“Nicky.”
John hummed, but Nicky could see he was in pain by the tension in his jaw. “Nicky. Wait, are you the Nicky Isaiah said challenged Dominic?”
Nicky groaned. “Yes. Does everyone know?”
“Nah. Isaiah told me because we’re mated. Besides, I was a bad guy too.”
“I know.”
“News moves fast around here, huh? From what I know, what I did was worse than what you did, so you don’t have to worry too much. If they accepted me, they’ll accept you.”
“What can be worse than challenging the alpha?” Nicky asked as he helped John climb the stairs that led to the front door.
“I kidnapped a human mate on the company’s orders and handed him off to one of their scientists.”
Nicky winced. “That’s...”
“I know. But they forgave me. Even Jamie, the guy I kidnapped. You’ll be fine, especially since you fought with us and helped Oliver.”
“Oliver?”
“The bear shifter.”
“He’s fine?” Nicky hadn’t seen him after helping him.
“Yeah.”
The infirmary door was open and Nicky helped John sit on the first free bed. When a blond guy came closer, John waved him away. “I’m fine. Take care of the others first, Finn.”
Finn didn’t listen to him and kneeled next to his foot. “Jared asked other Nix to come, so there are enough of us to help, don’t worry.”
He gently pulled John’s sock down after taking his shoe off, and John hissed. He clutched the sheet he was sitting on, but he relaxed after Finn put a hand on his ankle and it glowed. It looked like a freaking Christmas tree, and Nicky blinked.
He’d known Nix could heal, but he’d never really seen it. Even when Ani had taken care of him, he hadn’t looked. He hadn’t wanted to see the wound on his chest, and he still didn’t most of the time.
Finn pulled his hand away and John rotated his foot. “Doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“It was broken. You can go sleep now.”
“You need any help?”
“Nah. We’ll be fine.”
John hopped from the bed and disappeared. Nicky started to follow him, but Fin stopped him. “What about you? Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Finn hooked a finger into the gash on Nicky’s sweater. “What about this?”
“It’s fine.”
Finn didn’t listen. He grabbed Nicky’s sweater and tried to pull it up, but Nicky resisted. “I’m fine.”
“Don’t be a baby. It doesn’t hurt.”
“I know.”
Finn was stronger than he looked, and he wrestled Nicky’s sweater off. He looked at Nicky’s chest and tsked. “Who healed you the first time around?”
“Ani.”
“Couldn’t get rid of the scars?”
“No.”
Finn nodded and put his hands on the bloody cut on Nicky’s stomach. His hands glowed again, and warmth spread in Nicky’s body. He closed his eyes.
“I remember you, you know?” Finn said.
Nicky didn’t have to ask what he remembered. “Why are you helping me then?”
“Why did you help us? Why did you help Oliver?”
“Because.”
Finn snorted and pulled his hands away. “Because? What are you, three? That’s not a good answer.”
Nicky shrugged and blinked at him. “I don’t have a better one.”
Finn patted his shoulder. “How about because you’re not as much of an asshole anymore?”
Nicky couldn’t help the smile that made the corners of his lips twitch. “I guess it’s a good one.”
Nicky left the infirmary and went to look for André. He knew he was fine, since he’d left him with Dominic to go help, but when he stepped outside again, he was nowhere to be seen. Nicky went back inside and found André on his knees, along with a black-haired guy. They were cleaning blood from the floor behind the counter, and André looked a bit too frantic for Nicky’s taste.
“What happened?” he asked.
André jerked, but he didn’t stop cleaning. “Ben.”
Nicky didn’t think he knew Ben, but the man obviously meant something to André. “How is he?”
“I don’t know. He’s with Jared right now.” André stopped moving and sighed heavily. “He’s not a fighter. We don’t know why he wasn’t in one of the safe rooms, but he killed one of the hunters and got hurt in the process.”
Nicky kneeled down and gently pried the cloth André was using. “I can do that. Why don’t you wash your hands and get something to drink?”
André didn’t let the cloth go. “I can do it. I’m not weak.”
“I know you’re not, but Ben is obviously important to you. You shouldn’t be cleaning his blood. I can do it.”
André finally let go. He moved away, sitting and leaning his back against the counter some distance away. He couldn’t seem to move his gaze away from the mess on the floor, though, so Nicky hurried to rinse the cloth and wipe it over the blood.
He looked up at the black-haired guy. “I’m Nicky, André’s mate.”
“Aeron. We saw each other before.”
Nicky arched a brow. “The werewolf.”
“Yup.”
It was hard to believe. Aeron was small and looked almost fragile, but Nicky didn’t doubt he was the wolf. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen someone small shift into something big and strong.
Aeron opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a loud shriek made them both look up. Nysys barreled into the kitchen, followed by Keenan, and they both flung themselves onto André.
Nicky didn’t think he had to be worried, so he stayed out of it even when Nysys leaned away and started shaking André. “What the fuck were you thinking? I took you to New York for a reason, you asshole! How could you do something like that? Keenan’s been crying ever since we found out you were gone!”
Nysys snapped his head toward Aeron and pointed at him. “And you. How could you?”
Aeron shrugged. He didn’t look worried at all. “Why not? He asked me. I’m not his mother.”
“He could have been killed! You both could have.”
“I’m fine. I’m a werewolf.”
That succeeded in shutting Nysys up. He blinked. “Werewolf?”
“Yup. I never told anyone, but I kicked ass tonight. André did too. He killed a guy before the guy could kill Dominic.”
Nysys opened his mouth, then shut it only to open it again. “You’re both assholes.” He turned to André and let go of his arms. “You could have just told me you wanted to stay here.”
André shook his head. “And you would have let me? I don’t think so.”
“Yeah, well. You’re not a shifter, and you can’t shimmer away when things become dangerous.”
André shook his head. “I’m an adult. I get to decide, and I wasn’t defenseless. Aeron was there, and I had a gun. The hunters were human too. I didn’t have problems.”
“Yup,” Aeron said. “He shot and I clawed. We’re a good team.”
Nysys finally seemed to realize what Nicky and Aeron were doing. “Oh my God, what happened? Who’s hurt?”
“Ben. He’s in the infirmary.”
Keenan got up, dragging Nysys with him. “We need to go see him.”
“He’s unconscious,” André told them.
“So? We won’t leave him alone there, even if he doesn’t know we’re there.”
“Jared is still working on him.”
Keenan paled. “How bad was it?”
“I didn’t know. He was already gone when I heard about it, but for Jared to be still working...”
André didn’t finish his sentence, but they all knew how it would have ended. If Jared and Noem were still working on Ben, if Noem’s powers weren’t enough to heal Ben, then Ben was in trouble.
* * * *
André hovered at t
he infirmary door along with Nysys and Keenan. Adrian had kicked them out because he needed the space to work, but he’d promised to tell them as soon as he had news about Ben.
They all looked toward the end of the hallway when they heard someone coming, and André wasn’t surprised to see their mates had gotten together in the hopes of getting them to go to sleep. They’d already tried individually, but now Nicky, Morin, and Jonah were there. Nicky was holding a tray, and André’s stomach grumbled when he saw the sandwiches on it.
He looked at his watch, not surprised to see it was almost four in the morning. From what he knew, the hunters had attacked just after midnight. The battle itself hadn’t lasted very long, but the cleanup was still under way, not to mention the healing of the wounded.
Jonah stopped in front of them and crossed his arms on his chest. “You three, take one sandwich each. You can eat while you walk to your rooms, then shower and go to sleep.”
Keenan straightened from his slouch against the wall. André could see he was angry, probably at being treated like a child, but he could also see Keenan’s exhaustion, and he knew it was probably reflected on his own face.
“We’re not kids,” Keenan said. “And we want to stay until we have news of Ben.”
“Falling asleep in the hallway won’t help him. Besides, I really don’t think he’ll wake up this soon, not if whatever wound he had is so bad Jared and Noem are still with him.”
Keenan scowled. “That’s not helping.”
Jonah sighed and reached for Keenan. Keenan resisted a bit, but not enough to make it serious, and Jonah pulled him into his arms. “I know, sorry. We’re all exhausted. We need to eat, clean up, and sleep, and you staying here won’t help Ben. You can come back tomorrow morning and stay with him the entire day if you want.”
Morin nodded. “I’m going inside to ask if there is news, but afterwards, you’re each eating a sandwich and going to sleep.”
André shook his head and smiled a bit. It was kind of funny to see those three big guys worrying like that and taking care of them. He reached for Nicky’s tray and took a sandwich. His stomach growled again, and he smiled at Nicky when Nicky frowned at the sound.
“I’m fine,” André told him before raising the sandwich and taking a bite. The dinner they’d shared with the others seemed so far away, even though it had only been the evening before. The differences between the two situations were abysmal, and it made the dinner feel almost like a dream.
“I know, but you need to sleep.”
André nodded as he took a bite from his sandwich. He moaned, because it had to be the best thing he’d ever eaten, and something flashed in Nicky’s eyes. André wasn’t sure what it was, but when he licked his lips, Nicky’s gaze followed the move.
André flushed. Now wasn’t the moment to think about sex, but from the way Nicky was reacting to him, he couldn’t help it. “Are you going back home?” he asked. Nicky had to work later that day, but it was still hours away.
“No. I texted my boss and told him I had a family emergency, so I don’t need to go to work until tomorrow.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. I’ll ask someone to show me a room.”
André frowned. “I thought you were sleeping with me.”
Nicky shrugged. “I don’t want to assume, especially after what happened today.”
Nicky handed the now empty tray to Jonah and stepped closer to André. He didn’t touch André, but his warmth was enough to make André shiver. He didn’t usually react like that to men, not even to Nicky. Tiredness probably had a lot to do with it.
“Do you want me to sleep with you?” Nicky asked, his voice soft and a little rough.
André nodded. “I don’t want to be alone tonight, or this morning, or whatever. Please.”
Nicky nodded put a hand on André’s hip. “Finish your sandwich. We’ll wait for Morin to come back, then we’ll go sleep.”
André nodded and crammed the rest of his meal into his mouth as fast as he could. He could feel his eyes drooping, and he knew he’d fall asleep in the hallway if Morin didn’t come back soon.
The house was silent, so much it scared André. He’d never been awake at four A.M. before, not while living in the mansion. When he thought of the house, the first things that came to him were chaos and noise. People. Knowing the reason why the house was silent was scary and depressing.
The infirmary door opened and Morin stepped out, followed by Jared. Jared looked like shit. There were bruises around his eyes and he was pale. He rubbed his hand on his face and everyone gathered around him. André held his breath.
“He’s fine, or he will be,” Jared said, and André’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“What happened?” Nysys asked. His pink hair drooped in front of his forehead and he wasn’t making any move to push it away. It was the first time André had seen Nysys looking so tame, and as much as he sometimes disliked Nysys for being too energetic, he’d rather have that Nysys than the one in front of him at the moment.
“We’re not sure yet, but as far as the wounds go, he was stabbed repeatedly.”
“Were you able to heal him?”
“Yes. He’ll always have scars, though.” Jared’s gaze slid to Nicky. “And he lost a lot of blood. We’ll know more when he wakes up, but he’s out of danger. Go to sleep, everyone. I’m sure Benjamin will be happy to see you tomorrow morning.” Jared chuckled. “Or later today. Anyway. I’m going to sleep.”
“What about the wounded? Who will stay with them?” Keenan asked.
“I had Nix come from the hospital, so they won’t be left alone, don’t worry.”
André nodded. “Thanks, doc.”
He really needed to sleep. He turned back to Nicky and held out a hand. Nicky took it and pulled him close enough to wrap an arm around his shoulders, then steered him toward the entrance. André heard the others following them, and they all tiredly climbed the stairs. Nysys, Keenan, and André decided to see each other for lunch, then went their separate ways.
André let Nicky hold him as they walked. He was pretty sure he’d manage to go in the wrong room without his help. He frowned. “Hey, how do you know which room is mine?”
Nicky shrugged. “I asked Dominic and came by earlier to make sure everything was ready. I took one of your pajamas out and put them in the bathroom, so you can shower, dress, and be in bed in ten minutes.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay upright in the shower.” André had been tired before, but that was nothing to what he was feeling now. He knew Ben would be fine now, and the energy that had sustained him had left him completely.
“I’ll help you.”
And Nicky did. He pushed the door to André’s room open and gently steered him into the bathroom. He turned on the water in the shower, stripped André naked, then helped him sit on the toilet lid. André watched as Nicky stripped down, and damn, it was the first time they were naked together and he didn’t even have the energy to do anything about it.
He watched anyway, sending everything to memory and telling himself that maybe after they slept they could do more than just shower together.
Nicky helped André up and into the shower. The hot water felt divine against André’s skin and he closed his eyes, tilting his head so the water could hit his face. Nicky moved around him. There was a snick, then Nicky’s fingers were in André’s hair, washing it.
André didn’t protest. He let Nicky wash his hair and rinse it, watching him from hooded eyes as he took a washcloth and slathered it with soap. He hesitated before touching André, but André nodded, and Nicky nodded back. He pressed the washcloth against André’s stomach and gently rubbed his skin.
He went up, cleaned André’s chest, his armpits, his arms, his neck. André’s cock made a valiant effort and twitched when Nicky kneeled in front of him to clean up his legs, but André knew that even if he got hard, nothing more would happen. The shower wasn’t about sex,
and André was glad. The last thing he wanted in that moment was to have sex.
Nicky made André turn and washed the back of his legs, then his ass cheeks. He got up and took care of André’s back, and André almost started to cry when Nicky kissed his shoulder.
He sobbed, and Nicky wrapped his arms around him. André couldn’t stop the tears anymore. They rolled down his cheeks as what had happened really hit him. It had been easy to forget, to bury the memories under the worry for Ben, but now he knew Ben was fine, and he couldn’t stop the memories from coming back. They were memories of blood, so much blood, and death, and André throat constricted.
Nicky hushed him and crooned in his ear. André didn’t even know what Nicky was saying, but it didn’t matter. Just having him there with him was enough to make him feel better, protected and loved.
* * * *
Nicky was the first to wake up. It surprised him, because while André had helped the night before, he hadn’t physically fought, not like Nicky had. Nicky guessed André was so tired because of the emotional hardship rather than the physical one. Nicky had fought, yes, but he hadn’t had to watch people he knew and loved get hurt and die.
André was wrapped around Nicky, as if he was afraid Nicky would leave while he slept. Nicky wouldn’t have, but he needed to go to the bathroom, and André didn’t seem like he’d let go of him any time soon.
Nicky unhooked André’s arm from his waist, but when he tried to push away André’s leg from his, André’s hold tightened. Nicky sighed. He didn’t want to wake André, but it looked like he’d have to.
He took his cell phone and looked at the time. André still had a few hours before he needed to meet Nysys and Keenan. Since André wasn’t moving, Nicky opened the text his boss had sent him. Nicky knew his boss would have to man the bar in Nicky’s place, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, not with André sleeping next to him. André was more important than Nicky’s job at the bar. Still, Nicky didn’t want to be jobless, so he answered with another text, telling his boss he’d be there later that night to help close. That would probably keep the man happy, at least for a while.
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