I paced back and forth in Axel’s apartment as Mason lay injured on his couch.

I had patched him up to the best of my knowledge but what did I know? He was lucky to be alive, he needed a real doctor, not me.

He groaned as he reached for a glass of water, I walked over and grabbed it for him, bringing it to his mouth so he could drink.

The biker that I had saw earlier in the street was Mason, he mistook me for a female officer and charged at me with the full intention of ending my life. When he recognized me at the last second he pulled away, causing him to fall off of his bike and get a terrible case of road rash all over the left side of his body. I couldn’t tell but I also thought that his left wrist was broken.

He had just enough strength to give me a ride on his now damaged bike. When we got to Axel’s apartment building he had to lean on me to have the strength to walk, he practically collapsed on the couch when we finally made it inside.

I walked behind the couch, out of his view, and sat down in a chain by the window.

I looked out onto the streets, it was night and we still hadn’t heard back from Axel, or anyone else from the Desert Vultures for that matter. I kept pushing the thought out of my mind that Axel was dead, but why else would he be gone for this long? Was he still out there looking for me? Should I go out searching for him?

I saw a car speeding down the street towards the apartment building, it swerved into the parking lot and I got up to run over to another window to get a better look.

I saw two men dragging a third man out from the back seat of the car, carrying him inside.

I rushed out of the door and down the stairs to see Wyatt and another Vulture carrying Axel by his arms and legs towards the elevator.

I ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over and falling several times as I muttered “please be ok” over and over again.

When Wyatt saw me run up to he sighed in relief.

“Oh thank god you’re here” he said. “I thought I was gonna have to go out and find you. Part of me thought that the cops might have taken you in thinking you were one of us.”

“Is he alright?” I asked as I ran my hand down Axel’s bruised face.

“He’ll be fine but… he got fucked up pretty good. He got shot in the arm, it’s only a graze so it’s not too bad but someone also hit him in the head. He should be alright in a few days but we gotta patch him up fast.”

“He got hit over the head? Did the shootout turn into a brawl?”

“Not that I know of, Axel sent me off in a jacked car to take as many brothers as I could out of there. When I sped off I saw him chasing down some cop, no idea why…”

Donnelly, Axel wasn’t searching for me, he was trying to get his revenge… he left me out there alone and nearly died trying to avenge his friend.

I knew it was something he had wanted for so long but I couldn’t help but feel betrayed.

The elevator opened and I helped them carry him inside. I looked down at Axel, he stirred a little bit but remained unconscious.

“He was lucky we found him” the other biker said. “He was stumbling through the streets phasing in and out of consciousness, could barely even keep his feet underneath him. If Wyatt and I hadn’t gone back to try and get more brothers out of there who knows what would have happened.”

“What happened to all the cops? What about the fight?”

“The fight’s over for now” Wyatt said as the elevator doors opened back up and we carried Axel towards his apartment. “We got a couple of those fuckers but they’ll definitely be back for us.”

We got into the apartment and set Axel down on his bed as Wyatt noticed Mason on the couch and went to go check on him.

This was all getting too real for me. Cop deaths, gunshot wounds, and revenge? Yeah I knew all of these things were a possibility, maybe if they even came one at a time I would have brushed them off, but this was starting to get to be a little too much for me to handle. I could barely even function as a normal person back in the real world and now my boyfriend was laying on his bed bleeding from a deep cut to his arm and a bruise to his head.

“How the hell did Mason get here?” Wyatt asked as I held onto Axel’s unconscious hands.

“He found me, wandering alone in the streets. Nearly ended up killing me and got himself hurt…”

Wyatt sighed and knelt down next to Mason, leaving Axel to the care of me and the other Desert Vulture brother.

I knew I shouldn’t have been anywhere near that fight, I knew I should have just listened to Axel, but knowing that he chose revenge over my safety still hurt.

The brother found some bandages and began wrapping Axel’s cut up as I watched him laying peacefully in bed.

I couldn’t handle seeing him like this, it all felt overwhelming. I let go of his limp hand and walked into the bathroom as Wyatt came back to check on Axel.

I closed the door and splashed some cold water into my eyes, and ran it through my hair.

Why did I think that any part of this lifestyle would last? Why did I think that I could keep a man who held onto the idea of revenge as it ate away inside of him.

Yes it was my fault that I was out there on my own to begin with but what if something like this happened again? From the sound of it he didn’t fulfill his revenge and I’m sure these injuries would just light a fire underneath him. What if I was in danger for some other reason and he went off to try and kill Donnelly again? He said he cared about me but was revenge for his best friend more important.

I gripped the sink as I tried to calm down, I looked into the mirror and stared into my eyes. I could barely even recognize myself anymore, I didn’t have a mirror in Donnelly’s basement so when I looked into Axel’s it almost looked like I was staring at a stranger.

I sat down on the toilet to collect my thoughts. I had only known Axel for a few days but I felt a real bond with him. Now everything felt like it was unravelling.

Somewhere deep down inside of me it felt as if it was only a matter of time before I would be alone again.

Alone in this big world with nobody to help and nothing to my name.

The thought horrified me.