Control (Dark Romance)

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Hagen: 11, Nikola: 6

A/N - If Nikola's language or thought process is more mature than a six-year-old's should be:

a) He's a werewolf; I like to think they mature faster than humans
b) This is Nikola
c) I don't fuck with kids. I don't know how dumb or smart they are.

Also, I wrote this chapter to Don't give up by Foreign Fields

Enjoy!

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Nikola's POV

Hagen was late.

Well, Hagen was always late; it was something he said I was free to hate about him, but I couldn't hate anything about Hagen, even if I did hate people who weren't on time a lot. But anyway, Hagen was late, and while he usually showed up five minutes after he was supposed to, today, it had been far longer than five minutes and he still wasn't here, so he was very, very, late.

I frown. Maybe something was wrong?

If Hagen couldn't make it, he would've called by now, and if something was so wrong that he couldn't, his parents would've called my parents, but that hadn't happened, so everything must be okay.

I nod to myself and stare down the empty road that led to the house.

...But what if he'd run over a big rock while riding on our dirt road, hurt his leg, and was lying somewhere, too far away from his parents for anyone to know?!?

Something horrible squeezes down on my heart, forcing my fingers to dig into my bag straps extra tight. I shift on the porch step, suddenly wanting to run away from it and to wherever Hagen was waiting for me to save him.

I knew the way to get to Hagen's house from mine. I could find Hagen if he was hurt without getting lost, but if Mama found out I left the house before Hagen was with me, then she would be very angry.

Since it was Christmas Vacation for Hagen, we were free to spend every single day together, and we did, but we had rules to follow whenever we hung out. Rules like not going close to pack borders' and not staying out past four, and one of them was that I couldn't leave the house until Hagen came because he was older.

I didn't understand why that mattered, but Mama said it did, so I had to wait. Even though I didn't understand the rule, I'd never found it hard to follow before, but today, it was becoming the hardest rule to follow in the world.

I shift on the step again.

Maybe I could run inside and ask Mama to look for Hagen with her magic. My magic was still too hard to control, but Mama would be able to do it in a heartbeat. But then, what if while I went to find Mama, I missed Hagen and he left because he thought I couldn't hang out today? I couldn't risk that!

Tightening my fingers, I stay put right where I am, but my feet still rock from side to side as I stare down the still-empty road.

Where are you, Hagen? Please be okay.

I hated waiting. It made my insides feel sticky like the way gum looked when it was pulled apart. It was horrible, and having the horrible-waiting feelings and the scared feelings too because of the new item in my bag was making me feel sick.

Every day I spent out of the house with Hagen, I only ever carried four things in my penguin backpack: my headphones, a book, wipes, and whatever lunch Dad packed for me in case I was hungry, but today there was something else in there, something for Hagen.

I shake my head, trying to get rid of the fuzzy noises that try to shout louder in my mind. Hagen would like it– he liked all my gifts, and this one wouldn't be any different.