SuperMix

15. Bitten

A/N: I've honestly been SO excited for this chapter 😁

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For the first eight hours, my body was on fire. Ronan had to eventually remove all my clothing, leaving me in just my underwear since I still wore no bra. I surprisingly didn't mind in the slightest, but he refused to allow any of the other guys to come into the room to check on me with the slight probability of them seeing me half-naked. I didn't bother to mention that Mason technically already saw me naked, since I didn't want to deal with an angry Alpha on top of all the pain I was beginning to feel. I also had no idea where Messiah was during all of this.

Ronan had gotten up to put some shorts on a bit earlier before settling behind me once more in his bed, his arms cradling me as my right arm had finally stopped bleeding. Ronan told me this was due to my body becoming accommodated with its new rapid healing abilities. That would be cool.

The next surge of pain I felt reverberated throughout my skull for the following two hours, my body groaning in protest as I arched from the stinging pain, Ronan having to hold me down to relax me as he patted my forehead with an ice cold towel he had grabbed an hour earlier, sweat still dripping down my hairline and pasting the tiny hairs to my skin. That's when I noticed it. The sounds, the colors, and the smells. Ronan's scent was the first thing that hit my nostrils. He smelled of pine needles and tea tree oil. My body hummed at the pleasing smell of him and immediately relaxed, my subconscious seeming to know that I wasn't in any immediate danger with him nearby.

"You smell nice," I mumbled, and Ronan chuckled, the vibration echoing through my back as he continued to wipe away the sweat from my forehead.

"Your heightened senses are finally kicking in. You'll be able to hear things from up to thirty miles away, smell anything within a hundred miles, and see practically everything in front of you five times stronger than normal sight," Ronan explained.

I huffed a laugh. "That does sound pretty cool." I peered up at him then through tired, hooded hazel eyes. "You never told me what I smell like to you."

Ronan smiled. "You smell like coconut and vanilla."

I frowned. "But I don't even wear any of that."

Ronan chuckled. "I know. It's just your body's natural output. Everybody has one. You'll be able to identify each of them soon." He pulled back my hair and peered down at me then, a smirk playing on his lips. "What do I smell like to you?"

I found myself blushing, suddenly embarrassed to tell him. "Like pine needles and tea tree," I finally mumbled, and he pecked my crown as if in reward.

"That means my scent will mingle with yours through the Claim," his fingers brushed my still bandaged shoulder covering the Mark, "it'll also heal faster now that your body has accepted the changes."

I nodded. "What about the whole 'mind reading' thing that Mason mentioned before?"

Ronan gently tapped his fingers against my shoulder Claiming. "If you wish to become part of my Pack, then I can easily make it happen if you don't mind having four hundred and eighty-seven people in your head."

I blinked. "That's how many members you have?" Ronan nodded. "I don't remember counting that many when I visited everyone."

Ronan chuckled. "They didn't want to overwhelm you then."

I lowered my head and thought on it a bit before looking back up at him. "Will I be able to hear your thoughts?"

Ronan nodded. "Of course. I would never keep any secrets from you. You would have full access to my thoughts and mind as you please. I would just have to teach you how to block out the others and set up mental pathways connecting to each Pack member." I nodded my consent then and felt him lean closer to me, placing a single palm against my burning forehead before I heard something snap into place around me. I looked around. I didn't see anything, but I definitely felt it. I peered back up at Ronan. "Go ahead and give it a try. Focus only on me and call out my name with your thoughts."