Juliette! Oh my god! It's been so long! How are you?" Claire hugged Juliette so tightly making her struggle for her breath.

"I'm good. I missed you too!”

The thing with Claire was that she was very assertive about her affection. Growing up with a sister as outgoing as her, one would expect Juliette to inculcate certain qualities. But as different as the sisters were from each other, they've never been able to stay apart.

Since their Parents’ death in a car crash, they grew up with their uncle and aunt who genuinely loved them. Sam and Jenny Spencer had always wanted kids. But seemed like god never granted their wish. After trying for years, they finally resigned to their fate. When his brother died, leaving the little siblings with nobody else, Sam took it upon himself to care for the girls as if they were his own.

 Claire was the naughty one, always getting into trouble while Juliette was the good girl, covering up for her sister. Things went well until Claire finished her college and got a job in Washington. She had to move far away, which was a bad news to Juliette and the old couple.

 "How is Uncle Sam and Aunt Jenny?" asked Claire.

Juliette was about to answer the question when her eyes caught a man coming towards them. He stopped behind Claire and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"So this is your sister?"

Juliette saw the tall, incredibly handsome guy speak. He was one of the best looking guys she ever saw.

Claire looked up at him with a warm smile. It didn't take a genius to know what was going on between her sister and this beautiful man.

Juliette stood there staring at the romance novel moment in front of her eyes.  Claire must have noticed that when she looked back at her.

"Oh, Jules, this is Marc. He's.. ummm...."

"Your Boyfriend?” that would explain a few things which happened in the past thirty seconds.

Claire had mentioned Marc several times when she and Juliette spoke on the phone but never told her that she was dating him.

It was the first time in her life that Juliette saw her sister blush but then again,  it was also the first time that she saw a grown man blush. Claire looked at her apologetically.

"I wanted to tell you but, I didn't know how you'd react".

Hell yeah! Juliette herself didn't know how to react. Not that this was Claire's first relationship. But somehow the man seemed to be different from others. She could also tell from looking at Claire that she was not who she was when she was dating  other guys. She seemed more like.... herself.

After a considerably long awkward silence, Juliette finally spoke,"Hmmm...You are together and I get to know now. Fine. When is the party?"

Claire let go of the breath she was holding and hugged her laughing sister.

It was Juliette's first time visiting Washington. What made the visit wonderful was that she was finally living the dream. Back home, she always dreamt of the day where she would reunite with her sister and roam the streets of Washington with her. It was surprisingly pleasant to have Marc as company. Frankly, he was a sweet guy. Claire deserved to be happy after all those jerks she met during her high school and college. Juliette didn't know what her sister saw in those guys. They treated her like trash all the time. Yet, she knew Claire and how committed she can be. It was one of the many things she loved in her. When Claire dumped those jerks each time, Juliette was the first one to be relieved. "Finally!"  she used to say every time before they ordered Pizza and talked while watching some stupid Rom-com.

Georgetown's night lights with the taxis and shopping centres... and the street walks ...and the diners...the nightlife… Juliette was overwhelmed. She was always the last one to step out and have fun.  A good book with a coffee mug in her room was her idea of fun. But tonight, she danced, yelled at strangers, had shots at the bar and tried to flirt with the bartender and failed while Claire and Marc struggled to contain their laughter.

"Told you I suck at this!” She yelled over the music. “But you know what? I don't care!" Grabbing Claire's hand, she took her to the dance floor.

By the time they reached home, it was past midnight and Claire was nearly carrying her drunk sister to her bed. If she'd known that drunk Juliette would be so much fun, she would've somehow tricked her into drinking long ago. 

"You need anything, Jules?" Claire asked while tucking her sister in.

Drowsy eyes were struggling to stay open. 

"Nah.." she murmured and sunk back into sleep.

Claire laughed and placed a kiss on Jules's temple. It had been so long that she'd spent time with her sister and she missed Jules so much. 

"Good night, babe.." she whispered as she closed the door.

"Anyone will be lucky to have you. With your GPA, they'd be more than ready to hire you." Claire said in a reassuring tone, attacking the keyboard of her laptop.

“Don't you think you're overestimating your sister a little bit?"

"Hell No! Are you kidding me? That project you did back in high school, it gave your classmates chills. They were literally scared to show their work after your presentation.”

Jules rolled her eyes. Leave it to Claire to exaggerate something and she'd do it like a pro.

"I'm pretty sure there are many talented IT professionals in the city." she said walking over to the couch with a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you'll run out of opportunities. They are always there." 

"Ohh... the ever optimistic Claire..."

As they both chuckled, the news on the TV caught their attention.

"The Defenders strike yet again. Today precisely at 2PM, UST, a group of rebels attacked a shopping centre at Barnaby Woods. The neighbourhood is known to be the residence for the administrative members of The Alpha Royalty and it is not the first time an occurrence like this has taken place in Washington DC. Luckily, the attack was handled and brought down by the A.R. soldiers stationed nearby......"

"Wow...." Jules's eyes were stuck to the TV. 

"Not again..." Claire muttered while she put her laptop aside got up to head to the kitchen.

Jules looked at Claire's casual attitude towards the news which made her curious. "Who are Defenders?"

Taking a can of beer out of the fridge, Claire walked back to the couch and spoke.

"They're the members of some Anti-Werewolf League or something like that. They want to get the human rights back in the track."

"Using Violence?"

"Not really. Marc said that they fight for a just cause unlike other rebel groups. They fight for the justice of the people who were either ill-treated by the Werewolves or even lost their lives in their hands. I think he said that the Defenders are secretly supported by the government."

“But isn’t the government on the Royalty’s side?”

“God knows where the government’s loyalty lies. It’s definitely not with the public, though.”

Jules nodded, halfway through processing the information. It had been years since the werewolves came out of the dark and established their power. Life was different before. Humans had more rights back then. They didn't have to labor for the werewolves and they always had a choice. 

She also heard from Mrs. Fletcher, her friend Emily’s mother, that in the beginning of the werewolf rule, some shots were given to the public which would make them more compliant. It was necessary for every citizen to take those shots. Some people refused to obey who ended up imprisoned and some really unlucky ones executed. This enraged the groups of freedom fighters to go into hiding and form establishments of their own.

Like these Defenders, maybe.

As time passed, newer werewolf leaders took over who changed the way things worked and drugging the public was taken out of practice. The recently retired King had something to do with that from what Jules had heard.

"What's wrong?" Marc, who just entered the room asked Claire.

"Hey! How was work?" Claire walked over to him and asked while hugging him.

"It was okay. I'm alive which means the day went well." he said walking over to the couch.

"Alive? Marc what do you do?" Juliette asked with curiosity.  She hoped her sister wasn't dating any gang member. But she  got an answer she wasn't expecting.

"I work for Turner Corp. I'm one of James Turner's accountants."

Her eyes widened.

"James Turner? The James Turner? But why?" She'd heard a few scary stories about the new Alpha king. They said that he was a psychopath and enjoys hurting people physically and emotionally. "My friend Liz said that her father had to visit this man on a work visit and that he's never been the same after that."

"That sounds like him." Marc replied.

"Then how come you're working for him?" 

Marc and Claire looked at each for a brief moment. There was hesitation in Marc's face. He was contemplating on whether or not to tell Jules something. Finally, he spoke.

"Because quitting is not up to you. You’ve got to have a really strong reason to do that and he can easily tell when one's lying".

Jules nodded but she couldn't understand why on earth Marc would choose to work for James Turner in the first place. 

"I am sorry. I wish one day you quit your job and get a better one." She added.

Marc chuckled. "I wish the same too. Speaking of jobs, there is a vacancy in the technical wing. Claire tells me you have a degree in Computer Science. If you are interested...."

"Wait wait wait wait. We were just discussing about how your job sucks and you are inviting my sister to join you in that same company?" Claire asked.

"Relax. I hate my job because I hate my boss. But Juliette doesn't have to work under him. I mean he barely visits the software team and the pay is really good."

Claire and Juliette looked at each other. 

"He has a software team?" Juliette asked.

"No. He owns a software company along with the oil and telecommunications sectors."

“He’s a king and a businessman?” she asked.

“Yep. Though in my opinion, he’s a much better businessman than a king.”

Unable to come to a decision, Juliette looked at her sister. 

 "Well, I guess you can try. Who gives a damn about that man as long as you do your job, right?" Claire said.

Juliette was clueless. Frankly, she didn’t know if working at Turner Corp. was a good idea. But getting a job in Washington wasn’t easy. She would have to pay her bills in the future and she didn’t like overstaying her welcome at her sister’s place. Besides, if Marc was working there, it would be giving her a little support too. But she wasn’t sure of one thing.

"Am I going to be working with werewolves?" she asked Marc. Juliette was scared of werewolves since she was a child when she saw a man get bitten by one.

Marc chuckled. "No. There are no werewolves where you work. They don't work with humans unless it’s needed. They are in the administration block where they have to take care of all the business issues. Don't worry".

"Okay then.. I guess..." Juliette agreed, still unsure of her decision.

"Cool. I'll contact the team then." 

Claire raised a glass, "To Jules and her new job!!!"

Marc called from his office and as he said, he’d informed one of his friends from the Turner Software Corp. about Juliette and sent them the Resume he got from her.

“They want you to be there for an interview tomorrow. I have no doubt they’ll be impressed with you. So don’t worry about it.” Claire and Jules heard him from the speaker.

“Thank you so much, Marc. I won’t let you down.”

“Hey. No formalities. I know how talented you are. That’s all I hear from your sister.”

Juliette smiled over to her sister who grinned and took the phone before uttering a long “Mwwahh!!!” to her man.

After hanging up, Claire looked at her sister while taking a sip of her coffee. Jules was in one of those moods again. She was unable to understand what went on in Juliette’s mind that she looked so sad all day. She was not having her period for sure. Sometimes, she even cried for no apparent reason. Claire guessed that Jules might be mourning their parents in her own way and so didn’t prod her too much about it. But as time went on, her episodes were still consistent. Claire once confronted her about it, accusing her of hiding something from her. Claire could tell when Jules was lying. But when she answered that she was hiding nothing and that she genuinely didn’t know why she was feeling down, Claire knew her sister was telling the truth.

“Babe,” she called out.

Jules snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Claire. “Ughh.. I’m doing it again, aren’t I ?”

“Yep.” Claire nodded. “You’ve got to do something about it.”

“Yes.” She agreed. She didn’t know why but at times, she’d feel miserable. Especially at nights. The worst thing was that she couldn’t even figure out the reason for her sadness. Yes, she missed her parents sometimes. But she had accepted that fact and moved on. This grief had nothing to do with them though. All she knew was the feeling and it was intensely heartbreaking.

“I’m fine. A good sleep is all I need.”

Looking out the window, in the privacy of her room, Juliette confronted her twisted emotions. She’d been having these mood swings since she was a child and the root of the thoughts still remained a mystery. She wanted to cry her heart out and run as fast as she could to reach there. But run where? Cry for what? She never understood.

Her therapist from high school had suggested her to pick a hobby which made her feel good. But she already had a bunch of hobbies. She listened to music, was an avid reader and she spent most of her free time learning new Softwares and Computer languages. She felt incredibly happy when she sang too. But once in a while there came a day when she couldn’t do or focus on anything.

Recently, the feeling had become worse. It was like something was trying to invade her mind. Her thoughts. Something unknown and strange. What was even stranger was that a very little part of her had almost wanted to open up to the invasion until her senses kicked back in.She realised that this would get out of hand if she didn’t do something about it.

Sighing, she walked over to her bed and lied down. Tomorrow would be different. She’d be back to her normal self. That’s what happened every time. She’d look for a really good therapist and get an appointment first thing in the morning. She assured herself that and went to sleep. …