Fight for Me

Meanwhile

Nicholas and Tyler are in the office reviewing their patrol schedule.

Just as their meeting concludes and Tyler leaves, the office door swings open again.

Looking at his rude intruders, Nicholas sees Melinda with a very determined look in her eyes, pulling Tristan in along with her.

Raising a questioning brow at the couple, he notices Tristan avoiding eye contact.

He’s trying to hide something.

“Tristan?” Nicholas asks in a deep tone.

But Melinda steps forward. “Nicholas.”

Nick growls.

“Alpha, I mean.” She gets Tristan to give Nick an annoyed look. “You cannot let Layla leave.” She figured she needs to get straight to the point.

But Nick is looking at Tristan for an explanation for this sudden topic of discussion. He knows the moment Tristan opens his mouth, he will spill everything he knows.

“Ni-.”

But Melinda rushes to interrupt Tristan. “She’s in danger”

Nick finally looks at her, wondering what Melinda could know of Layla’s problems and how she could have found out about them.

Focusing on pushing his livid wolf back as he’s been trying to do for the past few days, he waits for her to continue.

“I misjudged her since I first saw her. But she’s a good person. I know that now. So we must help her. You can help her.”

“She doesn’t need my help.” Nick finally speaks.

“But what if she wants it?”

Melinda knows they are mates. That it’s the reason Nick affects the shadow. And she suspects that their bond isn’t actually broken either.

“She doesn’t.” She would have asked me if she wanted it. But she’s too stubborn for that anyways.

“What if she does?” Melinda persists.

Nick sighs annoyed, but more at his wolf trying to gnaw at his insides.

“Look, I know she’s your mate.”

Nick suddenly looks up at the witch. Looking at Tristan’s guilty face, he’s sure he knows too.

He slowly stands up and looks at the couple. “How do you know?”

“That’s beside the point.” Melinda continues. “She’s in trouble. And you know it. And as her mate you can help her.”

“We’re not mates anymore.” He says feeling somewhat dejected, as the lump in his chest continues to squeeze his heart.

“The bond isn’t broken.”

Nick looks at her confused, and almost hopeful.

“I don’t know if you know about it, but there is a very sinister and dark aura that follows Layla. I’m sure the moment it can, it will try to hurt her. So far, you’re the only one that chases it away from her.”

Nick looks at her questioningly, but rather surprised that Melinda knows more than he thought she could. He knows there is something strange about Layla. She sees something too.

But Nick looks down, convinced that Layla doesn’t want him, that she wants to leave.

She probably already left with the alpha.

“It doesn’t matter.” Nick finally gets Tristan’s attention, as he notices the dejected tone and look on his brother’s face.

“Nicholas?” Tristan finally speaks.

“She’s already gone.” Nick exclaims.

“Then go after her.” Tristan urges on. Desperate to have Nicholas want for something.

“You don’t get it!” Nick slams his fist on his desk, earning a loud crack through it. “She doesn’t want me.”

A brief silence fills the room.

“Nicholas. Come on. Even I’m not oblivious. I see the way you look at each other. She likes you. And whether you know it or not, you like her too.”

Nicholas is getting more annoyed. He never expected one of his brothers to be giving him this speech. They all know they have a priority to their packs as alphas first. He can’t linger the thought of forcing all that on a human, and especially not on Layla. She has problems of her own to deal with.

“She’s human.” He struggles to find the right words.

“She’s your mate! Human, wolf, witch. It doesn’t matter what she is.” Tristan fills the quiet room with his frustrated, heavy breathing, as he squeezes Melinda’s hand wanting to feel her warmth and presence. “Just be honest, with yourself at least. What do you want?”

But before Nick could answer Tristan, he feels a sudden burning in his chest. It quickly spreads through his body as a sharp pain hits his stomach, getting him to hunch over his desk.

“Aaahh.”

“Nicholas?” Tristan asks concerned, as he nears his brother.

His stomach twists and he can feel the bile rising up. As another wave of pain stabs through his chest, he slams his fist on his cracked desk, splitting it in two.

“Oh my.” Melinda tries to step forward to try and help, but Tristan is quick to pull her back.

He knows what is happening to Nicholas. -His mate, Layla, is with someone else. That means,…..

“How stupid can you be?!” Tristan grabs his brother by the collar and slams him against the wall.

Finally getting a hold of himself, Nicholas shoves Tristan off him with a deep growl.

“You idiot! You never rejected her officially.” Tristan retorts, clenching his fists, ready to throw a punch.

“What?” Nick looks confused, but quickly understands what his brother is saying. “No. We did.”

“Did you Nicholas? Did you actually say the words? Did you tell her that you reject her as your mate?”

Tristan can see the gears shifting in Nicholas’ head as he thinks back.

“But we both agreed.” Nicholas says more to himself.

“You have to say it to make it REAL!” Tristan shouts back. “FUCK!!!!!” He punches Nicholas in the face. “All this time,…….all this time while you were fucking Rebecca right next door to her. You dare to put your mate through that pain?!”

Another wave of pain suddenly hits Nicholas as another feeling, similar to what he thinks could only be guilt, churns his gut.

“You better get your shit together Nicholas. Just because you don’t feel shit, doesn’t mean others don’t.” Tristan steps back and takes Melinda’s hand and says to her, “I can’t. There’s only so much I can do for him.”

Leaving Nicholas alone in his office, he is hit with the sudden realization and a wave of emotions he never thought he could feel again.

With his brothers’ words repeating through his mind and his livid wolf yapping at him too, he finally acts on what he really wants for the first time in decades.

Nicholas runs out of his office.