Page 27 of Hangman's Knot
Oh, maybe it's because she's wet. Her polyester jumpsuit is sticking to her body with fluids but she refuses to think about what they might be. She refuses to look down. The idea chills her to the bone, but it's not really that cold.
No, Luke said she was in shock. That must be why she'sshivering. People do that when they're in shock, right? Her thoughts feel disconnected and jumbled, like they've all been shaken up and put back in wrong.
Julius acquiesces. They leave quickly, stopping by their cell to grab a change of clothes.
She vaguely realizes what a miracle it is they don't see anyone in the halls to stop them. A guard, another prisoner, anyone to notice all the blood on them. Or maybe they do, and she just doesn't notice.
Luke and Julius comment on how quiet it is, their voices rumbling with uneasiness too low for her to make out what they say. Concern sours their scents.
The showers smell strongly of mold. There is not much privacy, just small waist-high barriers between each shower stall. It wouldn't do anything to cover her. But there is no one in here at this time.
Luke turns on one of the faucets and undresses her and then himself, then leads her under the spray. It's warm, and she realizes how violently her whole body is still shaking now.
Luke and Julius both begin to purr, sandwiching her between them and maneuvering them in the stall so almost all the water lands on her, but they don't seem to care. One of them makes quick work of washing her hair while the other soaps up her body. She can barely feel it, her head floating so far above her body she thinks it might hit the ceiling.
They don't do more than a cursory scrub of themselves, just ensuring the stink of blood and alpha aggression is rinsed off of them before they step out of the stall. One of them wraps her in a rough towel and dries her quickly before the other helps her step into a clean jumpsuit. She doesn't see what they do with the dirty ones.
Her body feels heavy and numb. She can't quite move her limbs right and her feet drag as she walks. They guide her out of the nasty mouldy shower room and back through the hallway towards her nest. She'll be safe in her nest. It smells like them. Like their pack.
It will be safe there. She repeats the thought over and over again.
"Hendricks, Jameson, North," a guard barks, jogging up to them as they're exiting the showers. "Hold up. Random search!"
Luke and Julius meet each other's gaze quickly before averting them, a silent discussion taking place between them again but Eden can't find it in her to care enough to try and decipher it.
They line up against the wall and place their palms flat against it, ensuring that Eden is positioned close enough between them to feel their body heat.
Eden feels herself somehow still shivering, despite the shower having begun to warm her up. When would it stop? It feels like she's going to throw up, even her stomach is shaking.
Did they put that knife back in her shoe? Was she about to be sent to solitary? She didn't know if she could survive it.
But the guard doesn't actually search them beyond doing a cursory pat down to them, taking extra time to feel over Eden's ass and breasts in a way that makes her squeeze her eyes shut, tears leaking out the sides.
"You three been by the east block hall lately?"
"We were there after our morning work shift," Luke says evenly, his voice carefully casual. "And then we came here and decided to have a shower before lunch. Worked up a sweat at the welder and all."
"And when you were there," the guard growls, "did you happen to see eight bodies on the floor? Alphas. Quite the mess."
Luke feigns surprise. "No, sir. We didn't see anyone there."
"You're telling me," the guard says, "that sometime in the two minutes after you left the east block, someone put eight bodies on the floor, and you don't know anything about it? You didn't see a thing?"
"We were in the showers, officer," Luke repeats.
The guard grunts, clearly not believing them, but apparently not caring enough to pursue it further. "If I find out differently, the three of you will be spending an awful long time in the hole, and your omega here is gonna' have a lot of time alone to think about her choices, isn't she?"
And then he walks away, leaving Eden standing there, her heart racing and her stomach in her throat. The threat in his tone was clear. She was fucked. Probably literally.
She doesn't know how they get back to her nest. All she knows is a feeling of comfort when she's finally tucked into the blankets that smell like her pack.
Julius folds himself in behind her, and he holds her to him like he's a life vest and she's drifting in the middle of the ocean.
He tries to purr, but it comes out too much like a growl and she feels her fear rising again.
But then Luke is there too, sandwiching her in between them again, and his purr feels like a warm blanket.
They hold her so close that she can hardly breathe between them and she thinks it might be the only thing holding her together.
