I rubbed the soap over my body as a smile formed on my lips before I could stop myself. This was the first time that I have taken a shower in a long time without someone banging the door at me to get out, me being afraid that the door would be opening, revealing Elton who would be naked and ready to take me whether or not I wanted to, or going out to meet the man ready for me to either take or beat me for something that he saw as disrespectful.
For the first time since as long as I could remember, I felt safe as I washed my hair and body clean, scrubbed the soap off my body without the need to be careful for fresh cuts and bruises that were either too dark for me to distinguish my skin under or forming.
I bit my bottom lip as I washed my face, recalling how gentle the Alpha was as he leaned in, giving me the time to pull away if I wanted and not taking his anger out on me despite me pulling away, reflecting the fact that I did not want to do it.
The way his eyes met mine, his hand which went under my chin, my chest swelled, and for the first time since I met her, my wolf purred. I frowned in confusion, but even she felt safe and secure around the man who has been gentle and merciful to me since I entered his house.
I walked out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body as I looked at myself in the mirror to brush my teeth. I smiled and shook my head as I saw my face for the first time, genuinely calm and content.
“I told you,” I said, smiling at my own reflection, voicing out my own thoughts to my insecure self. “I was now safe…”
***************************
“Good morning,” I said, entering the kitchen to find Natasha waiting for me by the coffee bar. She poured me a mug of tea, handing it to me, and I smiled and took it from her.
“Morning,” she said, looking down at the mug before I noticed a faint smile on her lips. I raised an eyebrow at the woman, and following her gaze, I turned to find a man behind me, standing by the door. He winked at her and she bit her bottom lip before he walked away.
I shook my head but didn’t comment or ask any questions. The last thing that I wanted was to upset her if I interfered in her own personal life. She might not want to talk about it with me, and for that, I wasn’t going to be nosy.
“Aren’t you curious?” She asked, snapping me out of my daze as I walked toward the buffet. I handed her a plate and she nodded in thanks as the two of us started serving ourselves.
“I might be, but I know better than to interfere in your private life.” I said, not looking at her. “I might not be the one that you want to talk to…”
“That’s Ivan, my lover.” She said, stopping me. I raised an eyebrow as I turned to face her and she smiled, showing me a bruise that was on her neck. I frowned as my heart raced, and quickly put the plate down, making her frown in confusion.
“He hurt you?” I asked extending my hand to touch the bruise. The woman froze momentarily before processing my question and putting her plate down.
“No, no, Eleanor, he didn’t.” She said and I shook my head.
“You can tell the Alpha, he would help, he wouldn’t…”
“Hey,” she said, cupping my cheeks, forcing me to look at her just as Liana entered the kitchen. She frowned at the sight and I knew that the other girls were behind her, getting ready for the day. Natasha took a deep breath before taking my hand and guiding me toward the back door of the kitchen. “He did not hurt me, this is a love bite.”
“A what?” I asked and she smiled as she took my hand in hers.
“A love bite, in other words, a hickey. It looks like a bruise, but it doesn’t come from your lover physically hurting you. Well, that is of course, unless you’re in the mood for a little pain.” She said, and I frowned. “Don’t worry, first of all, I know how to fend for myself, second, Killian wouldn’t have a man hurting a woman in his Estate, and third, he got one from me too. The two of us are even and every woman who dares look at him would know that he is mine.”
I wrapped my arms around myself subconsciously, running my finger over the bruise that I had on my abdomen. It was a result of a broken rib. “I thought that you would know what a hickey was, especially considering the fact that you had one on your neck when you first came.”
My cheeks reddened and she smiled, shaking her head at me. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about it. It’s not like I’m any innocent anyway.”
I stayed quiet as she turned to enter the kitchen again as I put my hand on my neck for a second. My heart ached for a second as she turned to face me, “are you coming?”
“Uh- yeah,” I said, entering the house after her. My next words threatened to escape my tongue as I bit down on it, stopping myself from voicing them out. The pain made my chest ache as I got lost in my thoughts for a moment too long before I looked at the woman who was waiting for me by the plates again.
The maids looked at me, and I couldn’t help but feel small as they seemed to be whispering amongst themselves, clearly curious about the reason for Natasha pulling me out of the kitchen. I blocked their voices out as I tried choosing something to eat.
I ended up with a piece of toast and a boiled egg. It being the one thing that I believed that I could digest as I got lost in my thoughts.
Natasha and Liana shared a silent message before Natasha looked at me as I sat down by myself. I had to fight back curling up as I looked down at my plate for a second too long before I was able to grab the piece of toast.
The one thought that played in my head was the response that I knew that I would never be able to give.
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