Chapter 247:Five Steps to Dust

(Emma's POV) "Just like how Alpha Blackwood wiped you down the night before last when you had the fever." Tristan's words froze me to the spot. My mind couldn't process what he'd just said. I stood there, completely still, as he gave me a small nod and left the kitchen. I remained there, clutching the edge of the counter, for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. The world seemed to spin around me. Erik Blackwood had wiped my entire body? When I was unconscious with fever? That explained why my clothes had disappeared that night. That explained why I had woken up wearing his oversized sweater. "This can't be real," I whispered to myself, feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment and... something else I couldn't identify. My already chaotic emotions became a complete storm. The powerful, intimidating Alpha who terrified me to my core had seen me completely exposed? Had touched my skin with those large, dangerous hands? The suggestion that I should now reciprocate th