Fight for Me

Third POV

Layla follows Margret into the room, and her eyes practically bulge, seeing just how huge it is.

Wow. This is a storage room? It’s like triple the size of my room.

The room is filled with antiques and furniture covered with either black cloths or a thick layer of dust.

She can see about six other people rummaging around, either cleaning or throwing the stuff away in what appears to be a trash pile.

They must be spring cleaning. I can already sense Margret staring at me intensely. She'll probably want to stay now and give me another lesson on cleaning methods. Uuugghh!!

“Hey Layla. What you doing here.” She looks at a smiling Ben jogging her way.

“Hey Ben.”

She notices the weird looks from those around her, except from Margret though. She already knows why. The members still find it strange that she doesn’t greet the higher members by their titles.

Layla is a bit surprised though that Margret isn’t giving her a speech about it, like she always does.

“Margret said I can come help you guys out, sorting some storage. Is that cool with you?” She says less hopeful than she would like to.

“Of course, it’s fine. A helping hand is always welcome. Come on.” He waves his hand for her to follow him.

Why is he still being so nice to me? Does he not know about what happened last night? He should though. A lot of people saw what happened.

“Then, I’ll leave her in your care.” Margret says just before she turns to leave.

She's leaving? Just like that?

Layla is confused with Margret’s words. ‘In your care’. She never speaks that way to her or about her. In fact, Layla is used to Margret always reprimanding her about something, especially her ‘cleaning techniques’, or even referring to her as rude, incompetent and a headache.

“You good?” She looks at Ben’s questioning face.

“Uhm. Yeah. So, what can I do?” She follows him to the far end of the room.

“Well, the other members here will be fixing and cleaning all the larger items, like furniture, that looks salvageable. You can help me look at the smaller and more bothersome items, like the decorative stuff and books.”

She scrunches her nose seeing all the piled up and dusty boxes in the corner.

“And what happens to the stuff you guys don’t want to keep?” She peeks at that pretty large heap of vintage items.

“In the trash.” He says frankly.

“W-what? Trash? This stuff is antique.” She picks up a golden candlestick from one of the boxes. “I don’t need to be rich to know that this should cost a fortune.”

Mmmhhh. Ben sighs deeply.

“Honestly. All these things actually belonged to the previous Alpha that lived here, before Alpha Nicholas challenged him and took over.” He looks around the room before looking back at Layla and leaning closer. “We don’t really talk about him. People prefer to leave him forgotten in the past. That bastard was an oppressive tyrant. He forced his pack members to serve him like slaves, while he lived like royalty.” He points to the golden candlestick in her hands. “So, Alpha Nicholas just wants us to take what looks practical and get rid of everything else.”

“Oh.” Layla says as she puts the golden candlestick back in the box, as Ben just gives an agreeing nod.

For the next few minutes, Layla helps Ben through their pile, most of which she just tosses in the ‘trash’ pile.

“So Layla.” She looks up and sees Ben nervously fidgeting with the book in his hand. “Did you really have a cat-fight with Samantha yesterday?”

She sighs deeply.

I was wondering when he would bring it up.

“Not exactly.”

I don’t really want to talk about this.

“Mmmhhh. Well, you certainly left a mark on her. I guess you really are tougher than you look. It’s not every day you hear about a wolf-shifter’s injury caused by a human, taking so long to heal.”

She furrows her brows. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t hear? The wound on Samantha’s face still didn’t heal. Which is weird. Coz a scratch like that should have healed up already. And it’s not like you have silver claws or something.” He sighs. “But if it takes this long to heal, it’s definitely going to leave a scar.”

“Really?” Layla says in a confused whisper.

She starts thinking to herself. That is weird. I definitely wasn’t trying to go easy on her. But that’s because I knew wolf-shifters barely feel pain, and their quick healing makes any fight with a human unfair.

But she doesn’t want to think about Samantha anymore.

“So, how long ago was it since Nick took over this pack?”

“Well,…. that was about….. forty years ago.” He says in deep thought, with his finger on his lip.

Layla’s eyes go wide. “Forty!?”

I knew wolves age slower than humans. But just how old does that make Nick then?

“Yip. Give or take a few years.”

“So how old is Nick then?” She asks quicker than she could stop herself, and ends up biting her bottom lip.

“Mmh?” Ben smirks at her. “Thing is, when wolf-shifters reach adulthood, our aging process slows down. So, we don’t really count after that. But in human years, I would say he’s probably in his………seventies?” He says a bit unsure.

Ben chuckles. “It sure does sound weird, putting things in a human perspective.”

Seventy!? So, Nick could basically be my grandfather. How the fudge could I have been mated to him then, -a human?

“So wait. ......What happens when a wolf-shifter is mated to a human? Hypothetically speaking. Will one have to watch the other grow old and die?” Layla tries to speak in a calm voice. But she can’t seem to maintain eye contact with Ben.

She knows they don’t know about her and Nick. But she still doesn’t want to give anything away.

Ben furrows his brow. “A wolf-shifter and a human? ……I wouldn’t say it’s unheard of. But it’s very rare. But wolves do sometimes get mated with other supernaturals, - like Tristan and Melinda.”

Oh right. She’s a witch.

“But even if a wolf is mated to a human, that shouldn’t be a problem. Because when they mate, they become one. So basically, the human’s aging process will also slow down.”

Woah. I didn’t know that. I don’t even think my mom knew about it either, even when she was studying shifters. But she did say that the mate bond is something far beyond something modern science can explain.

“So how long do shifters usually wait to find their mates? I mean, if a wolf is mated to a hu-, to someone that’s not a wolf, how long do they know to wait before they find them?” She asks.

She notices Ben’s eyes droop low with somewhat of a disappointed look. “That’s the thing, -we don’t know. We don’t know who our mates will be, what they are, or when we’ll find them. All we know is that they’re out there, either waiting for us or looking for us, - or perhaps they don’t even know about us.” He sighs deeply. “But that’s what makes the mate bond so special to us, -finding our one purpose in life, all narrowed down to a chance meeting.”

But Layla wants to ask more. But she doesn’t want to give anything away. Though she knows Ben is being pretty resourceful at the moment. Maybe she can just go for it.

“What about Alphas?”

I really want to hear his opinion on an alpha mated with a human. Is it really that bad for me to get an instant rejection from Nick? Like, I know I accepted it, but still.

“Huh?” Ben looks up.

“I mean, alphas and their mates. What if an Alpha is mated with a human? Wouldn’t it be weird to have a human as a Luna? I mean, you wolves do have a tendency to look down on humans for being weaker than you.”

Isn’t that why Nick didn’t want me as a mate? Because I’m a human, - because I’m weak? He does keep saying that.

“I never heard of an Alpha being mated to a human before. Which sort of makes sense, I guess. I mean, how can a human be a Luna?” He chuckles, slightly seeing the annoyed look on her face. “Don’t get me wrong Layla. It’s a fact that humans are weaker than wolf-shifters, - well, they’re weaker than every shifter and supernatural being out there. They're practically at the bottom of the food chain. So how can a human be a Luna? The first question would be, - how can someone that’s not a shifter lead a pack of shifters? And then they’ll ask, - how can she help strengthen the pack?”

Layla stays silent, not knowing what to say. It’s that same phrase again, - what to offer to the pack. But then she thinks of the witch.

“What about Melinda?”

“Ah yes. The witch Luna. But from what I heard, Alpha Tristan didn’t have to try much to convince his father to have her as a mate.”

“His father?” Did he have to ask for permission to keep his mate??

“Yes. The alphas’ father may have given up his right as Alpha King, but he is still their father and they still seek his approval, especially in running the packs. But Luna Melinda didn’t have any trouble convincing him apparently. She’s a very powerful witch I hear. Their father was more than happy to accept her into the family once he found out what she is capable of.”

“Oh.”

Of course she’s amazing. She’s bad-ass and knows how to protect others. I can’t even protect myself. What can I offer,- being a die-hard?? She thinks to herself as she roughly pulls her fingers through her long black hair, for ever having such stupidly hopeful thoughts.

“But then again,” Layla looks back at Ben speaking. “If a wolf doesn’t find their true mate, they can always choose one. Like Alpha Nicholas. Speaking of which, how soon will you be leaving? Maybe you can stay in time for the Luna ceremony.”

“The Luna ceremony?” I forgot about that. Will it be soon?

“Yeah. To celebrate Rebecca becoming this pack’s Luna. I’m not sure yet when it will be, I just know that there are already talks about it.”

For freak’s sake, why am I still here? I should just leave.

“Well,….. I’m sure I’ll probably already be gone by then.” She gives him a quick smile.

“Oh. Ok. Just try to not be a stranger afterwards then.” He says with a gentle smile, which she tries to reciprocate.

Layla throws off a dusty cloth from a pile of portraits piled up against the wall.

“These look really fancy.” She says admiring the golden antique-styled frames of the paintings.

“Yeah, I know. But I’m pretty sure all these belonged to the previous alpha. We’ll probably have to get rid of all of them.”

“Really? All of them?” She pouts looking at the beautiful landscape painting.

Ben chuckles. “Feels free to look through them, though.”

Layla gives an excited smile as she leans lower, going through the paintings.

Suddenly, a loud gasp gets Ben’s attention, and he walks to Layla’s side.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uhm.” He can hear the hesitation in her voice, but she’s not taking her eyes off the painting she’s looking at. “Wh-who is this?” She shakily asks, trying to keep a straight face.

He leans and sees what she’s looking at.

“Oh.” He smirks thinking she’s admiring the man in the picture. “I’ve heard people say he was handsome, but you don’t need to stare like that Layla.”

“Huh?” She looks at him confused, but not for the reason he thinks.

“Like I said, these things belonged to the previous alpha.” He says raising a brow.

A few seconds of silence pass before Layla jumps up.

“Wait. You mean this is the previous alpha?” She points down at the painting of the handsome man, with dark brown eyes and short black hair, posing tall and proud.

“U-huh.” Ben smirks as he removes the dusty cloth from another pile.

This can’t be. Holy snickers. What the hell is going on!?

She thinks to herself as she steps backwards.

What is this? I know him. I know this man...... But apparently he’s been dead for over ........forty years? How? But this is the face. This is the face I saw in the shadow that night I got lost in the woods.

She looks around frantically trying to see if she can see the shadow in the room.

Turning around, she roughly bumps into the large bookshelf against the wall.

“Layla!”

Looking back, she sees Ben rushing to her before she feels a bump on her head, and falls to the ground because of the weight.

“Shit! Layla. Shit.” She hears Ben as he holds her face in his hands and trying to brush her hair out of her face. “Layla are you fine? Can you hear me?” He asks frantically.

She can see the worried look on his face, but she doesn’t know why.

“I’m fine Ben.” She says calmly trying to smile, lightly holding his wrists, hoping to calm him down.

“What do you mean you’re fine, you’re bleeding.” He says in a worried but serious tone.

What? Bleeding? I know I felt a bump on my head, but it felt like it could have been a small rice-sack.

She raises her hand to where she felt the bump and where Ben is staring at. Looking back at the tips of her fingers, she sees some blood. But she knows now it’s not bleeding that much either. It’s probably just a small cut.

What could it have been though? It didn’t even hurt.

“Ben, really. I’m fine. It’s just a small cut.” She says getting up, with Ben trying to hold her up as well.

“Are you sure? It hit you pretty hard.”

Following his line of sight, she looks down and sees a massive old book with some blood on one of the corner tips.

Did that fall on me? And I didn’t feel it?.......What’s happening to me?

She touches the cut on her forehead again, and doesn’t feel the sting she knows she probably should.

It’s getting worse.

Seeing Ben look back at her all worriedly, she gives a quick smile. “I think I just need a plaster for this. Nothing to be so worried about.”

Ben looks at her confused. “You sure?”

She just nods.

“Okay. Come with me. I’ll help you get one.” He says as he slowly pulls her along.