If We Try (Niall Horan-Vampire Fan Fiction)

Chapter 3

***Sydney's P.O.V.***

I'd always been taught that staring was rude. My mother, the cruel woman that she was, at least managed to get that lesson into me. It made sense, though; who wanted to have someone watch them until it was painfully awkward. Still, I couldn't help but to throw that all out the window as I kept my gaze on Niall.

It was insane, wasn't it? There was no way that finding one's soulmate while running through the woods in a beastly form was normal. In fact, I would bet my life that the statistical probability of us just happening to be in the same exact place—a little town in Minnesota—was astronomically low. Of course, I was thankful that we met; I just wondered how we managed it.

Niall scratched the back of his head, but the expectant look on his face never left. "I don't want to rush you, but I'd like to hear the long story if that's alright."

My warm breath billowed in front of me in the cold air, and I tried to offer him more than a sad smile. It didn't quite work. "I know that I owe you that much."

His eyes widened and he stumbled over his words, "Oh, no, I didn't—you don't owe me anything. It's just...I've been waiting to hear something from you for about a year. If you don't want to talk about it then I completely understand that."

"You're my soulmate, though." Saying it aloud was still odd. "You ought to know everything, right?"

When he came a bit closer, I assumed that it was because of the overpowering pull of the bond. It was hard to resist something so unbelievably strong. Then, he stuttered out, "I—I—"

A loud yelp came from somewhere deeper in the forest, and effectively cut off whatever Niall was about to say. If I hadn't recognized the noise, I probably would've urged him to go on and forget the interruption. Yet, my heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach when I realized whose yelps cut through the woods. Colin.

"Shit," I mumbled, and I desperately surveyed the area around us. The pained cries sounded from the right. I went to unzip Niall's jacket and throw it back towards him so that I could change back into my wolf unencumbered, but Niall's wide eyed look stopped me. "That's my friend; I have to find him and see if he's alright."

There was no hesitation from Niall. "I'm coming with you, then."

My brows furrowed as I stopped, the zipper of the jacket caught halfway down the track. I spluttered out, "You can't—"

"You were gone for a year, Sydney—"

"I know, I know," I sighed heavily with the resignation and then scrubbed a hand down my face. Every second that we stood there was another second that Colin could be cornered and hurt. With the enemies that followed us... well, it wouldn't have been a surprise. So, I groaned and grabbed one of Niall's hands, "Fine, come with me."

We stumbled through the thick underbrush of the woods. My head whipped around, constantly turned in the direction of wherever the newest yelp came from. Eventually, I could see the ruddy fur of Colin's wolf in the distance. He appeared to be curled in around himself as he pawed at the hard dirt. I dropped Niall's hand in favor of racing towards where Colin was, and I kneeled in front of his thrashing wolf.

"Colin," I called with the desperate hope that he might hear me through the haze of his beastly mind. It was in vain, though; when I reached out to smooth over the fur near the scruff of his neck, he snapped at my hand. I yanked my now injured hand away and stared down at Colin. He didn't mean to hurt me; his wolf just panicked and lashed out.

Niall joined me, though he kneeled a bit further away in fear of being torn into, and he pushed around a clump of leaves around Colin's feet. Through the darkness, I could make out a dark puddle of blood. "He's caught in a trap," Niall said. Now that the leaves were completely cleared, I saw what he meant. A bear trap clamped down on one of Colin's hind legs. Just imagining the excruciating pain he must've been in made me whimper. "Here, help me."

I joined him by Colin's back haunches, and I tried not to look too much at the trap. If we didn't move quick all of the noise would no doubt attract something undesirable. It was hard to work quickly when there was a panicky and pained werewolf snapping at our hands, though. Eventually, we pushed down on the springs enough to free Colin, and his wolf dragged him into a cluster of nearby bushes so that he could nurse his wound in peace. It would take awhile for him to heal on his own.

My worries must've shown on my face, because Niall whispered, "I can heal him if I get close enough."

There was an uncertain moment where I looked at the bushes that rustled with Colin's every whine and then to Niall. It was bad enough that Niall saw me in my wolf form once; I didn't want to have to change back again. After all, I hated the feeling, and I never even let Colin see me through the transition after that first night that I met him. Colin's well being was more important than my insecurities, though.

Careful of the zipper that caught on its track, I removed the jacket that Niall leant me and passed it to him. From the corner of my eye, I saw him blush scarlet before he turned his gaze away from my bare body. It wasn't the time to worry about indecency.

A terrible yet familiar pain charged through my bones, and all that I could hear was the pops of joints going in and out of place. My skin itched as silvery white fur sprouted from every spot. The odd coloring, due to my being a hybrid, was just a reminder of how wrong the transformation was. It wasn't me anymore.

Eventually, the pain ebbed away. The hunched shadow of my wolf stretched against the ground thanks to the moon's dazzling glow. I was aware of Niall's eyes on me, but I tried not to focus on that. Instead, I let out a low growl that was answered by Colin's high whimpers. A few seconds passed before he limped out from behind the bushes and stopped before me in a submissive stance.

With a jerk of my wolf's head in Colin's direction, Niall caught my implication and rushed to Colin's wounded back legs. Though Colin growled at him a handful of times, I was able to keep him from lashing out and biting Niall. When all was done and Colin was healed, Niall stood by my side and slumped. I didn't change back until Colin had.

"Haven't I taught you how to avoid traps?" I kept the anger from my voice with a considerable labor, and it was replaced with all of the worries that flooded my body when I first heard his whimpers.

Colin whined, "But there was food, Sydney." He gestured towards a mangled rabbit carcass that was partially clamped in the jaws of the trap. It would've been tempting for a wolf that hadn't hunted in days.

"Food that isn't running isn't food." Niall flinched a little beside me, but I tried not to notice as I took his jacket from him when he offered it up again. The zipper still got stuck halfway up; Niall didn't move to help fix it that time. I looked up at the position of the moon in the sky. "We should start to set up camp; it'll be morning soon."

I went to survey the area for a place to settle, but Colin's voice stopped me, "Who's he?"

As impossible as it seemed, I completely forgot that Colin had never seen Niall before. Of course, he wouldn't know who he was. "My soulmate," I told him, and I was greeted by a wide eyed and gaped mouth look, "Colin, this is Niall. Niall, this is my pack mate, Colin." They both were silent as they took each other in; it was an odd way to meet someone, so I understood the hesitance on either side.

"How—"

Knowing that there would be a flood of questions to come and that I would much prefer to answer them by the calming heat of a fire, I cut him off. "We'll talk more once we set up a camp. Come now," I gestured for him to join me.

It took almost an hour to find a spot that I found 'suitable'. Soon I would be forced to relive the past for Niall's sake, but I could stall the inevitable until then. 

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I'm sorry for being terrible at updating, and I'm sorry that this is a pretty crappy chapter. I go off to college tomorrow so it might be a while before I update again. 

-cow_queen