit up," was her response.
I do not resist until I am finally back down on the bed that I was sure I was. The continuous beeping sound and the strong smell of antiseptic lead me to ask, "Where am I?"
"Where do you think?" Lauryn asks in return. "You're in a hospital."
"What happened?"
"I found you unconscious in your bedroom. I think you tripped but your hit your head so bad."
"That bad?"
"Well luckily it didn't affect your brain," she says, sounding a bit nonchalant. I didn't need anyone to tell me that she was displeased. For one I interrupted her weekend routine of working on her new clothing collection.
"Sorry I put you through this stress," I tell her.
"Well, if you had listened to my advice on not getting wasted, I'm sure this won't be happening. I already told you the hangover was going to kick in anytime,"
I didn't want to argue with her about me not getting wasted. It would only lengthen the conversation and I have no strength for that.
I raise my hand to my head to realize there was a bandage wrapped around it. I take my hand off the thick cotton material almost as soon as that because a new round of headache hits me.
"Is it still Saturday?" I have to ask because it would feel so wrong if I spent more than a day in the hospital.
"Yeah, except it's evening already. But I won't be letting you go to work on Monday. The doctor said you had to rest."
I couldn't say anything. Couldn't even nod. The fact that my weekend was turning out to be crap was enough to make me devastated.
That was when I recall the very thing that caused me to suffer the accident in the first place. I put my hand to feel around the swollen part but to my surprise, I felt nothing.
"The hickey... Is it still there?" I ask Lauryn, shifting my focus to her as she seemed to be immersed in her phone while she was seated on a chair beside the bed I was on.
She takes her eyes off the phone and up to me to check my neck. A brief stare at it and she says, "No, it's gone."
"It's gone?" My eyes almost bulge in surprise.
"Yeah," she affirms, looking away from me, "Guess it wasn't as serious as it looked."
I wanted to say something but I withheld myself from doing that. I didn't want to make it seem weirder than it is. But I was finding it hard to believe that it was indeed gone.
"You still have to tell me how it got to your neck in the first place," Lauryn says while my mind has already traveled to another dimension.
I continued feeling around the spot where the hickey should be and subconsciously I say to her, "Yeah."
ROZETA:Lauryn was right: I do not listen.She has mentioned that to me a lot and I have just realized how true it is today. Because if it wasn't, I wouldn't be out here on the street after I was sternly warned to be on bed rest for the rest of the week.It hasn't even been more than two days since the domestic accident I had. Two days since what I still can't explain regarding the bite I found on my neck.Right before I was discharged yesterday, the doctor instructed me not to overwork myself as my brain wouldn't be able to handle the pressure after the impact made on it two days ago. And just so she could see that I adhered to the doctor's instruction, Lauryn forced me to call in sick at work.I did promise her that I was going to stay in all day but a few hours after she left, I am out in the open, finding a way to get my body on the move.The problem didn't come from being sick of staying in all day. It came from me being hyperactive since I opened my eyes this morning.I don't kn
JAX:The pressure I felt from killing off the ignition was worse than what I felt from driving into the pack. It has always been the same feeling in the last five years whenever I am summoned. Except for this time, it was a strong feeling of dread.Right through the front view window of my car, I could see the massive building that housed the Alpha family. The same building that I happened to live in most of my life.Seeing the extravagant number of warriors around the building as compared to the amount I know to always be around there made me wonder if there was something huge I was not told of before I came over. As usual, I'm in the dark about situations around here.I take out the key from the ignition and then walk out of the car slowly after that. The cool breeze of the morning swept on my face like I just welcomed it for the very first time today.I was not one to savor the feelings that came with this so I just ignored it and carried on with what I wanted to do. And that was t
JAX:I still have no clue what Wade meant when he said there was something that could bring me down. But the uneasiness that came with thinking about it made me have a rough ride on my way to my company.There was no chance that he already found out about the mistake I made. I'm particularly sure I haven't felt the new bond that comes with having a new member of the pack so this means nothing has changed yet.Still, I wanted to know if he was looking into me...Wade and I have never been on clear grounds ever since we both found out about the tendency of one of us to be the next Alpha. Because like me, he also wanted the taste of power and that wouldn't be possible if another was preventing the other from getting it.It was like a whole new stress on its own thinking about the rivalry between me and my brother. If I had a choice, I would sure be seeking a way to kill it off.So many times the thought of calling it quits has crossed my mind. The only reason I'm still in the race is tha
JAX:That was close...How in the world was she able to realize I was standing there? I can't believe I almost got caught out by an ordinary human girl when I was very good at masking my presence.Something was not right. If she could have easily sensed my presence, then she must have turned. If that's the situation, why can't feel I the new bond?I couldn't even dwell on that for too long because as I stood there, I realized the abnormal rate of my heartbeat. It was clear that it happened right after I saw her for the very first time since that night. Even before I hid myself from view.I have no idea why seeing her made me this unsettled. It was almost like I couldn't control myself. But it shouldn't be right, should it?I wish I could tell what put her in her present position. The fact that I even had to trace her down to a hospital was damning. Manuel has a lot of explanations to do once I find him. I can't be left in the dark anymore about an issue as vital as this.I manage to p
ROZETA:I wasn't too sure about resuming back to work. Not like the break I took wasn't enough. But with the way I was feeling after the two last two incidents, I think I was bound to be in this position.After I was discharged from the hospital for yet the second time in the space of a week, I resorted to reflecting on myself. I didn't want to believe I was going through a change I couldn't control. Especially when it was something that could make others see me as a maniac of some sort.My self-reflection led me to discover that the change I was going through was just a one-time thing. Perhaps it didn't even occur at all because I had been dizzy during that time frame that I thought I heard someone's thoughts.How would it even be possible to hear the thoughts of someone else? That was the key question I had asked myself during my time alone last week. Lauryn made it clear to me that I was just suffering from a concussion and I just had to agree at the end of the day that it was what
ROZETA:It was almost like a dream. Maybe it was because I didn't realize I would be seeing him this soon. Or it could be that I was just so surprised to see him again.The more I stared at him, the more I get flashbacks of that night. I could still picture the way he looked at me that night. Hell, he was giving me that same look at the moment.Standing here and staring at him gave me the feeling that I was lost in my own world. Sounded like some fairytale which gave me the cheesy vibe as soon as I processed the whole thing.It was clear he wasn't planning to walk up to me. And in no way was I going to stand and wait for who was going to make the first move while we both stand on the busy walkway. So I take the first step into reaching out because trust me, I have a lot of questions for him.The weird thing about this is that even with the long distance between the two of us, I was still able to recognize him. He has seldom left my mind in the first place so I guess it was justifiable
ROZETA:I sluggishly drop my bag on the center table before plopping down on a sofa nearest to it. My body was a bit heavy, more like it has been in use all day. Should be an effect of being away from any tedious activity for over a week.I relax my back completely on the sofa, my eyes shutting close as I move to get my body back in order. Since I was the only one in, I didn't care about how I was sitting which is why I just went for a very careless position by having my legs on the table. This was most definitely after I took off my shoes with both my feet as aid.I should be glad I had that unplanned one-week break away from work. I guess I missed what it meant to be free and not be without any unnecessary pressure that I get from work each time I'm there.'I'll be seeing you around, Rozeta.'Those were just simple words from the man but they felt like he meant what he said. It should be something figurative but I think he was being literal. It was giving me a headache thinking abou
ROZETA:I'm dying. And it isn't a drill.I woke up all of a sudden from my sleep and I found out everything was wrong with me.My breathing was hitched and I was sweating all over even with the electric fan turned on. Moving my body proved to be difficult as well as it seemed like I was glued to the bed. All of that was enough to make me scared.I want to scream for help but the words couldn't out of my mouth. None of my body systems seemed to function and for a moment, I could swear I was going through paralysis.In no time, tears start seeping out of my eyes and down the side of my face. I couldn't bear the difficulty anymore. My life was being forced out of me right before my eyes and it was the most horrific thing that I could ever imagine.As I stare up at the ceiling, I start to recount how unlucky I've been in the past one week. One good week at my place of work would have prevented me from going to that nightclub and then having a twist of fate. I am not one to have this type