The Weekend With The Beta

Nicole. The blaring sound went off and the pressure of my pillow against my ears did nothing to help. I groaned in protest. The noise continued, though. I rolled onto my side to turn it off when it fell on the floor and brought an end to my once peaceful slumber. I groaned as I picked it up and realized I was extremely late. “Shit, shit, shit” I cursed as I ran into the bathroom, struggling to remove my PJs at the same time. I took a quick shower, then practically raced back to my room, when I heard a honk from a car outside and I knew who exactly it was, damn. There was barely enough time for me to be picky about outfits so I threw on whatever I could find. “Nicole Jade Jackson!” My friend Bella yelled as soon as I walked out of the house. “I am so sorry for keeping you waiting. Don't scold me please” I begged, hoping that the puppy eyes I gave her would work. “Not today girl, we are late! Why can't you just stick to time” Bella scoffed as I threw myself beside her p

Nicole.. I couldn't sleep that night when I eventually got to my room because of two things; First I was now the topic of discussion in my group chat, and probably the whole school by now, and that was not how I intended to start the semester, secondly, the stranger I barely knew in the jacuzzi. The next morning came in a slow agonizing way, I lost count of the number of times I rolled over and checked the time. I thought I had managed to sleep for at least an hour before waking up in a cold sweat with fear and dread crawling up my neck to choke me. I checked the group chat again and it was still the same old news, me. I felt ashamed of myself, of how fast I had given in, it shouldn't have been that easy right? Why was it always this hard to get out from under other people's expectations of someone else? Wasn't it enough that I'd just had the messiest week? Yet the universe brought me another trap. I finally dragged myself out of bed, took a shower and proceeded to look

Nicole.. Sleep betrayed me again. It left me thinking about the events of that night and most especially Zach. The next morning came and I felt like a zombie, hungover and starved of sleep. Still, I pulled myself together. I had to help Leah get the kids ready for school. “Are you ready?” Leah asked. “Ready for?” I was confused because I hadn’t heard her say anything about going out and most importantly, me tagging along. “Zach is dropping the children off at school since Jack would be busy. I think you should use this opportunity to bond with the kids,” she explained as if it were the simplest concept in the world. The word ‘bonding’ triggered an image of my mother and me. When I thought back to those days in childhood, the memories hurt more than any physical injury. “I am sure I can bond with them when they are back, I don't really feel well?” I knew how weak and fragile my words sounded but couldn’t think of anything else to say other than it. I

Zach… The sun poured through the window, its rays enveloping my face, causing my eyes to flutter. I stifled a yawn, slowly opening my eyes, to realize it was morning already. I smiled as my hand roamed the bed, trying to find Nicole on the other side. “Good morning,” I whispered, but when I turned around, I was greeted with an empty bed and ruffled sheets. So many thoughts began to flood my mind; was it a dream? If it wasn’t, why did she leave? Didn’t she have a good time? Did I go all primal on her? I would've loved to at least hold her a bit more, before we had to let go. To tell her it wasn’t just the spur of the moment, it was real. I sniffed the pillow she had slept on, her scent lingered. It was both intoxicating and relaxing, reminding me of what happened last night. Beautiful, she was beautiful. From the quiet sounds she made to how her feet curled when I touched her, she was so gentle and so innocent and so trusting of me. All I could think of was

Zach. “Zach!” she screamed, her voice tore into my ears making me yelp slightly. “Oh my god Leah! The door is there for a reason!” I groaned. “I just walked out of the bathroom, and I really don't think Jack would be so happy to imagine this scenario..." “Oh please! You're really keeping this charade on with Nicole?" she said, gesturing with her hands as though to wave my words away. "Why do you want to jeopardize everything? You know you have a mate somewhere! And a human and a werewolf shouldn't be together! You have to get a hold of yourself Zach. This isn't some game for you to play and win. People are not games. I can't let you toy around with my best friend. You can't jus-” “Can you give this lecture a break Leah?” I rolled my eyes. I couldn't hold myself back anymore, things were totally out of hand for me. “You don't have to use every opportunity you get to remind me of a reality I'm very much aware of... I can't stop being drawn to her. She fills up every pa