Love me, Luna

15

A laugh escapes my lips as I feel someone tickling me. I open my eyes to stare up at the boy who makes me so angry, but fills me with so much love.

Tristan looks down at me and uses his forearms to support his weight as he peppers kisses all over my face. He goes to kiss me but I groan and roll over, covering my face with my hands.

"Stop I need to brush my teeth." I let out another laugh as he pries my hands away from my face and stares down at me lovingly.

"This is my last time I get to kiss you, let me enjoy this moment." His look has changed to sadness and he has tears in his eyes.

"What do you mean? I'm right here." I stroke the hair out of his face and wait for a response but get nothing.

"Tristan! I said I'm right here." I say louder.

He gets off of me and moves to stand in the doorway.

"I'll miss you." He says before closing the door.

"Tristan? Tristan, I'm right here! What are you doing?" I run to the door to follow him, but as soon as I open the door I run into someone.

"He's gone." I look up to meet the black eyes that belong to Alec.

"No" I try pushing past him, but he grabs ahold of my wrists and slams me against the wall. "Let me go. Let me go!" I yell at him.

Alec leans down to whisper in my ear. "You're mine now."

I wake up sweating and it takes me a second to realize I'm still in the hospital room, Alec still sleeping in the chair next to me.

I bring my knees up against my chest and hug them closely, rocking back and forth. It was just a dream, but it felt so real. I touch my fingers to my lips as I feel the ghost of his kiss.

I look over at the monster who did this. My hatred for him growing by the second. The heart monitor spikes and I take deep breaths trying to make it go down, but it only causes it to beep louder.

Alec jumps up and assesses the room before looking at me.

"What's wrong?" He asks. "Did someone come in? Are you hurt? I'll get the doctor." He rushes out.

"I'm fine, I just." I pause as I feel the burning sensation start to spread across my skin. "I just don't feel good." I finally manage to get out. The pain is tolerable, but I know it takes minutes for the pain to become unbearable.

Alec steps closer and puts his hand to my forehead. With furrowed brows he makes a move to sit on the bed.

"Scoot over." He instructs, but I shake my head no. At this point I can feel sweat trickling down my forehead.

"If you don't move, I'll move you." He goes to pick me up, but I slap his hand away and with a huff move over.

A grin breaks out across his face as he scoots in the bed with me. Under any other circumstances, I'd make fun of his big frame trying to fit on a small bed with another person, but that person happens to be me.

"I strongly dislike you." I say instead. My skin is crawling and I brush my arm against his for a moment to feel some sort of comfort. If it wasn't for this stupid mate bond, I wouldn't be in this position. I pinch myself, thinking maybe I was still dreaming. Nope, I'm most definitely awake.

"Ya know, if you set up, I can hold you." He pauses for a moment before a toothless grin appears on his face. "Or we could take our clothes off, totally up to you."

"I don't need you to touch me, I'm fine." I cross my arms over my chest, moving the tube out of the way.

"Luna, please. You know it'll help." He looks at me expectantly, before I sigh and lean up a tad so he can slip his arm behind me.

His arms are big, which I have to admit, make for a great cushion. He pulls me toward him so my face is now laying on his chest and I take a second to breathe in the slight smell of his cologne.

Before I can enjoy another moment, I remember Tristan. We used to lay like this and watch movies, but now there's no Tristan.

"What's got you upset?" Alec looks down at me and I give him a sad look. "I can tell when you're sad, remember?"

"I can't tell you, because you'll get mad." I say.

"I see." He sits there for a second, contemplating his next words. "You get 5 seconds, that's all."

"You expect me to get everything off of my chest in 5 seconds? Wow, how noble of you." I roll my eyes. Any moment we just had was completely killed by what he just said. He really should stop talking, it would make this whole situation easier.

"Fine, 5 minutes. I can't promise anything after that." He tucks me closer to him and scoots further down in the bed.

"Promise me." I sit up and look up at him.

He continues to stare into my eyes before I break eye contact and stick my pinky up. He laughs at the gesture, but the death glare I give him is enough for him to grab his free pinky with mine. I go to pull my hand away, but he grips my pinky and brings our conjoined hands to his mouth and kisses them.

I gag at the gesture, but in reality my stomach is doing somersaults.

"I... I miss him." I gulp. "Going to college was the longest I'd been away from him and now I have no way of even talking to him. Because of you." I whisper the last part, but because of his super hearing I know he heard it.

I feel his body tense before he sits up and slowly gets off the bed. He slaps the cup of water that was sitting on the side table.

I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I push myself further into the bed and stare at him as he paces across the room.

"Alec." I squeak out as he punches the wall.

"What, Hadley." He growls at me.

"You... you promised." I stutter.

He finally stops his pacing and turns his body to face mine. I try to keep a brave face, but know the tears in my eyes give me away. His face softens and he sits on the side of the bed with his back turned toward me.

"How lucky am I? To be granted a soulmate whose heart belongs to another." His voice is like venom.

He leans over and clasps his head in his hands. A few beats go by before I slowly reach my hand out to touch his back. Not sure why I care that he seems so broken. But apart of me knows how unfair this is for him. He's been waiting his whole life for this moment and here I am fucking it up.

My hand touches his back and I feel his body tense. I slowly start to rub in small circles and try my best to ignore his back muscles. It's then that a thought hits me.

"Alec?" I ask slowly, scared to upset him again. He looks back at me, but doesn't go to turn around. "My back, I mean the marks, do you have them too?" They say curiosity killed the cat, but I think a 6 foot something wolf man will be the death of me instead.

A sad smile appears on his lips. He goes to reach for his shirt but stops.

"Do you wanna.. do you wanna see them?" He's hesitant and with a slow nod from me, he pulls the back of his shirt to reveal intricate marks, identical to mine.

In a trance, I brush my fingers across the swirls that disappear under the top of his shirt. A feeling of warmth surrounds me and a small pit in my stomach forms at the sensation of touching his mark.

"As much as I love this, you should probably stop." I ignore his words and continue to trace the lines. "Luna, you need to stop." His voice is guttural and I pull my hand slowly away, still mesmerized at the way his marks stretched across his toned skin.

I shake my head and look down at my hands in embarrassment.

"Can I.. can I see yours?" He keeps his back turned away from me, but I can feel his nerves.

It would almost be unfair to say no, but am I ready for that? Here I was, only moments ago crying over Tristan and now I'm contemplating letting a crazed wolf man see my back. It's something that seems so intimate, but I can tell he's genuinely curious.

I make up my mind and go to answer when Dr, Maya enters the room.

"Let's take this tube out shall we?"