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I shivered and curled closer to Christopher, who wound his arms around me protectively. I knew the man on the other side of the door by sight only—Manuel was a huge, hulking Alpha with a thick beard and small, piggy eyes. He was balding on top but extremely muscular. There wasn’t an ounce of kindness or gentleness in him—I was sure.
“It’s okay, Little Sis—we won’t let him have you,” Christopher murmured to me, stroking my hair.
“Get the fuck away!” Gabriel’s voice had dropped to a menacing growl. He was bigger than Manuel, but not by much and he was at least ten years younger than the other Alpha. “Zoe is under the protection of me and my brother—we’re claiming her and the rest of you can fuck off!”
“You haven’t heard the last of this—the rest of the Alphas won’t be happy. We all want a turn!” Manuel snarled on the other side of the door. “You can’t keep a bitch in heat all to yourself, pup—even if you are the Pack Master’s son!”
“She’s not in heat—she’s having her First Blood! She’s in fucking pain you fucking pendejo!” Gabriel snapped. “Now fuck off!”
There was grumbling from the other side of the door and then heavy footsteps stomped away. Manuel was leaving…but for how long?
The minute the footsteps faded, Gabriel rounded on us.
“I said get her cleaned up,” he snarled at Christopher. “The scent of her blood is going to bring every Alpha in the whole damn Compound if you don’t fucking hurry!”
As small as my room was, it did have a tiny bathroom connected to it. There was even a tub as well as a toilet, though it was a tight fit. Christopher scooped me off the bed and took me into the next room, leaving the heating pad behind on the now-stained bed.
While Christopher started running water in the tub, Gabriel stripped the sheets and spread off my bed and bundled them up tightly. He brought them into the bathroom—there was hardly room for all three of us since my two stepbrothers were so big—and shoved the bundle down beside the toilet.
“It didn’t go through to the mattress, so it should be okay as long as we can get her cleaned up and mask the smell of her First Blood,” he said, speaking to Christopher. “It’s the scent that draws them. Get her in the fucking tub as fast as you can!”
Christopher nodded and picked me up again, as though I was a doll and couldn’t get into the half-full tub by myself.
“Hey—put me down!” I protested. “I can’t get in the tub with my nightgown on!”
Gabriel gave me an even look.
“You want us to strip you naked, little mouse?” he demanded. “Is that really what you want?”
When his pale eyes raked over me like that, I remembered my breasts, which were just starting to bud, and suddenly felt vulnerable.
“No,” I whispered. “No, I…I’ll get in.”
“Good. Do it.” He made a downward stabbing motion with one finger at Christopher, indicating that he should put me in the tub. Christopher obeyed, leaning down to lower me—still dressed in my stained nightgown and underwear—into the lukewarm water.
The water went pink at once, compounding my shame. And yet I still didn’t know what was happening to me.
“Christopher,” I whispered. “Please—do you know what’s wrong with me? Am I hurt inside somehow? I’m scared.”
“Oh, Little Sis…” He sighed and sank down by the side of the tub, running a hand through his hair. “Your mom really didn’t tell you anything?”
I shook my head.
“She said I wouldn’t have to worry about anything to do with women’s troubles since I’m a dud. Or…I used to be, anyway,” I added, looking down at the cloudy pink water.
“Okay, well…let me see.” Christopher took a deep breath. His cheeks were red, as though the topic embarrassed him, but it was clear he was going to do his best. “The thing is, girls…they, uh, bleed every month.”
“Wait—every month?” I knew my mom talked about her “Lady Days” but I hadn’t realized this kind of thing could happen with such clockwork regularity.
“Well, yes—every month.” Christopher shrugged.
“But why?” I demanded. The severe cramping pain…the stained clothes…the endless blood. Why did it have to happen on a monthly basis? And now that I had started bleeding, was I really going to have to go through this over and over again?
But I seemed to have stumped Christopher with my question.
“Why?” He frowned. “Well, because…because they… Look, you do know where babies come from, right?” he demanded.
It was my turn to blush.
“Yes. A man puts a baby inside the woman.” That was all my mother had really told me about the process. I didn’t know how the baby got there—I thought it might have something to do with her belly button.
“Okay—so that’s why a girl bleeds every month. So she can have a baby.” Christopher looked relieved, as though he had explained everything I needed to know.
