Keeping

His heartbeat becoming steadier, he walked closer and clicked his tongue in dismay when he saw the cuts on the alpha’s body. They looked worse up close. “I was here last week,” Jules said, pulling out the supplies from his first aid kit. “I helped you, remember?”

“No.”

The alpha’s muscles tensed a little but he didn’t make a sound as Jules applied an antiseptic to the deepest wounds, even though it had to be painful.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Jules said, applying the blood stancher. “Don’t be such a suspicious grump. By the way, it’s convenient that you’re suddenly talking, but couldn’t you talk to me last time?”

“Don’t remember,” the Xeus said, boring a hole in Jules with his eyes. “Who are you? Did they send you?”

“No one sent me,” Jules said, applying the blood stancher to the cut on the alpha’s stomach and trying not to blush. He resolutely didn’t look below the alpha’s waist. This close, he could smell the Xeus’s scent: something rich and dark he couldn’t qu