***
She had accidentally bumped him on the dance floor. She hadn't actually noticed him or his scent before hand but now she couldn't take her eyes off of this towering darkish figure on the dance floor. She had checked out of the group conversation but noticed from her peripherals that her friends were trying to get her attention.
"Girl! What are you staring at?" Sasha chuckled as she turned to see the man that her dear friend had been looking so intently on. "Ooh, could it be him?" Sasha smirked, turning back to the group.
"Who?" Opal turned also seeing the man. "Wait, your mate?"
"Maybe, I don't know. There's just something." The emerald-eyed brunette blushed slightly. She was only 19 there's no way she could've found her mate already, right? "Should I go talk to him?"
"No, girl." Sasha blocked the view. "You should tempt him over here."
"You're so old fashioned." Opal chuckled. "Hey, where'd Kaitlynn and Teayr go?"
The three of them searched the bar and realized the two of them had ventured off and were now talking to the tall man that their friend had been eyeing.
***
"Hey!" Kaitlynn and Teayr had each grabbed one of Niklaus's arms, slowly walking him towards the group.
"Um, hi?" Niklaus looked at the two girls eyeing him. "Can I help you?"
"No but we can help you." The girls chuckled. "We've watched you and our friend eyeing each other and thought we might give you a hand in starting the conversation."
Niklaus pulled back from the girls. "No. No thank you. I-I have to find my brother and his.. boyfriend" Niklaus tried to turn to go back to Neil and Harper but found that his arms were in the girls hands again.
"I'm sure your brother would understand. After all.." They chuckled again. "You said he's with his boyfriend."
Niklaus hadn't realized but the two girls had slowly brought him to their group of friends.
"Hi guys! Look who we found." The girls released his arms and chuckled. "What was your name again?"
"Um, I'm Nik, Niklaus." Niklaus swallowed as he suddenly found it hard to speak.
The group chuckled at his little blemish.
"I'm Sasha, you've met Kaitlynn and Teayr, and those two are Opal and Olivia." Sasha pointed as she introduced each of them. "So, Niklaus. What type of wolf are you?"
"U-um wolf? I don't, I don't know what-"
"It's okay. We're all wolves too." Sasha chuckled, couldn't he tell? "So what type of wolf? Pure or bitten?"
"Oh, okay. Pure." Niklaus was stunted, how did he go from dancing to being trapped by a group of girls?
"Really.." Opal grinned and nudged Olivia. "A pure blood."
"What breed are you?" Kaitlynn brushed the hair from her face.
"Breed?" Niklaus thought for a moment. He had never seen Shade's wolf, or at least didn't remember. "I'm not sure."
"You're not sure?" Olivia sounded confused but in Niklaus's ears it sounded almost melodious.
Niklaus had been afraid to find his mate. He didn't want to give Blink another person he could hurt or use against him.
"I've. I don't remember what my wolf looks like." Niklaus's eyes darkened.
"You don't remember?" Opal pressed him, she was curious about this mysterious wolf that her friend had been staring at. "What do you mean?"
"I um- I've. I've had some stuff happen." Niklaus felt a ping in his temple.
***
"Hey." Harper nudged Neil. "Look."
Neil turned his face from his drink to the bar top where Harper had pointed. Niklaus was surrounded by girls.
"Good for him." Neil laughed. "Maybe they'll help him unwind." Neil turned to Harper and wrapped his arms around him.
"I think they might be winding him up." Harper's face changed from a smirk. Harper pushed Neil to look back at Niklaus.
"Is he-" Neil stood from his seat.
"Swaying?" Harper stood too. "Yeah."
Harper started over to the group, pulling Neil with him. As they pushed through the crowd they watched as Niklaus suddenly dropped like a bag of rocks.
"NIKLAUS!" They pushed through the crowd and rushed to Niklaus's side.
"What happened!?" Neil looked up at the group, he noticed the one in the middle seemed to be as worried as himself.
"We don't know. We were all talking then and then Teayr pointed out that he looked pale and he just dropped." Olivia knelt next to Neil. "What's wrong with him?"
"That's something we've been trying to get him to share." Neil looked at Harper who had already pulled out his phone and dialed Atlas.
A crowd had formed around the group as Neil continued trying to wake up Niklaus. Olivia had grabbed water and a cloth from behind the bar and placed the damp compress on Niklaus's forehead.
"Alright, dad said to get him in the car." Harper hung up the phone and picked up Niklaus's shoulders.
Neil grabbed Niklaus's feet and the two of them managed to drag him to the car.
"I realize that you're his mate, right?" Neil turned to Olivia as he finished settling Niklaus in the backseat.
"I think so.." Olivia stared at Niklaus. "Will he be alright?"
"If you're truly his mate then you're welcome to drive with us." Neil gestured to the center seat up front.
"Oh. No, I think I'll follow with my girls." Olivia pointed to a maroon truck.
"Alright, we're driving fast so try to keep up." Neil got into the car a closed the door.
Olivia ran back to her friends, the five of them got into the truck and followed Neil and Harper as they pulled into the highway.
***
Olivia spaced out as she watched Harper's car in front of them. She could hear Sasha and the other girls speaking but couldn't make out what they were saying. She felt a hand on her arm and snapped out of her daze.
"You okay?" Opal had a look on her face that Olivia couldn't quite decipher.
"Yeah. I'm just. I'm just surprised, you know?" Olivia took a deep breathe. "I think I've found my mate and he collapses in front of me then his friends run over, freaking out because he's collapsed and none of us know what the hell happened or how to help. I just-"
"You're just surprised because you just met him and a bunch of stuff happened." Opal released Olivia's arm and gave a reassuring smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine. It looks like we're taking him to the hospital."
The five of them looked out of the windshield and realized they were pulling into the parking lot of the hospital. A doctor looking lady was waiting outside and ran to Harper's car opening the back door. Olivia watched as Harper and Neil carried Niklaus inside and placed him on a gurney.
"Cindy, where do we take him?" Neil looked to the doctor as she checked Niklaus's heart rhythm and breathing.
"Take him to the ICU." Cindy grabbed a side of the gurney and walked with them as she gave orders to a couple of the nurses.
As they reached the room where they'd be keeping Niklaus the nurses ran in with medical equipment and started hooking Niklaus up to the monitors.
***
"Run a CT and get a blood test. We need to know what's wrong with him." Cindy looked to the group she didn't recognize the girls but she knew that Neil and Harper would be here until Niklaus was better. She walked over to the group.
"Neil, would you like the news yourself or am I telling the whole group?" Cindy looked everyone over, she didn't even recognize the scent of these girls.
"Just me and Harper.." Neil paused and looked at Olivia. "I don't know if he'd want you knowing everything right now. I think it's best if just Harper and I hear what she says."
Olivia nodded and followed the rest of the girls to the waiting room.
"Okay, I can't tell you much but we're running some tests right now. Once the tests finish I should be able to figure out what's wrong." Cindy looked back at Niklaus. "However, I don't believe this is a medical problem."
"What do you mean you don't believe it's a medical problem?" Neil reached back for Harper's hand. "What is it?"
"Right now, I believe that whatever is happening to Niklaus, has to do with his wolf."