To Come Together

Chapter 11

Layla's POV

Henry, my mom, and I all step closer to Nick and his parents. Nick's father nods at me and I avert my gaze from Nick's, not ready to see his reaction to me yet.

"It's nice to meet you,"Henry said. His hand envelopes mine as we shake hands. My mom smiles at me, but I have a hard time returning it. 

"The union should take place next week. There is a house a few miles on the border between our territories. You guys shall live together and in the future, take over the packs. When that happens, the packs will come together as one." Nick's father explains. I look to where he pointed when he mentioned the house, but I can't see it. I open my mouth to ask a question, but Henry beats me to it.

"You do not need to sleep in the same room, but will need to produce an heir in the future, if that's what you were going to ask."

"I wasn't. I was just going to ask when the union is going to happen exactly. Monday, Tuesday, I'm a busy woman. I got things to do."I say, trying to lighten the mood and it works because Nick starts to chuckle. I look at him and he smiles, causing me to blush.

"Oh! We haven't formally introduced you two. Nick, this is Layla. Layla, Nick,"Henry says. I step toward Nick and hold out my hand to shake his, trying not to bust out laughing. He puts his hand in mine, causing the familiar spark to light up my body.

"It's nice to meet you,"Nick says smiling. At that point, I couldn't contain it anymore. I start laughing and so does Nick. His parents join in, causing everybody to look confused.

"Am I missing something here?"Henry asks. Nick sobers up faster than me and says,"we know each other."

"How?"My mom asks, looking at me for an answer.

"We go to school together. We're also mates." That causes everybody who didn't know, to gasp. I spot Ashley glaring at me from over Nick's shoulder. My smile fades and I turn my attention back to Nick.

"We should head back,"my mom states. "I have to show Layla her room and let her rest." As soon as she mentions rest, it makes me remember my ribs, which I had temporarily forgotten about. I put my arms around my stomach, trying to subtly to mask the pain that I'm in.

"That's probably a good idea,"I say, turning to face Nick. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Definitely,"Nick nods and both packs start shifting in to wolves. Nick starts to turn away, when I grab his hand, pulling him to me. I cup his face with my hands and kiss him with all that I have. He kisses back with so much passion, that it's almost too much for me. We stay like that, oblivious to the world around us. I forget about the pain in my ribs and he seems forget about the pain I caused him. After what seems like forever, we both pull away, gasping for breath.

"We are definitely talking later,"Nick says, making me laugh. I hug him, breathing in his scent. Oh how I missed him. I reluctantly pull away from him and shift, heading back to the house. I get to the house, to find Henry and my mom waiting for me.

"Are you ready?"Henry asks handing me my bag. I nod and we walk into the house. My mouth drops in shock. There's a huge, shiny kitchen to my left and a beautiful living room, with red couches on my right. Directly in front of me is a set of stairs that leads upstairs. Henry and my mom go up them and I follow. At the very end of the hall is my room. They move out of the way so that I can go in. The room is so huge. There's a balcony directly across from the door. My queen sized bed is on the right and a bathroom is on the left. My closet is right next to the bathroom and I go over to it. I open the doors, and find that it's nearly the size of the whole room itself. This is crazy. 

At my other house, I only had a mattress on the ground and a cabinet for my clothes. My room was like half the size of this one. I flop down on my bed, instantly regretting it because it causes my ribs to burn. I hear laughing and see Henry and my mom smiling at me with affection. My heart instantly warms and I wish that I could've grown up with this. With them. 

"We'll let you get settled,"my mom says and they shut my door. I step out onto my balcony, which looks out over the forest. Tears springs to my eyes and I cry. I cry for the mom that I didn't have growing up. For the father that Derek wasn't. For not growing up with love and all the times that Derek beat me and told me that I was ugly and worthless. Most of all, I cry for the life I didn't get to have. I sit down, my back against the railing and close my eyes, falling asleep.

Henry's POV

"Should we go check on her?"Rose asks for the hundredth time, making me chuckle. I nod and we go upstairs. I knock lightly on her door and it swings open. I instantly spot her on the balcony, asleep. Rose puts her hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes. I put my hand on her shoulder and walk over to Layla.

I can tell that she's been crying and it breaks my heart. When Rose showed me the picture of Layla, I could tell that this girl never got to be a kid. She may look young, but her eyes say that she's been through a lot. I'm not surprised though. Derek has always been a dick and probably didn't take of her right. I pick Layla up, causing her to flinch in pain for some reason and wake up.

She looks at me, her eyes still hazy with sleep, and pushes away from me, cowering against the wall.

"Don't hurt me,"she screams, breaking my heart. I take a step towards her and can tell that it was a mistake. She whimpers, covering her face with her hands. Rose crouches down next to her and wraps her arms around her. Rose has tears streaming down her face and I'm holding tears back and failing. What has this girl been through to make her freak out like that? 

After Layla calms down, she allows me to carry her to her bed. Rose and I are about to leave, when she stops us.

"Wait. Mom... could you stay with me?" Rose kisses my cheek before going and laying beside Layla. Rose wraps her arms around her and Layla's instantly out. I turn off the light and shut the door. Leaning heavily against the wall, I wonder. How much has this girl been through and what will it take for her to heal?

Derek's POV

That little brat. I'm going to kill her. It's been a few hours since she left and I'm no closer to finding her. She probably ran off with that idiot of a boy that showed up here looking for her. Ironic that I'm now the one looking for her.

I chuckle dryly as I wait for him to come. I'm hiring someone to find her and take her out. He comes in and sits in front of me. 

"You know her, right?" He nods and I hand him a pack of cash. "This is only half. You'll get the other half when you do it." He nods and walks out of the diner. I sit back and sip my coffee, pleased with myself. She'll never see it coming.