Chapter 373: Let us help

"Yes, she was a great help back then." Luke, currently resting his head on his mate’s lap, muttered quietly as he told them about the battle.

He deliberately avoided going into too much detail, but they were curious about how so many ambushers had been dealt with so easily.

"What about the Tribal Ruler? Did he never fight?" Laila, who was currently massaging his legs, asked eagerly.

Luke smiled faintly. "Aren’t you getting a little curious about hunting these days?"

Laila looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, I finally seem to have found something that interests me."

Luke chuckled. "Well, as long as you hold on to that passion." He exhaled softly before continuing, "Kalish did fight, but I couldn’t tell what his magical abilities were, or whether he even used them."

Ginna, who was replacing the candles around the room, looked at him in confusion. "That’s strange. The scale of this battle could have pushed anyone to give their all. It was a matter of life and..."

She trailed off, suddenly remembering that Luke had been a part of it as well.

The thought alone was enough to make every woman in the room uneasy.

Yes, he had returned to them safely. But human nature had always been plagued by one question.

What if?

Luke exhaled a sigh. "If you’re all going to turn gloomy like this, then let’s stop this..."

"Argh."

He suddenly winced, not from pain, but from sheer disgust as he pushed himself upright and realized his shirt was clinging unpleasantly to his body.

"What happened?" Monica asked with concern, her eyes widening.

Luke let out a weary breath. "I need a bath. I was sprayed with blood so many times." He glanced down at the sheet beneath him before muttering, "This needs to be changed too."

"I’ll go and bring some clean water and fresh clothes," Ginna immediately said. "I’ll help you wash up."

Luke stared at her, taken aback. "Huh? But I can go and wash myself, you know..."

His voice trailed off when his mate suddenly fixed him with a firm glare.

"You’re not moving around until you’ve recovered. Let us take care of you... please, Luke."

Ginna nodded in agreement. "Yes, Luke. We never stopped you from protecting us, so don’t take away from us what little we can do for you."

Luke found himself cornered by the diligence of the three women. Even Laila appeared ready to join in, judging by the way she had already risen to her feet.

He exhaled a sigh and eventually shrugged. "Well, go ahead, then."

He was tired, certainly, but he could have washed himself and returned to them without much trouble.

But what fool would refuse the help of three beautiful women when they were so determined to take care of him?

Luke certainly wasn’t one.

Laila soon pulled over a stool and made sure he was seated comfortably before turning her attention to him.

Meanwhile, Monica began removing the sheet from the bed. It was stained with blood, leaving little doubt that it needed to be discarded.

"Burn it tomorrow," Luke told her. He didn’t want anything in their home that might serve as a reminder of what had happened that day.

Monica nodded, though she paused for a moment, staring down at the stained sheet before finally gathering it up and carrying it away.

Luke was just about to remove his vest when Laila suddenly crouched in front of him.

"Let me help."

Luke hummed in acknowledgment. "Are you sure? It’s pretty disgusting underneath."

Laila gave him a helpless smile. "If I can’t handle this much, I might need to reevaluate my life choices."

Luke chuckled. "True."

He spread his arms slightly, surrendering himself to their care and allowing Laila to do as she pleased.

Laila began unbuttoning his vest, taking her time as she worked. She had no idea where he might have been injured, and the last thing she wanted was to aggravate a wound he had yet to mention.

She had barely undone the first few buttons when her expression changed.

"You... are..."

"Yeah," Luke quietly agreed, looking down at the dried blood covering his body. There were other substances mixed in with it as well, things that were unmistakably not blood.

His expression tightened.

"Grab me a cloth. Quickly. I can’t have them see this," Luke urged.

Laila immediately reached for one without arguing. Her mother would surely panic if she saw what was beneath his vest.

Luke began wiping away the dirt and innards from others body, carefully clearing everything that had accumulated there. It was hardly pleasant to look at, but once he had gathered it all together, Laila quietly took the mess from him.

"I’ll throw it out."

Luke nodded.

Just as Laila reached the door, Monica arrived at the same moment. Her eyes immediately fell on what Laila was carrying.

"What’s that?"

Laila didn’t even hesitate. She slipped past her with an innocent expression and said, "Nothing. I just caught a spider."

With that, she hurried away before Monica could ask anything further.

Monica merely sighed before making her way over to Luke.

Whatever she had intended to say died on her lips when she saw his bare upper body.

"You can check later," Luke assured her. "I promise, no injuries this time."

Monica’s expression softened into a faint smile as she looked up at him.

"Considering you just faced the biggest battle of your life, it’s rather surprising that you managed to come out of it completely unscathed."

Luke chuckled.

"Right? I’m just that good."

Monica shook her head with a helpless smile before asking him to stand so she could remove his pants as well.

Ginna soon returned to the room, a bucket of water in one hand and several fresh clothes gathered in the other. She stepped through the doorway at precisely the moment Monica pulled Luke’s pants down...revealing something that caught both woman frozen.

Ginna swallowed hard before muttering, "He needs a thorough cleaning."

"I’ll help," Monica said softly.

Luke’s grin stretched from ear to ear.

Talk about a perfect life.