The Eve of Darkness

Chapter 17 - Jude

"Some-BODY once told me—"

The blaring morning alarm was no competition for the force in Jude's swing as he smacked his hand down on his phone. The device continued to sing out, the song, 'All Star' having done its job of giving Jude a tiny heart attack first thing in the morning. After a few moments of struggling, the beta finally managed to shut it off, thus ushering in an air of morning silence. His hair, which over the last three months had grown out past his shoulders, sat haphazardly over his face.

Jude groaned and peeked one eye open, looking out at his dark bedroom. A tall dresser stood against the far wall from where his own bed sat in a corner against a window. His closet was open, with clothes piling out on the floor from where he'd been shoving his laundry to hide from his ridiculously neat best friend. Rolling over, Jude's tired eyes peeled open further to gaze out the dark window next to his bed. These days, he was waking up so early that the sun had yet to rise before him.

A steady pitter-patter of rain tapped against the window. Although it was dark enough that he couldn't see the rain, the sound of falling water and slow rumble of thunder every few minutes spoke volumes to the status of the morning weather. 

With a gruntled sound brewing in Jude's chest, he tossed the covers off his legs with an aggressive spite and rolled out of bed with a huff. Slightly stumbling over his own feet, Jude made his way out of his bedroom, two doors down the hallway, and into the bathroom. When he'd finished his business and returned, Jude made quick work of throwing on a pair of baggy black sweats, a grey hoodie, and fuzzy socks.

There we go, he thought as he sighed and ran his hands through his hair before pulling it into a messy bun. Proper work attire.

Since it was around five in the godforsaken morning, Jude figured he would get some stuff done now and then, before anyone of bureaucratic importance could roll in, he would find a time to put on real clothing.

The walk to the main office was brisk but cold, as Jude could feel the frigid winter air even through his warm clothing. He went straight for the coffee bar, prepping himself a mug with some creamer on the bottom and waiting for the machine to finish brewing. As he leaned back against the counter, Jude's gaze cats itself over his desk on the far wall, where numerous papers, documents, pens, and sticky notes sat in an organized chaos.

When it was ready, he poured the bitter black liquid into his mug and took a long sip as he walked over to his desk and fell into his chair with a dramatic sigh.

"Alrighty," he said to himself, breathing the word out as if he wee trying to breathe out every last ounce of exhaustion in his body. "Let's see what is on the agenda today."

Jude knew since the moment he woke up that today was the day Camden and company would head out to thoroughly investigate the hunter's cabin. This meant that while everyone else got to have all the fun, he would hang back and find even more paperwork that probably needed to be finished.

Knowing that the damn stuff wouldn't finish itself, Jude got started on some of the things that needed attending, such as plans for the North-Western Pack Summit coming up in December, the electricity bill for the main pack house and his parent's house, and the starting arrangements for the crowning of Aria as official Sola. He was about two hours into working when his phone abruptly started ringing, startling the beta who had been deeply focused on some notes he was writing.

Jude jumped in his seat and cursed, taking a moment to hold a hand to his heart and lean back in his chair. Once he composed himself, Jude sat upright and picked up his phone, which was still ringing unendingly.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm looking for Jude from the Darkwoods Pack?" The voice on the phone was deep yet feminine, limited severely by the robotic rhythm with which it was spoken.