"We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

((henry is so beautiful, asdfghjkl))

I lay under my covers, listening intently to the sound of heavy rain against the window. The sound usually helped me fall asleep but right now, the lulling was useless. The bed sheets were in a knot and aside from a few fit-full half hours of vivid dreams I didn't sleep a wink. Currently, I was wide awake.

I glance over at my bedside table - 4 am. There was no point lying in the bed so I got up and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower when I heard somebody knock on my door.

"Who's there?" I asked.

"It is me, son. Open this door," I hear the familiar voice of my father.

I opened the door and let him inside. He was a tall man, maturity etched into his expression as he intently stared at me.

"Is everything okay, father? What are you doing here at this time?" The words rushed out of my mouth.

He brought a hand up to my shoulder, "Son, I hear you pacing the floor every hour. I don't know how your mother is still asleep through all that but your thick, noisy feet aren't letting me sleep," he paused, "Are you okay, son?"

I didn't know what took over me but I pulled my father and hugged him, "Dad....I c-can't do this....I can't."

I remember the day when I last cried. I was 9 years old and my mother broke my favourite toy. It has been many years since that day but somehow today, it happened. I cried- no, I sobbed. Salty tears welled in my eyes and for the first time in forever, I let my tears go. I never knew that missing her could take over every fibre of my being. It is a torment I was unprepared for.

She broke me.

I sobbed as I clutched my father's shirt.

My father rubbed my back, trying to relax me but I couldn't. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw her brown eyes, her soft black hair, her beautiful mouth, the tiniest of gap between her front two teeth. God damn, she is beautiful.

Father sighed deeply and pulled me back so we were face to face, "Son, it will be okay."

"Dad...she ha-hates me," I choke on a sob, letting a few tears slip from my eyes, fully aware of my stains making their way into his shirt, "Whenever she looks at me, her eyes fill with.....disgust. She's hurt. And I can't do anything about her. And you know what? Those two fvcking sons of bitches are always there to help her when it should be me," I growled loudly.

"You have to protect her son -"

"I can protect her with my side!" I growled, a fresh set of tears surfacing.

It was wrong of me to yell at him when he was the only one who was helping my wolf and I through this.

"Son, you know you cannot do that. If you claim her, all the hard work will go to waste!"

He was telling the truth. Frustrated, I grabbed the bedsheets and tore it to pieces.

"Tomorrow is my class, h-how will I.... I can't.... Dad, she is beautiful," Once again, I hugged my father for support.

"I know, son. I know.... It will be okay, everything will turn out to be okay, trust me...."

Will it?

---

The day I was dreading was finally here - Ethan's class.

Yesterday we had Alpha Carlos' class which was extremely exhausting but nonetheless, worth it. He made all the wolves run as far as they could before they got tired. Josh was the one who made it the furthest, Tyler and I were quite far behind him. It came as a shock to everyone when they saw how fast Josh's wolf could run. I don't think I've seen any wolf run as fast as him. You couldn't even see his wolf. He just flashes past you and bam - gone.

Later, after my constant nagging, he finally told me that he used to run for 6 hours every day back at his pack in order to beat his Dad at running. It took him 12 years to finally beat him or in his words "destroy him" (insert Josh's cocky-ass grin).

And then there is Zack and I, 23 and 20, who still couldn't beat our Dad.

Anyways, the rest of day was just us lazing around, watching television and eating food. The usual routine. But a weird sensation kept tickling my stomach. My wolf and I were both uneasy because we knew what was coming tomorrow. His class.

And now, here I am, standing with the rest, waiting for Alpha Ethan to make his entrance.

He came right on time, dressed in shorts and a white t-shirt, with Ray-Bans covering his grey eyes. We were called into one corner of the Academy which I realised was constructed specifically for Sparring. A boundary line made by a white chalk, in the shape of a ring was made on the grass.

Ethan stood at one side of the ring whereas we all stood on the other, facing him. I looked around to find the other Alphas but they weren't there. Okay....that is strange. They were in all three classes. Why not in his?

My stomach shifted uneasily and I notice that the hands that I was hugging myself with were pinching into my skin. I released my hands but then I couldn't figure out what to do with them, so instead, they clasped and unclasped each other as if in constant need of touch and reassurance.

Ethan crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat, "Let's get started. I don't like to waste time," his face turned slightly as if he was assessing us all, "Dan and Parker, get in the ring."

Two men stepped forward from the line and into the ring. Both of them removed their shirts.

One was taller, whereas the other had more muscle. Now the thing about Sparring is, it doesn't only test how strong you are, but also how clever you are. A normal average person could easily beat a 6ft muscular man if they use their brain correctly.

Ethan put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Soon, they were fighting. It was a neck-and-neck match. Both of them played extremely good but Dan, the more muscular one ended up winning. He used his strength and brain both effectively.

Ethan gave a praising nod toward him and asked them to step out of the ring.

Time passed as I waited for my turn. I felt a hand intertwine with mine. I looked at the side and saw Tyler smiling at me. Another hand grasped my left hand, this time it was Josh.

"Why are we holding hands?"

Tyler didn't answer but Josh did, "Tyler was grabbing yours so I thought I should too otherwise I felt your left hand would get lonely and jealous."

I just stared at his face, dumbfounded.

"Are you ser-"

"Josh and Jordon, step up." A loud, familiar voice interrupted. I faced the front to see Ethan looking at us. A muscle twitched involuntarily at the corner of his jaw, his mouth formed a rigid grimace. With arms folded tightly across his broad chest, he tapped his foot furiously.

"Sweet Jesus! It is finally my turn," Josh crouched down so he was the same height as my hand, "See you later, lefty! Don't worry, Daddy Josh will be back."

With that, he ran and jumped into the ring.

Daddy Josh? Okay......I'll just pretend that never happened.

The fight was really short. Josh, in under a minute, pinned Jordon to the ground. It was as if he had given up even before the fight started. Josh pulled Jordon up and gave him a hug. Then he waited for Ethan to praise him like he did with the others.

But no words were uttered by him. I looked at him to see his face turned towards Tyler and I. It was difficult to pinpoint where he was exactly looking because of the Ray-Bans.

"Roxy and Vi- Alejandro, get inside." He spoke through gritted teeth. Josh came to the spot we were standing, a pout on his face.

"The asshole didn't even praise me."

Tyler rolled his eyes, "You're such a cry-baby."

I pulled my hand from Tyler's grasp and stepped into the ring. Roxy was fairly tall, three inches shorter than me, but still tall. Her body was as fit as mine.

We both circled each other, waiting for the whistle. As soon as we heard it, we jumped forward and grabbed each other by the shoulders. For a while, both of us just dodged and ducked. I was trying to find a weakness which I could target but it was kind of difficult because she was quite strong. It took me a while but then I saw that she pulled back her punches before hitting.

As she was about to throw a punch to my face, I swiftly grabbed her elbow and slammed my leg into her stomach. Under seconds, she was pinned under me and eventually moved her head to the side to surrender. I got up and pulled her up, and then without sparing a glance towards Ethan, I stepped out of the circle and back to my place.

For a while, Ethan remained silent. I had no idea why because I wasn't looking at him.

"Bastard is staring at you, I want to punch his face," Josh whispered extremely low so no one around us could hear.

"Let him, as if I give a fuvk," I answered back as I examined my nails.

A minute passed before Ethan finally called the next pair. Soon, all the pairs had fought. Since we were 25, only one person remained. I thought that the last remaining person would be paired with someone else from the group. But I was wrong. Very wrong.

Because the person who was left was Tyler and the person he was going against was -

"Tyler, come in the ring," Ethan stepped inside the ring, took off his glasses and pulled off his shirt.

- Ethan.

Oh, goddess.

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