Chapter 27: #TWENTY-SEVEN

Nicholas’s POV

I sat up immediately, clutching my neck in panic as I looked around, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

"Nick?" Elijah’s sleepy voice echoed from behind me and I turned to him, a shaky breath leaving my lips. "Are you alright?"

"I... I had a nightmare, I think." I muttered, rubbing my neck gently and he looked at me with a worried expression. Outside, the sun was just rising and I took multiple breaths to stabilize myself.

"What was it about?" He asked and I frowned when I realized I didn’t remember it at all.

"I can’t seem to remember it." I confessed and he frowned too. "But it had something to do with my neck because it hurts, even right now. Are you sure there’s nothing there? I noticed that Cassian and Roman seemed fixated on it yesterday." I added and his gaze dropped to my neck before returning to my face.

"Did you see anything there?" He asked and I slowly shook my head. "Then you don’t trust your own eyes? There’s really nothing there." He muttered and I let out a shaky sigh as I nodded in understanding.

"Alright."

Since it was already morning, we decided to just freshen up and get ready for college. Elijah forced me into the shower with him and for the first time in a while, I laughed as he played around the water, even splashing me in the face with it.

"You bully!" I hissed, laughing when he pinned me to the wall, our faces only inches from each other. "We’ll be late." I whispered when he brushed his lips against mine.

"Who cares?" He whispered in response, pulling me closer by my waist and our dicks brushed against each other, drawing a soft whimper out of me.

"Eli.." I moaned as he captured my lips with his and I threw my arms around his neck, kissing him like I was desperate for him. The friction from rubbing our dicks together made me tug on his bottom lip and a small guttural moan left his lips.

"Wanna jerk each other off before we leave?"

Who the fuck was I to say no? I always lost control whenever I was around them and it made me quite ashamed of myself because I used to have so much self-control.

"Look at me, love." He groaned as he stroked both our cocks at the same time and my eyes met his, whimpers leaving my lips. "You see what you do to me? How fucking hard you make me?"

"You make me lose my mind too..." I whimpered as his strokes became faster and my knees buckled, making me cling to him tighter. "Fuck, I’m close... I’m so close—"

"Cum undone with me, love. Be my good boy and cum with me." He grunted as he buried his face in my neck, his groans loud as he came in our hands and I came almost immediately as well, calling out his name over and over until I came down from my high.

We rinsed ourselves off right after and he made me wear his clothes once again, surrounding me with his scent. There were no signs of the brothers downstairs so we skipped breakfast as we left the house in a hurry.

I couldn’t help but notice how the guards gave me odd stares when I walked past them, keeping their gaze on the ground. I chose to believe that it was because Elijah was with me even though this was not the first time we’ve walked to college together.

Elijah didn’t seem to care anyway as he took my hand, talking and laughing like he didn’t care. We talked till we got to college, and I couldn’t ignore how other students gave me wary looks even when I pulled my hand away from him.

"Is it just me or are people staring at us weirdly? Is there something on my face?" I asked softly but he simply shrugged like he didn’t care as he ran his hand through his hair.

"You’re pretty and they can’t get enough of you. That’s what’s wrong." He replied calmly and I scoffed, wrapping my arms around myself since Elijah’s shirt was lighter than I expected.

Maybe I should have worn his hoodie instead.

"I’ll head inside first." I muttered as I waved at him and he hummed in response, leaving me to walk on my own. Even as I walked alone, the stares became even worse and I felt embarrassed, making me wonder if they were staring at me because there was something on my face.

Just as I walked down the hallway, I noticed a group of bullies who seemed to be betas, surrounding none other than Jayden.

"Hey, fuckers." I snapped as I walked up to them and the moment they saw me, a look of trepidation filled their faces when their eyes fell to my neck.

Before I could even say another word, they bolted like someone was hot on their tail and I couldn’t help but gape at them in confusion. I didn’t even do anything yet!

"What the fuck is their problem? Thinking they can hurt you when I’m here? In their fucking dreams." I hissed as I helped Jayden up and I noticed that he was staring at me with raised brows as well.

"Thank you, you seem to always show up when I’m in trouble." He pointed out as he brushed his pants and I snorted. "Thank you, really. I should stick by your side all the time from now on."

"It’s nothing." I replied with a grin when I noticed him staring at my neck for a while.

Before I could ask what he was looking at, he crossed his arms over his chest, a teasing expression on his face as he spoke. "So, who is the lucky alpha?" he questioned and I looked at him in confusion.

"What?" I asked in confusion and he raised a brow at me. "What are you talking about? What alpha?" I added, laughing softly because I thought he was just teasing me.

"Your neck." He replied and my hand flew to my neck at once.

"What about my neck?"

"Do you really not know about the bond mark on your neck?" He asked, his brows furrowed and my blood ran cold.

"B-bond mark, you say?" I asked in despair as I glanced at the window, searching my reflection but there was nothing on my neck. "There’s nothing there."

"There’s an alpha’s mark of possession on your neck and it is so fucking visible. It’s glowing even. How come you didn’t know you were marked by your own mate?" Jayden asked and my hands trembled slightly as a wave of realization washed over me.

Adrian actually marked me like I remembered, and I only concluded it was a dream because I couldn’t see it.

Everything was finally making sense.

Cassian’s anger when he stared at my neck, Roman’s nonchalant responses and the way he ignored me, Elijah’s forced smile, the odd stares... it was all because of the mark.

And Elijah lied to me...

"So tell me, who’s the lucky alpha?" He asked again, wiggling his brows at me and my face turned red. "Is it Elijah?"

"No... No." I muttered and he looked at me in surprise. "Are you sure you’re not messing with me?"

"I’m not. I can literally smell alpha pheromones all over you." He replied and I finally understood why those betas ran like I was about to cut their heads off. "If you didn’t know about the mark, then how did it happen?"

"It’s a long story, I can’t talk about it too much right now. I have to cover it up." I replied with an urgency that had him nodding in understanding. "Or I’ll just skip school for the day. I can’t even look you in the eye right now, I feel so mortified."

"Wanna hang out with me then? I could use a break as well. And I have a shawl I could lend you." Jayden suggested and my face lit up at his suggestion as I nodded immediately. "Come on."

We left the school premises and we walked down the streets for a while before I suddenly remembered that I didn’t even know Jayden all that well and I had no idea where he was taking me to.

I didn’t have my phone on me, no one knew where I was headed, and I was just blindly following him without asking questions.

I didn’t want to seem like a horrible friend so I didn’t voice out my concerns even as the road became more desolate and there were barely any houses in sight. Yet he didn’t stop or even slow down.

"Uhm... where are we going, Jay?" I finally forced myself to ask and he paused at first before he continued walking again. "Jayden?"

"Why don’t you find out for yourself, Nicholas?" He asked slowly as he turned to me with a grin that had my heart flying to my chest in panic.