Fight for Me

Nick walks straight into her room and puts her down on the edge of the bed.

She quickly tries to move away from him. But not because she’s bothered by his touch, but rather because she’s a bit embarrassed about what happened.

Panic attack? Was that what happened to me?

She doesn’t know why, but she feels embarrassed having the others see the fit she threw, even though it wasn’t on purpose.

“I’m sorry.” She blurts out.

Nick gives her a questioning look, not sure what she’s apologizing for as he kneels down in front of her.

“I-,….I’m sorry about that.” I shouldn’t have waited for him in the dining hall. Now I just spoiled their time and basically made a fool of myself. “I didn’t mean to ruin your evening.”

Nick releases a deep sigh, which almost sounds like he’s annoyed.

But Nick doesn’t know if he should ask her what actually happened. Will she even tell me?

He saw her in the dining hall when most were already gone. He was trying to finish his talks off quicker, he wanted to talk to her. And he isn’t the type to ‘want’ to talk.

He looks into her beautiful sky-blue eyes, trying to prioritize the list of questions he wants to ask her.

“Today, in the woods, after the attack,….were you looking for me?”

Nick surprises himself with his question, realizing this question is apparently at the top of his list.

“…..” Layla is also surprised with his question.

She noticed the sudden change in mood in the room, as if he completely changed the topic of discussion just like that.

“Uh. Yes.” She finally answers.

“Why?” He questions almost instantly.

“I,…..I just wanted to talk to you.”

He smirks, but she doesn’t share his mood.

“And you successfully avoided me for the whole day.”

His smirk falls.

“………..What happened last night?” She daringly asks.

Nick stands up clenching his jaws, annoyed at the reminder of his wolf.

She stands up too, trying to challenge him, but she’s still looking up at him.

“I mean, …..you did all that,……w-why would you touch me like that,…..if you didn’t want me?” She struggles with her words as she puts more focus on trying not to blush from the memory. “You act like I disgust you, but then you go and,….and touch me like that.”

“You don’t disgust me.” Nick interrupts her.

“…….Then why would you chase me out like that?”

“My wolf was trying to force me to mark you.” There’s no need to lie to her about this anyway.

“W-what?”

“My wolf. He was out of control. And wanted me to mark you. I pushed you away to stop him.”

“Oh.” She says thinking back. “Tristan said something about me being in heat, and that was probably why you were acting out. So is that true? Could that be the case?”

Nick curtly nods, clenching his jaw, slightly irritated at the thought of Tristan being close enough to smell her heat.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I guess.” She chuckles awkwardly.

“I want to ask you another question.”

“Oh? Okay.”

“Who are you running from?”

“Huh?” She doesn’t know how to answer that question.

“The trackers you were running from, are somehow involved in these wild attacks. And it seems the people that locked your friends up are also involved. Can you help with any information about this?” Nick says in a surprisingly sincere voice.

Layla looks deep in thought, wondering what she can speak of and what not.

“Well,….I did see something.” She looks around and fetches the pen on the bedside table. “I don’t know what it is, or if it even is helpful. But I’m sure it must mean something.” She grabs Nick’s hand and starts to draw on his palm.

Pulling back, Layla smiles a bit embarrassed at her scruffy drawing.

But seeing the basic outlines and the shape she drew, he already knows what it is.

“I know it looks horrible, but I’m not that great at-“

“Thank you.”

The room is filled with a brief but comfortable silence.

“Layla. If I asked you why these people are chasing you, would you answer me?

She bites her lip, knowing she promised her mom not to tell anyone. Ever.

“No.”

Nick sighs, but still accepts her answer. “Okay.”

“Nick?”

“Mhm?”

“Tell me. In the woods. Were you looking for me too?”

Now he wonders if this is something he should lie about.

But his mouth is faster than his mind. “Yes.”

“Why?” She tries to hide her almost smirk, seeing the weird mixture of expressions on his face.

He almost looks like a pouting child trying to do math.

He knows he wanted to talk to her. But it was something else that urged him so. Something he was actually worried about.

Nick fills the gap between them as he cups her face with his hands, rests his forehead on hers and takes a deep inhale. Layla though, feels more comfortable in this position than she knows she should.

“It’s gone.” Nick says in almost a whisper.

Layla looks up at him trying to figure out what he means. But his eyes are closed.

“Nick?” She reaches her hand out to him and softly caresses his face, hoping to get his attention and hoping this much won’t bother him.

But he covers her hand with his and looks at her with deep hazel eyes, that almost look like a lost forest.

But something in that moment makes her get an idea of what he’s referring to.

“Your touch.” She covers his hand on her cheek with her other hand. “It doesn’t,……I can’t feel….” She’s not sure how to word it.

“The bond.” He continues to stare at her questioning eyes. “I knew it was fading. But it’s gone now. I can’t feel it through your touch. Your scent,…” He sniffs her hand. “It’s not the same. I can barely make it out.”

“It’s gone? Completely? Just like that?......I heard stories of rejections, so I thought there must have been some form of pain.” But my pain radar is complete crap. But I don’t think Nick went through pain either. “Was it because we both rejected each other?”

She’s asking all these questions to try and make sense of all of this, but she can’t help but feel her chest tightening.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“So? Does that mean we are strangers now?” She says jokingly, trying to lighten the mood, not that she would expect Nick to laugh.

But Nick is struggling with his own thoughts. He was sure that when the bond was fully broken, his ’feelings’ for her would disappear as well. He knows those feelings were brought on by the bond. So why?

Why is this lump still here?

He drops his hands and walks out of the room, eager to put distance between them.

Standing alone in the room, she looks almost embarrassed.

“I knew it was a bad joke, but was it really that bad?” She huffs out.