Nic flies to his feet and turns away, running his hands through his hair. “FUCK,” he roars, his voice traveling right through to the other end of the alleyway. He spins back around to look down at me and there’s nothing but guilt shining in his eyes. “I’m so fucking sorry, O. This is all on me. This is retaliation. He thinks he can get to me through you.”
“Well, it fucking worked.” I nod and cringe at the burning pain at the back of my neck. “He marked me,” I say, feeling more ashamed than I have the right to feel.
“The fuck?” Sebastian grunts as understanding dawns on Nic’s face, knowing all too well what the fuck I’m talking about. After all, he stood behind three Wolves not that long ago and paid specific attention to their necks, he would have seen their mark, the same one that now has a permanent residence at the back of my neck.
Nic drops down beside me, his face so fucking white he looks ready to pass out. “Please,” he says, cautiously reaching for me. “I need to see it. I need to make sure you’re okay.”
I pull back from his touch, in far too much pain to have him poking and prodding me but realizing that if I don’t have someone pay attention to it and get some first aid, I could end up with a severe infection. I let out a shaky breath and nod. “Just … go slowly,” I whisper, fearing my voice will break and show just how miserable I feel. “It fucking burns.”
He nods and ever so gently brushes my hair back from my neck. Strands have dried into the wound and he has no choice but to pull them away, making me groan in pain as shivers run through my body. “Fuck,” he breathes as Sebastian moves in beside him and crouches down to get a good look.
“We have to get her out of this dirty alleyway or she’ll end up with an infection.”
“Yeah,” he says, raking his eyes from my head all the way down to my toes. His lips press into a hard line and the grimace on his face tells me that I’m not going to like what he’s about to say. “O, I need to get you out of these clothes, and then we’re going to get you out of here.”
I glance down, almost having forgotten that I’d thrown up all over myself. “Okay,” I finally whisper, hating how weak I must appear to them.
Sebastian moves around to block me from sight from anyone who happens to walk by as Nic takes my hand and helps me to my feet. I start unbuttoning my blouse as Nic pulls his hoodie over his head and wedges it between his legs.
He helps me get my shirt off and just as I knew he would, he doesn’t stare or rake his eyes over my body like other men would do in his position, and right now, despite the fact that he’s already seen me in my naked glory a million times over, I appreciate his respect.
Not wasting time and desperately just wanting to get home and off the dirty streets, I start tugging on my skirt. Nic brings his hoodie over my head and carefully settles it into place as my skirt drops to the ground.
The fabric of Nic’s hoodie falls to my knees and the boys instantly take my hands and pull them over their wide shoulders before helping me out of the alleyway. My stained uniform is left in a crumpled mess on the ground and despite the scolding I’ll receive from Mom, I can’t help but be grateful for the memories and evidence of this bullshit being left behind, you know, apart from the Wolves brand mark burning into the back of my neck.
Nic’s hand curls into mine and I can’t help but wonder if it’s the need of having me close or if he’s just trying to be a gentleman by helping the damsel in distress. The old Nic would have just scooped me up and carried me out of the alley but the fact that he’s allowing me to at least attempt to help myself tells me that he’s growing. He’s taking a step back and allowing me to dictate what I want and although I’ll never say it out loud, he and I both know that I'm grateful. I need to feel this control and having the boys swoop in and tell me how it’s going to go isn’t going to help with that.
For Nic, this is a massive step in the right direction. It’s a silent message between us telling me that he’s giving me space to finally start making my own decisions and not try to step in and shit all over it.