I gasp when I recognize the distinct pattern, having seen that body ink on someone during Alpha training. I wasn’t the one treating him, but I caught a hazy glimpse of his chest through the square frosted window of the door to one of the other healers’ rooms.
“Alpha Brooks…?”
As soon as the name slips off my tongue, I look up to find the most intense pair of silver-gray eyes staring at me with a sinister smile. I instantly pull away, and the moment I lose physical contact is the moment the sky darkens and the flames consume me again. I close my eyes and whimper, and when I open them again, I’m faced with the indent on the bed where a body had been.
My breath comes out in a wheeze, and I realize that I’d been dreaming. But my relief is short-lived, because my pillow is soaked with my sweat, and the all-consuming heat is present in reality.
I’m jittery, my body shaking uncontrollably when I’m faced with the excruciating pain in the pit of my belly. My whole body is alight with fiery heat, only one small spot soothed where fingers are pressed to my shoulder.
I snap around and glare at the face of the man from my dream, accusingly frowning at him as if he’s responsible for this sudden onset of nagging pain in my core, like contractions during childbirth—something I’ve only seen other she-wolves from Snehvolk experience as I acted as their midwife. I grab my belly with both hands as I attempt to gain a semblance of control over the cramps.
“What…?” I ask, my eyes flitting to the hand Brooks removes from my shoulder.
He gulps remorsefully, then pulls his hand away. “You’re in pain,” he says matter-of-factly, a drawn-out breath escaping him.
I narrow my eyes at the alpha, attempting to sit upright when a slicing pain grips my insides and makes me feel nauseous. When Alpha Brooks reaches out as if to offer a helping hand, I quickly forge through the pain and gather myself into an upright position on the bed, hugging my knees to my chest.
“I’m fine,” I murmur, staring blankly ahead as the memories of my dream come crashing forward.
How is it possible that I’d found solace in the arms of my enemy?
“You’re not fine, Rissa,” Brooks sighs despondently beside me. “I know what’s wrong, and you don’t have to hide it from me.”
Stifling the sudden urge to whimper from the gripping ache in my belly, I curl my legs closer, hugging them more tightlyas I keep my eyes pinned to the mustard-colored wall ahead, trying to distract myself with thoughts about how little care the pack took to make this hut homely.
As a safehouse, it wasn’t meant to be warm and welcoming, but they could have used a different shade of paint instead of having it look like it’s been plastered with river sand.
The distraction only lasts a few seconds before my body is seized by ripples of pain that have me wincing and clutching my knees even closer. Though I’ve never experienced this pain before, I know exactly what’s happening to me.
I’m in heat.
It’s a curse that befalls any she-wolf over the age of eighteen, especially vicious in the presence of a male werewolf. It’s only ever been a dull ache during the ovulation period of my natural cycle as a female, bearable, so I’ve never felt like I’m dying.
This is worse than death, I’m sure of it, and Brooks being around doesn’t make this any better.
In fact, it’s much worse simply because he’s around, in the tight space of this tiny hut, and my irritation steadily turns to anger.
I’ve always been able to sleep off my ovulation phase by taking a break from my duties at the clinic. It’s worked for nine years, and I’ve never felt the need to let a male touch me or be this close.
I’ve also never felt so angered by a male. Glaring daggers at Brooks, I grunt.
“You have no idea what’s wrong with me,” I growl ferociously. “Just leave me alone.”
Brooks takes a deep breath as he straightens up, his eyes equally as challenging as he stares me down. “I can’t leave you alone, Rissa. You’re in heat.”
I scoff to hide my embarrassment. Damn him for being an alpha with the ability to sniff me out!
“I—” I’m about to rebuke his claim when another bout of pain takes over. Riding it out by digging my nails into my knees, I bite the inside of my bottom lip. “I’m not in heat!”
“You can’t lie to me, Rissa,” Brooks clicks his tongue. “I know you’re in heat, and I can help.”
Scoffing again, I roll my eyes and pointedly snap my face away with disgust. “Hah! As if I’ll sleep with my bully!” I snap bitterly.
Brooks sighs and turns, proceeding to the kitchenette near the window without a word. There isn’t much time for me to bother watching him when I’m gripped by pain again. This time it’s so severe that it has me rolling onto my side, still hugging my knees as I writhe in torment.
The brutal lashes slicing my insides are too unbearable, springing tears to my eyes and rendering it impossible to mask with silence. Whimpering and squealing, I’m on the verge of sobbing, only stopping myself because Brooks is around.
I hate that he’s here to witness me in a moment of weakness. My worst enemy, watching me ride out the effects of the most horrible heat I’ve ever experienced. Truthfully, it’s never come close to this in the past, but it’s only because I never cared to be mated.
