~Ayla~
3 Days Later
"I don't get why you're so nonchalant about it," Nikolay said after some deliberation.
The warrior had taken to joining me through my daily surveys of the territory. It had been nice to have company, and since he wasn't with me the whole time, I still had time to reflect alone on the day prior.
"Other packs can go on believing whatever they want to believe. Noah and I are never going to get married. Eventually people will realize it's not going to happen."
Nikolay couldn't comprehend why I hadn't done everything I possibly could to dispel the marriage rumors. As soon as my father and Noah's had put out the press release without our consent, we'd both known that nothing would stop the gossip, and I didn't particularly care what people outside of my pack thought in that regard. It didn't help that Noah and I were such good friends, so a billion images of us together existed as fodder to it all.
What I cared about was that my father had completely undermined me. I'd quickly let my pack know it wasn't true, but everyone had already seen the original article. "Noah Martin Sr. and Thomas Huxley announce the engagement of Ayla Huxley to Noah Martin Jr." Me stating otherwise confirmed my father had gone behind my back, and when I confronted him, he hadn't even been apologetic about it.
During our fight, my father's lack of faith in me as a leader had been clearly evident. He had kept saying that Noah would be able to take good care of the pack and provide for me as if I was some toddler that needed looking after. According to him, I wouldn't be able to dedicate as much time to the pack when I became a mother. When I had pointed out to my father that I did not want children, his face had went red.
As he'd ceaselessly yelled that it was my duty to the pack to have children, I'd felt like I was 13 again. It was if I'd been caught hanging around the practice grounds instead of in whatever class he'd signed me up for that week. I'd walked out and had ignored my father since.
Construing the angry look on my face as one directed to him, Nikolay began apologizing.
"That question was not me judging you in any way." He clarified. "I admire your attitude towards it. I wish I cared less about what people think of me."
"I wasn't mad at you," I assured him. "There's just a lot on my mind."
A small frown formed from Nikolay's lips. It quickly dissipated as his next thought took hold. "I know what'll help. Want to see something cool?"
There was a mischievous little spark in Nikolay's eyes, so of course, I agreed. Anything that could take my mind off my father was a welcome distraction. "Oh, you're not going to catch me missing out on 'something cool.' Lead the way."
Thought you'd say something like that." He'd already started walking in the direction we'd just come from, but he paused to smile at me over his shoulder.
I followed him for a few minutes until we stopped at a large tree. Without a word, Nikolay began to climb. For someone so large, he was unexpectedly nimble.
"Hey, tree hugger," I joked. "What are you doing?"
"Just come up." His wide smile turned to a teasing grin. "Unless you're scared."
I grabbed onto the nearest limb and began pulling myself up
"Boy, I'll have you know, I've been climbing these trees since I was old enough to walk."
"Good." Already far above me, he stopped climbing to wink down at me. "We're about to go to the top."
"You're lucky I wear sneakers on these walks."
A hearty laugh came from above me in response.
Enjoying the rough scratch of the bark against my palms, I followed Nikolay up until we were forty feet into the air.
He straddled a larger branch while I wedged myself between two vertical limbs.
"Look." Completely balanced, Nikolay pointed to a dead tree next to us. It was unclear what had killed it, but all that remained of it now was a dried husk of its former glory. Its branches had long ago fallen to the ground and left only a half-barkless, decaying trunk.
"Nikolay, did you bring me all the way up here to show me the remains of a very dead tree?"
"No, no. Look more closely. Like 10 feet from the top of it."
Squinting my eyes as if that would make my vision any more clear, I tried to look for something out of place. "Oh!" I exclaimed as I noticed little heads peeking out of a cavity in the tree.
There was a chorus of chirping, and large, bright yellow mouths opened up.
An adult bird swooped in and grabbed the lip of the cavity with its claws.
"Oh wow," I said again. "It's gorgeous."
The bird had a white underbelly, dark wings, and a beautiful turquoise back. Even in the shade of the forest, the blue-green feathers glistened.
"It's a tree swallow." Nikolay whispered.
We both sat in silence until the hatchlings had their fill and their parent departed.
"How long have they been here?" I asked.
"Those are a few days old, but there's been a couple of other nests since I've been here."
"Wow," I turned to him after the cute little bird heads disappeared back into the tree. "I can't believe you're a bird person."
He shrugged. "Gives me something to look forward to when I'm on shift."
"I can see why you like it. It's a fun little glimpse into a whole other world."
Nikolay's eyes sparkled. "Exactly."
With ease, he swung his legs back together and began descending. At the last branch, Nikolay slid off and landed effortlessly on the ground.
"You should completely wipe the next events from your memory," I joked, knowing that I was not going to be nearly as graceful. Having over a foot less of length to my body than Nikolay, I had much farther to jump.
Nikolay tilted his head back to look up at me. He waved a hand in front of his face. "Got it. No thoughts, head empty."
I tried to distribute my weight equally between my legs when I landed, but still, the momentum from the jump had me pitching forward.
Steadying me, two hands wrapped around my upper arms. "Whoa there."
"You were right. That was cool, thank you." My gaze was on the ground as I found my balance. "I'll have to come back and bring a camera."
When I looked up, Nikolay was already looking at me.
"I'd love to see anything you take." Sincerity shined in his bright blue eyes. His hold on me got a little tighter. "I'm sure it'll be incredible."
"Thanks." It felt nice that the only person who'd seen my work in a long while seemed to genuinely like it.
"You're welcome." Nikolay hadn't dropped his hands.
I could feel his gaze on my lips. While the interest took me by surprise, a small part of me was curious to see if he would make a move.
Something must have given Nikolay the green light because his head started to dip down towards me.
I didn't lean into him, but I didn't pull away.
Just before his mouth met mine, I registered what I was feeling, or rather, what feelings I lacked. There was no knot of anticipation in my stomach, no hitch in my breath, and no pounding in my heart. Other than enjoying the comfort of a strong set of arms around me, I had no physical reaction to this exceedingly attractive man. And yet - there I was, about to self-sabotage yet another friendship by throwing physical stuff into the mix.
I pulled my head back and stepped out of Nikolay's arms.
"I know this might be a lot to ask," I began. "But I really could use a good friend right now. I don't want to ruin something that feels like it could be that."
~~~
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Question of the week! How do you distract yourself when things are going wrong? Do you take walks, like Ayla, enjoy nature in another way, like Nikolay, or something else?