Adea
It was still unclear what was tattooed on his chest but the drenched white t-shirt made it possible to get an outline of it. I was able to form a few possible guesses at what it might be. I told myself not to but even as I thought the words, my eyes disobeyed.
They lowered to the hard nipples that poked the shirt. On top of that, the hard rings of his piercings stood proudly and I couldn’t help but stare. I was already looking, so I might as well keep going.
My gaze dipped to his torso to his muscled abs that pressed firmly against the fabric as he breathed in and out. I was on enemy lines but I wasn’t blind. The Goddess had gifted this man.
Slowly, I burned a trail up his body until we locked eyes. He stared at me knowingly and the air between us was hot and heavy. The laughter and happiness that had been etched on his face were gone and replaced with a look of desire.
“Stay,” Shane growled.
He waited for me to agree. When I nodded, he released me and I bobbed above the water as he headed for shallower waters. I watched as he grew taller out of the water as his feet touch the bottom.
Coming to a stop, he reached for the hem of his shirt. I swallowed as he pulled the flimsy fabric up and over his head. I watched as he shook his hair out like a dog. He looked over his shoulder at me as I laughed.
His eyes held mine before he turned away from me and threw his shirt onto the grass where it fell with a flop. Now that he was shirtless, I greedily let my eyes roam down his back.
I had expected to see firm muscle or tatted designs running down his back. I couldn’t hold back the gasp as my eyes roamed over ugly rugged skin, burn marks, and deep long healed wounds.
Shane tensed, his muscles flexed under my watching eyes. His shoulders rose slowly and fell as he breathed. What happened? How did this happen? Who could have done this to him?
These looked old, they had long since healed. I couldn’t think of anyone who could have touched him, who would have dared to. Without knowing it, I swam over to him and almost completely closed the distance between us.
I felt the ground below me as I made it into shallow waters. There was a foot of space between us. This felt wrong and right at the same time. I could pretend I didn’t see but I couldn’t.
There was no way I could see those kinds of wounds, those kinds of scarring on anyone, and let them go. No matter how hard I looked at it or tried to make sense of it. These were clear signs of abuse.
If they didn’t look so bad I might have laughed. Yes, I was worried about my abuser being abused. I wasn’t even going to try and unpack that thought. I wasn’t even going to try and make sense of it.
Without thinking any more about it, I reached out and closed the distance between us. Shane tensed even more and flinched as my fingers touched his back. We didn’t say anything as I ran my fingers down three long deep inward jagged scars.
They were a deep pink and my fingers dipped into the curves of his mangled skin. I couldn’t help the gnawing feeling in my chest as my fingers slid down and went over burn marks.
The flesh was a mess and the size of my palm. I couldn’t even think of anything that size. that could burn through skin. Who could have been so cruel to have done this to a child? Yes, I know who that child was but I couldn’t justify this.
My fingers slid over raised skin that had to be at least ten inches long. There were too many to count and it took me a moment to figure out what could have caused them. Shane had been whipped.
He’d been whipped so frequently, so often that there wasn’t a single part of his pack that was smooth or intact. I couldn’t even comprehend being able to stomach doing this to another person.
When did this take place? How long ago had it happened? The Shane I remembered was ruthless and mean. He’d been downright cruel and evil. He hadn’t always been that way and I don’t remember when he changed.
When had it happened? When did I start holding my breath when I saw him in the hallway or ran into him on the stairway? When had he switched from being a grumpy teenager to an alpha-hole?
Was it when this started happening? Was it when his abuser touched him? Was it when whoever did this to him went in on him? Is that why the abused became the abuser? I’ve heard of that happening. It didn’t happen to me but I heard in some cases that happens.
Had no one close to him like his sister or his family noticed the change?
If anyone could have discovered it, it would have been Mavy. Had she known? I shake my head, no, there’s no way she would have known and not said something to me. There’s no way she would have ignored this.
They bumped heads but the love those two had for each other was strong. The bond they shared was intense. I remember seeing it, I remember feeling it. Their bond and the way Mavy felt about her brother was the reason I didn’t tell her about the way he treated me.
Liquid fell from my chin and when I wiped it away, I was confused. I don’t know when it happened but somehow I’d started crying. I looked at the wetness on my fingers. I don’t know when but I started to pity Shane.