Fight for Me

Tristan and Melinda

Melinda paces the room as she has been for the past few of days.

Tristan stares at her from across the room with fury in his eyes, in nothing but his grey sweatpants and his tattoos on display.

“Are we going to do this again?’ He asks as he leans against a wall and crosses his arms.

“Do what?” She shouts back. “Argue?”

Tristan sighs. “I don’t want to argue with you. But we keep doing this. We argue. You have your say. I have mine. And then we go to bed and go back to normal.”

“Normal? What exactly is that anymore? Because the last time I checked, we didn’t have your baby-momma living with us or have our pack looking at me like some nuisance.”

Tristan grunts as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “I already told you. She has nowhere else to go. And we won’t know if the pup is mine until it’s born.” He steps closer to her, but a quick raise of her hand has him freeze in his spot. “And our pack doesn’t see you as a nuisance. They love you.”

“You really are blind.” She seethes at him in a whisper.

“I know things seem bad now, but I promise you, we’ll get through this. Baby, look at me.” He steps closer and reaches for her hands.

But looking into his eyes, hers tear up and she pulls her hands from his.

Tristan sighs in defeat. Here we go again. I took Nicholas’ advice and just grabbed a hold of her and told her I would never let her go. And surprisingly, she started acknowledging my presence again. I’m happy she’s talking to me again. But I can’t stand this. Whenever we do talk, we just end up arguing.

“We’ll get through this.” He says more to himself than her.

“You just don’t get it.” She starts pacing the room again, fidgeting with her nightgown and avoiding direct eye contact with him.

“Don’t get what?” He asks gently, not wanting to get her stressed out even more.

“I can’t do this.” She whispers. “I-,…I can’t.”

“What do you mean?” Tristan takes a daring step forward, eating the space up between them and holding her still. “Mmh?” He tilts her face up to look at him.

But the tears in her eyes, ready to fall, has him confused. Worried.

“I can’t do this Tristan.” She says shaking her head. “I can’t stay here. I don’t want to be here anymore.” She tries pulling his arms off hers.

But he rattles her as he shouts. “The fuck I’m letting you go!” His grip painfully tightens as he pulls her against his body. “You’re mine.” He growls out with a glow of his eyes.

“I wasn’t asking for your permission.” She says in a soft, steady voice.

He shakes his head as he looks at the determination in her eyes.

“You already made up your mind? Didn’t you?”

“I tried, Tristan. But,…I can’t.” She says in a strained voice as Tristan takes a small step back from her. But before he can say something, she continues in a cracked voice. “I’m suffocating. Every day it just gets harder and harder to breathe. I feel like I’m just in the way, whether it’s when you’re with her, or when the pack talks about the war and the pack’s future. I’m not wanted or needed in any of those things here. But you said things will get better. And I kept quiet, hoping they will.”

She looks up at him and his granted silence, -clearly giving her the time and space to finally say everything she’s been wanting to say.

“I know this sounds selfish, but I never expected things to just get better. I was hoping you would make it better. But you just expected me to accept it all. But I can’t. I can’t just live the rest of my life hidden away in your shadow. I can’t raise another woman’s child as if I have no problem with it, when I know I might never have yours. I can’t take it anymore. The way you look at me. As if I’m this wonder of a woman that’s selfless or,….good. I’m not. I don’t want to be. I don’t want to hate myself for loving you,……for destroying myself for you.”

She hurriedly wipes away the tear as it barely falls down her cheek. She anxiously looks at Tristan, awaiting his response. She bites the inside of her cheeks, seeing hurt in his eyes.

“Why didn’t you say all of this sooner? I would never want you to feel this way. Ever.” She can hear the worry in his shaky voice.

“But what can you really do? I know you can’t choose me over everything else. You might be mine. But you’re not mine alone, Alpha. You can’t abandon a child, a potential heir. You can’t even consider my advice as Luna without the pack forcing you to argue a witch’s point.”

Tristan clenches his jaw. “What are you saying?”

She sighs out deeply before she steels herself and gently says, “I’m leaving.”

“No.” He tries to step to her again. But he hears her whisper an incantation and he suddenly freezes on the spot, not able to move a muscle. “Don’t you dare use your witch magic on me!” He seethes with tears in his eyes. His muscles rippling as he tries to force himself free of the spell, though unsuccessfully.

“It’s better this way.”

“And where do you plan on going?”

“I am still useful, you know. The witch council asked for my assistance in the coming fight.”

“No. Don’t do this Melinda. That’s suicide.”

But she pays him no mind. “In the meantime, I’ll find a way that’s not as painful to get rid if this.” She says as she rubs his mark on her neck.

“Get rid of? You make it sound as if it’s a bothersome pest. –My mark. Our bond.” He says in a livid tone.

“You’re angry. It’s better that way, I guess.”

“I will find you Melinda. I promise you that.”

“Only if I survive this war.”

“We both know you’ll make it through this. You’re too stubborn, and a hell of a force to reckon with.” He says with a glint in his angry eyes. “You won’t die unless I have a say in it. I’ll find you. I promise you that. And I’ll make you regret all of this.”

But Melinda remains quiet as she approaches him.

As she closes the gap between them, she cups his face and gives him a deep kiss. A kiss he’s eager to reciprocate as his tongue dances with hers. But he groans from irritation as his frozen arms refuse to obey his command of holding onto his mate.

She suddenly stops the kiss before he had enough, -both breathing heavily.

“The spell will wear off once I cross the border…..Goodbye.” She whispers before she turns and walks off.

“Melinda. Get back here! MELINDA!!” He shouts as she closes the door behind her.