Beauty and The Beta (Bailey)

5

Chapter 5 - Asher

| pace the corridor of the packhouse for yet another night. Sleepless nights are becoming the most repetitive

thing fornow. Almost tiresome... or they would be if | could actually f**king sleep! Nightmares plaguing my

dreams were the thing stopping my sleep... makingfear sleep... visions of that night... reoccurring tand

tagain... 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 maderelive that

night, tand tagain 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 madehate life... hate fate. And now, now it makesfear

sleep. Which is what foundpacing these godforsaken corridors every night...

“Alright Beta!” Marc, one of our young warriors, greetedenthusiastically, tellinghe had likely been out

spending twith friends. Especially returning to his room at this early hour of the morning.

“Hey Marc.” | 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 makesmile. 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, | can’t say | had not done the swhen 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, | knew that, having helped many a drunken

warrior hin the past. And | 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.” | gave him a nod as he fell up the stairs.

| continued my pacing of the corridor only to hear a few more drunken voices approaching, | asslikely Marc's

drunk friends. And, I, not in the right frof 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. | could sit in here until they passed

and then make my way back to my room, and hopefully, | could attempt to gain at least a few hours’ sleep

tonight, so | would be at least partially functionable tomorrow...

“What are you doing down here?!” a voice madejump awake from my sleep, makingstir, and realize just

how uncomfortable | was. My whole body ached. The crick in my neck felt like it had been locked in a vice...

Though, as | moved, it was only then | realized I had fallen asleep sitting at my office desk. | had been asleep

collapsed over my office desk since the early hours of the morning when | cin here to hide from the drunken

warriors...

| sleepily raised my eyes upward, only to see my best friend, and the pack Alpha, standing next to my desk

looking more than a little concerned, looking down over me. “Asher?” he questioned. “Why are you sleeping

down here? This has to be the third or fourth tin a matter of weeks. And don’t getstarted on all the time

prior to that.”

I sighed. Just what | need, him on my case. The third degree once again. Am | ok? Do | need shelp? Support?

That is likely what Caleb was about to start with... like always. He couldn't help it. Though, | didn’t want to sound

ungrateful. He was my closest friend after all, and he did just care.

But, sometimes, speople just needed their space! It wasn’t like he could help... he couldn’t stop my

suffering... this has been going on too long now...

“Was struggling to sleep, so | cdown to work. | am guessing | must have crashed.” | told him. Not quite the

truth, but it would do...

Caleb didn’t need to know that my sleep was so badly disturbed that | struggled to sleep every night. That my

nights were so messed up | hadn't slept properly since Isla had left...

“Is everything okay, Asher?” Caleb asked, and I could hear the concern dripping from his voice, like it so often

does of late. “Eden said she has been worrying about you... that you just haven't seemed yourself since the

rogue attacks began. She said you seem so distant. So withdrawn.”

| shook my head with a disgusted roll of my eyes. So, they had been discussing me? Do they think that is

acceptable? Yes, Eden may be his mate, and the Luna of the pack, as well as my friend, but | do not need to be

ssort of sympathy case that needs to be sat and discussed between them over their evening meal! | am

fine! | am the pack Beta for f¥*k’s sake. | focused my eyes upon my friend, a dark glare hopefully saying all |

needed to.

“Caleb, you may be a friend, but please, for the love of g od, f**k off. | am fine. Tired, yes. Stressed, yes. We

have been dealing with rogue attacks regularly until lately. We need to work on improving the pack, which is

what we are working on doing. It doesn’t ceasily. It takes time. It takes energy and effort. So yeah, | am

stressed and tired. Is that not my f**king job?” | snap, knowing | am already overstepping the mark talking to my

Alpha in that way. He knew | had lost my mate because of these rogue attacks too, so you would think he would

have shown at least a little understanding... but | wanted to continue going... needed to keep functioning or else

| had nothing...

Caleb looks towith a shake of his head. “Fine. Go get showered. You look like a f**king state. We have a

meeting in half an hour.”

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