Stalked by the Alpha

Part 6: A Grilled Cheese

I woke up disoriented for the second time in 24 hrs. My head was pounding and my ankle was throbbing. I tried to sit up, but there was a heavy arm across my waist that kept me in place. I stiffened and quietly started to slide out of his embrace, but his arm tightened it's hold. I started panicking, and as calmly and slowly as I could lifted his arm up and slid away, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Gravity had other ideas however, and I fell to the ground with a thud. Gabe shot up from the bed and frantically looked around the bed for me,  his eyes widening when he saw me on the floor. He slid out of bed and ran to my side, helping me up from the ground and back into bed carefully.  

"Are you all right?" he set me in the middle of the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. I couldn't answer, I was so stunned. When he touched me, there was a feeling I couldn't explain that spread all over my body. It was like the bubbles from a can of soda, or getting a static shock that spread through my veins and made me shiver. Gabe took it as me being chilly, so he grabbed a blanket from the end of the bed and covered me with another layer of warmth. I couldn't understand why he was being so nice to me. I tried to run away, and the fact that he wasn't trying to punish me made me even more anxious. 

Foolishly, I blurted out, "Why are you being so nice to me?" 

He looked confused, his eyebrows furrowing together. "What?" He sat down on the edge of the bed, his frown deepening when I tensed up and started to move to the other side. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I guess I just don't understand what you want from me," I stammered awkwardly, squirming under the covers. 

"Why do I have to want something from you?" he said calmly.

I looked everywhere but him and muttered, "Everyone does. Plus you did follow me."

He just looked at me with a sad expression on his face. "Sweetheart, I didn't mean to scare you. Finding your mate is a big deal, and I kind of lost my head for a second. I would never try to hurt you."

I scoffed in my head. That's what they all said. When I had thought more about what he said, I frowned. "Are you really a werewolf?"

He smirked, but didn't reply. I guess I already knew the answer. He left me to my thoughts for a moment, which I appreciated but it only made me more confused.  I couldn't find a train of thought in my head that didn't seem completely crazy, so I just blurted out the first thing that came to my head.

"So why am I, of all people, your mate?" I clapped a hand over my mouth, completely embarrassed. 

Gabe laughed quietly, a deep rumble that made my toes curl involuntarily. "To be honest sweetheart, I'm not sure. But the mates are people that complete each other, and the Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes."

I shifted under the covers and immediately regretted it. My head was throbbing and my ankle felt like it was being put through a wood chipper. I winced, but tried to compose myself. Unfortunately Gabe noticed and made a sudden move toward me. I flinched violently and Gabe pulled back with a sad expression.

"I'll go get you some more medicine, okay?" he rose and exited the room quickly.  As soon as he was gone, the pain in my head and my ankle got a lot worse, like I could physically feel the loss of his presence. I tried to sit up, but my arms couldn't support my weight. I tried to remember the last time I had eaten a full meal, but the last thing that I could come up with was a granola bar in my car when I had moved in however many days ago that was. It was a situation that I had unfortunately encountered before. 

The door opened with a bang and I flew across the bed, launching myself across the bed onto the floor as quickly as I could. I tried to wedge myself underneath the bed, trembling.

I heard Paige's cautious voice say, "Evan? Evie? Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes I'm okay!" I replied shakily from the floor. She ran around to the side of the bed and for the second time, I was lifted off of the ground and settled back in bed. Gabe ran in with a panicked expression, holding a bottle in one hand and plate of food in the other.

"Oh my god, Evan are you okay? I heard the thump from downstairs." he came and sat on the edge of the bed. I was thoroughly embarrassed now and bright red.

"I'm fine, I just was...startled." I said sheepishly. Paige just smiled sadly and fixed my covers. Gabe frowned at this but chose to ignore it.

"Well I brought you some medicine for your scrapes and your ankle. It's the pack doctor's specialty ointment. I also brought you some food because your stomach was growling while you were asleep," he finished with a grin that made him look like an excited little boy. I blushed again, something that seemed like a common occurrence when he was around and reached for the food quietly. It was a grilled cheese sandwich, still steaming slightly and a bowl of tomato soup. I just stared at the food in my hands for a few minutes, until Gabe cleared his throat and asked, "Is everything okay?"

I started and looked up, "Oh! Yeah. Um, it's just this is the first time ever that someone has made me food."

At this, both Paige and Gabe's eyes darkened and I shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry," I muttered, and started to eat quickly. It was an amazing sandwich, and I was done before I knew it. I started on the soup just as quickly, tuning out Paige and Gabe's conversation. There was a silence and I looked up quickly, to find them both watching me with amused smiles. I smiled awkwardly and they both started laughing. I grinned quickly and returned to my soup, finishing it off. Paige took my dishes down to the kitchen with a promise to return later, and I was left alone with Gabe. Without a word, he started unwrapping my bandages on my legs and knee. He spread some strong smelling herbal ointment on them and carefully reapplied the bandages. When he got to my head, he paused. 

He looked at me intently and said, "You have a beautiful smile. I wish I had seen that before I saw your tears." He applied the ointment to my head, carefully smoothing my hair back, running his fingers carefully through my hair. I realized a split second too late that he was going to feel my scar and winced when his fingers paused on the long  scar that was covered by my hair. His eyes were sad when he looked at me and he whispered, "Who did this to you?"

I just shook my head. I was too tired for this story. "Another time maybe, but not now. I'm sorry," I said with a half smile. 

He seemed to understand, because he simply kissed my forehead and left me alone with a full stomach and conflicted feelings. 

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