To Come Together

Chapter 4

    Layla's POV

We pull up to his house about 20 minutes later, me talking the whole time to distract Nick from my growling stomach. He probably heard it anyway though because of his werewolf hearing. I hardly ever get to eat at home. Derek makes me eat his scraps and if I'm really in trouble, I don't get to eat at all. I fill out the form for free lunch and then forge his signature. At all my other schools, I would get a free lunch and then buy another one. Since I have friends at this one, I only get one lunch so they don't ask any questions.

"Home, sweet, home,"Nick remarks, pulling me out of my thoughts. As soon as we step into his house, a handle of aroma smells fill my nose. My stomach growls so loudly that it practically shakes the house. I duck my head in embarrassment. 

"It's okay. My mom's cooking does that to everyone,"Nick tells me, putting his hand on my shoulder. All of a sudden, there's a loud squeal and Ashley is suddenly squeezing me.

"Can't breathe,"I wheeze. 

"Oh, sorry,"Ashley apologizes. "Are you staying for dinner?" I nod and she squeals again. 

"Ashley, who's that?"a loud male voice booms. I shrink backward in fear. Nick gives me a strange look and calls out hello. We walk into the biggest kitchen I have ever seen. The kitchen is at least the size of my kitchen, dining room, and living room combined. A woman, whose hair color makes it obvious that Nick got it from her, is standing near the stove flipping what looks to be pancakes. She has her hair up in a bun and she turns around as soon as we walk in.

"Ooh,"she exclaims, almost dropping the spatula that she's holding. "Is this her?" Nick nods and she comes running toward me.

"What's your name dear?"

"Layla Morrison."

"You can call me Jennifer and that's my husband William. You can call him Will though." She points to a tall, broad man. Nick definitely gets his eyes and body structure from him.

"Nice to meet you,"Will says, walking toward me. He holds his hand out and I instinctively flinch. Jennifer's head leans toward the side like she's thinking hard about something.

"I-It's nice to meet you too,"I say shakily, shaking his hand. We shake hands and then Nick's mom yell out that it's dinner time. After a minute, a flood of people come down the stairs. I instantly start feeling overwhelmed with it all. I'm so used to being alone in a quiet house. When I sit down, I get the chance to see whose all here. There's Sean, Jared, Ashley, a girl I don't know and two unfamiliar males are there. I spot them holding hands under the table. Will sits next to Jennifer and Nick sits right next to me after he helps set the food on the table.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you that the whole pack lives here. Some are gone though so not all of them are here tonight. I think that you know everybody except for my Uncle Jerry and Mitch." Nick explains to me. I study Mitch who looks like the exact opposite of Jerry. Where Mitch has black hair and blue eyes, Jerry has white hair and blue eyes. Jerry's also a bit chubbier. Mitch looks like a body builder.

"Yeah,"I whisper. When everybody bows their head as Will says grace, I feel someone watching me. I look up and find Harper shooting daggers at me. What did I ever do to her? Will finishes saying grace and I just sit there even after everybody starts eating. 

"Is everything okay?"Jennifer asks. Everybody stares at me, realizing that I haven't touched my food. My face turns bright red with all of the attention.

"Yeah. I'm just waiting for permission to eat." Everybody's jaws drop.

"You don't have to do that,"Nick tells me. 

"Oh. Okay." I start eating and everybody slowly goes back to eating.

"So Layla? I was told that your dad is a computer expert?"Jennifer says trying to change the subject. I thank her with my eyes and then start explaining 'Derek's' job.

"Yeah, he fixes computers or does pretty much anything you need him to do. He has an account set up so that you can message him for anything." I hand out the email account to everybody and am about to start eating again, when my phone rings. It's Derek.

"Do you need to take that,"Will asks me. I nod and excuse myself.

"Yes,"I say impatiently. 

"Where are you, you little shit?" Derek starts screaming.

"I'm at a friends. I'll be at the house soon. I'm eating dinner here."

"Did you wait for permission before you ate?"

"Yeah, but they told me to go ahead and eat." I don't bother lying to him. He can always tell when I'm lying.

"That's not good enough. You better be home in an hour or you'll have an even worse punishment." I tell him okay and hang up. I go back to the table and start shoveling food into my mouth.

"Is everything okay?"Jared asks me.

"Yup,"I reply, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. 

"Who's Derek, if you don't mind me asking?"Nick asks.

"That's my dad,"I tell him. "We don't get along very well."

"Where's your mom?"Jennifer asks. I shrug.

"I don't know. My dad tells me that she's not a nice person though."

"Or she just couldn't stand to be around you,"Harper remarks. Jerry tells her to apologize. "Sorry,"she sneers. I scoff. What kind of crappy apology was that?

"Um. I have to go home,"I tell them. "It was nice hanging out with you guys." Jennifer gets up and gives me a hug.

"Come back soon." I nod and head out the door, Nick following.

"What are you doing?"I ask.

"Taking you home."

"I can walk." He shakes his head.

"It's getting dark. Come on."  I reluctantly get into his truck and tell him where to go. He pulls up to my house and we sit in silence. I'm debating whether kissing him or not. If I kiss him,  I risk the chance of Derek seeing. Or I could take that risk and be with my mate. What the hell? I turn toward Nick and he raises his eyebrows in confusion.

"Thank you,"I tell him before cupping his cheeks with my hands and kissing him. It's like a spark ignites and we're on fire, our lips moving in sink. We stop, panting, to catch our breath. I lean my forehead against his and kiss his cheek. I leave without another word and walk into my house, knowing that I'll be getting a bad beating soon.

The house is eerily quiet when I walk in and there's a lamp on in the living room on the left. Derek is sitting in his chair, beer in his left hand, whip in the other. Crap! He only brings that out when he's really pissed off.

"You're home late. That makes me very angry,"Derek growls. He gets up and has me bend over. He cuts open the back and my shirt and starts whipping me. Tears form in my eyes, from the stinging pain, but I don't let them fall. I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. The beatings wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't also a werewolf and stronger than me. After he gets tired of whipping me, he starts kicking my stomach. I groan in pain as several of my ribs make a snapping noise.

He finishes after a couple of minutes and kicks me toward the stairs. I crawl, hissing as my ribs light up like they're on fire. I get upstairs and shut my door. Too tired to crawl onto my bed, I fall into a painful sleep, on the floor.