Chapter 1
Malibu, Southern California
Seven-thirty five am.
Elena's house.
"Babe you know you gotta wake up eventually". Elena says, looking down at Laila dressed in an oversized shirt with a worn-out look, heavy eye bags, and very much unkempt hair. Elena Daniels is in her late twenties, she is fair-skinned, slightly taller than Laila, and has short dark hair. she is a well-paid banker, from a very reputable family. She is strict, focused, and is madly in love with Laila. She has lived in Malibu five years longer before Laila arrived.
"But El, I had a long night, oops! My bad, WE had a long night". Laila says with a light smile on her face and her left brow pulled up while sending out her hand to pull Elena back into bed for a kiss.
But Elena pushes her hand and slides to the corner of the room where Laila can't get to her. "You know how aggressive you get". She chuckles. Laila has a fake smile on. Then she stares at her for a momentary fifteen seconds and whispers in a soothing tone "I love you, happy anniversary, and see you tonight". Elena walks out.
Laila is left staring at the open windows. Her eyelids glowed pink making it impossible for her to go back to sleep. She glanced over at her open laptop. Still no response on her promotion, she thought. Yawning, she pulled herself up and swung her feet onto the floor.
A thump sounded behind her, she turned her head just in time to see a photo of her and Elena clatter to the floor. The frame broke, causing a certain fear within her. She always worried that she'd have to leave Elena if the Council came for her.
The Council is made up of twelve fierce and loyal werewolves that'll do anything to ensure the safety of their kind. And this time, she was the threat, she thought to herself.
Her alarm rang interrupting her thoughts, it was twenty minutes to work time and she was not ready. She decides to get ready and rush to work.
Evergreen newspaper
"Laila, you're late". Said a huge man in a tightly stitched brown suit, glaring. Mr. Evergreen is the owner and man in charge of the Evergreen newspaper. He is in his late four-ties, childless, and not married. That explains his grumpy character.
"Sir, I had trouble getting a bus and..." Laila tried to explain but was interrupted by Mr. Evergreen when he lashed out, "I might just have to hold your promotion for a week to see your change". A moment of silence... He grinned. "Congratulations Miss Danvers, you are now the new Editor in chief of Evergreen Newspaper". Laila leaped with so much excitement whilst her colleagues applauded her. "Thank you, sir". Laila uttered. This was it, her big break. She thought to herself.
While at her office, her phone rang. She picked up immediately knowing it will be Elena calling to congratulate her. In her excitement, she didn't for a second look at her phone screen.
"Babe I got it! I got it! I thought he'd fire me but..." "Time is up, Run" the person on the other end of the call cut in. It was a male's voice she heard. "He...hello????" With a lot of fear within her, she muttered. The call stopped. This was the first time this had happened since she ran from New Orleans, no one had her contact, she had no friends... then who??? She whispered to herself.
Distressed, she walked out of her office, leaving behind an I'll be back soon card. This was often used if a worker had to leave without notifying Mr. Evergreen.
She took a cab and got home as soon as she could. She was worried and needed space to think.
She called Elena, but her phone was not reachable. Had he? What if? No! Laila was frightened! It was almost lunchtime and she rushed to the bank to make sure Elena was doing alright.
When she got there, there was a sigh of relief as she saw Elena walk past reception. "El!" She called out to her as she reached out for a tight hug. "I got the promotion", were her first words. In awe and appraisal, Elena kissed her and jumped for joy. "Means dinner is on?" She asked, Laila, nodded. They whispered sweet nothings to each other and quickly separated, Elena rushed back to her office and Laila went home to get Elena's anniversary gift-ready. Little did she know, she had a surprise of her own.
Elena had just come home from work. She was taking her bubble bath, even though they had both taken a bath together. But she loves her extra time in the bath and Laila always understood that.
It was almost seven pm, dinner time was close. Laila had on a stripe-less black gown that pulled on down to her knees. She held her hair up in a bun. She had picked out for Elena a dashing red dress. Short-sleeved opened the chest, body-hugging with a beautiful green emerald stone pendant dainty teardrop necklace to go with.
When Elena stepped out of the bathtub, Laila's eyes were glued to the sight of her beautiful fair-skinned body and her lovely green eyes. She helped her with her dress and put the necklace on as well. She had forgotten all about the call she received earlier in the day and she could only envisage a beautiful moment with the most beautiful lady in her life. "Nothing can ruin this evening", she said out loud to Elena.
The cab was outside and it was time to leave.
Once they got to the restaurant, Elena held out her hand and walked Laila in. While walking in, she noticed a certain tall man with a dark-brown hoodie but paid no attention to him.
They sat down, placed their orders, and had a bottle of white wine, Rombauer Chardonnay 2018. Whilst exchanging words of love to each other, Elena went down on one knee, "Babe you are a blessing, I'm happy with you and you are with me. There's nothing more I could want than to spend the rest of my life with you." The shimmer in Laila's eyes and uncertainty in her mind. But staring into her lover's eyes was a clear definition of happiness, something she'd searched for, for a long time. "Will you marry me?", Elena said, reaching out for the ring in her purse. "Ye-ss" Laila said shakily. She placed the ring on Laila's finger and they shared a passionate kiss. In awe, those present in the restaurant clapped and raised their glasses to such a heartwarming scene.
While waiting for their meals, the man in the brown hoodie walked past again. But this time, he dropped a note. Laila picked it up immediately and tried handing it out to him but he just walked away. She called for a waiter. "Can you give this to the man with a somewhat brown hoodie, he just walked past my table and dropped this." The waiter stood confused and was unaware of anyone passing by. Laila then opened the note. She thought to aid finding the man in the hoodie, what's in it would be a clue. But the content of this small piece of paper left her in utter disarray.