Shy, Scared, and Weak. I'm the Alpha's Mate.

Through the Pain

"I barely even-"

"What did I tell you?" Christina rose an eyebrow as if to dare me to talk back. I nodded and rested Jillian on the closed lid of the toilet, she had woken up by now from our conversation. As soon as I set her down she was being crowded with attention. Jillian looked wide eyed for a moment until she realized that it was loved ones and friends here to help her. "Damien, go shower, we can take care of her" Christina shooed me away easily. "Wait, are you saying that I smell?" I turned around again, Stone answered before Christina even did, "I can't lie..."

With a smile I left to clean up.

After my own shower I made an effort to clean up the bedroom, over the past few weeks I had been too distracted to do it, plus Jillian shouldn't come back to a dirty home. I was wiping down the mirror in the bathroom when I heard some commotion in the bedroom. I stepped out to see Jillian propped up on multiple pillows. She was clean, her hair washed, the dirt removed from her skin and a shy smile on her lips. She looked stunningly simple, her hair tumbled over her shoulders and cascaded in waves over the sides of the white pillows, a beautiful contrast of dark and light. Her eyes glimmered with peace and happiness. "Hi, Damien" she twisted a lock of dark hair around her finger while she looked at me, "Why are you staring?" her question was innocent, but it had so much more meaning. She still had bruises on her face, a large bandage covered her left temple and her lip was busted, she had marks across her legs and arms, but in spite of that she looked so beautiful it baffled me. "I'm trying to overcome the urge to go over there and squeeze you"

"Oh, Alpha.." she fanned her face as if she were blushing. I walked over and sat by her feet, "Tell me what hurts" I barely ran my finger over the reddish pink rings around her ankle and she hissed in surprised pain, "This is silver, right? I'll call the doctor to get you some ointment." I looked out the window and saw that darkness had come, but Jillian did not need to wait for a convenient time.

"Kiss me first" Jillian's request did not fall on empty ears, I moved up closer, "I was going to get to that" our noses touched, Jillian shrugged, "You were taking too long"

Her lips were surprisingly soft and seemingly sweet, I held her tighter while deepening the sensations that danced across my skin when she touched me. I relayed all my emotions through my lips, I missed her, I had missed her so much. Her small hands curled up in my hair, slowly running through and tangling on the wavy curls. She whimpered and pulled away, holding her midsection, "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry...I didn't mean-" I tried to apologize but she pressed her finger to my mouth, "It's not your fault..." she breathed shallow and slow. Without a second thought I pulled out my phone and called Otis. Soon my mate began hacking her lungs out like she was about to die, making Stone very worried for her safety.

"Will you be alright?" I rubbed her back while she worked through her coughing fit. She whimpered every time and I just wanted her pain to stop. "Shh...its okay..." I cooed in her ear as comfortingly as possible. It hurt me to know that she was home, and I was ecstatic about it, but Jillian herself was in agony just breathing. Shakily and slowly Jillian removed her hand from her mouth, her palm was covered with little splotches of blood. I gasped and grabbed a tissue from the nightstand to wipe it away as soon as possible. I wanted it gone, but before I could discard the bloody napkin I had caught a whiff of it. The smell was fire to my nose, Jillian was bleeding.

I think I might faint...Stone staggered and plopped on his butt. He hated that this was happening, my brain was freaking out over the sight of her beautiful body in so much pain that I could not see and so much that I could. "Oh, Jillian..." I took her in my arms softly and nuzzled her hair. I found a better smell there, one of sweetness and lemon, one that was calming and soft, a smell that counteracted the figurative acid to my nose that was her perfect red blood. "Alpha..." Jillian murmured with a raspy tone, she held my shirt in her hand and I could tell she was savoring my scent just as much as I was hers.