Marked

Chapter Three

I sat up right with my hand over my chest as I remembered the painful burning sensation but there was nothing there. My skin was a normal temperature and colour, no redness or scratches. My hand went to my head as I shut my eyes relieved. The last thing I remembered was pain, excruciating pain that ran through my body.

When I opened my eyes, I looked down but nothing seemed out of place. No bruises, no pain, nothing. It was like yesterday never even happened, the only reminders I had were the hole marks over my arms from the injections. I was still in the oversized basketball top and black shorts though my skin did need a good clean from the those horrible cells.

Wait, where was I? I looked around the unfamiliar room before my hand ran over the soft black fabric of the bed I had been lying on. The room was tidy, basic but definitely belonged to a male. I froze as I recognised the scent that surrounded me. I had found my mate. The Alpha of Dark Valley was my mate.

I didn't quite know what to think of that. The stories I heard about him made me want to hide under my bed but seeing him yesterday, instead of running from him all I wanted to do was run to him. I sighed, exhausted as I ran my fingers through my hair but ended up getting caught in the tangled mess. I grimaced, inspecting the ends of my hair and shuddered. I probably looked awful.

I got up slowly as a dull ache between my shoulder blades made itself known. I frowned confused as I made my way into the connecting bathroom. I automatically pulled back from the mirror scrunching up my face. Oh God, I looked like absolute crap. My hair was a mess, I had bags under my eyes and I had dirt across my cheeks and forehead.

I groaned, not liking how I looked for the first time I saw my mate. How attractive. A knock at the door caught my attention and I prayed it would be anyone but him. I needed to shower, desperately.

"Who is it?" I called and waited for an answer as I stared at the door biting my nail.

"Ryder." I sighed in relief and quickly opened the door before shutting it behind him. "Wow." He said with wide eyes as he took in my appearance. "You look like shit." I gave him a blank stare as I ran my hand over my face. "How are you feeling?" He asked in a softer tone.

"Better. I don't know what happened Ryder." I sighed. He opened his mouth to say something but instead he frowned and looked at the air around me. He sniffed before looking back at me confused. "Yes, I need to shower." I said noticing that he had cleaned up and was wearing nice clean clothes.

He shook his head, bringing his brows together. "Hales, you smell different." What? "Your scent, it's changed." He shook the thoughts from his head before giving me a small smile. "You do need to shower though. Isaac said you can use his shower."

"Isaac?" I asked my eyebrows shooting up.

"Yeah, you know. The Alpha." He said but then smirked. "Your mate." I groaned and shut my eyes.

"What have I gotten us into now?" I mumbled making him chuckle. "How long have I been here for?" I asked looking back at the bed as my thoughts turned into picturing my mate lying there next to me.

"Almost 24 hours." I looked at him with wide eyes. 24 hours?! "Look, lets just get you cleaned up first. Isaac borrowed some clothes for you. I brought your bag too." He said handing me the folded clothes and back pack in his hands. I smiled my thanks and walked over to the bathroom.

I felt uncomfortable showering in my mates bathroom, I didn't know him and from the little I knew I didn't like. I shuddered at the stories that ran through my mind as I stepped out from the steamy shower and wrapped a towel around my body. I circled my shoulders slowly, still feeling an ache between them.