Fight for Me

Nick’s POV

The moment the woman opens the heavy door to what I assume is to their dungeons, the smell of sweet blood hits my nostrils.

Gggrrhh.

It’s her blood. It’s her scent. I would know it anywhere.

The woman flinches at my growl, and with how slowly she’s walking us down to the cells, my guess is she’s stalling.

I already suspect what to expect when I see Layla. I don’t know nor care what their deal is with Blake for them to have killed him, but they still kept Layla here. Tortured her.

A few more bodies will probably drop dead tonight, if I let my wolf take over.

Not to mention, I know that wolf standing behind the bear-shifter. I never forget a face. He was the rogue that spoke to Layla that day at the diner. Does he have anything to do with this?

We walk further down the hall passing multiple empty cells. For a new pack I’m not surprised. They probably don’t get many rogue attacks all the way up here in the mountains. Not to mention, that almost no one knows about them. Which is one of the reasons it took me so long to find them.

But the woman’s gasp and confused but scared look to me has me looking past her and into the open cell she had us stop in front of.

I push past her and see nothing but a skinny mattress in here. It's empty. But there is blood. So much blood. It has my own blood boiling. I can feel my wolf pushing through, eager for another massacre.

I can sense Ben and Micah’s wolves stirring too. I was pleased when I realized how my own pack members came to care and even respect Layla over the past few months that she’s been at our pack. Not just because she’s my mate or potentially their future Luna. But because she’s Layla.

She’s strong, smart and mysterious. She’s too hard to ignore. I was so worried and jealous of the idea that others may fall for her charms or even just stealing too much of her time, that I kept suggesting she spend as much of her time with me. Besides, it would have helped with our bond growing. Which it did. We had gotten closer. I know we did. Even her scent was fully back. It drove me and my wolf crazy when I couldn’t smell it every time I woke up anymore.

“Where is she?” I say again, not bothered to look back at them. They don’t deserve anything from me for having allowed this.

I continue sniffing around the room and looking for anything to give me answers, compared to whatever they’ll decide to tell me. I wound my already bloody fists as my morphing nails dig into them, while my eyes catch the sight of ripped panties in the far corner and a dagger on the floor drenched in blood.

“She was here.” I hear a confused voice. Looking back, I see the large man I had asked this very same question too before. We’re practically the same height. But from his scent, it’s clear he’s a bear-shifter.

I’m already pissed off. With that look in his eye, he knows I’m one second away from ripping his throat out.

“She was.” The woman steps between me and the bear-shifter. “I left the cell unlocked after I treated her.” She looks guiltily at the other half naked men that came down with us. “It’s not like she could have gone anywhere in her state.”

I grip her small neck in my hand as I get her to look back at me, and only me, so she can answer my next question with more focus. “Where is she?”.

If I have to repeat my question again, my wolf would surely force its way out and kill them for an answer.

I can hear multiple growls from the other men, but I’m sure Micah and Ben will handle them. Though, that bear-shifter looks like he can be a daring one.

“Hhhm?” I rattle the trembling woman a bit, realizing I should probably loosen my grip a little on this weak witch. I can barely smell her witch scent on her, but it’s there. But something in me doesn't care if her neck would snap right now.

“She didn’t do anything.” The bear-shifter quickly speaks up, with clear irritation in his voice. But looking up, I can see concern for this woman.

Tightening my grip on her throat again, till she starts pulling at my hand and wheezing from lack of air, I look up at him.

“I don’t like to repeat myself.”

He growls deeply as his eyes give an auburn glow. But I’m not bothered with his threat. Every second counts for me to find Layla. And if they continue to waste my time, I might just let my wolf take over this interrogation.

But the bear-shifter speaks. “We don't know where she is. Blake is the one that brought her here. He told all of us that she was his mate-“

Gggrrrhhh!!!!

I don’t even hear the woman whimper as my morphing nails dig into her skin. I’m too annoyed with what I just heard.

How dare Blake try to force her as his mate! How stupid can he be? Layla isn’t one to be forced into anything. First he turned his back on her, and then he tortured her and me through my mark. Fuck! I’ve never wished this hard for someone to be alive, just because I want to kill them myself. No, screw that. I want to do the same with Jax as well. I want to pull their insides out and shove it down their throats.

“Ever since Blake left with Mike and Jason,” he quickly continues his story, “he wasn’t the same when he came back, alone. And one night he just showed up with her. He told us that some alpha forced his mark on her and he would help her get rid of it. Something about it being a wolf thing.”

“And you just believed him?” I ask lowly, as I focus on trying to control my anger and my livid wolf.

But the man sighs with disappointment as his gaze falls on the woman whose face is already turning red from lack of air. “He was our alpha. He helped all of us.” He gestures to everyone in the room. “But we noticed something wasn’t right. He was,……out of control. Even Melissa,” he worryingly points to the whimpering woman in my grip, “told us that the girl, Layla, was convinced Blake wasn’t her mate. We came here to stop him. But when we got here,” he points to the bloodied cell, “he fucking cut her eyes out.”

I can see the annoyance in him to just retell this story. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything wrong.

I release the woman’s throat and she falls to the ground gasping and crying for air. With my grip, she’ll have bruises for weeks. I can see the man eager to get to her side, but I take a step closer to him, blocking her from him.

With the angry glow in my eyes, I hold nothing back as I give him a hard left hook to his face. As he falls to the floor, spitting out blood and a tooth, I hear growls from his companions. But Micah and Ben hold them back from interfering as I loom over their new ‘alpha’.

I pull him up by his neck and throw him against one of the brick walls. The wall shakes and cracks on impact. He wheezes for air as he crouches over the floor. But I grip his hair and yank his head back so he’ll look up at me.

“Nothing prevented you to stop Blake from hurting her.”

I shove his face against the wall, keeping it stuck between my hand and the wall. I’m pushing his face so hard, I’m seconds away from hearing the crack of his skull. I can feel him flailing under my hold, but with no luck. Bear-shifters are quite strong, but not necessarily in their human forms. Why doesn’t he just shift? Why doesn’t he fight back? My wolf wants a fight. Uuugghhh! This is pissing me off.

I pull on his hair and toss him to the floor. I instantly kick him in the abdomen, sending his body flying back into the cell. The sound of his ribs cracking barely pleases my wolf. He wants blood. But I don’t have time for this.

“You only bothered because it affected this pack.” I spit the words out. “Pray I never see you again.”

Silence fills the air as I say what I needed to say, not bothered of his response. It almost impresses me, -that he refuses to get up, especially with that determined and angry look in his eyes. It’s a very difficult thing for a man to back down from a challenge, especially when your opponent is doing it in front of your subordinates and in your own territory. But for a man to swallow his pride and take his humiliation without cowardice, he may just earn my respect. After all, he has nothing to be proud of. All he is eager to do, is to keep this pack safe, from me.

I step away from him as I make my way out of this underground prison. Hearing Ben and Micah behind me I know we have to be quick to catch up to Layla. Her scent is still here. It’s not fresh, but it hasn’t been that long since she left. But if she doesn’t want to be found, even by me, she will find a way. But it doesn’t matter where she’s going. I’ll clear her path for her, and make sure she’s safe.

The war is already underway. Even if everyone eventually finds out, it would already be too late by then. All I can do now is to ensure my pack’s safety, and Layla’s.

I already know what I need to know. I can only guess how Layla must have gotten herself out of this situation. She must be in so much pain. I swear to the goddess, I’ll find her and protect her no matter the cost. After everything, I owe her that much.