Chapter two

Humans 2

POV: Winston

"Hey hey. No need to be harsh, okay?"

I huffed a breath and rolled my eyes.

"Hey, man." He continued, his voice subdued and serious again. "About the search. How is it going? Any leads?" He asked. From his voice, I could tell he was anticipating good news. But I had none of that. 

I sighed and walked to my table, dumping some ice cubes in a glass cup and pouring out some cognac for myself.

I downed the whole thing in one gulp, crunching the ice between my teeth.

I was stalling and he knew it.

"Well?" He prompted after I grew silent for a few pensive minutes.

I huffed another breath. 

The one thing. The one aspect of my life that didn't want to come together, no matter how hard I tried. How hard I searched. How much I wanted it. Needed it.

A mate. My one.

Someone to mark. To claim as mine. Only mine. My partner. My equal. Mine.

I searched in clubs, in business meetings, at fundraisers, gala events, red carpets, in muses, models, actresses, you name it.

Nothing. Not a scent. Not a sting. Not a tug in the right direction.

Sometimes, I felt like screaming at the moon goddess. It felt like a curse. Like I was missing a piece of me. Like I wasn't complete. I wasn't whole.

And what if I'll never be?

Night after night. Decade after decade. I was still as lonely and empty as I was since I first transformed.

It was incredibly frustrating. A very annoying feeling. The feeling of total incompleteness.

"No," I whispered the truth to myself. "My search has been futile. There is no lead. Nothing." I answered.

His silence made my chest burn.

I poured more cognac out for myself, gulping it down and enjoying the sting at the back of my throat. The pain, tearing me apart from the complete hollow in my chest.

"Hey, it's okay, man. We have eternity to find her."

Or eternity to spend alone.

"I'll just leave you to attend your party, be okay. Okay?"

"Sure."

"I'll be back tomorrow. My work is piling up there and you know how much I loooove working." His sarcasm rang out but the intent was clear. He was out doing another 'business'. 

"Alright bye," I hung up the phone and stared outside the see-through floor-to-ceiling wall at the pathetic little humans going around their daily activities. The pain in my chest, hurting worse than a rotting tooth.

 I sighed, gulped down more cognac, and plastered a convincing smile on my face as I walked back to the room to face my employees in their merriment.

There was a little party going on. It usually happened when we struck a gold mine like we just did with this last contract I secured.

I may think that humans are flimsy little creatures with a short lifespan, but my employees, my companies... I didn't joke with them. In a way, they reminded me of my pack. I was responsible for them and they looked up to me. I could sense their loyalty to me, how much they trusted me with the financial aspect of their lives. How much hope they had in me, the burden of this hope, resting on my shoulders. 

It was the closest thing I had to be in a pack again. And that's why I enjoyed being the CEO of ASOS.

I wanted them to be happy and content as they worked for me. Anything besides that is simply unsatisfactory. 

Seeing them in a merry mood lifted up my spirits immediately.

"Sorry to disturb this jolly moment everyone," I didn't have to shout over the music, but everyone heard me and a low hush swept over the room as they paid attention to me and turned down the dial. "It's good to see everyone happy today. Heaven knows I am!"

"Damn right!" Someone whistled in the distance and everyone giggled.

"Do continue with..." I gestured to evidence of the merriment I just walked in on, "–whatever you have going on here. I'm declaring the whole of tomorrow off. Do whatever you want." There was hooting and clapping and cheering. I grinned proudly. "I do have to get going now." I smiled, stuffing my hands in my pocket. 

They all said their goodnights and thank yous once again.

I left the building and rode straight home in my Benz classic car. It was one of my favorite cars and I'm sure even my employees knew that. 

I did some errands and before long, it was dark.

I got home fast, there was no traffic tonight and it was a full moon.

It was a battle resisting my primal instinct to transform but I'd spent decades learning to keep these instincts at bay and every day, it got easier fighting my body's natural response to the hypnotic full moon.

My estate was pristine and quiet, just the way I liked it. 

My housekeeper, Nancy, was waiting for me and greeted me at the door, taking my bag and coat and offering me a cup of Jasmine tea I'd never admit I enjoyed and soothed me on days like this.

She was an older woman whom I hired a very long time ago. She was the only person I could trust with my food and any other thing that had to do with the house. 

"Welcome, sir." She greeted me. "How was your day today?"

I rolled my shoulders, loosening the tight knots and cranking my joints. "Good. Good."

"I already made your dinner," she informed me. "Would you like me to serve you?" She asked.

"Yes, thank you. I'll be in my office."

"Sir," she protested, "you just got back from work!"

"I'll rest when I'm in my grave, Nancy," I walked past her. "You know what," I paused, turning to look at her.

"Sir?"

 "I'll be too busy to eat. Wait for a little more until I say so. In the meantime, run a bath for me, will you?" I instructed, walking up the stairs.

I knew she was biting back a protest but she sighed, conceding. "Yes, sir," she said, bowing a little.

I nodded and continued the rest of the journey to my office.

Securing the query letters and emails I needed to get sorted out, I retired to bed, tired and exhausted. 

I walked Into my room and flipped the light switch on and the entire room was bathed in bright lights. I took a bath, washing the dirt and grime of the day off and when I was done, I started to lay more heed to the hunger I was feeling deep within my stomach right before I had left the office, begins to show itself again. 

I was convinced it was as a result of the food I was perceiving downstairs and the thought of walking all the way down again tired me out. My gift of scent sniffing was one of the less glamorous things that came with being part of my species. I could pick up a scent from miles away. 

I walked downstairs, past the extremely long stairs and found an amazing dinner set up for me in the dining room. I loved food so much, so it did not take me long to stuff myself until I could no longer eat. Still, I was not filled to the brim but I had reached my limit. 

"You must have been so famished sir, you almost finished everything I set up," Nancy commented. 

I rolled my eyes inwardly, sighing deeply and convincing my subconscious that it was not a subtle insult but rather, a question asked out of curiosity. 

"Yes, I missed my lunch because of something important, which I have to get back to right now," I answered getting up. 

Declaring the rest of the day off was to my detriment as I knew my secretary and most of my team would put off their share of work and leave it unattended. I finished up looking through the terms and conditions stated in a contract I had put off for too long and emailed the complete document to my lawyer to cross-check.

Nathan had suggested I get a personal assistant to help with these more mundane and less risk-taking parts of my job but I had firmly refused. 

I could handle my own shit.

A knock on the door to my office and I looked up just as Nancy poked her head in. "I will bring you another cup of tea, if that's okay with you, sir." 

I nodded. "That's great, Nancy, thank you.” I smiled at her. Nancy was always ready to help.

My office was beside my room and it was not as large as the one in my company, but it was a pretty good space for what I made use of inside. I continued my work, sipping the hot tea Nancy had later brought in after a while and also making frequent phone calls. I finally finished my work and sent my secretary some emails.

Her swift reply let me know that she wasn't slacking on her job as I had earlier thought.

I decided to go for a run in the woods at the back of my house. I knew building my house smack-dab in the middle of the woods was going to raise eyebrows. Why was my house built in the woods?

 I remember being asked that question during interviews, and so many press conferences. I always just gave a basic answer; I loved nature. That seemed like the perfect idea, because who did not love nature?

I suddenly caught a scent and stumbled to a halt, sniffing around. The wind was blowing heavily around me and I struggled to catch the scent again.

I stayed still for a moment, listening to the wind, my ears, pricking up, my senses heightened.

I knew it when I felt it.

He's here.