Beta Blockers

Chapter 14

I opened my eyes marginally and squinted to readjust them to the brightness of the room. Where the hell was I? I lifted my head slightly but I was so overcome with dizziness I just collapsed back down.

What's wrong with me?! was the first thought that popped into my head. My whole body felt like it was on fire. The pain was excruciating! I'd never felt like this before. The only thing I could compare it to was when I shifted into a wolf for the first time and even then this pain was like ten times that.

Imagine how bad it was then if it was ten times worse than your own skin ripping apart. Ouch right?

Slowly my senses returned to me and I started becoming more aware of my surroundings. I wondered how long I'd been knocked out for. I felt really weak like you do when you've been sleeping for a long time and then your muscles are all tense and you have no energy.

Ewwww, I realised I was drenched in my own sweat. I feebly raised a hand to my forehead and sure enough as I had suspected I was burning up. Was this fever what was causing this horrible pain? Surely not. In my training as a doctor I had to basically memorise the symptoms of fever and apart from burning up I didn't really have any of the symptoms. I shifted again in an attempt to get up and another wave of pain washed over me and it made me collapse back down.

"Rest." A voice commanded from beside me. Gray? Wait, what the hell was he doing in my room!? My eyes shot open when I smelt my surroundings and realised that I wasn't in my own room. I was in Gray's room.

What the-? Then I remembered what happened last night.

"YOU BIT ME!?!" I screamed jumping away from him. He had the audacity to smirk. Smirk. He stretched lazily and I saw he wasn't wearing a shirt – or pants for that matter – just boxers. I looked him up and down then peeked at myself. Crap! I wasn't wearing the dress from last night – I had one of gray's loose shirts on and my bra and panties. Strangely the thought of Gray undressing me made me really shy. I started to panic thinking about it and of course that made me feel even dizzier.

What else had happened last night?!

Gray grinned his trademark 'bad boy' grin at me and slowly stroked the mark on my neck that was covered in bandages now. I shut my eyes tight trying to ignore the pleasurable tingling sensation that his touch left behind and trying to concentrate on the feeling of relief that came along with his touch. When he touched me the painful burning sensation disappeared and was replaced by an intense pleasurable feeling.

Oh hell; that could only mean one thing – he had marked me. Oh God, please let this not be happening!

I smacked his hand away and immediately regretted it when the flames returned but I didn't say anything of course. The last thing I needed was to give him another way to control me. My mind was still reeling from the fact HE HAD MARKED ME!

"YOU MARKED ME?!" I screamed out in horror. This could not be happening! What had he done? How the hell had he done something so stupid?! A werewolf marking someone who didn't want to be marked by them was one of the most heinous crimes to our kind. Think of it equal to the crime of rape to humans. Yeah, it's that bad.

At that cheerful thought I couldn't help but let the tears I'd been holding back overflow as the seriousness of the situation I was in sunk in. I was marked – to Grayson nonetheless.

"Astrid, you didn't give me another choice!" he pleaded as he leant forward trying to wipe the tears from my face. I smacked his hand away. How dare he touch me after what he had done? Did he really not understand what he had just done?!

"Don't touch me!" I shouted and his hand fell and a hurt look flitted in his eyes before it was replaced by a blank expression.

"Astrid you've gone into mating fever. You need me to touch you." He said in an emotionless voice as he forcefully took my hand in his. "The only reason you weren't writhing in your sleep was because I was holding you all night." He added in a gentler tone and a tender expression crossed his face lingering there making the dreaded question pop up into my head again – Exactly what else had happened last night?