9. Luna
Luna
T he hot water flowing over my body feels heavenly.
Once I actually managed to turn on the shower—who in the world thought adding so many knobs and buttons in a shower would be a good idea?—the warmth brought me back to my body.
Charlotte did her best to make the necessary documentation as easy as she could, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t hard. And violating.
The only thing that reassured me was that the photos and her notes would all be kept locked up unless someone needed them for legal proceedings.
The way she talked about her documentation made it seem like she thought it was an actual possibility for me to use it for myself.
A shiver runs down my spine, despite the heat of the water flowing around me.
The thought of being stuck in a room with Alpha Niall again, even if it’s a courtroom, terrifies me.
There’s no guarantee Alpha Niall won’t use his money and power to crush me in a legal setting.
There’s no guarantee Charlotte’s documentation would be able to stand up to a powerful alpha.
And then he’d know where I escaped to. He’d take me like he’s always planned. I’d never be able to escape again.
I scrub my hands up and down my face, trying to pull myself back to reality and shake those thoughts off. The documentation is over and I never need to think about it again. I should focus on things like seemingly endless hot water that feels heavenly on my sore and aching muscles.
I browse the bottles Madden has in his shower, popping open the cap of one and taking a sniff. It’s sweet, not as sweet as his natural chocolate scent, but it still makes me acutely aware of whose bathroom I’m in.
Will he mind if I use it? Maybe it’ll make him happy, me smelling a bit more like him.
I know scent marking is a thing alphas like doing. I remember the slimy, oily feeling I’d carry with me when Alpha Niall would leave me covered in his scent.
I wipe that thought away, letting it run down the drain with the hot water, and squeeze some of Madden’s shampoo into my hand.
Even after I clean every inch of my body I can reach, I only turn the water off when I start worrying about the waterproof wound dressing Charlotte wrapped around the bandages she put on all my cuts.
She said I could shower in them, but I’m not sure how long they can last, especially considering I have the water at its hottest setting.
I step out of the shower, wrapping myself in one of the biggest towels I’ve ever seen. I let out a moan when it touches my skin. It’s the softest piece of fabric I’ve ever felt. It also smells like deep, rich dark chocolate.
All Madden. It’s completely drenched in his scent.
After I pat myself dry, I burrow into the towel as I peel off the wound dressing, revealing dry bandages.
I did a lot more damage than I thought I did when I was running away. I guess all the adrenaline pumping in my system kept me from feeling it. But now that I’ve calmed down a bit, everything’s starting to hurt a lot.
I hobble over to where I left Madden’s shirt, because as wonderful as this towel is, I don’t know if I’m comfortable being completely vulnerable in a space I know doesn’t belong to me for longer than necessary.
Before I have a chance to put it on, my eyes are drawn to my reflection in the mirror again.
This time I take the time to really take myself in, now that all the grime and dirt has been washed away.
My blonde hair, a bit darker now that it’s wet, is plastered to my skull, making me look a bit like a drowned rat. I’ve always been thin, probably because we never had a lot of food when I was growing up, but I’m acutely aware of the way my ribs stick out a bit too far.
I know I shouldn’t compare myself to a pregnant omega, but she’s the only omega I’ve ever really met, and she’s all softness and curves.
I’m hard angles and bone.
My skin is so pale you could probably paint a map of my veins.
Her skin was glowing and healthy.
If Charlotte is the kind of omega that runs in this pack’s circles, why would they ever want someone like me?
A knock shocks me back to reality.
“Hey, it’s Chase, just wanted to check up on you, can I come in?” Chase asks from behind the bathroom door.
“In—in a second!” I scramble to drag Madden’s t-shirt over my head.
I’m surprised he didn’t just come in. I never would’ve gotten any sort of privacy had I been given to Alpha Niall. I also wouldn’t have been allowed any sort of clothing, ever, really.
Even though I don’t want to keep him waiting, I still frantically squeeze my hair out into the towel, trying to straighten it out and look at least somewhat put together.
I put the towel back where I found it, as hard as it is to leave the soft fabric and comforting scent.
It’ll be obvious I’ve used it since my perfume is all over it, but I don’t want to take something I haven’t been explicitly given.
Chase’s bright smile is the first thing I see when I slowly open the door, peeking through.
His smile is powerful enough to have my scent perfuming around us, my attraction to him obvious. He has the kind of smile that needs to be studied.
“How was that shower? I bet it felt pretty nice, all things considered,” he asks, leaning against the wall, his firm, lean muscles still on full display.
“It was,” I say, clasping my hands in front of me nervously. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”
“I’m gonna be the one to show you where you’re gonna be staying, how does that sound?”
“Al—alright, thank you,” I say, my eyes falling to my feet.
I was taken out of school before I had a chance to really get to know any boys, let alone develop crushes or even be around anyone I would consider attractive. But this man in front of me is as hot as the sun, and I don’t know what to do about it.
“How’re your feet doing?” He asks, taking a step closer to me. His ocean breeze swirls around us. It’s soothing to my frayed nerves. It’s also thick with his attraction to me.
I shrug, wincing a bit at the reminder. I’m not going to complain to an alpha about how much pain I’m in. All that got me in the past was more pain.
“Well, we can’t have that, now can we,” Chase chuckles. “Here, hold these for me.”
He hands me a bundle that I barely have a chance to process before he lifts me up and into his arms.
I squeak in alarm as he pulls me closer, adjusting me to make sure the shirt I’m wearing doesn’t ride up. His skin is smooth and so much warmer than I ever expected .
Whenever I felt a man’s skin against mine, I always remember them feeling cold. Maybe that was because I was usually going through my heat and my skin felt like it was burning hot, but still.
I clutch the bundle he hands to me to my chest as he carries me down the hall. It seems to be a bundle of clothes.
A bundle of clothes that smell like a delicious mix of warm ocean breeze, thick dark chocolate, pine forest, and spicy cinnamon. My eyes widen as I glance up at him in surprise.
He offers me a sheepish smile
“I know it must be a bit crazy with all four of us around, so I thought if you’re cool with it, you could get used to our scents,” he says.
“Th—thank you,” I say, looking down at the shirts in my arms with a bit of awe.
It’s an incredibly kind gesture, one that tugs at my heartstrings. The fact that they care enough about my comfort to lend me their own shirts is surprising, even with all the kindness they’ve shown me. It’s like they actually know how to soothe the omega part of me when I don’t even know how to.
When he stops at what looks like a bedroom door, my fingers clench tightly around the pile of clothes I have.
This is it.
These alphas have been so incredibly kind to me. It’s time for me to start earning my keep.
I glance up at Chase. His jawline is so sharp it could probably cut glass. His body feels warm and strong as he carries me.
But still, anxiety starts swirling in my gut. No matter how attractive he is, he’s still an alpha.
He nudges open the bedroom door with his leg and I close my eyes.
When I finally get the courage to open them again, I glance around the bedroom he’s brought me to, surprised that it doesn’t smell like him. Or really any of the other alphas.
This isn’t his bedroom .
Everything in here is big. There are floor-to-ceiling windows that let me see the falling snow, illuminated by the lights outside the house.
The bed is huge, probably the biggest bed I’ve ever seen.
I could probably lay across the width of it twice.
The adjacent bathroom also looks nearly as big as the bathroom I just took a shower in.
This room is so much bigger than I would ever need. So much bigger than anything I’ve ever slept in before.
My bedroom back at home was barely big enough for a twin bed and a small dresser that I kept my clothes in.
My windowsill was used to house my little library.
That was all I really had to call mine, and even then, when I longed for the comfort of my own space, I was never allowed it.
Whenever there was any hint of my perfume starting, my mom would send me down to the cellar.
“Is the room okay?” He asks softly as he sets me down on the bed, breaking the silence caused by me taking everything in.
“Oh, yes, it’s lovely, thank you,” I say, offering him a small smile.
“Okay, awesome. I’m glad,” he says. His returning smile is blinding. It makes butterflies start-up in my belly. “I have a few things I have to go grab for you, okay?” He starts backing up to the door.
Those butterflies turn to lead. My stomach twists. What kind of things is he going to grab? By the look of him, I didn’t think he’d be interested in anything that required anything but his body, but maybe I was wrong.
Maybe all alphas are cruel, regardless of whether they look like sunshine.
Flashes of whips and restraints, pain and humiliation, from my heats with Alpha Niall have my hands shaking in my lap.