Forced To Love You

You Stink

When I woke up the next day or whenever it was, I felt more like myself. Sleep always helped with that. Since the dumb thing over my mouth and nose wasn't there anymore, I could actually breathe.

I hadn't even opened my eyes and I was already struggling. I took a breath in and began coughing. The pain in my chest was sharp and sudden. I tried sitting up in the bed to relieve it.

Of course, I forgot about my arm being severely hurt and ended up in even more pain when I tried pushing on the bed with both hands.

I moaned in pain and I felt an arm wrap around my lower back. I managed to get up into a sitting position and the pain slowly dissipated.

I took in a few deep breaths and tried to will my body to relax. As I did so, I got a whiff of a smell I wasn't expecting. My nose scrunched up in response and I pushed on the body of the person helping me sit up.

"Blair, take it easy. You're okay."

"Get away from me."

"Blair-"

I opened my eyes and looked up, fully expecting to see Zeke at my bedside. But, no. It was Christian... in Zeke's clothes. "You stink."

Christian raised his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

I pointed to his chest. It was covered with a black T-shirt. He was wearing Zeke's clothes. They didn't look bad on him but it certainly wasn't something I was used to seeing on him. I liked my Christian better. "You smell like Zeke."

He looked down at his shirt and smiled. "I had Zeke bring me some clothes. But it's nice to know I don't have any competition."

I rested my forehead against his chest and let my eyes close again. "He did save my life though."

"I guess I can't be mad at him for that."

"I'd hope not. Even though I don't like him much, he's a damn good Beta."

Christian laughed. "Yeah, he is."

"You'll have to yell at him for me though. He used his stupid Beta thing on me twice."

"Well, were you not listening to him?"

I frowned. "I don't have to listen to him. I'm the Luna. He's supposed to listen to me."

I could feel Christian smile as he kissed the top of my head. "You're amazing, Blair. I can already tell you're going to make a great Luna."

"Thanks, Alpha."

He lifted my head up with the gentlest touch and kissed me. The spark I felt when our lips met gave me new life. Now I understood how Sleeping Beauty woke up with just a kiss.

But I couldn't let the moment last long. He took my breath away, for real, and I had to push him away so I could breathe again.

"What now? Don't tell me Zeke kisses better than me."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's not what I was going to say. What the hell are you talking about?"

"He told me you two kissed."

I shook my head. "I can promise you we didn't. I'd never let him get that close to me."

Christian smiled and I was left even more confused. "He said it was life-saving measures. You stopped breathing on the way to the hospital so he had to give you mouth-to-mouth."

"Okay, you can't ever get hurt again. You're the only person I want giving me mouth-to-mouth."

"That's totally okay with me."

With my good arm, I pushed myself back so I was leaning against the pillows behind me. I looked down at my bad arm. It was in a thick, purple cast. It was uncomfortable and bulky. It made me wish my ankle was broken instead. "How bad is my shoulder? The last time I was here it was just dislocated but I didn't exactly go easy like I was told."

"That doesn't surprise me. You're not good at following orders."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He glanced at my cast before he looked back at me. "The bones in your shoulder were crushed. The doctor wants you to stay in the cast until it heals a bit and then she'll switch to something a little easier to manage."

I sighed. I wasn't at all surprised. Dislocating my shoulder was already bad enough. I knew that Felix wanted to leave me seriously injured if not dead. He also knew how to break bones and hurt people without it being obvious. Since he knew my shoulder was already not in perfect condition, he used that to his advantage.

"On a good note, the doctor said you can leave once your chest heals."

"Good. I'm ready to go home."

Christian brushed my hair away from my face. "I hate seeing you like this. I should have done more to keep you safe."

"How were you supposed to know this was going to happen?"

"My uncle was right. I was distracted and I missed all the signs that were right under my nose."

"Christian, I'm okay. Don't beat yourself up over this."

"How can I not? I'm supposed to protect you and I didn't. You're the most important person to me and I couldn't keep you out of harm's way."

"I can take care of myself. The Goddess didn't make me completely useless."

He sighed and took my hand in his. "I'm not letting this happen again."

"Good. I hate being all messed up."