Claws

Chapter Forty

It took me a while to get on my feet, but soon enough, I was able to wobble into Zale's bathroom with a pair of his sweats, a black t-shirt that was most likely to drown me, and a spare toothbrush in my hands. After peeling off my clothes, I took off the gauze from my neck and turned to the mirror. When I saw the entirety of my neck and shoulders, my jaw dropped and covered my mouth. Hickeys were placed everywhere, up from my collarbone to my neck and shoulders. "What the heck?" I whispered, immediately walking away from the mirror to shower with flushed cheeks. "What else did we do before the tranquilizers kicked in last night? Come to think of it, how did we get in his bed?" I thought, filled with humiliation. I wanted to act maturely about this situation, but Zale was making it really hard to do so.

I grunted when I reached inside the shower to turn on the water, an ache radiating through my body again. I hadn't been this sore since training at the academy, although this time, it wasn't caused by working out.

I stepped into his shower, feeling the warmth of the water cascading over my body. The steam began to fill the air, creating a hazy atmosphere in the bathroom. As I stood beneath the gentle stream, my fingers traced the tiled wall until they found the cool surface of Zale's shampoo bottle. I grabbed it, the plastic yielding slightly to the pressure of my hand. The scent of cedar and sandalwood filled my nose as I clicked open the bottle and lathered my hair with a quick rinse. While washing my body, I realized Zale's body wash seemed to be from the same brand but held more of a musk-based fragrance. I scoffed. Even his showering products screamed of testosterone.

When I finished showering, I slid on his shirt and raised my eyebrows. The bottom of the black fabric touched a few inches above the top of my knees. How were his sweatpants going to fit me? The shirt was already a dress itself. When I tried to slip on his sweatpants, they fell right back down on the ground, no matter how much I rolled up the waistline and legs. My cheeks flushed infuriatingly. Even if the shirt were long enough to be a dress, it wouldn't look okay if I went out there like this! It was already awkward enough, trying to avoid the fact that things had gotten hot and heavy last night.

I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth together, folding the sweatpants up. I took a deep breath in. My eyes shot open, and my mouth immediately began to water. I smelt bacon and eggs. Well, it is just like wearing a dress, and the worst thing Zale could do is tease me, right? Plus, he wouldn't do anything to me. He knows who my father is and what will happen to him if he...Ugh, screw it. I'll just brush my teeth and go out. I'm starving. I ended up delusionally persuading myself out of starvation.

Once I brushed my teeth, I opened the bathroom door and slowly crept out of his room, walking toward the smell of bacon and eggs. My mouth watered even more as I weakly turned the corner and stepped into the kitchen.

Zale stood in front of his stove, turning the bacon over on the large pan in front of him. On the pan next to him, simmered freshly cooked eggs, salted and peppered, sprinkled with a light coat of cheddar cheese. They looked so good.

I inhaled the delicious scent and clumsy trotted to the opposite side of the island from him, sitting on one of his bar stools. "It smells good." When I spoke, Zale jolted where he stood and turned around with a shocked look on his face.

"Geez, you're quiet. How long have you been sitting there?" He sighed while turning off the stove behind him. 

"I just sat down. I wasn't trying to be quiet. You were just unobservant," I shrugged, crossing my arms and leaning them on top of the counter. "It smells good."

"Was that a compliment I heard, Mae Astor?" Zale smirked at me. He laughed when I frowned at him and handed me the glass cup full of water that was sitting on the edge of the island. "Here. Drink."

"I would compliment a southern wolf if he made me food right now. I'm starving," I scoffed, taking a sip of water. "Your arm seems to be doing better, seeing that you're cooking just fine."

"Well, I took in a lot of your pheromones last night, so it sped up my healing process," Zale said, clearing his throat. He was acting so awkward. It made me feel like I was the one with more "experience" than him, which we both knew was not true. "Anyway, are you feeling any better?"

"I'm fine. I just have a little headache besides my muscle weakness. It's not that bad," I shrugged, brushing my fingers against my neck. "By the way, how dare you call me a savage when my neck looks like this. It's going to be hard to cover these marks up. They're everywhere. You may be used to them, but I've never had one in my life, let alone this many." I shot Zale a dirty look. "What are you, a sucker fish?"

"Well, the same goes for you! You bit me so many times," Zale gaped with a scoff, pointing at his neck. "What are you, a piranha?"

To my surprise, instead of fighting back, I pressed my lips together and covered my mouth to hide my stifling laugh. "A piranha?"

Zale raised an eyebrow at me and shrugged as he turned around, taking the bacon and eggs off the pans and placing them into two separate plates. When I stood up, eager to grab my plate, Zale turned around. "Let's eat at the table. Do you want anything else to drink—" Zale paused when he turned to me, and he looked down at my bare legs, everything frozen but his growing bewildered expression. His eyes widened, and he looked away. "Mae. Where the heck are the pants I gave you?"

I looked down at my bare legs and frowned. "Oh, so now you want to be a gentleman? You've seen me in less and didn't bat an eyelash. Not only that, but you also took off your shirt in front of me this morning like it was nothing. Your pants wouldn't fit me no matter what I did, so since the shirt fits like a dress on me, I figured it didn't matter."

"Yeah, but that's..." Zale sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh my gosh. Never mind, just sit down at the table and drink the rest of that water. You need to stay hydrated. I'll bring the plates over and get you some juice. It'll help with your headache."

I shrugged, wobbling over to his kitchen table with the water glass in my hand, plopping down on one of the chairs as he set down the two plates and handed me some silverware. Unashamed, I dug in while he walked over to his fridge. He poured me some juice and mumbled something about being clueless. The humiliation and shame I had in the shower were somehow gone all of a sudden, and even though Zale was fidgety, I was somehow handling the awkwardness like a champ. Maybe it was the mark? I did feel a lot more like myself. 

I took a bite of my eggs, sighing in content. I was definitely feeling better emotionally. I knew I should have been pissed at Zale and curling up in humiliation, but I wasn't. I actually felt pretty good. Plus, Zale wasn't bothering me so much, so I couldn't even bring myself to pick a fight. 

It was right when Zale set a large glass of orange juice in front of me when I heard a loud banging on Zale's front door, his doorbell going off like a rifle in a warzone. Zale sighed and closed his eyes, taking a piece of his bacon off his plate and popping it into his mouth. "Stay here and keep eating. Don't come to the door no matter what, alright? Not looking like that."

"Yes, Dad," I blandly said, taking a sip of my juice. 

Zale just scoffed and headed for the door.