Pieces Of Me

Chapter 26 Eve

The heat from the shower feels amazing. I wash my hair, lather up the shower poof, and start on my body. As I clean, I see a shadow move out of the corner of my eye. I spin towards it, nearly going ass over kite on my wobbly legs.

Nothing, nothing is there. The ghost touch of a hand trailing my back makes me jerk back to the water. The sensation of another begins to trail down my abdomen towards my privates. I bite into my knuckles so I don’t scream. It’s not real, just my head playing tricks again.

I take in a shaky breath and exhale. No one is here. I’m in a bathroom and only the water is touching me. Breathe in, breathe out.

I grab the loofah from where I have dropped it and start scrubbing my skin viciously. My skin is filthy and disgusting. I am contaminated. The scent of Fang boy is still stuck in my nostrils. I drop the loofah and scrub myself with my fingers. Soon my nails join the party, helping scrape the filth from my skin.

I start to panic, unable to get his smell off me. I can feel the ghost of his fangs at my neck, his disgusting hands grabbing my hips. I growl and scrub both areas like my life depends on it.

There is a tap at the door.

“Eve, you alright in there?” Hulk asks

“Yip just enjoying the hot water and getting squeaky clean,” I reply as casually as I can, while inwardly losing my shit completely. Knowing that I will never truly be clean again. I can hear him shuffle awkwardly by the door, then a few hushed whispers amongst them. There is some nervous throat clearing.

“Baby, why can I smell blood?” Reece carefully asks. I freeze my frantic movements. Glancing around I realize my claws have peaked out to help and I am shredding myself. I look at my body in horror.

“Um...” I begin, trying to explain it away. I never get the chance as a snarling Garret brakes through the door with a well-placed kick, dragon eyes on full display. It takes him a mere second to take in what I have done.

“Fuck, Angel.” He says, eyes bleeding back to human once he realizes the only danger is me. He grabs towels and yanks me from the shower roughly, swiftly holding towels to the worst two places. I am stunned. This is the first time Garret has ever manhandled me. “Get in here both of you!” He orders towards the doorway.

Reece and Hulk swiftly step in, eyes widening at the sight in front of them. They quickly grab more towels, putting pressure on my self-inflicted wounds as they wait for my wolf side to kick in the healing. They ignore my warning growls. They are too close!

Garret grabs my chin so he can look me in the eye. His dragon is riding him hard and my eyes skirt away from his. He gives me a little shake to bring my eyes back to him.

“Why? Why did you hurt yourself?” He looks betrayed as if I’ve just kicked his puppy for fun. I shake my head, traitorous tears threatening to spill.

“I just wanted to be clean. I’m filthy. I can’t get clean.” I meet his eyes and with absolute honesty say, “I can’t get them off me, they’re still touching me! I can still smell him! I need it to stop. I need to be clean!” I see understanding fill his eyes. His head rests on the top of mine, the scent of pine forest and sunshine, of home.

“Oh, baby...” Reece says sadly. Hulk’s hand cups my cheek.

“You need to let us help you, Kitten. You don’t need to deal with this on your own.” All three of my mates are touching me and surprisingly, I feel safe wrapped in their scents, despite Reece and Hulk being so close. It is like I am complete and the old me again for a moment.

“Bleedings slowing,” Garret says, throwing the towel to the side. The others follow suit. Their eyes carefully check to ensure my healing is kicking in right. I don’t even care that I'm naked. I had left my dignity at the door of my cell, the moment they had placed me in it. Garret clears his throat.

“So....” He says awkwardly, his cheeks obtaining a pink tint. “Clothes might be good.” The others shift nervously, suddenly realizing their close proximity to my naked body. I roll my eyes. We are all shifters. We all get naked. I sigh and shift to my wolf form. It hurts but is still a swift, smooth transformation.

“Damn it, Eve.” Reece groans. “Doc said you had to wait another week for that.”

You guys are the ones freaking out about the naked girl. Some shifters you lot are! I link Reece and Hulk.

“This would normally be fine if we weren’t attracted to the said naked girl, with our beasts’ genes riding us to complete the mating bond,” Hulk says pointedly.

What? Ooohhhhh...My brain finally understood. Well, consider me covered then. I trot out of the bathroom and scratch the door to exit the room. Come on you promised me outside time and sunlight’s a wasting!

The guys file out of the bathroom and Garret opens the door for me.

“Did you see how close she let us get?” Hulk says smiling at Garret. Garret nods, grinning back.

“I kissed her head!” Reece sing songs teasingly at Hulk, narrowly missing the lazy punch Hulk swings at his arm playfully. Reece laughs at him.

SHE is still right here I remind him, watching them grin at me as I head off down the hall.

I glance behind me, taking them in, smiling, carefree. It's nice. I decide I want to see them like this more often.

I seriously need to get my shit together. I’m letting down the team.

I come to a grinding halt.

“Angel?”

I look at them sheepishly.

I actually don’t have any idea where I’m going. One of you better lead the way. I admit.

Good things take time. She's going to have her bad moments.
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