The trail had led us to a dead end, just north of town, where the forest expands into such vast and dense woodland over steep, entangled terrain. It made it hard to navigate further and I doubted the safety of my father and I, heading into there unmanned. Despite both of our reluctance to give up, we had no other option than to circle back later and head home for now. 

"There will be a meeting tonight." My father warned me, "I'll go and check with security and find out what went wrong."

I nodded and we parted ways, my father heading towards the security office with a sour look on his face that made the pack members in his way lower their gazes and step out of his war path. He wasn't mad at them, of course, but he was raging inside at the damn rogues. 

A feeling stabbed my chest and I had to gulp to push down the pain, alarm flooding through my body in the form of adrenaline in my veins. Never before had I experienced pain like it; it was if somebody had chucked a pint of boiled water over my chest and set me alight with gasoline simultaneously. 

"Xan? What's wrong?" 

The voice came through as a high-pitched noise, making me wince and clutch my chest to try to regain my winded breath. I vaguely registered hands grabbing at me but took no notice as the fog that had infested my brain cleared and one word stood strong: Nico. Nico needed me.

Breaking into a sprint, I managed to reach my car in record time. I was closely followed by two sets of footprints behind me, struggling to keep up with my adrenaline fuelled speed. Just when I thought everything was over, I feel that Nico is in pain. My mind was racing.

We weren't even fully mated yet but I could feel every splitting ounce of pain as I jammed my key in the ignition of my car, the engine roaring to life. The passenger and back door of the car didn't even have time to close before my tires were squealing and I was off like a shot. My hands were clenched around the steering wheel so hard it felt as if it might rip off clean in my finger tips. 

"Xan, what's wrong?" Mila's voice came through the fog of my panic.

"Nico." 

She nodded without another word, strapping herself in. N.J followed suit. 

My head raced with every horrendous thought of what could have happened to him and my mind went to the worst case scenario. The rogues had got to him. It was horrible to think but I knew it was true.

As we drove, Mila tried called him over and over but each time it went to voicemail. 

"Do you know where he is?" 

"Work. He has a shift now."

Dodging traffic, I knew I had committed at least four driving offences on the way there. I'd happily pay a fine to get to Nico even a minute sooner, however. The car jolted with how hard I slammed the brakes on in the carpark of his work and I left the keys in the ignition as I sprinted across the car park. 

My breath laboured and eyes frenzied, I scanned the small store for where Nico should be. He was nowhere in sight. 

"Can I help you?" A girl, smacking chewing gum in her mouth asked me.

"Nicolai, is he here?"

"On break in the back." She gestured to the little side door to the left of the tills.

Slamming it open was a little forceful and it hit the wall on the other side with a sickening cracking sound. Nico jumped in his seat, looking at me with wide eyes. Relief washed over me to see that he was in front of me, but concern still etched my face as I scanned over his body.

He was sat on a chair in front of a coworker who was digging through a small, green first aid kit. Nico was shirtless and the entirety of his chest was bright red and looked irritated. He'd clearly been scalded and the culprit, a cheap, white plastic kettle, was strewn on the floor as if somebody had flung or dropped it.

"Alex? What on earth are you doing here?" Nico's cheeks turned a shade of red that matched his scalded skin.

"Alex? That's new." I heard N.J whisper to Mila.

"Are you okay?" I knelt by his side, my eyes scanning his chest to check his wounds.

He squirmed under my sight but I wasn't concerned with how he looked with his shirt off right now. Besides, I had seen a lot more than just that, so it was a little late to start being embarrassed now.

"I'm fine, the kettle slipped and coated me in boiling water." Nico sighed, "It's not as bad as it looks."

He was a liar because I had felt how bad the pain was, but he was putting on a brave face. Not that I could tell him that I knew he was a liar, anyway. The guy that had been rummaging through the first aid box avoided my eyes and I recognised him as a pack member. I swore under my breath, realising how this looked. 

"Come on, I'm taking you to A&E." I told Nico, grabbing a wet paper towel for a cold compress in the car.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's not that bad." Nico protested, going to stand but wincing.

"Are you a doctor?" 

Nico raised an eyebrow at me and scoffed, reluctantly accepting my outstretched arm. Mila grabbed Nico's things and N.J held the door for us as I helped Nico walk to the car. He was still the colour of his burns, red in the cheeks and mortified by what was happening.

As I adjusted his seatbelt so that it wasn't against his burns, he looked anywhere but at me. I was just relieved that he was going to get it checked out and that he was mostly okay. That it wasn't rogues. 

"How did you know to come?" Nico whispered.

"We were already in the store." I lied through my teeth, avoiding his eyes now.

"You felt it, didn't you?"

Nico kept his voice low, trying to not be heard by N.J and Mila, but it was in vain. My eyes stared into his and I tried to figure out how he had known. I shook my head at him, but gave no response as I walked around the car and climbed into the driver's seat. The drive to A&E was much more careful than my drive to Nico's work, that was for sure.

"Give us a call and we'll come pick you up later." Mila let me know as she climbed into the drivers seat of my car after dropping us off.

It was agreed that they should be back at the pack and that I needed some time to sort out this mess with Nico.

While waiting between being seen, Nico and I had a lot of time sat in waiting rooms or on hospital beds. He kicked his feet, using my jacket around his shoulders to keep himself warm as he was still shirtless. Each time, the two of us sat in silence and I scrambled for the words to explain to him what on earth was going on.

"I felt it, you know." Nico was the first to break the silence, "Every kick, or punch, whatever it was. I don't know how but I knew it was you."

His words astounded me and I realised just how stupid I had been. Nico could feel all of the pain those asshole wolves inflicted on me when we scrapped. If I had known that, I would have been more careful. 

"And I knew that when the water hit me that you could feel it too. I don't know how, and it doesn't make much sense, but I knew it."

Nico continued and I struggled to look at him, my mind racing. 

"Alex, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you know why."

His voice was soft, as if he didn't want to point fingers or push me too far in his pursuit of the truth. 

Saved by the entrance of a nurse, I ducked out of the room and headed for the closest bathroom to calm myself down. The feeling in my stomach was a black hole of guilt and I wanted nothing more than to tell Nico the truth, but that meant involving him in all that was bad. Putting him at risk. 

On my wander to find a bathroom, I passed a hospital concession stand selling random treats, drinks, gifts and such. My eyes narrowed in on the same orange, chocolate peanut butter stuff that I've seen Nico consuming a thousand times. I decided to stop and grab some.

Running the cold tap in the bathroom, I splashed some water over my face and tried to refocus. Today had been overwhelming and I was beginning to struggle with it all. Hell, I had ran across the town and back chasing some rogues not an hour earlier. 

My phone chimed with a text and I fished it out of my pocket, slumping against the cold tile of the bathroom wall as I opened the image that Oscar had sent me. Ava smiled up at the camera with Ross and Lex in her arms, photobombed by a tired-looking but enthusiastic Oscar. 

Leaving the bathroom, I headed back to the room with Nico inside and showed him the image. The nurse was now gone.

"My niece and nephew were born this morning."

He took the phone, cooing over them. I explained proudly to him that they were named after me and that I hadn't known Ava was expecting twins. He listened fondly and I rather hoped he was going to drop the business of the pain, but it was an unfound wish. 

"Alex, you owe me an explanation."

I sighed, staring at his concerned eyes and eventually nodded. I did owe Nico some semblance of the truth. It was only going to continue to escalate as we get closer to his birthday. D-day. 

"I will." I eventually spoke, "Just not here. Not now."

"When?"

Chucking the peanut butter bar at him, I took a seat and glanced out the window. It was getting darker outside already.

"Before your birthday."

Nico didn't seem pleased by my answer but he wasn't displeased either. I had given him a time frame and that would give me enough time to figure out the best way to tell him the truth.

This whole time I had been considering myself and how I would feel. I was concerned with my own free will and being able to make a choice while I was still free from the strength of the mate bond. However, I had neglected to consider what Nico wanted. Whether he would still want anything to do with me.

We would always be bonded physically, but that doesn't mean he can't choose to ignore me for the rest of our lives. At least if I told him the whole truth before the mate bond kicked in entirely, I would know how he truly feels about me and this entire situation. 

"It's a date." I winked, making Nico blush.

"You promise?" Nico held out his pinky finger, which I wrapped my own around.

"I promise."

The doctor came by the discharge Nico with some specific care instructions for his burn but he said it shouldn't scar, so Nico was rather relieved. He was now bandaged up and was wearing my hoodie, which I have to say looks rather good on him. In fact, it was almost entirely engulfing him and I noticed he was breathing in deeply, admiring the scent. Icarus enjoyed that Nico liked our scent and I had to agree with him. 

"Before we leave, I'm going to go visit someone. You don't have to come or anything, I can meet you outside."

Looking at Nico's sad eyes, I could see that he was troubled by his dad still being in hospital. It had been a while, and I had wanted to ask how he was doing, but it never felt like I should bring him up. Nico was very clipped when it came to discussing his dad being in the hospital but it felt like he was being vulnerable by offering me to come and meet him.

"Of course I'll come with you."

Nico smiled.