Fight for Me

Layla offered to help Tyler catch up on his leftover paperwork, which he hasn't gotten a chance to get to thanks to his recent busy schedule. She has gotten used to making herself comfortable to be at work in his office, alone.

But truth be told, she had her own agenda for doing it.

As guilty as she feels for them trusting her enough to leave her alone in the office, she has to do what she must. She has been using opportunities like these to snoop around his office, to find whatever she can about everything that’s been going on.

Nick is not telling me everything and everyone else is all tight-lipped.

The only things she finally found that seemed important was a file she found in one of his bottom drawers with a red sticker on it saying ‘NB’.

Thank god for his new colour coding system.

There were notes about recent rogue attack all over the country. There were toxin reports and names of labs in the areas. BioCorp’s name popped up a lot, with that awful logo she always saw in that forsaken torture prison. And a report on movements made by known hunters.

It all seemed so well planned out. On both ends.

Things are more serious than everyone is letting on.

She tidied the place a bit more before making her way to the adjoining door. A door which she recently found out leads to Nick’s new office, seeing that he trashed the previous one.

Leaning her ear against the door, she listens for any movement. But she knows there shouldn’t be. Nick is currently out to help with patrolling. But one can never be too careful.

Twisting the knob, she says a quiet thanks as it unlocks and opens.

Walking in with her bare feet, she sees the setup looking very similar to the last office, briefly reminding her of their close encounter the last time she was in one of his offices.

She shakes her head as she makes her way to his large desk in the middle of the room.

Knowing Nick, he isn’t one to put in too much effort in locking things away. Though, he is extremely secretive with that silent treatment of his. So if there is something he doesn’t want known, he definitely won’t put it on paper. Fingers crossed.

She sighs out dejectedly as she starts going through drawers.

It takes another five minutes for her to come across a file hidden in a compartment under his desk.

She sits on the floor and takes it out, wasting no time to open and read it as she makes herself comfortable under the desk.

Her eyes widen, when she reads their names. Names she hadn’t dared to say in years.

‘Harry and Elizabeth Michaelson’. Her parents. The people that all shifters know as traitors.

That’s when she’s suddenly reminded of what 'doctor ass-hat' said during the attack. He told everyone I was a Michaelson.

Going through the report she sees bold comments written in red ink, stating that there’s currently no records of a birth certificate of a child by the Michaelsons.

And they’ll never find one, even if they believe it to be true. With my mom as a doctor and my dad as a lawyer, they got rid of my documents ages ago. They said keeping me a secret would protect me.

But what really caught her eye were the comments surrounding the accident that killed them, -her included. They were very detailed. Too detailed. Like it was made by someone that was there.

Most of what she remembers from that night, was her parents packing what they could and rushing out of town, saying they would take her somewhere safe.

They kept talking like they weren’t coming with me. But they just kept repeating to me to not trust anyone. And to stay as far away as I can from an Alpha Erickson. So far I’ve never even heard of an alpha by that name.

She swallows the heavy lump in her throat, noticing her eyes starting to tear up.

She flips the pages of the report and a page falls out. Picking it up, she scrunches her nose trying to make sense of the mind map drawn on it. With one key word standing right in the middle of it, -father. Surrounded by words, such as, witches, shifters, wolf council, and even hunters followed by multiple question marks.

That’s when she hears loud footsteps and muffled talk approaching.

She quickly tidies the pages in the file and puts it back in its safety compartment under the desk.

But the door suddenly bursts open with loud voices booming.

“You have to tell them.” She hears Tyler’s voice practically yelling, which has her holding her breath as she remains crouched under the desk.

I’ve never heard Tyler speak like this to Nick. This must be very serious.

“Not yet. We have to find out more.” Nick’s deep voice roars out.

“You can’t always be protecting your brothers from everything. And just how much longer do we have to wait?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Of course it’s not that simple. Most of what we’re finding right now goes decades back. And none of it makes fucking sense. We don’t know who our enemies are. Hell, you could be harbouring a potential enemy here as your mate.”

“I thought I told you not to bring that up again.”

Tyler sighs. “Nicholas. I’m happy you found your mate. I’m even more ecstatic that you’re trying to hold on to her, this time. But facts remain. You know nothing about her. She’s as tight lipped as you. And even if your suspicions are true of her being a Michaelson, what then? Will you tell her that you were there when her parents were killed?”

Shock rushes through her at Tyler’s words.

To the outside world, her parents’ deaths were just seen as an unfortunate car accident. But for those involved, they would know better.

Gggrh. “It’s not that simple” is all Nick can grunt out as he struggles to find the right words.

“Nicholas……….I’m not just your Beta. I’m your friend too. And I will do what I can to help you and this pack as much as I can. But there are some things that you just need to do, and not wait around for the right time to strike.”

Layla hears footsteps followed by the closing of the door, and she knows Tyler left.

Nick walks to the wide window and stares at the nightfall sky, taking deep breaths. It takes a second longer to realize that the slight scent of Layla, which usually seeps through the connecting door, is stronger than it always was.

Turning around, he sees Layla standing behind his desk looking at him with nothing but anger in her eyes.

“Lay-“

“You were there!” She shouts at him, releasing the tear she was trying to hold back.

He steps closer to her, but she just walks around the desk, keeping distance between them.

“It’s not that simple.”

Pft. “Yeah. So you keep saying. But the fact remains is that you were there. You watched them die!” Her voice croaks. “Did you kill them?!”

“No! I was sent to kill them. But I didn’t. When I got there they were already-….”

She releases a heavy breath. “But you were going to, had someone not beaten you to it.”

“No,….I don’t know. Things didn’t make sense. They were all over the place. With shifters, witches, hunters. I wanted more.”

“More? More what? Incriminating evidence to use against the-“

“Yes!” He interrupts as he shouts back.

A silence fills the room.

“Yes Layla. Had I found anything to show that they were a threat to us werewolf shifters, I would have done it. I would have been the one to kill them. Without a second thought. Because that is what I do. I do whatever is necessary to protect my people.”

“Even if it means killing innocent people?”

“They weren’t that innocent. I saw them meeting with hunters.”

“Because your kind threatened them.”

Nick raises a questioning brow.

“My mother had us go from pack to pack because she wanted to teach and help treat your kind with proper medicine. Because she knew you wouldn’t get it from the hospitals. And my father was the one to help set up your laws. They just wanted to help. To create a place where there wasn’t all this racist crap. But then they started getting threats from a couple of alphas, who managed to convince a bunch of council members of all kinds of shifters that my parents were the bad guys in all of this. We were just trying to get away from it all. And the only people willing to help, turned out to be hunters. How is that their fault? They didn’t even know what was going on.” Layla continues to whimper as if out of breath.

“Your mother’s work is what’s being used to make these toxins.” Nick says calmly, taking a slow step forward. He releases a sharp breath of relief when he notices her not retreating.

“They stole it.” She tries wiping her wet face with her hands. “She only went into genetics because of me. And the moment she figured out what they wanted from her, she burnt it all and we left as quickly as we could.”

Nick takes another slow step forward. “Why did the shifters want them dead?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that one night, when I was still a kid, a shifter came to see my parents. I never saw his face. I just heard his voice. But the next thing I knew, I just heard things crashing and screams. When I went downstairs my mother had a broken arm and my father was lying unconscious on the floor. And the man was gone. Ever since that night, we’ve always been on the run.”

“Why are the hunters after you then?”

Pft. “Because they somehow think I can help them with the rest of my mom’s work. Which I can’t.” She takes a step back, finally noticing him getting closer.

With another brief silence in the room, Layla huffs out and goes for the door.

Nick follows closely behind, careful not to touch her or scare her off.

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you.” She scurries down the stairs, but his footsteps follow loudly.

“Where?”

But she gives no response as she opens the front door.

“You can’t leave.” He finally grabs her arm.

“Let go of me.” She tries to yank it out, but pushes him away instead.

“Layla.” He continues to follow her outside and into the woods. “It’s dangerous out there.”

“Says the man who watched my parents die.”

“I didn’t watch them die. By the time I got there, the car was already totalled. No one would have survived it.”

“I DID!” She turns and shouts in his face. “You still don’t get it.” Her tears start flowing again. “I was there. When I woke up I found my parents dead. I was alone and scared. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know who I was running from. And had it not been for the hunters, you probably would have been the one to kill them, to kill us.”

“No.” Nick whispers out as he steps closer to her, holding her arms and keeping her from turning away. “Had I found you with them, I wouldn’t have done anything but keep you safe.”

She looks away uninterested and he grips her tighter, getting her attention on him again. “No wolf can harm his mate. It is his natural instinct to protect them.”

“So you would have just killed them?” She says with a sarcastic laugh.

“I don’t think I ever would have. And had there been more time, I would have eventually found out the truth, about their innocence, …….and about you.”

The moonlight lighting up her face has him thinking about their stories of the moon goddess’ intricate designs for fated mates. Nick missed the chance to meet Layla then, but somehow he met her now. And even if they hadn’t, they would have eventually. With both of them so deep in these situations, their paths were destined to cross.

But then she says something that has him swallowing his next breath.

“We will never work out.”

Seeing the dejected look on her face, he does the one thing he thinks can convince her of his feelings, because his words certainly can’t get the message across. He grabs her and kisses her.

He holds her so tightly that her thrashing was useless. He slips his hand behind her neck and grips her hair. With the slight whimper she gives, he slips his tongue in and deepens the kiss.

But instantly, as if on instinct, she kisses him back, just as passionately. He shoves her against a tree and responds to her moans with his own groans. To his surprise, she counters his lust with her aggression as he feels her reaching for his neck and shoulders and clawing at them. Biting his lips between kisses.

She pulls back for air and he attacks her neck with his hungry kisses as he loses himself in her scent. Hearing her loud moans of his name and his wolf’s howling in his head, he grazes his teeth down her neck and slips her top’s strap off her shoulder.

He covers her shoulder with countless kisses and small nips as he slips his hand up her thigh. And with no objection from her, he tightly squeezes her ass, giving him another whimper in his ear.

Pulling his head back, he looks into her lust-filled eyes and smirks. Relieved and excited for her response to him.

“Mine.” He whispers against her skin.

“Stop saying that.” She pushes him off of her, which has him suddenly confused. “It’s just mine, mine, mine. I can’t keep doing this.” She steps away from him, running her hand through her black hair.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not some property of yours you can just do whatever you like when you like.” She continues to walk away, which has him following, as the soft ground stains and cools her feet.

“I never said you were.”

“Can you just leave me alone for like two seconds?”

He grunts out annoyed as he clenches his jaw. “No.”

“Uuurrgghh. Why not.”

“Because.”

“Really? Just because?” But his glare has her realizing he’s serious with that as an answer. “Look. I need time to think about things. And I can’t do that with you around.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.” She looks at him cautiously, slowly turning away to see if he’ll follow.

“But I’ll be waiting for you right here.”

“Fine.” Is her only response as she continues speed walking, hoping to put much needed distance between them.

Why on earth did I have to kiss him back? She tries to scold herself. But why did he kiss me like that in the first place? Like he wanted to ravish me. But never mind the kiss, what am I going to do with all the information I just got?

She continues strolling past the trees with a scowl, letting her thoughts run wild and unaware of the eyes on her.

Nick was there that night. And he was going to kill my parents. Maybe…..Uuurggh, I don’t know. But other than that, who sent him? Who on earth manages to send around an alpha on such so-called errands? Was it the wolf council? Or maybe his father? But no one has heard anything from the alpha king in ages.

But if they find out I’m alive, just like the hunters did, they might come after me as well. No. They will. Because I know what his plan is. I overheard that man talk to my parents that night. I’ve been trying to stay out of it for so long, just for it to come back and bite me in the butt now.

I was praying these berserk rogue attacks weren't part of it. But I guess I can’t deny it anymore.

I don’t know if I can even trust Nick with any of this. The wolves are at the forefront of all of this. I thought hiding in plain sight would help me, but instead I got an alpha mate who will be stuck between protecting his pack and wanting to keep his mate. And I don’t think he can have both.

Besides, I don’t even know if I really care about Nick like that. Yeah, the guy has gotten me horny since the day I laid eyes on him. But that’s just lust, right? And sure, maybe no man has ever made me feel the urge to just drop my panties like this before, but that definitely doesn’t mean it's love. I don’t even know what love is supposed to feel like. But I’m sure it’s not supposed to feel like this. Like lumps knotting in my gut, as if constantly worried that something can happen at any moment. It makes me want to hold on to him, but at the same time not. Afraid of the consequences of either choice.

But bottom line is, that my existence shouldn’t be known. So my presence here will certainly be bad. And I need to keep my parents’ advice in mind, -trust no one. Just look how fast Blake turned his back on me.

“Uuurgh. I can’t stay here.” She grunts out, but instantly goes silent when she hears the snap of a twig.

“Nick?” But no response, and she can barely see anything in the dark. “I thought I told you to leave me alone.” She tries to sound angry and annoyed.

Another twig snaps behind her, but before she can look, a cloth smothers her face and she goes numb within seconds. Her eyes grow heavy and she catches a glimpse of the person’s face before she blacks out.

“It’s okay. I got you.” He picks her limp body up in his arms. “I’ll fix this.” He whispers in her hair as he walks back towards the border, followed by two other men.