30 Thrill

♔Tristen (P.O.V)

"You think she'll be okay?" Remus asks me as we shut the bedroom door behind us.

"I don't know," I sigh doubtfully, "I think she'll be okay on her own. It's just a shower, and I'll be back there in no time."

"Mm," he hums softly.

"Don't give me that!" I scowl. "I don't want to leave her side any more than I have to, but I know no one will hurt her here."

"I hope not," he murmurs.

"Uh-huh," I shrug mentally, pushing Remus out of my thoughts as I run towards Nichole's room down the hall from mine.

~~

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I knock lightly on Nichole's and Jakub's room.

"Tristen?" Nichole breathes as she opens the door slightly, her silver eyes dull with sleep and her blonde hair messy.

Since Felix has taken over as Duke and his mate as Duchess, she and Jakub both retired, allowing more time together. Apparently, it also allowed for lazy days, which kind of makes me feel guilty for interrupting.

"Yea, it's me. Um- do you have a minute?" I question, rubbing my hand nervously on the back of my head, slightly messing my long hair.

"Um, yea," she blinks hard, almost as if she's trying to wake up. "Yea, come in," she says, covering her mouth as she yawns.

"Actually, I can't," I state quickly.

"Oh? What do you need then?" She questions, tilting her head slightly in curiosity.

"Do you have any old clothes?"

My question catches her off guard as her eyes grow wide, "I don't think they'll fit you, my boy," she laughs gently.

"Oh-oh! No! No, no, no. They're not for me, you're small, and I need tiny clothing," I laugh, my face burning hot red.

"Come out with it," she says teasingly.

"They're um- for- for my mate," I stammer.

"Oh, well then, I have an old pair of- wait a minute. Mate! Did you just say, mate?" Her eyes grow wide.

"Jakub! Tree found his mate!" She screams into the back of the room. Within seconds a loud thump bangs in the room as loud thundering footsteps sprint toward the door.

"You found your mate!" He cries, practically pushing Nichole out of the way.

"I'll go get the clothes," Nichole giggles softly as she disappears into the room.

"Yea~," I trail off, taking in his disheveled appearance.

His usual well-groomed appearance has slipped into one of a stay at home father. His ordinarily combed brown hair has knots and tangles in it and sports an unsightly five-o-clock shadow. The clean and buffed clothing that used to regularly hug his body is now a baby blue shirt stained with a small bright red circle near the collar. Assumedly pizza sauce since the smell of tomatoes wafts through the air.

"Who is she?" His bright green eyes shine with excitement, almost bouncing off the ground. "Better yet, where is she?"

"She's in my room taking a shower," I ignore the first question.

"Come by later tonight, and we'll all have dinner in my bedroom. Second, it's complicated, let me just say she has nothing because she arrived as a wolf," I offer.

I hope Eustacia will be okay with meeting them. . . Maybe I shouldn't have invited them? Too late now, though.

"For the first time in years, we have nothing to do, so we will definitely stop by," he says, beaming with pride.

"Move lazy ass," Nichole snickers as she flicks Jakub's ear from behind him.

"Alright, woman yeesh!" He howls gently in pain. "What'd the ear ever do to you," he mutters quietly, rubbing his ear as he walks away.

"I heard what you all were talking about," she looks around cautiously hugging a black pile of clothing close to her chest, "If you don't want us to come, I can keep him here," she whispers.

"It's fine, I really want you all to meet. I honestly think it'll do her some good."

"Well, we will be there," she smiles sweetly. "Here, they may not be her size, but they're the smallest I have. Tucked between the shirt and pants are a brand new pair of underwear and two different sized sports bras." She instructs, handing them to me.

"Thank you, so much," I smile softly, and rush off back toward my room.

~~

I quickly open the door, and shock rushes through my body. Eustacia sits firmly on the end of my bed, her legs carelessly swinging. Still wearing my old blue ombre t-shirt, her body and hair are still covered in dry mud and blood. Her attention elsewhere in the room, not sure where.

She hasn't showered yet.

"Everything okay?" I ask her carefully as I place the pile of clothing on the nearest dresser to my right, the one with the tv.

I must have startled her, her frail body jumped slightly as she looked toward me. "Um-," she hesitates for a moment, although I'm not sure she realizes it. "I don't know how to work the shower," she states smoothly.

"Oh," I say scowling, I know she's lying to me, I can feel it. "Well, here I'll show you," I offer as I pick up the clothing I placed down on my way toward the bathroom door a few steps away.

I push the bathroom door inside and place the clothes on the edge of the sink. Eustacia is behind me, I can feel it, opening the standing shower door I try to tell her the best I can. "Left is cold and right is hot. You just pull out so it clicks and the water should start," I pull it gently, so it clicks, "like so."

I look back at Eustacia, with a smile plastered on my face. Her mouth is in an o shape. "Thank you," she says quietly.

I feel my smile get wider, the warmth of her words filling my chest. "No problem. The towels and washcloths are in that cabinet," I point toward the wooden door against the wall beside the sink.

"I don't have any feminine body wash or shampoo, but we'll go to the store at some point this week. We have a few pack things to do tomorrow, but we will relax for the rest of today," I smile softly at her.

"Thank you, Tristen. Really," She smiles softly, not showing her teeth and hugs me tightly. She doesn't smell the greatest, but I expected it after being stuck in her wolf form.

"Don't thank me," I whisper, hugging her back tighter. If it wasn't for me, she might not have been in that situation, I'm just glad she isn't in it anymore.

"If you need anything else, just let me know," I say as I let go of her and begin to make my way out of the room.

I didn't want to let go, but I needed to. If I didn't she probably wouldn't get a shower tonight.

"Okay," she replies as I reach the door and shut it behind me.

~~

♔Eustacia (P.O.V)

I found a black towel and washcloth in the cabinet and decided they'd be the best to use. He had white, tan, blue towels and washcloths in there as well, but I was afraid I would stain them. Along with those items he had other basic toiletries. Deodorant, extra shampoo, and body wash, toothbrushes, and toothpaste, a large brown square-shaped brush with plastic bristles.

Rightfully so too, when I finally got the water warm enough for me, the water ran a muddy brown and red. I hadn't realized how gross I had gotten, and to be honest, it's nice to finally use an actual shower for the first time in years.

It took me nearly an hour to get all the shit out of my hair. I lathered, rinsed, lathered, rinsed, and repeated what seemed like forever. The shampoo he has is a two in one pump bottle. I'm not sure what brand it is, but whatever it is once I got all the shit out of my hair it made it ridiculously silky and smooth. His body wash smells like that of a typical man's smell, musky and strong, a refreshing smell compared to what I smelled like before.

So now I stand here, staring at myself in the mirror. My black hair soaking wet sticking to my naked body, my eyes have large bags under them, and scars litter my body with no rhyme or reason. For someone starved and malnourished, I still somewhat have "the goods."

I hate looking at my appearance. It honestly makes me sick. If it wasn't Tristen's mirror, I probably would have already smashed it in half. That reason and that reason alone, I haven't smashed it, because he's been extremely nice to me. Whether or not it's genuine or fake, I don't know, but what else do I have to lose at this point? Nothing.

Groaning, I grab the black towel I laid on the toilet lid and dry my body off. Taking care to get it as dry as possible before I start drying my hair slightly. My hair, a matted mess, needs something done to it, but I don't have a brush and I refuse to use his without asking.

Shrugging silently, I grab the pile of clothing on the sink and go through them. A rolled black pair of underwear, clearly new sits between two different size black sports bras and a small pair of black sweatpants. A plain black t-shirt rests on top.

I remove the small clear piece of tape holding the new solid black underwear together and slide them over my feet and thighs. I'm not sure where he got them, but the solid black sweat pants fit as well. Their stretchy material conforms to my body nicely.

Picking the smallest sports bra up, I try to slide it over my shoulders with some effort. I succeed, but it's extremely tight around my body and pushes my breasts out. Clearly too small. Grunting, I struggle to try to get the small torture device off. With a lot of effort and weird body angling, I'm sure, I get it off. I quickly replaced it with the bigger bra. Thankfully it fits and snuggly at that. I slide the shirt over my chest smoothly, although it's slightly tight.

Nervousness fills my chest at the thought of being clean and clothed, I even used a shower! For the first time in years, I feel like a normal person. Even better, I have a seemingly loving mate outside that door, and that- that makes me scared.

With one last glance in the mirror, I turn around and breathe in deeply and slowly open the door.