Fight for Me

Two days later

Nicholas jolts up from his post near the border as the night air turns warm and the breeze in the air stills. He scans through the trees in the darkness, calming his breathing so he can focus on the sounds around him. But his heartbeat is deceiving his attempt as it slowly but loudly pumps his blood through his anxious muscles.

He has been patrolling the borders every night, in the hopes of her finding her way back to him. But each day makes him grow more worried. He doesn’t know if she’s safe or hurt. Even now that they are mated, he can’t feel the bond as strongly as he’s sure he should. He doesn't know why. It could be because she's not a wolf. Or perhaps the fact that they never spent enough time together for it to strengthen properly.

He releases his fingers from their fists, hoping the quiet breeze would relieve his palms of their heavy sweat.

The sudden sound of birds flocking not that far from him gets his attention. But what keeps his attention at looking straight ahead, is the sound of thumping. – Getting louder and faster.

He catches a glimpse of a figure rushing past one of the trees, faintly hearing the rustling of leaves and twigs accompanied with heavy panting.

Nicholas crouches as he gets ready for his attacker that is fast approaching. But his body stiffens the moment his senses flood him with the dominating aura of his opponent.

He’s strong. And alone. Is he berserk?

Nicholas morphs his nails and canines as he readies himself for the attack, not too concerned of contacting his men. They’re already on their way.

Though, Nicholas stares in confusion when the figure comes into sight. He is fast approaching, yet Nicholas remains unmoving.

The figure sprints past the border and dashes towards Nicholas the moment he sees him. But Tyler runs past Nicholas and lunges at the man, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

They both jump up from the ground and growl at each other. Tyler hesitantly lowers his head but circles the man to block his path from Nicholas. They both growl louder, making their anger known. Tyler crouches as he readies himself for an attack from this angry wolf. Though, the man’s heavy breathing and unsteady stance make it obvious that he is in no shape to fight.

“Why are you here?” Nicholas breaks the silence.

Though, the man is not taking his eyes off of Tyler.

“You,…..” He says breathlessly. “I challenge,….you.”

Tyler growls in annoyance while more of their men join them at this end of their border.

But Nicholas seems unfazed. In fact, his heavy sigh has him seeming bored.

“Challenge me for what?”

“Your title.”

“Tyler,...stand down.”

Nicholas can see Tyler’s naked back go rigid as he hesitantly peeks at his alpha.

“Nicholas?”

But Nicholas steps forward and stands between Tyler and the man.

“What use is my tittle as an alpha, to someone like you, Council member Ruhan.”

Ruhan grimaces at the mention of his title.

“You,.. and your brothers.” He says in anger as he stares at Anthony and Tristan standing in the crowd behind Nicholas.

“You wish to challenge all three of us then.” Anthony says in annoyance as he tries to approach them, but gets pulled back by a stern-looking Jason.

Tristan stands straight before he walks forward and stands next to Nicholas.

Though, Nicholas can’t help but look at the man suspiciously. He and his brothers knew that the council might come for them one of these days. Either because they didn’t align themselves with the council and their declaration of war, or because of the council’s possible alliance with their father.

But Ruhan is here alone.

“Don’t even think of harming my brothers.” Nicholas says as he takes a step infront of Tristan.

Ruhan is out for blood. I know that look in his eyes. This is no challenge. It seems more like a suicide mission. He is strong, but he can’t beat all three of us. He should know that. At best, he will try to take at least one of us down with him.

“And what of your human mate?”

Nicholas feels his blood heating and his wolf forcing its way through as he loses control. He lunges at Ruhan and throws him to the ground. The sudden hard fall has Ruhan gasping for even more air. But Nicholas gets on top of him and roughly grabs his jaw as he forces him to look at him.

“Speak of her again and I’ll make you feel nothing but pain.” He makes his threat with glowing eyes and a menacingly deep voice, - his wolf’s voice.

Ruhan’s eyes widen at the promise in those words, but he quickly pushes Nicholas off of him. They both crouch, ready for a fight.

“Do you even know where she is-?”

But Nicholas lunges at Ruhan before he can even finish his sentence. Ruhan is strong and quick to halt Nicholas’ attack, gripping his fists in his.

But Nicholas is feral and he lets his wolf take control. He pulls his arms back, dragging Ruhan along and head bumps him. The crushing of bone is heard clearly. Before Ruhan can even focus on the blood dripping from his broken nose, he is roughly forced down to the ground by his shoulder as his arm is twisted behind his back. Nicholas bites into his shoulder, chewing on a big piece of flesh and Ruhan yields, finally convinced.

Ruhan hurriedly and sharply shoves the fingers of his free hand into the crevice of Nicholas’ lowest rib. Nicholas surprisingly doesn’t let go, regardless of the loud grunt of pain he mutters. Ruhan forces his hand deeper in desperation, already feeling fatigue catching up to him, especially with all the blood loss.

As Nicholas loosens his grip, Ruhan quickly punches him in the stomach, winding him. He wastes no time tackling his feet and shoving him to the ground and flips him onto his chest. He grabs Nicholas’ arm behind his back, shoving the side of his face into the ground.

Seeing the brothers approaching, he gives them a quick shake of his head as he struggles to control a fuming Nicholas.

“Calm down.”

The brothers look at Ruhan with confusion. But Nicholas continues to flail under him.

“Calm the fuck down, boy!” Ruhan growls out with his own alpha command.

But Nicholas isn’t fazed by it. Instead, his muscles go taut as his wolf takes over and he begins to shift.

“Shit.” Ruhan tries to tighten his grip on Nicholas, but to no avail. “Your father has her! Your father has your mate!” He practically shouts in Nicholas’ ear as he made use of his body’s weight to hold him down.

Ruhan is quick to jump off Nicholas who is just as quick to get to his feet and face Ruhan again.

“What did you just say?” Nicholas asks slowly as he pants with anger.

“Your father took her as his prisoner.” He wipes the blood off his face, though, not bothered by the blood dripping from his shoulder.

“What are you really doing here?”

“Morik.” He says in dismay. “He trusted you,…well, he trusts your mate. And everything else has already gone to shit. And that means,……” He clenches his jaw in annoyance. “I had to consider the possibility that you may just be our last hope in stopping this war.”

Nicholas scrunches his brows.

Ruhan sighs. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble. But I had to make sure.” He weakly faces the rest of the crowd of mixed shifters and stops when he faces the brothers again. “Your father has proclaimed himself as the Alpha King. He has an army of his own, and he’s now waging a war on everyone. And anyone who stands in his way,….will be killed.”

They all stand straight hearing the sternness with a hint of pain in his voice.

“What about the other council members? Where are they?” Anthony voices out.

Ruhan huffs out as he starts to sway. “A lot has happened. I’ve been running for two days straight and barely escaped with my life. But as you can see, I’m the only one here.”

Nicholas curtly nods at Tyler and they simultaneously approach Ruhan. Without giving Ruahn a chance to protest, they each take and arm and throw it over their shoulders as they start to drag Ruhan to their new found pack-house.

“You must rest.” Nicholas orders, interrupting whatever Ruhan wanted to say. “But before that, you will tell me everything.”

Ruhan lazily snickers as he slowly allows his body to feel the effects of its fatigue. “I wonder,…..you were always his lapdog, and yet,….the only one to make him wary.” He peeks at Nicholas through the side of his eye, his head already hanging weakly. In all the time he has known Nicholas, he has never lost his cool. But one mention of his mate, and he was ready to slaughter everything in his path. “He said a lot about her. Ridiculous things.” He pauses for confirmation, but he struggles to focus on Nicholas’ face. “Regardless,….he will make her suffer.” His words end in a whisper as he allows his eyes to briefly rest.

Nicholas clenches his jaw and whispers a promise to himself.

“He will die.”