Fight for Me

The next day

It’s early in the morning and the house is completely quiet.

Not a serene quiet. But rather a suffocating silence as people are stuck in their thoughts of the past, their present or their futures.

The sun is barely up, and Rebecca stares at the pregnancy test on her washbasin, biting the tip of her thumb, not even realizing she’s holding her breath as she’s waiting for the timer to go off.

She’s pacing around nervously, suddenly realising the implications of the possible results. But more aware of the implications of just having to take the test has on her feelings and her tightening guts, making her want to vomit.

She spent the whole night awake, thinking. Cursing Mike for it.

She always wanted a man to want her like that. To be so confident about it. Before she realized men were all just chauvinists, and a woman would have to constantly fight her way through it.

That’s why she kept reminding herself to not take Mike seriously. His words seemed too perfect. Too practiced.

He even made her heart flutter. She can’t remember the last time she felt like that.

All she knows is that Mike made her waiver. Even though it was just for a split second, he made her reconsider her plans for her future. And that’s why she’s putting all her frustrated anger on him. She’ll be damned if she gives up on her goals for a man.

So then why? Why is she feeling so nervous, so worried as she’s looking at the test? As if afraid that this may not be what she really wanted.

Somewhere in the house, Layla is lying in bed awake, as she has been the whole night. She still doesn’t know what to do next.

There is no choosing between staying or leaving. She knows she must leave. She’s has already overstayed her welcome. The bond is already gone, it was apparently painless, but Nick has his own things he needs to deal with here, with his pack, his family. They have to part ways.

But for the life of her, she can’t forget about the other night. Though it turned out unexpectedly, the entire thing was unexpected. But she still can’t help think ’what if’. What if they could have had just that one wild night together? What if he didn’t try to stop himself? What if she would have given herself to his hunger for her? Well,….his wolf’s hunger for her.

She just wanted at least one intense, mindboggling, uncontrollable moment with him. Something unforgettable. Something to remember him by, even if he would forget about her the moment she leaves. To remember the man that kissed her all over like it was a worthy sin. The man that can talk to her and actually understand her with just a look. The man that was supposed to be her other half, - her mate.

Her mother always told her stories of wolf-shifters and their mates. How they are halves of the same soul. It was her favourite story as a kid. But growing up, she quickly learned that fairy tales aren’t real. How could they, when she watched people torment her parents endlessly, to the point that they had to leave their home behind like it never existed, along with their happy memories. All to watch her parents needlessly die, trying to fight for what they believed was right.

The good guys never get a happy ending. No,.....rather, it's 'happy endings' in general that's just utter nonsense.

And then there is the whole question on whether she’s going North with Blake, or South to find some ‘ancient’ witches. She knows she can’t run from this shadow forever. And it seems to understand that it can be dangerous towards her, which it seems to want.

But in going south, she wouldn’t even know where to start. There’s a chance that she wouldn’t find any of them. What if the trackers come back and find her before she can even get any answers?

And in going north, she may just be bringing the dangers of these trackers to Blake’s new pack. She can’t do that.

But she knows it’s just an excuse to avoid Blake.

Since the first day she met Blake she found him to be quite handsome, even with his dirty and scruffy face then. He was so strong, but so gentle with her in the cell. The more she got to know him, she realized he was a leader, a friend to everyone.

He reminded her so much of her father. And she always told herself, if she would end up with a man, he should be like her dad, -like Blake.

But now, she’s somewhat embarrassed that her surety back then, isn’t filled with as much confidence anymore. Because now she feels guilty. She feels guilty for all the little moments she shared with Nick, for what almost happened with him the other night, and especially for wanting it to have happened.

She knows she has no responsibility towards Blake. But she knows Blake cares for her, more than she deserves. She knows they can have a near to perfect life together.

And she knows she would still like that.

Anthony couldn’t sleep a wink last night from all the excitement.

He spent as much time as he could yesterday with Jason. They just talked, about anything and everything as they got to know each other better.

He hadn’t laughed so much in such a long time. But when he went to bed, he suddenly realized the time would come for him to face the elephants in the room. His brothers.

None of them have said anything to him regarding his mate once. Though, he’s sure they must have noticed him trying to avoid them. Or them avoiding him.

But he knows he will talk to them sometime today. All together, so he can just get it over and done with in one go. So they can ask all their annoying questions and make whatever irritating comments. He doesn’t want to be embarrassed about his sexual preferences anymore. He doesn’t want to be embarrassed about Jason.

As an alpha, he already knows his pack won’t have a problem with him having a male mate. The members of his pack are all very carefree. Not so strict with the rules. Very open-minded. Very modern.

And that’s one of the problems, especially with regards to his father. He always gets annoyed when he comes to visit Anthony’s pack and sees more smiles than practice wounds. He always tries to undermine his authority in front of his members as well.

But he’s just worried what his wolf might do if his father insults his mate. Anthony knows the bond between him and Jason is already so strong. He would do anything to keep Jason by his side, and he knows he’s capable of doing far worse to whomever tries to split them up.

But he will cross that bridge named ‘father’ when he gets there, or when it comes to him.