Chapter Thirty Seven

"Can I go over there?" I pointed toward Nicolas' futon as I laid on mine.

He lifted up his blanket without a word and I slithered over to lay next to him quickly. I rested my head on his pillow and didn't stop moving closer until our arms and legs were touching.

"It gets quite cold at night." Nicolas covered me up with the second blanket and tucked it around me.

I couldn't help but giggle as I nodded and turned to face him. "Why do you have that birthday card I made for Tobias?"

The shock on his face made me want to laugh out loud.

"Tobias gave it to me."

I raised my eyebrow trying to keep the persistent smile off my lips.

"I told him not to, he still did… You can ask him."

His widened eyes finally cracked my facade and I chuckled. "I will."

"I returned it over and over again. He just kept leaving it here." His embarrassed voice fueled my urge to tease him more.

"You shouldn't bully kids like that."

"I didn't." He huffed and averted his gaze.

"When's your birthday? I'll make one for you as well."

"I'll give it back to Maya the next time I see her." He grumbled under his breath, ignoring my question.

Another laughter escaped me.

"It's probably too late to ask this, but what did Maya say?" I spoke after having been quietly staring at him in awe for the last few minutes like a creep I was turning into.

"She said to be extra careful and call for someone if it gets too much to bear." He answered, still avoiding my gaze like he had been doing since I started staring at him.

"Can you go get Marco if I ask you to?" He said and finally met my eyes.

"Yeah." I nodded instantly, my heart soaring inside my chest after meeting his gaze.

He averted his gaze right away and stared at the ceiling instead. "I still can't believe you're here."

His voice and expression both seemed sad rather than that of disbelief like his words suggested.

"Why not?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know why but it just never occurred to me that there'll be a day where we'd be lying side by side in here." His voice was getting more and more dispirited and I felt my heart squeeze inside my chest painfully. "I never even thought about it."

"And here I couldn't stop thinking about moving in." I replied. Though it was an attempt to lift his spirits, it was also true. I couldn't wait to experience this everyday.

Nicolas' gaze met mine in an instant and I gave him a small smile.

"If you don't want me to then that's-" My words got stuck in my throat when he smiled back at me. I even thought I saw his eyes shining suddenly.

"Once your heat is over, let's go for a run." I suggested and gave him a wide smile. "In your wolf form."

Nicolas nodded slightly, still not moving his gaze from mine. His beautiful eyes made my mind turn to goop and I had to remind myself every few seconds to keep breathing.

As if he sensed my struggle and lifted my hand closest to him. He rested my palm over his chest and I could feel his heart racing inside just like mine. The realisation that it wasn't just me allowed me to relax inwardly.

Another moment passed and he broke our eye contact, once again staring at the ceiling above. "I'll have to call Marco." He sighed.

"Right now?" I suddenly leaned over him to look at him.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "In the morning, I think."

Instead of laying back on the pillow, I stayed leaning over him. "I shouldn't have stayed, right?"

He shook his head again. "I'm glad you did."

His reassurance didn't make me feel much better when he still looked like he was struggling with himself.

"I can move away my futon if that'd help."

Another shake of his head. "That'd make it worse."

I gave his face a once over and rested my head atop our hands on his chest. "Is this okay?"

Nicolas rested his free hand on top of my cheek and caressed gently. "Yeah."

I moved around a bit to get more comfortable and soon he had placed his arms around me, holding me against him in an embrace. Listening to his thumping heartbeat made me feel more calm than I thought I would be in a situation like this.

"Do you remember the first time I came in here? And when I followed you outside… You told me that we weren't suitable. At that time I wasn't sure why it was happening to me, but now I know. If you hadn't said that, I don't think I would've realised the depth of my feelings for you…" I had to stop to clear my throat before resuming from before.

"It once again made me believe that whatever happens, happens for a reason. Even if we can't understand it at the moment, somewhere in the future it'll all make sense. I just hope I can continue to believe in that and I hope someday you will too." Once finished with my monologue, I tilted my head to look at him.

He was already looking at me. "Getting the chance to move to Jaursen must have a reason as well."

I narrowed my eyes at him and looked away.

"Blue, I don't want to hold you back. You would've moved away if you hadn't met me, right? Just do what you need to."

I refused to acknowledge his words with a response.

"We'll be fine." He whispered, kissing the top of my head.

I sighed. "I'll think about it. Promise. Just not right now."

I felt Nicolas nod before inhaling deeply and I snuggled closer to him.

He adjusted the blanket over me yet again and I felt myself warm up from the inside. A few moments later, we both yawned at the same time and then laughed about it.

"Goodnight, Blue."

"Goodnight, Nicolas."

~~~

My eyes snapped open when I felt sweat trickle down my back profusely. I could feel unbearable heat on my back and I tried to look around to see where I was. My eyes landed on the furniture in front of me and I remembered staying over at Nicolas'.

Within a second I was crawling out from under the heavy covers and trying to get away from whatever was burning my back. Despite that my back felt sensitive and the cloth rubbing against it stung.

Turning around, I spotted Nicolas half covered with the blankets. I crawled closer to him to look at him and saw him curled into himself with his back toward me. I felt him trembling underneath the covers and tried to turn him to face the ceiling. Even through the fabric, the heat radiating off his body made me pull my hand back with a hiss.

"Nicolas?" I tried to call out his name to make him look at me.

When he didn't respond my heart sank.

I tried to shake him awake with the blankets covering my hand but he still didn't respond. I kept calling out his name and continued to shake him. My heart beat rocketed when I still didn't receive any response from him and I stood up in a hurry.

I ran out of the cabin and tried to locate Marco's cabin in the dark. With no success, I decided to scream his name instead. With tears already threatening to run down my cheeks, I yelled for him with everything in me.

Just a few calls later, I heard different doors snapping open and shutting back again within seconds. In the dark, I could only see figures approaching me and I pointed toward Nicolas' cabin.

"Nicolas needs help." I wailed looking at each silhouette.

They all ran toward the pointed direction and I felt someone catching me right before I felt my legs giving out.

"He'll be okay." An unfamiliar feminine voice said.

I tried to crawl out of her hold to go and see Nicolas but she kept her tight hold on me.

"It's better if you stay here." She whispered near my ear and I shook my head.

"He'll be fine." She whispered again, still keeping her hold despite my constant struggle to break free.

"Alpha wouldn't want you to see him like that." Her words made me still right away.

I stopped trying to break free and settled down on the ground completely. The cold and wetness permeated through my clothes and I hugged my knees against my chest. Keeping my gaze toward the light coming out of the open door of Nicolas' cabin, I prayed for him quietly.

For what seemed like a long time, I just watched people running in and out of his cabin. I recognised most of them from when I was introduced to the pack but none of them was someone I had talked to for more than a few times.

Somehow I was waiting to catch a glimpse of either Marco or Maya to ask them about Nicolas and I had to wait for what seemed like a very long time. The woman who had been holding me back had draped a blanket around me a few minutes ago before settling down beside me.

When I saw Marco exiting the cabin, my legs jerked and I tried to get up. The woman held me down again and I watched helplessly as a few of them carried Nicolas into the deeper part of the woods. Marco led their way while Maya followed them quickly.

Despite the fact that they had wrapped Nicolas in blankets, I knew it was him when my heart lurched and I instinctively tried to follow him. The woman gripped me along with the blanket around me and helped me stand up once Nicolas was out of sight.

"You should get some sleep."

I had no strength left in me to try to go against her anymore. I allowed her to walk me back into his cabin and lay me down on the futon. She covered me up with blankets and I felt her sitting down on the floor beside me.

"You'll be able to meet him in the morning." She rested her hand against my forehead.

I tried to stay awake and wait for her to leave. Much to my dismay, she continued to sit there with her hand slightly covering my eyes until I felt myself dozing off.

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