Fight for Me

Third POV

Nicholas and Tyler are sitting in his office sorting out pack duties.

“Well, the harvest moon went well, other than Layla’s injury.” Tyler chuckles slightly. “Many still can’t believe it. No one ever gets hurt like that from just a run in the woods. Humans really are fragile.”

Tyler’s words are just reminding Nicholas why he needs to let her go. Her human weakness will be a weakness to him and to his pack. He can't let it happen. Not again.

She won’t live long in our cruel world of shifters.

But mate fights. Mate is survivor.

He hears his wolf say to him.

She has more than enough to deal with, and we have our own problems to deal with.

He sighs heavily.

“Yeah. They are fragile. Tell me, have any trackers come back to this side?”

“No actually. We haven’t spotted any shifter-trackers even passing through. They must have found what they’re looking for somewhere else.”

Nicholas clenches his jaws. He knows that isn’t true.

“Is there any other strange movement, in and around town?”

“Not really. Just an office building opening up for that new company, BioCorp.” But Tyler is sensing there is something more to this. “But it will help if I know what exactly I’m supposed to be looking for.” He gives Nicholas a knowing look.

He sighs. “I’m not sure myself. But just keep an eye out on anyone who may be keeping an eye on us as well.”

“Will do. Moving on, there is some news I have for you regarding the recent rogue attack.”

“Have you figured out the reason for their attack?”

“That’s the thing. These rogues seemed to have been beyond redemption, from the statements I gathered. As we know, some rogues in the wild still maintain some of their humanity, of their ability to think and strategize. But for those who have lost all sense of their humanity, become nothing but wild wolves. Bottom line though, is that rogues are known to attack either for revenge or for their basic survival, to take game from pack-lands. But these rogues we encountered were nothing like that.”

“The attack confused me a bit as well. They were too wild to have come with a strategized attack. But they didn’t come for food either. They seemed more interested in ripping flesh than to eat it.”

“Exactly. Ben said that it’s like their whole attack was to just…….kill. And no wild animal kills to just kill.”

Nicholas raises his brow, knowing there is more information Tyler has to share.

“I had the pack-doctor run an analysis on some of the rogue’s bodies we retained. Just to see if we could find anything.”

“And.”

“These rogues looked very healthy. They weren’t starving nor did they have any battle scars. And we happened to find something in their blood stream. We don’t know what it is. But they all had high doses of it in their systems. We don’t know if this is what made them so wild, but it’s something to work from.”

“Definitely. Keep an open ear for any similar rogue attacks in other packs. If this is what it sounds like, this may just be the beginning of something very dangerous.”

“Yes Alpha.”

Nicholas nods and Tyler leaves the office.

Barely a few minutes pass, when his office door opens.

He looks up to see Maxim walk in. But he gets annoyed seeing Tristan and an ever-smiling Anthony walk in behind him.

“Can I help you with something?” Nicholas leans back in his chair, knowing he won’t get any work done now.

Tristan and Anthony plop down on the couches, and Maxim pours himself a drink.

“Oh. That depends. Will you answer us if we ask?” Maxim takes a sip with a slight smirk.

Nicholas sighs seeing Anthony’s giddy face.

“You’ve come to the wrong person if you want to have a gossip session.”

“Oh come on Nicholas. We never know what’s going on in your life, not that you actually give anything away. But you can’t tell me I’m just looking for stories. Because now, they’ve seen it too.” Anthony says pointing to Tristan and Maxim.

“Seen what?”

“Layla.” Anthony says smiling.

“And what have you seen?”

“That’s the thing Nicholas. We’re not exactly sure.” Maxim says downing his glass. “I thought she was just a maid, not that I really got why you would hire a human maid. But, not only does she stay here, but all the members report to you directly regarding her. And then there was the little show you put up last night, when you didn’t let anyone near her and insisted on taking care of her yourself.”

But Nicholas remains silent. He knows Maxim likes to only point out observations so that the other person fills in the rest.

“Who is she Nicholas?” Tristan finally speaks.

“She is no-one.” Anthony huffs out annoyed. But Nicholas continues. “And she will remain like that until she leaves.”

“You’re protecting her.” Maxim thinks out loud as he leans with his back against the wall.

“What?” Anthony asks confused. “What do you mean. That doesn’t make sense.” He looks to Nicholas to disagree with Maxim.

But his silence makes Anthony lean back and think as well.

“She’s dangerous.” They all look as Tristan.

“Why do you say that?” Maxim asks.

But Tristan is looking at Nicholas with a very serious expression.

“What do you know Tristan?” Nicholas looks at him with curiosity.

“Honestly, I don’t know anything.” Tristan gets up to pour a drink for himself. “All I know is that since we got here, Melinda told me to stay away from her. She said she’s dangerous. And I trust my mate. She can sense these things.”

How can Layla be dangerous? Nicholas thinks to himself.

“How can a human be dangerous to us?” Anthony asks. “Besides, Layla can’t even hurt a fly.”

“Well, I don’t know her that well. But from what I’ve seen, I’d have to agree with Anthony.” Maxim says with a slight chuckle.

“Just be careful.” Tristan advises.

“Well, this talk so did not go the way I wanted it to.” Anthony moans.

Nicholas gives a questioning look, after hearing the other two laugh.

“Anthony here, was under the impression that you and the maid had a little something romantic going on.” Maxim tells him.

Nicholas looks at Anthony annoyed.

“Hey, you can’t blame me. I saw the way you two were smiling at each other this morning.”

“Wait. Nicholas was smiling?” Maxim asks.

“Yeah. And she even calls him with a nickname.” Anthony adds.

“Really Nicholas?” Tristan asks amused.

“Enough Anthony. You’re reading into something that isn’t there. Unlike you, my pack doesn’t run on gossip for amusement.” Nicholas says annoyed.

“Don’t make this look like it’s all in my head. I’m good at reading people.”

“Oh really? How good were you at reading Samantha last night?”

“Samantha?” Maxim asks seeing the worried look on Anthony’s face.

Tristan says laughingly. “Well I’ll be damned. I guess we have a new player in the family.”

“Anthony. You better tell me now that you did not touch Abby’s little sister.” Maxim warns as he steps closer.

“Woah. It wasn’t like that.” He raises his hands in defence. “I didn’t chase her. She came on to me. And with all the wine and the full moon, things kinda got out of hand.”

Gggrhh!! Maxim release a deep growl as he stalks towards Anthony.

“Woah there, Maxim.” Tristan step between them.

“What the fuck am I supposed to tell Abby now? That my idiot brother touched her baby sis?” Maxim spouts.

“How am I the bad guy in this? She’s not as innocent as you make her sound to be, you know.”

Ggrrhh!!!

“All I’m saying is that she came on to me, even after I said no. And yes, she’s cute, and yes, the wine got to me a little and we had a mini make out session. But that was it. I would never just screw some random girl in the woods just because. How could you think that of me? I’m not like that, I’m not Tristan.”

“Excuse me?” Tristan turns around looking at Anthony.

“What? Are you going to deny it? We all know you have a reputation of treating woman like shit, like your personal pleasure toys.” Anthony’s getting serious too.

Tristan clenches his jaws. “Had. Not anymore.”

“’Have’ or ‘had’, it doesn’t matter. It will always be there, and you can’t do anything about it. Father always said it would come back to bite you in the ass. I guess now you’ll have to spend the rest of your life trying to argue your reputation away.”

The room fills with silence and rising tension.

“Fuck! Nicholas this is all your fault. You started this.” Anthony points at him.

“Hey. I didn’t know you guys were going to let it get this out of hand.” He smirks.

“Well. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry Anthony. I shouldn’t have thought that of you.” Maxim says.

Anthony sighs. “I’m sorry too Tristan.”

“For what? Speaking the truth?”

“But you’re not that guy anymore. And I know you don’t like being reminded of your past.”

“I guess it’s time we start getting our shit together like Nicholas here.” Maxim says.

But Anthony’s snort gets everyone’s attention.

“Nicholas isn’t as all together as you think Maxim. If he was, he wouldn’t have rejected his mate.”

“What?” Tristan and Maxim ask at the same time.

Gggrrhh!! “Fuck, Anthony. Seriously?” Nicholas says as he grabs Anthony by the collar.

“What? You told me to not say anything to father. You didn’t say anything about them.” He pulls out of Nicholas’ grip.

“Wait. Are you being serious? What the hell Nicolas.” Tristan says.

“Father is going to skin you alive when he hears about this.” Maxim chastises.

“That’s for me to worry about.” Nicholas says trying to calm his breathing.

Tristan throws his hands in the air out of frustration. “But why would you do that? Out of any of us, I thought I would be the one stupid enough to do that. I never did get why father was so insistent on ‘cherishing’ the mate bond. But the second I met Melinda, I knew I’d give anything to be with her. I knew the old me was gone. Why would you throw that away Nicholas?”

Nicholas sighs. “It’s complicated. But it doesn’t matter anyway. I rejected her and she accepted it. It’s done.”

“Does Rebecca know?” Maxim asks.

But Nicholas just shakes his head.

“Are you happy with your decision?” Maxim folds his arms.

“Of course. It’s what’s best for the pack.”

“No.” Maxim grunts out. “Does she make you happy?”

Nicholas looks around the room seeing all three brothers waiting anxiously for his answer.

“Why does that matter?”

Maxim clenches his jaw. He knows his brother has a hard time opening up or even wanting to ‘feel’ anything, ever since their mother died. He grew up hard and cold, becoming a killing machine and doing their father’s dirty work, all for the sake of the pack.

Maxim sighs. “Nicholas. Your own happiness does matter. Doing what’s best for the pack is not always the ‘right’ thing to do.”

“How can you say that Maxim? After everything father taught us.”

“He also taught us to cherish the mate bond. We all know he loved our mother more than anything. He even sometimes put her before the pack.”

“And it cost him her life.”

“You can’t blame father for what happened.”

“I don’t. She was weak. There was no way she could have survived the attack. But father was the one that neglected his pack, leaving their weak points open to the enemy. He didn’t even realize until it was too late, that his enemy used the pack to get to his mate.”

“Nicholas-“

“The point remains. I have a strong pack, and will have a strong Luna. Rebecca is a warrior wolf. She’ll be a perfect Luna. There’ll be no distractions. And no weaknesses. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other pack duties to get to.” Nicholas leaves his brothers in the office.