Wrong Turn, Right Path

Chapter 9 - Nick's POV

Clay looks at me and feels the power that he can't help but submit to. Jemma turns to look and sees me watching her. I was trying to be sneaky about it but she caught me. I have a choice I can either drop my gaze and try to reign in my aura or I can prove to her who she belongs to. Let the battle begin. I turned my head and locked gazes with her and let my aura intensify I see heads all along the table bow but my cheeky little mate just cocks her head at me and smirks.

Nick! You need to calm down. This is not the way to make your point.

Too late Mitch. Once a challenge has been extended I need to see it through.

I unleash the full power of my Alpha aura and everyone is bowing except for Mitch, Selene, and surprisingly Jemma. Then she completely catches me off guard as she blows me a fucking kiss. What the hell? I look away not sure how to respond when I look back at her she has a stunning smile on her face that immediately falls when she notices that everyone had their heads bowed but her. Had she not noticed that before? I see her wince as she pushes away from the table and give some bullshit excuse about losing her appetite before leaving the hall.

Jemma's your mate Mitch linked, it wasn't a question.

Yes I don't bother denying it.

Fix this with her and meet me in my office afterwards.

SHIT! She's moving fast under the influence of her adrenaline. She could fall and hurt herself even more without even realizing it. I get up and follow her, just to make sure she's safe.

I get to the hallway and look just as the elevator door closes. She had fear in her eyes when she looked at me. FUCK! I don't want my mate to be scared of me. I just want to make sure she's safe, does that make me a terrible person? I don't want to run and be there when the doors to the elevator open on the second floor. I know that would scare her even more and that would not help in whatever was going on between us. So I walked up the stairs and hear the elevator arrive. I see her limping down the hall like she's trying to hurry but can't seem to go any faster. It's hard to hold Kol back from chasing her down. She reaches her door and I call out her name. She pauses ever so slightly which tells me she heard me but she doesn't look my way and instead goes into her room and shuts the door. I rush up to her door and listen to her on the other side. Her heart is pounding, her breathing is fast and shallow. I'm prepared to rush in there if I hear any sound that indicates she's fallen or is hurting.

She's approaching the door and my heart rate increases dramatically. What will I do if she opens it? What can I say that will take away her fear of me? Would she invite me in? Should I go in if she does invite me? Why am I so indecisive?

She doesn't do anything. I lift my hand about to knock and instead I just place my hand on her door and rest my head on it like I did this afternoon. I'm trying to reach out to her like a mind-link but we aren't connected like that, not yet anyway. Then I hear her voice so soft that if I weren't a werewolf I wouldn't have heard it at all, "I'm sorry Nick. I thought it was a game but I have a feeling I disrespected you, I didn't mean to...... Please don't hurt me."

My heart shattered. My mate was scared of me. She honestly thought I would hurt her if she disrespected me? I wanted to go in her room and gather her into my arms. I wanted to reassure her that I would never hurt her that I would do anything and everything in my power to make sure she was never hurt again. I just don't know how to. I don't know how to do this with a human. Every time I'm around her I sense her pride and the Alpha in me wants her submission. If she were a werewolf this would be so much easier. She would understand the matebond, she would understand Alphas and our pride.