Beauty and The Beta (Bailey) novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Asher

I pace the corridor of the packhouse for yet another night. Sleepless nights are becoming the most repetitive thing for me now. Almost tiresome… or they would be if I could actually f**king sleep! Nightmares plaguing my dreams were the thing stopping my sleep… making me fear sleep… visions of that night… reoccurring time and time again… the rogues invading our pack lands… us losing control… and them hurting my precious Isla. My beautiful Isla.

Fate had barely brought us together before snat ching us apart… life could be cruel… and it made me relive that night, time and time again through my dreams… the pain as her life ebbed away… the inability to be able to save her… the pain in her eyes… the fear… it made me hate life… hate fate. And now, now it makes me fear sleep. Which is what found me pacing these godforsaken corridors every night…

“Alright Beta!” Marc, one of our young warriors, greeted me enthusiastically, telling me he had likely been out spending time with friends. Especially returning to his room at this early hour of the morning.

“Hey Marc.” I smiled, raising my eyebrows questioningly at him as he stumbled toward the stairs. He was barely able to walk in a straight line.

“I not been dinking, honest boss.” He mutters with a chuckle. These guys make me smile. How could they not? Barely past shifting age, and newly trained warriors. They clearly decided to drink themselves to the point of stupor. Which, considering we are werewolves and alcohol has little to no effect on us in small doses, they had to have been drinking excessive amounts! Likely coming up with new and different drinking challenges to see who could drink the most, that was what they so often did.

But, I can’t say I had not done the same when I first shifted and on many a younger night with friends. It was all part of growing up for many, wasn’t it? Especially for our warriors, I knew that, having helped many a drunken warrior home in the past. And I am sure they had had a good night and many good memories to look back on… if they could actually remember any of them, of course!

“I never said a word Marc.” I gave him a nod as he fell up the stairs.

I continued my pacing of the corridor only to hear a few more drunken voices approaching, I assume likely Marc’s drunk friends. And, I, not in the right frame of mind to have to deal with anyone else tonight, ducked into the short corridor off the main hallway of the packhouse. Leading to my office. I could sit in here until they passed and then make my way back to my room, and hopefully, I could attempt to gain at least a few hours’ sleep tonight, so I would be at least partially functionable tomorrow…