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Sterling was in bed with me when I snuck out, heading for the shower. I needed to wash days of grime and sweat and cum from my body. That, and I needed a moment alone to process what had happened.
I quickly figured out someone had taken care of me over the past week. As I peeled off the oversized t-shirt, I realized I was not grimy in the least. In fact, I smelled like body wash.
“Did you lose something?” Sterling’s voice was full of amusement as he watched me run my hands over my body as if searching for something. My laughter bubbled out easily, realizing how ridiculous I looked.
“No, I just didn’t expect to be clean,” I admitted.
He raised a dark eyebrow and glowered at me. “You thought we’d let you sit in your own sweat?” he asked. The alpha sounded genuinely hurt, but I just shrugged, refusing to feel bad about it.
“I’m not used to people taking care of me.”
“Well, get used to it,” he said evenly as he walked over to the shower and turned it on. When I didn’t move, he pulled me under the spray, stepping in with me.
“You didn’t have family to take care of you growing up?” he asked quietly. It was curious, not judgmental, but I still groaned.
“Ah, we’ve reached that point, haven’t we?” I asked. “The elusive background questions.”
“It’s better than fighting about our jobs,” he pointed out. “I’m trying to get to know my mate.”
I didn’t answer at first, stepping further into the spray and letting the warm water sluice over my body. It slowly worked out some of the aches and tension that remained. When I couldn’t avoid it any longer, I finally answered.
“My parents died when I was little. I was their only child. My uncle raised me, but he wasn’t the kindest person.”
“Did he hit you or something?” Sterling asked as he gently rubbed a soaped-up loofah over my body. I tried to ignore the fact that it made me feel vulnerable, especially while having a conversation like this.
“No, but he also didn’t care about me. I did everything for myself, and when I was old enough, I was the one who did the cooking and the cleaning. He wanted some sort of slave, and I think that’s the only reason he agreed to take me in. That, and the money he got from the state. The moment I turned eighteen, I was gone, and I haven’t spoken to him since. I don’t even know if he’s alive.”
A comfortable silence settled between us for a few moments. He didn’t offer false comfort, which I appreciated. Instead, he continued to care for me.
“Cyrus wasn’t exactly the type to give you hugs, wipe your tears, and put a Band-Aid on your knee.” Sterling chuckled at the thought. “But Mom was.”
“What happened to her?”
“Her past wasn’t an easy one, and it took its toll. Kind of like that statement you made about trauma… Physical abuse will leave you the same way.”
“I’m sorry. That had to be tough to witness,” I offered quietly.
“There were times where she was great. She loved us the best she could, but sometimes she would lose herself and zone out. She wasn’t daydreaming… just absent. When she got sick, she never got better. I think she’d just given up by then.”
I turned around to face him, sliding my arms around his waist and burying my face in his chest. He sighed as I hugged him tight.
We’d both lost a parent, but at least I hadn’t had to watch mine wither away and die. I couldn’t imagine what that was like. His obsession with making me eat and take care of myself made so much more sense now.
“How are you holding up after that heat?” Sterling asked. It was an obvious subject change but one I welcomed.
“Better than expected,” I admitted as I took stock of my aches now. “My body is a little sore, so I feel like we’ve been working out like crazy or something, but the awful brain fog is gone.”
“We have been working out vigorously,” he said dryly. The chuckle that followed was a bit unhinged. “That was wild, Bailey.”
“It came on so suddenly it’s hard to keep my head straight,” I admitted. My head pounded as I tried to make sense of it all.Right, I’d meant to ask about the cleaning crew they mentioned when I was going into heat.Before I could form the words, more memories came back, including one of my mate biting me. We were bonded now… Fuck, that was definitely something to think about later.
“Did you guys figure anything out? Someone mentioned a cleaning crew that Hayes was researching,” I explained.
“He looked into it and asked around. There wasn’t supposed to be a cleaning crew,” he said with a sigh.
“From the way we described them, the staff said it wasn’t even the right uniform. It felt a bit staged how they walked in after everyone left. We were planning on getting takeout that day, so we know the only thing you had from the break room was coffee and a snack during the day. We tried to check things out, but they didn’t find anything there either. Whoever it is was insanely careful.”
“That’s not terrifying at all,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t understand why they’re doing this. Why me of all of his staff?”
