Fight for Me

Arem turns to his beta and gamma.

“Cedric, Lincoln. Take Melissa back to the pack house.”

“Excuse me?” She says as she steps away from the two. “There are still people out here who are hurt.”

Arem wants to say something, but she interrupts him. “I am staying. I can help the healers.”

Arem exhales very slowly, trying to calm himself. The last thing he needs is for her to put herself in more danger. He looks at Cedric and Lincoln and give them a nod for them to leave.

The two just roll their eyes as if annoyed with this continued back and forth between the two. Rather, they assist others in getting back to the pack house.

“Melissa, can you just stop being so stubborn for once.” Arem says.

But she pushes past him. “Me? So now I’m the one that is being stubborn?”

He rushes after her. “Dammit woman. You can’t just prance around here all care-free. It’s dangerous, and you will get hurt.”

“Did you forget why you brought me along this trip? We said that-”

“I didn’t even want you here.”

She stops in her tracks and he slightly bumps into her, stopping himself too slowly.

She turns around and looks at him menacingly.

“Then why am I here?” She says with a threatening tone.

He knows he’s already on her bad side. He just can’t keep up with what else is on her list. But he can’t help it. He wants to protect her. His bear wants to, as well.

But she never looked at me. She was always looking at Blake. And even after he died, she cried for weeks. Didn’t even want to look at me. She probably blames me for his death. I know I’m not deserving of her. I couldn’t even protect her from Alpha Nicholas. Just the thought of her dangling from his grip as he strangled her, gets my heart racing. I can’t let that happen again. I need to protect her.

“Because, I knew if I made you stay, you would just find a way to wind up in the middle of this shit fest.”

“So, me convincing you that I’m a doctor and actually useful had absolutely nothing to do with it?”

He can hear the sarcasm and the annoyance in her voice.

He takes another deep breath, knowing that she will still find something wrong with whatever he says next.

“You are still just a human.”

“Oh, a human. Thank you for reminding me that I’m just another shunned witch with no powers at all.”

“That is not what I said.”

“No, admit it. To you I’m just another problem. A nuisance you can’t get rid of. What better way to keep me under your watch. You wouldn’t want me doing anything to embarrass you, or to-..to annoy you again.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not worthless!”

She shouts at him and he his stunned at her outbreak. And his bear is freaking out inside, especially at seeing her on the verge of crying.

Why are you making her cry? His bear reaches out to him.

I’m not. I didn’t even say anything.

But seeing the auburn glow in his eyes, she knows he’s talking with his bear.

He’s not even taking me seriously. She thinks to herself as she huffs out and walks away, as she finally lets the tears fall down her cheeks.

Quick. She’s walking away.

Without even thinking, Arem does the one thing he can instinctively think of to keep her from walking away and to get her attention again. He pulls her backwards and into his chest as he hunches over and hugs her from behind. His much larger frame practically hiding her away from the world.

Her breath hitches as she feels herself being enveloped in his grasp.

“A-,..a-arem.” She says hesitantly. Her racing heart making her lightheaded as she can’t seem to understand his actions.

What is he doing? I thought he always hated me.

She tries wiggling out of his hold, but his grip tightens around her as she feels his hands gripping her hips tightly and pulling her firmly against him. She can hear his deep heavy breaths in her ear, but sounding almost feral.

Is this his bear? It must be. Arem would never-

“Don’t walk away from me.” Arem speak gently, interrupting her thoughts.

“Arem?” She tries wiggling out again.

But he releases a deep grumble. His body sending vibrations running all the way through her, urging her body to become numb in his hold.

What is this? What is he doing to me?

“Now listen to me well, Melissa. Everything I’ve ever done is because I only want to protect you.”

She’s silent thinking his words over. And for once, she’s quiet, wanting to hear more of what he means with his words.

“I don’t think you are worthless. I have never thought that. If anything, I am the one that is worthless next to you.”

“Ar-“

“I don’t want you to cry because of me.”

“I-“

“And I don’t want you to hate me either.”

She softly gasps as she feels him nuzzling her neck, but what has her even more in a daze, is the feel of something hard pushing into her back.

But his hold on her suddenly releases, and she almost slips to the ground trying to stiffen her jelly legs.

What is going on? What does he mean? Of course, I liked the man the moment I laid my eyes on him. He was strong, assertive and very handsome. But I never thought he would ever want someone like me, -a weakling, a nuisance. He has always treated me like a child. Chastising me about everything. Keeping me from anything as if I could ruin it by just looking at it.

But she hears the sound of footsteps retreating, and her feet has a mind of their mown as she rushes after him.

“Arem, wait.”

But he doesn’t stop.

“Arem.”

“You are free of me.”

“What?......What do you mean?”

“All I do is make you angry. And make you cry. And you don’t want to be near me. So, I wont,…..” I won’t look at you anymore. “I will leave you alone.”

He continues walking, trying to not look back at her. If he does, he might just not stop himself from what he wanted to do to her just a second ago. He wants this woman. His bear wants this woman. He knows he wants to make her his. But she doesn’t even want to look at him.

Hearing her yelp, he instinctively looks back and rushes to her side, seeing that she had fallen.

“Are you hurt?” He looks her over, but gets angry. “I told you to be more careful when out in the woods.” He can’t help but look at her ankle, trying to see a bruise.

“So, you care about me?” She asks almost surprised, suddenly grasping the new knowledge.

Looking up at her and into her beautiful eyes, he suddenly looks down again.

So, every time he got all angry, like someone ready to kill, it wasn’t because he was angry with me, but because he was angry that I had gotten hurt?

Arem tries getting up, but she grips his arm and tries to pull him back down to her side. But the man is too big and strong for her as he basically pulls her along. But with her sudden weight added onto his, he is unbalanced and falls on his butt.

He grunts at the unexpected impact and looks down only to find Melissa lying over his legs and her face hovering dangerously low over his crotch.

“Damn.” She sighs out from the impact, oblivious of his panic.

Looking up at him, she sees his stunned face. -Like someone ready to run away. Which ultimately reminds her of the series of questions she needs answered before he gets his way again, and disappears this time.

Just as he tries to scramble away from under her, she grips onto his pants as she crawls over him.

“Oh no you don’t.”

“Melissa, please.” The feel of her body rubbing against him is not doing him any good.

Annoyed with his large legs trying to wriggle him away from her, she throws her leg over him and straddles him.

He tries getting her off of him but she just squeezes her thighs around his torso tighter.

He leans his head back and releases a deep slow exhale trying to convince himself, that he should definitely not do anything because she is clearly oblivious to the hold she has on him.

“Tell me.” She says.

At this point, he is just somewhat relieved she’s sitting on his stomach and not any lower. Luckily, he’s wearing pants. But that’s all he’s wearing.

“Since when have you cared for me?” She continues.

“Melissa, please.”

“No. You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what I want to know.”

She’s always been stubborn. But with her actions, never with her words.

“Arem…….”

His muscles go taught hearing her say his name with such intensity and focus. Not to mention, feeling her heat so close to him that he can practically smell her. He unknowingly licks his lower lip as he tries to focus on getting his mind out of the gutter.

“What do you want to know.” He gives up and lays flat on his back and looks up at the night sky, avoiding her intense gaze.

“Tell me. Since when have you cared for me?”

He sighs. “Since the first day I saw you.”

She goes quiet for a bit. “But you never said anything.”

“What was I supposed to say?”

“Well maybe you should have walked up to me and said, ‘hi, I like you. Want to go on a date?’ – Something along those lines.”

She’s not even sure how people even ask each other out these days. She’s never personally experienced it. Another reason why she finds it difficult to believe that someone actually likes her.

He chuckles and she can’t help but gasp at the vibrations he’s sending through her core.

“We both know you would have said no.”

“What makes you so sure?”

Arem gives her a daring look. “Because you only had eyes for Blake.”

“Blake?” She says confused. “What does he have to do with this?”

“Come on Melissa. You did everything he ever asked of you, without question. Always trying to please him. Always looking at him.”

“Of course, I did. But I was just grateful to him.”

“No one is that grateful.”

“Hey!” She yells at him, getting his full attention as she pokes a finger into his chest. “Blake did more than just give a home to a shunned witch with nowhere to go. He saved me. He got me out of a very nasty human trafficking scheme, which we all know no one gets out alive. Without him, I wouldn’t even have a life to live.”

He can hear the sadness in her voice.

“Is that why you mourned his death for so long?” He says in a gentle tone.

She sighs deeply. “I felt so guilty. I had hurt someone innocent, because of my blind faith in him. And then I had to accept the realisation of watching my saviour turn into this,…this monster. How could I be grateful to someone like that?” The tears start falling. “But how could I forget what he had done for me? It just got my mind all muddled up, I didn’t know what to think anymore.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” He tries consoling her as he leans up on his elbows and wipes her tears away. “It’s not your fault.”

She gives him an annoyed look.

“We are at fault too. Blake was my friend too. That’s why it took me so long just to stand up to him. I had hoped he would eventually see the wrongs in his actions. But when I realized he was already too far gone and we stepped in to stop him, it was already too late. We all mourned his death. And we felt guilty about it too. It’s just, I thought that you,…..”

“That I liked him?” She tries finishing his sentence.

“I thought you were in love with him?”

“What?” Her cheeks go red with a blush.

“You were always by his side, even when he didn’t need it, or want it.”

She looks down at his stomach, avoiding eye contact. “That’s only because you were always with him.” She says softly. But his bear senses picked up on every word she said clearly.

He fully sits up and holds an arm behind her back to support her. “What did you say?”

She squints her eyes at him, trying to show her anger. But for once, he isn’t fazed by it.

“You heard what I said.”

“So, you were always around Blake because of me?”

He can see the discomfort on her face, but also the blush on her cheeks reddening.

“Yes.” She says softly.

“So, I can assume, you like me?” He hesitated a bit using the present tense of ‘like’, hoping she wouldn’t correct it to the past tense.

But she doesn’t confirm with her words. She just slowly nods her head as she continues looking down, avoiding his gaze.

“But you never looked at me.”

And her angry gaze returns to him at the speed of light.

“Oh really? Every time I ever looked at you, you would find some reason to scold me like some child. Telling me how everything is dangerous. And I should stop making you worry,…..a-bout,…me.”

Saying the words out loud and in a different context has her looking at things differently.

Looking up at him, she can see him giving her a pearly white smile and she tries to hide her embarrassment with her hands. But it doesn’t seem enough, so she leans her covered face into his chest hoping he can’t see her.

But the rumble in his chest as he chuckles has her squirming in his hold.

She feels his arms tighten around her as he gives a kiss on her temple.

“My dear Melissa. I have never seen you this shy before. I’m afraid I might want to do it more often now.”

“I hate you.” She mumbles into his chest.

But his chuckle ceases and he tries pulling her back to look at her face.

“Hey, now. Doesn’t matter how angry I make you, you can say whatever you want to me, but never those words. They will break my heart to the point that it will never heal again. Do you want to do that to me.”

She is shocked by his poetic words. She’s never heard him speak like this. Definitely didn’t think any of it was in his vocabulary. Then again, the only talking they were used to receiving from each other were words of anger and annoyance.

She can hear the seriousness in his voice and instinctively she shakes her head.

“I love you too much to hear that you hate me.” He leans his head against hers, inhaling her wild, floral scent that has become intoxicating to him.

“You love me?”

“Yes.” He says without hesitation. “And knowing that I caught your attention too, I’m going to do everything in my power to make you love me too.”

Before she can even think of a response, he leans in and kisses her deeply. He kisses her slowly, wanting to give her enough room and time to pull back should she not want this. But he couldn’t risk not getting a chance to taste her lips.

But she starts kissing him back, softly. And he’s not sure if it’s because she is shy or because she doesn’t know how to. He pulls her body against his, slipping a hand behind her neck and in her hair as he tilts her face up to his. He licks her lips and surprisingly, she opens them for him. He slips his tongue in and she accepts it. Learning his tempo, her tongue slowly starts dancing with his, getting a delectable groan from Arem.

She slips her hands behind his neck and shoulders as she breathlessly moans into his mouth, but refuses to stop kissing him. She can feel her body becoming hot and very heavy, that she needs more of whatever he is making her feel. But she’s not even in control of her body anymore. It just takes what it craves.

But the moment she starts grinding her hips into him, he pulls back. She seems displeased from the sudden lack of contact of their lips. He chuckles as both of them pant out of breath.

“You-,……are going to be a lot of trouble.”

She looks at him confused and annoyed. Not sure if it’s because of him calling her trouble, again, or because he stopped kissing her like it was nothing when she couldn’t even stop herself. Let alone think straight.

Arem takes another deep breath. “But I will do this right, aşkım.”

She scrunches her brows, not understanding his strange words.

He pulls his arms from around her and puts one in between them, as if expecting a handshake. Confused, she places her hand in his and the second she does, he encloses his large one around hers with a slight shake.

“Hi Melissa. I like you. No. I’m in love with you. And I would like to take you out on a date. Would you be willing to let me?”

She blushes again, realising he’s basically using her very words on her.

She bites her bottom lip as she tries to stop herself from smiling uncontrollably. She gives his hand a squeeze of her own.

“Hi Arem. I would like that very much.” Though, I think I’ve already fallen for you as well.

They chuckle and just bathe in each other’s presence for a while.

“Come on, we should get going, before people come looking for us.”

As if her happy bubble had just been popped, she nods her head as she remembers their current reality.

They start walking back to the pack house and just as Arem gets the thought of slipping his hand in hers, she points her accusing finger at him.

“This doesn’t change anything. I’m still staying to help out where I can.”

Arem clenches his jaw, realizing that that issue wasn’t sorted yet. But he slumps his shoulders as he looks at her hand on her hip, knowing there is no arguing with her. She’ll win it like she has won all the others thus far.

“Fine. But you’re staying close to me.”

“Tha-.”

“There’s no arguing this. You are mine to protect.” He says with a slight glow of his auburn eyes, -with his bear’s approval.

She looks him up and down and concedes. “Fine.”

Her short hair flips over her shoulder as she turns and starts walking back to the pack-house.

I told you. I told you, you should have just opened your mouth sooner. His bear taunts him.

Oh please, you were just as scared of losing her.

No. I was scared of you screwing everything up and making her run away from us.

But we both thought she wouldn’t want us.

I know. But even I was struggling to accept that all we could do was protect her. Especially when you kept arguing with her and pushing her away.

But I fixed it.

You? I was the one that stopped her from walking away from us.

Okay fine. We fixed it.

And you better not fuck it up this time. I told you, since the moment we laid eyes on her, I knew it. I knew that she was ours. -Our mate.

Yeah. In that moment, we both fell hopelessly in love with her, and she became all we could think of. And as frustrating as it was, I don’t regret it one bit.

Me neither.

After all, when a bear-shifter and its spirit animal simultaneously fall in love with someone, they imprint on that person. They are all they can think of from that moment on. That person becomes their mate and marks their fate. For a bear-shifter can only ever have one mate, and they are for life.

Arem knew the risk of bringing up this topic and the possibility of her not wanting him. If a bear-shifter’s mate rejects them, their fate becomes scarred and their life loses all meaning. As they will then no longer be able to protect the one thing they were made for.

Arem can’t help but smile at his stubborn but shy mate. He can’t wait to make her his. To tell her that she is his life-mate.