The wolf jumped up a couple steps, then walked up the stairs with me at my pace. Every step was excruciating given the mess that was my feet, but I pushed through.
At the top of the stairs, there were two bedrooms and one bathroom. I ducked inside the first bedroom and determined it was Jesse's. His closet was a smallish walk-in, but a couple of the racks were empty like he was expecting someone else to move their stuff in too.
I grabbed one of his shirts from the closet and opened the drawers, rifling around until I found a pair of his sweats. It was still too hot outside for sweats, given that we lived in Northern Georgia and it was September, but what looked like his shorts' drawer was empty. And I wasn't going to wear the man's boxer-briefs; I didn't even know him.
Glancing down at my feet, I thought about the suspicious wetness in my shoes and reached into another of Jesse's drawers, grabbing some of his socks, too.
I needed to cover those suckers so they didn't leak blood and/or pus everywhere. I didn't care about my kidnapper's house staying clean, but if I couldn't escape, I wasn't about to walk all over my own dried foot pus.
After shutting the drawers and then closing the closet door too, I headed into the bathroom. The wolf followed me in before I could shut the door to keep him out.
"Out." I commanded, pointing to the door.
He plopped down on the bath mat. The shower's curtain was dark blue and only a little see-through, but I still didn't want to shower in there, all exposed to the wolf.
"Seriously, get out," I snapped.
Jesse wasn't just a wolf—he was a man too. That was easy to forget, but not when I was getting in the damn shower.
I looked around for a weapon. Like a broom, or maybe a razor...
All I found was a bottle of Febreze spray, and one of those electric face shavers with three disc-looking things to trim facial hair.
I grabbed the Febreze and pointed it at the werewolf.
"Get out or you'll be eating perfume," I snarled. Really, the sound could’ve rivaled the one the wolf had made earlier. "I'm exhausted and in pain, this is not the time to mess with me."
The wolf sat up straight at that, and gave a soft growl.
"Don't you growl at me for threatening you. You're the asshole who kidnapped me and trapped me in your house, wolf."
He leaned his nose to my foot and sniffed, then growled louder.
What the hell was wrong with him?
He nudged at my shoes with his nose. When I didn't do anything in response but glare down at him, he carefully caught one of my shoelaces between his teeth and gave a gentle tug until the lace came undone.
"You want me to take my shoes off?" I asked, incredulously.
The wolf looked at me and bobbed his head vigorously.
"You're out of your damn mind," I muttered, but sat on the closed toilet-seat anyway. I eased my shoe off my foot carefully, wincing and cursing a couple times as it came off. My sock was soaked, and the white fabric was stained red in a couple places. In other places, it was the yellowish color of pus.
Blood and pus. Yay.
My eyes started to sting as I peeled my sock off my foot, and I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to stop from crying out.
Jesse started whining, trying to put his nose up close to my injury. I swatted him away, but he remained close and kept whining.
I did the same with my other shoe and sock, and had the same results.
Intense pain.
Massive blisters on my heels, toes, and the backs of my ankles.
Apparently I should've worn athletic shoes and leggings to work.
"Happy?" I grumbled at the wolf, who was still whining. "Me neither." I leaned my back against the toilet, my eyes closing as my body relaxed just a little. "Damn, I'm tired."