Her Secret

Shoes?

I feel someone shaking me and I groan as I start to wake up. I push the hand away and roll over. "Give me time to sleep. I love sleep. It's my only friend." I mutter as I bury my face in the fluffy pillow.

"Wake up." I hear a sharp voice say and my eyes flutter open as all the memories come flooding back.

I see his eyes staring down at me and I smile sheepishly. "Hi." I say sitting up carefully and he gives me a small smile back. "That can be lonely having only sleep as a friend he tells me with a slight smirk. "Shut up." I tell him and he just rolls his eyes as he swings his long legs over the side of the bed.

I stand up shakily and feel the pants drop. "Oh, for fucks sake." I mumble as I kick them away. I hear Charles clear his throat. "What?" I ask innocently as I turn to him and see that he is standing on the other side of the bed. "You need pants." He states his tone as bored as his expression as his eyes roam slowly over me interest slowly creeping onto his face. "Pants are constricting." I whine. He rolls his eyes again and I smirk.

"Your eyes are going to roll out of your head." I tell him bluntly as I put my hands on my hips. His eyes darken and confusion crosses my face before I notice that this action has caused the shirt to ride up, showing off my lovely thighs.

"I'm not used to having legs." I tell him softly as I drop my hands to my sides and he sighs. "Still sticking to the mermaid thing?" He asks gruffly, his voice laced with annoyance, before walking out slamming the door. I thought mates were supposed to be nice?

"I'm glad he didn't melt me." I mutter as I sit back on the bed and look at my legs. We have a love hate relationship. I take off the bandage to find my leg completely healed. "You're not completely useless after all." I say giggling as I pat my thigh.

"Excuse me?" I hear Charles growl causing me to jump. "Not you the leg." I say softly as he looks at me with anger etched in his features. "Do you often talk to yourself?" he quizzes. "Only when it matters." I shoot back and he smirks.

His features soften a bit before he hands me a stack of clothes. "These are my sisters." He informs me as he strips out of the shirt he has on. "Thanks." I say getting up and walking into the bathroom. I look through the stack and find a light red sundress with thin straps. I put it on and look in the mirror. Its a little tight around the breast are but everywhere else it fits nicely. It's just red with small polka dots and it stops mid-thigh. I tie up my unruly locks and walk out.

I see him shirtless and my breathing gets caught in my throat. He turns around about to say something but his look mirrors my own instantly.

Stunned.

He clears his throat and hands me a pair of things. "What are these?" I ask. "Shoes?" He says giving me a 'duh' look. "Oh right." I say as I look at him. "What are they for?" I ask breaking the silence. "Jesus woman they are for your feet." He tells me as he shrugs on a black button-down shirt. "Right." I mumble as I bite my lip and slip on the sneakers is what I think he called them. he buttons up his shirt and turns to me.

I smile at him and he just sighs as he bends down and laces them up. "Oh thanks." I say blushing deeply. He grunts in response and opens the door.

He gestures for me to follow and I do. We step into the hall and I look around. "Come on." He says roughly and I quickly snap back to reality and follow him down the stairs. By the time we are close to the end my breathing is labored and my legs ache. "Demon stairs." I mumble in annoyance. I hear Charles chuckle at my comment and I feel myself smiling softly at the sound.

"Oh my god!" I hear a voice squeal as we reach the bottom. "You're beautiful." I hear her say as I look towards the voice.

Dark red locks frame her fair heart shaped face. Green eyes stare at me in awe as her ruby red lips tilt up in a grin. I feel her hug me and I tense up. "Mariah enough." Charles says his tone sharp. "Oh, lighten up bro." I hear her tell him completely unaffected by his tone. He growls deeply and she just sighs.

She adjusts her black shirt and smiles at me. "I'm Mariah. I'm Charles's littles sister." She informs and I smile back at her. "I'm Angelina, thank you for letting me borrow your clothes." I say and she glows. "No problem. Not many girls live in this house and the only ones who do just want to get to me to get into my brothers' bed." She says and I feel jealousy hit me hard.

I give her a tight-lipped smile and I feel my eyes flash before I close them and look down. "Are you ok?" She asks and I nod. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little headache." I tell her. She gives me a soft smile and I notice Charles has disappeared.

That guppy.

"Charles said that he had something he had to do but you and I can hang out if you want?" She tells me with a hopeful look on her face and I nod. "Sure." I tell her and she claps her hands.

"Usually I just train and spar but now that you're here hopefully I can be a little more normal." She says leading me to the couch. "Training?" I ask her "Yeah, like for fighting and wars. I'm going to get some snacks." She says handing me a remote, is what they are called if I remember correctly.

She comes back with an abundance of food. "I didn't know what you would like so I just got a lot of stuff." She tells me gently taking the remote from me and clicking on the TV.

After a couple hours of watching movies and talking about mainly Mariah, which I was grateful for, she decides to put on another movie.

I feel my stomach twist and I feel my face contort as pain slowly spreads through my body. "Are you ok?" She asks. I nod as my stomach clenches once more and my head burns. "Shit." I curse as I lean over and I feel myself heave up water. The saltiness that burns my throat confirms that it is saltwater and fear takes hold of me.

I hear Mariah get up. "Angelina?" She asks her tone full of concern. A wave of hot pain rushes through me and I let out a scream as my head pounds and a sharp stabbing pain radiates through my body. I feel sparks on my skin and I look up to see Charles with worry etched on his face. Where did he come from?

My nails dig into his arms as I feel my eyes shift colors quickly as pain rushes through me and my lungs constrict. Air. I can't breathe. My head gets light as my eyelids get heavy. I hear shouts of protests as my eyes fall shut and darkness consumes me.

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~scarletbride30