Predator | 35

Nikolaj was in a deep sleep and April doubted that he would wake up anytime soon. He rarely stirred in his sleep, but whenever he did, April rushed to him to check up on him and make sure he was alright, or at least that his state didn't get worse.

Instead of sitting around and doing nothing, she decided to drive back home and cook something for Nikolaj and herself as well. She didn't want to order fast food again.

So she drove back to Eric's home. She hoped Nikolaj would sleep a couple of hours, at least until she was back at his cottage. His body needed to rest.

Once back at Eric's home, she shrugged off her jacket and made her way to the kitchen. April heard the faint sound of a door being closed- Eric's door.

Not a minute later he strolled into the kitchen. "Hey, where have you been?" He asked, though April was sure that he already had a good idea where she had been.

"I was with Nikolaj," she told him as she grabbed a pot from the cabinets. She threw him a look over her shoulders. "Did you hear what happened?"

Eric looked at her with pitiful eyes and nodded. "Charles told me. Is he alright?"

April breathed shakily. "I would like to think he is," she answered. She quickly turned around when her tears were rising. She shut her eyes close, not allowing the tears to fall. She hated to cry and she hated even more to appear weak, even though she knew she wasn't exactly strong. "His wound was deep," she told him after a brief pause, relieved that her voice didn't waver. "Do you know what happened to him?"

Now it was Eric's turned to breath heavily, although it wasn't as shaky as hers. "He was fighting at the bar last night and-"

"So he got the wound from cage fighting?" April interrupted and quickly spun around to face him. "I thought those fights were safe and that they wouldn't give each other a wound that might end up being deadly!"

"April, calm down!" He told her harshly. "Don't put words in my mouth and most of all don't interrupt me. As I said, he was at the bar fighting last night. He was already weak enough last night, too weak to fight, but Victor insisted to have him in the cage for at least one fight. Nikolaj didn't sleep much during the last few days, since he had been trying to find some clues that might lead us to the person who turned those humans into Lycans. The fight weakened him only more and he wasn't able to protect himself when he was attacked this morning."

April's eyes widened in shock. She had already figured that it was some kind of attack on him, but hearing it out loud and confirmed was worse.

"A-attacked?" She stuttered in a small voice, hating how it sounded to her ears. "Attacked by who?"

"Turned humans."

"But.. I thought they only shift during full moon? How's that possible?"

"That's not entirely right," he answered uncomfortably. April knew that it wasn't one of his favorite topics. "The shift during full moon happens by force, whether you want it or not, you can't stop it. But we also can shift whenever we want to."

April sighed, leaning her elbows down on the counters and rubbing her temples. This was too much. This wouldn't stop until they find the person behind all of this. And all she could do was to sit and wait. She wasn't much of a help.

"He'll be okay," he told her quietly, his eyes turning soft. "I'm sorry about lashing out the other day. I didn't want to hurt him," he genuinely said, but April wasn't too happy hearing it. He was clearly apologizing to the wrong person.

Eric received an icy glare from her when she turned around to face him. "I don't think I'm the one you should apologize to," she replied, her words sounding harsher than intended.

That shut him up. His eyes dropped down to his feet and it was the first time that she witnessed him being embarrassed. "I apologize. I know you're right." At least he sounded genuine.

April just nodded at him and faintly heard him retreating to his bedroom, leaving her alone in the kitchen. She continued to gather everything she needed to cook.

She didn't exactly have the best cooking skills, she must admit, but April was good enough to make something decent.

April thought about making rice with chicken - her favorite food - or maybe a soup. They were both one of the few receipts she could cook. In the end, she ended up doing both.

The soup was a simple vegetable soup she often cooked for herself whenever she fell ill. It was an easy receipt and didn't take much time to make it. Plus, it didn't taste as bad as it looked.

"You are cooking for him?" Her brother hesitantly asked when he returned to the kitchen. He had left the kitchen for a while now and was leaning against the counter. Eric was careful with his words, afraid that she was still mad at him.

April figured that he wanted to leave her alone for a bit, since he had angered her earlier. Eric wasn't one who liked to apologize, even when being wrong. It probably scratched his proud.

"Yeah," she replied. "I've "

"I didn't know he is so important to you," he began. April eyed him suspiciously, but wasn't able to decipher what he was thinking. "Are you two serious?"

April breathed through her mouth. Lorena had asked her the same question."I don't know, Eric. I can't tell you that."

"Why? Because you can't trust me?" Now he sounded plainly offended. "I won't get angry, I promise."

"No, it's not because I don't trust you," she denied with a shake of her head. "I just really don't know."

"I see," he sighed, not buying anything she told him. He watched her for a moment, his gaze laced with worry, before speaking, "I hope he treats you well."

"He does. Don't worry about that."

--

Sunlight streamed through the windows into the cottage, illuminating the cottage in a soft light. Nikolaj stirred in his sleep when the light fell on his face, his eyes slowly fluttering open and adjusting to she sharp light.

He rubbed his eyes and flinched when he moved too quickly. It seemed that he had almost forgotten about his wound after the long sleep.

Nikolaj had been asleep for nearly four hours. He was constantly sweating in his sleep and April had to check his temperature with the back of her hand every now and then, afraid that he might end up getting a fever. It relieved her whenever his temperature was normal.

April arrived around two hours ago, after she had finished cooking back at her brothers apartment. It was a relief that he still was sleeping until now.

April went over to him, crouching in front of the couch. "Did you sleep well?" Nikolaj watched her with a soft expression and nodded. A smile graced her lips. "If you're hungry, I've cooked something for you."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You cooked?"

"Well, yeah. I did it at my brother's," she explained hastily. "I know I'm not the best cook in the world, but it's eatable. At least that's what I've been told," she blurted.

It may sound stupid, but April was slightly insecure about her cooking skills. Maybe it was because some men always had high expectations whenever it came to a woman's cooking. At least the man she had been around with.

A genuine smile appeared on Nikolaj's face. "Thank you," he spoke in a sleepy voice.

"I will bring you something. Do you prefer soup or rice with chicken? I didn't know what you like so I ended up making both."

"Both."

April smiled at his answer. She hoped that he wouldn't end up disliking her food. He was about to stand up, but April grabbed his shoulders and prevented him from doing so. It would only hurt himself if he wasn't careful enough.

"Be careful. Your wound will start bleeding again if you move too fast. I will bring the food to you."

She went over to the table where she had left the food. Grabbing a bowl, she filled it with the soup and brought it over to him.

April briefly placed the bow on the small table next to the couch. Carefully, she helped him to sit up and placed two pillows behind his back to make it comfortable for him. April was scared that his sitting position hurt him.

She was sure that he wouldn't say anything if he was in pain, probably because he didn't want her to worry about him.

"Are you okay?" She asked when she handed him the bowl. Nikolaj nodded an took the bowl. "I'd like to say be careful, it's hot but we both know that it doesn't even burn you," she joked with a glint in her eyes.

________

Hope you liked the chapter. I was in a hurry and tried to finish this chapter in time. Thank you all for reading.