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“No,” I whimper, gasping as I continue to cry pitifully. “I’m sorry. I can’t…”

“You’re not allowed to apologize to me,” he says, “because you didn’t fucking do anything. I’ll hide if she comes in. I need to get you dressed and put to bed. Then, you’re going to text Cassidy because she’s losing her mind.”

I gaze at him, and he gently turns my body around, barely touching my skin.

“Move,” he says.

My feet shuffle because I’m freezing in the air conditioning of the house. I swear, my mother must have dropped it lower.

“What are you doing?” my mother calls out from down the hallway.

“I just got out of the shower,” I call out, my voice clogged with tears.

Carter freezes, swallowing hard as he stares at the shadow of my mother’s body a long way down the hallway. She must be heading to bed.

“There’s no use drawing things out,” she says. “Punishment is punishment. Suck it up, buttercup.”

The light turns out in the hallway and I hear her door close.

“Fuck,” I whisper. I’m trembling in pain and freezing.

Forcing my feet to move, I shuffle over to my closet. Carter looks through my shelves before grabbing a huge hoodie.

“Arms up, I won’t look if the towel falls,” he says softly.

His gaze drops to my arm where the bruise is getting darker, and his blue eyes go almost gray in anger. Helping me into the fluffy hoodie, he pulls the knot apart on my towel, and guides the clothing down until I’m engulfed in it. He tosses the towel into the hamper, noticing I’m still freezing.

“Do you have sweatpants or joggers?” he asks.

“One pair,” I admit, my chin shifting to the side.

Pinching them, he drops to his knees to help me into the pants. Holding onto the wall, I step into them and sigh as the warmth begins to envelop me. I know he saw the welts all over my legs, but it’s not up to me to hide my mother’s sins. I’m past that now.

His eyes take in the shelves full of frilly clothing, wigs, and makeup as he finds socks and helps me into those as well. The closet has a place for me to apply my makeup, and any girl would be happy to have it.

To me, they represent a gilded cage, and the shackles chafe.

“Bed,” he murmurs, turning out the light and chancing a look into the bedroom.

Finding the coast clear, he motions for me to walk forward. I know he’s scared to touch me, and I don’t blame him. The skin behind my knees even hurts because I tried to ball up in a protective fetus position and that’s where the belt fell over and over.

It hurts to move, but I force myself to push through and make it to the bed. Carter pulls the blankets back to help me in. While I would love to do things like brush my teeth or wash my face, I don’t have the spoons for it.

Wincing as I get comfortable, I watch as Carterfluffsmy blankets and pillow.

“I’m becoming a mother hen,” he sighs. “Why did this happen?”

Pressing my lips against each other for a moment, I sigh. “It’s so dumb.”

“If she was willing to beat the fuck out of you, then it isn’t,” he grumbles.

“She’s frustrated that no one has asked to make me theirs,” I rasp. “See? It’s dumb.”

“We thought we’d have more time,” he whispers. “Fuck, we did this.”

“No, she did this,” I mutter, my hand moving under the covers to find my phone. Whimpering in pain, I try to lean over to reach it.

“Little Omega. What the fuck,” he complains.