The Alpha's Sunshine

sunshine: six point two

Hours had passed and Ali was still sitting in Nick's room, waiting patiently.

She wasn't sure if he knew she was waiting and decided to start avoiding her, again. Or maybe Elsie or Elliot hadn't mind-linked him and told him she was waiting yet. The latter was a stupid assumption, she had thought, of course they would tell him. She had stepped into his room and haven't exited since then, they would've gotten the clue that she was waiting for him and called him back by now.

Sighing, Ali hugged her knees as she sat on the floor, leaning against the hard wood of his bed.

"Please come back soon," she whispered into the silence.

Nick had been running in the woods. When he had reached a tiny cliff, he just rested there and thought about things.

'Nick, she's been waiting for hours. When are you coming back?' Elliot had asked.

Ten minutes into his run, Elliot had told him that she went into his room and hasn't come out. An hour later, she still hasn't, according to Elsie this time. Nick had lost track of time while he was caught up in his thoughts, not realizing that it had been maybe three hours since the last time Elsie had linked him.

And suddenly, he felt guilty for making her wait. She obviously wanted to talk, and he did too. He wanted to get everything out and lay his cards out on the table. He wanted her to understand the whys, the whats, the hows, and everything else.

Looking around him one last time, he started running towards the pack house. He shifted back and put on some clothes they had hidden underneath the trees before entering.

As the scent of cinnamon and flowers got stronger, Nick found himself slowing down his steps. He didn't know what he was going to expect behind the closed doors. Pausing just outside his door, he wondered if he should knock.

'Just enter already! Are we just gonna stand here forever?' His wolf was pacing constantly, getting more impatient by the second.

Nick turned the knob, ever so slowly, and entered his room.

Ali's eyes snapped to the turning door knob, hoping it was Nick who finally decided to make an appearance. When his greys connected with her blues, she felt relieved. At least he came back, she thought.

Ali was about to stand up when Nick made his way over to her, and he just signaled for her to remain seated. He took a seat beside her with his legs stretched out in front, leaving a considerable amount of distance between them. This was it, this would be where he told his story to Alison and make her understand everything.

"I need you to understand what I'm about to tell you. It's why I can't be close to you, and it's why I can neither accept or reject you as my mate," he started. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the story-telling.

Like Ali, this was the first time that he was going to talk about his parents' deaths out loud. Hopefully, by the time he was done talking, Ali would understand and accept the way things were between them. Little did he know that Ali was here to change the way things were between them.

Seeing her head move up and down, he started his story.

"When I was twelve, my mother went into town to get some groceries and run some errands. The morning had started out normal. She had kissed my dad on his cheek while he made breakfast as usual, and then she did the same to me. She had said that she'll be back before we knew it and shouted a 'love you' to both of us before she disappeared through the front door of our house. She never came back that day. That is the last memory I have of my mom."

Ali had scooted closer to him, sensing that this was something painful for Nick to talk about. She wanted to be there for him, and so she leaned her head against his shoulder and held his big hands in her rather tiny ones.