Chapter Six (An Unexpected Hero)

Nigel Hartwell drew back with a quiet curse, running his fingers through his hair, and avoided meeting her gaze, he said, "I think that would do. You should stick with your friends. This place is not for pups to wander…" and then he was gone. 

It took Eirika a minute to catch her breath. She placed a shaky finger over her lower lip to feel the warm, plum flesh that had felt his touch. She then wrapped her arms around herself, feeling suddenly cold.

Confused, and a tad upset that all that might just be him toying with her. She ran her fingers through her curls and turned around to look for Nina and Toby. She saw them dancing at a corner of the dance floor and quickly found her way to them. 

Nina beamed with a smile when she saw her, then pulled her into the circle and the three danced together.  Eirika kept looking around for Hartwell but he was nowhere in sight. Her heart constricted. She sincerely wished he had stayed.

Later on, they left the club to go back, and the same men who waylaid Eirika earlier stalked them to the parking lot and tried to force Eirika to follow them. 

"What is your problem?!" Eirika cried trying to fight them off. Toby and Nina struggled with the two hefty men but one pushed Toby to the floor and backhanded Nina. "You asshole!" Eirika yelled, digging her sharp nails into the skin of the one holding her. The man flinched and growled at her, baring his teeth. Eirika saw his eyes flash dangerously and knew then they were werewolves. That gave her pause, knowing Nina and Toby were wolf kins. 

"You two again?!" a familiar voice sounded from Eirika's back and she jerked her face around to see Nigel stalking towards them. 

"You will do well to keep walking, stray," one of the men threatened. 

"You claim she is yours but she neither carries your scent nor marks!" the other growled almost inaudibly.

Nigel smiled – a cold threatening kind.

Eirika felt fear well inside her. She wanted to warn Nigel that the men were not just werewolves but the feral kind. Her father had taught her how to note the differences: the ferals have dark irises that flash when angry. Humans or the unchanging have normal-colored eyes with no glow in them, werewolves with Lycanthrope blood have gold circles around their regular eye colors and their eyes flash white when provoked. They can instantly change into their Lycan form like a chameleon and don't need the full moon. They also share the same eye color with their beasts, unlike the regular werewolves which have the largest population. Their eye color is a dull green and turns black in their beast mode. Feral wolves are mostly rogues and lowlifes who terrorize everyone and are quite vindictive and relentless. The last thing they needed was those kinds getting fixated on her. 

Nigel charged forward and knocked the one holding her off of her, grabbing her by the waist to whisk her away from the men's grasps. He then made sure he shielded her with his body, facing the two men. It happened so fast that she marveled at his speed and combat prowess. 

"You should leave… the three of you," Nigel said over his shoulder to Eirika. 

"What?! Nigel, we can't … they are …" Eirika protested vehemently, unconsciously wrapping her arms around his middle. His rippling muscles flexed under her touch.

"You will only be in my way. Go!" he growled over his shoulder again. 

Toby quickly came to grab Eirika, pulling her and Nina towards their car. 

Eirika kept looking back, watching as the three men faced each other. She noticed then that Nigel was as equally muscular as the two men and even a head taller. She watched him clench his fists with his back hunched ready to lunge at the men. 

Toby dragged her into the car and hurried to the driver's side. He started the engine and drove off. When Eirika looked back through the back windshield. She couldn't see Nigel or the other two men. 

"I hope he is alright," Nina vocalized Eirika's thoughts. 

"Don't worry, I have witnessed the guy casually take down Joshua's group, he is not someone I would face off in a fight," Toby assured. 

Joshua was a renowned bully at East High. And everyone feared him and his ten-hellion gang. If Toby was right about Nigel then he must know what he was doing because Joshua came from a line of werewolves and had gotten his wolf earlier than most which was why he felt he had the superior strength to terrorize everyone, especially the unchanging. But that information did not assuage her fears. And the feeling stayed with her till the following morning.

She hurried to get ready for school and head out, wanting to see Nigel and assure herself that he was alright. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw him in the hallway to her class. He wore his usual dark getup, looking unapproachable as always. She swallowed and braved walking up to him. 

He turned in her direction and held her gaze for about an intense minute. But before Eirika could utter a word, he looked away and walked past her as if she was invisible, snubbing her as if she did not exist as before. 

She couldn't help feeling confused and hurt by his behavior. She turned around to watch him continue to walk down the hallway to his class. She quickly lowered her gaze and hurried in the opposite direction to avoid other students witnessing her humiliation. 

At the end of school hours, Eirika stepped out of the classroom, her backpack slung over her shoulder. As she walked down the hallway, she heard shouting and jeering coming from around the corner. Curious, she made her way toward the commotion.

As she rounded the corner, she saw a group of students gathered around one boy who was being bullied. The bully had the smaller boy pinned against the wall, taunting him mercilessly.

Eirika's blood boiled as she watched the scene unfold. She was just about to step in and intervene when she saw Nigel push his way through the crowd.

"Hey, back off!" Nigel shouted, shoving the bully against the wall. "Leave him alone or you'll have to deal with me."

The bully sneered at Nigel. "You think you're tough enough to take us all on?"

"I don't have to be tough," Nigel replied, his voice cold and steady. "Now get out of here before I make you regret it," he snared.

The bully hesitated for a moment, but the fear in his eyes was quite clear.  He muttered a curse then turned and walked away, his friends trailed after him.

Eirika couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for him even though she was still upset with him for snubbing her. 

"Hey! Thanks for standing up for him," Eirika said, approaching Nigel.

"Hmm…" he muttered and turned to walk away. 

"I - I will be going back home on Friday … t - to the North … Friday is my birthday … eighteenth birthday," Eirika called after him. She had no idea why she felt the need to let him know. Probably because they might never meet again and she felt weird inside at the thought. Her heart skipped a beat when he paused his strides. He then turned around and held her gaze across the hallway. 

"Yeah, I overheard you and your friends last night at the club," he rasped.

"Oh," Eirika said. Not quite sure what to say after that. 

"Happy birthday in arrears, Eirika. And be safe …" he said, turned around, and walked away. 

Eirika felt her heart clench, knowing they might never meet again.

"T-thanks," she muttered under her breath, lowering her gaze.