But I didn’t have any of my things, and I had no clothes to change into. I wasn’t about to walk around the room naked or in a towel, and the thought of crawling back into the clothes I was wearing made me flinch. No, thank you.
Still…
A bath sounded too tempting to resist, and I just couldn’t stay cold like this. Which was, of course, a little strange. I didn’t understand why I would be chilled. I’d been out of the cold for a while now, and my natural body temperature was high like all wolves. Why would I be so damn cold and not able to warm up?
As soon as the hazy answer began to filter up from the depths of my subconscious, my body was hit with a wave of need. I crashed to the bathroom floor, my knees hitting the beautiful cream tile.
“Oh, no. Please, not now.”
My words were a pained tumble of syllables as the cold embracing me was swiftly replaced with a scorching heat. My temp would be higher than even an alpha’s now, my body rocked to the core with surging hormones.
My heat was here.
I’d survived plenty alone and uncared for, but not one so soon after an excommunication. I didn’t know if I’d be able to manage it after already going through all that. Worse, that innate part of me, the thing closest to a wolf that might influence a proper shifter, pointed out that I didn’t have to do this alone.
Absolutely not. I’m not giving into Jet’s damned mate bond.
But I was wracked with another pulse of hormones that drove me right back down to the cool floor when I tried to stand up. I hadn’t done anything to prepare. I didn’t have food or water or a den. What was I supposed to do without at least a place to hide in solitude as the frenzy overwhelmed me?
Struggling through another pulse, I scrambled to my feet, turning on the water. If I could regulate my body temperature a bit, I might slow it down. It wasn’t a proper surge yet, either. I was only in the first few minutes. I had time to get somewhere dark and safe, but that was only if I was let out of this damned room.
The rushing water sound eased my nerves, even if it felt way too fucking loud. Fumbling with my clothes, I stripped down and stepped into the cold water. The shit practically steamed as my heated body entered it, but the surge backed off.
“Okay, there we go.” I sighed as the water cooled me like I’d just had a fever, knowing full well it wouldn’t last. “Fuck, how am I going to face Jet again like this? I’m going to want…”
The words died off, but I knew exactly what I would want. I’d want to jump Jet’s fucking bones. I’d want him to…breed me.
Ducking my entire body under the water, I closed my eyes and tried to get that fury in my heart to back down. Sounds dulled, and an unearthly stillness filled me as I did my best to get to a place where my body didn’t exist. It’s how I handled all the other heats alone. I could do it now. I could.
Coming back up for air, I was hit with the pungent aroma of my own smell.
“Oh, fuck, really?”
There was no way in hell that scent wouldn’t reach Jet. Hell, it was going to filter through the entire damn house. I wasn’t truly mated. Jet’s claim wasn’t mixed with the fragrance, and every damn wolf in this house was about to come pounding on that door if they smelled me like this.
It was the other reason I always went somewhere alone to endure my heats. I was not about to let any of the male wolves in the Collins pack touch me. And many had tried when I’d been young and not as good at picking up on when it might be coming.
The other omegas and female wolves back there would just let themselves be rutted through their heats. There was little concern for them about getting pregnant with our record of terrible numbers, and even Terrance had tried and failed to breed several of them.
When a shiver finally cut through me, I knew my temp was good enough to get out. I wrapped myself in one of Jet’s fluffy, deep-gray towels and padded through his room, looking for something to mask the smell. There wasn’t much in the way of options. There was a fireplace, so I settled for that and then cracked a window.
The heavy rose and almond scent faded some, and I slumped down onto the floor again, still wrapped in Jet’s towel. I didn’t want to put on my clothes. I didn’t want to put anything on.
A rut. More than anything, what I desired, what I needed, thanks to this damn heat, was a rut. I needed Jet to breed me, and if he did have sex with me now, I really was more than likely going to get pregnant.
Could life back off on the damn curveballs? I need a break.
My skin was still humming, and another wave crested over me. I picked up on that leather and pine scent of Jet’s coming from his bed. Without even thinking, I crawled up off the floor and under the covers. I rolled around in them, coating myself in his aroma.
Taking complete control, my body writhed in the sheets, my legs scissoring as my core ached for him to fuck me. Oh, hell. I’m going to be useless like this.
And then I heard the doorknob turning.
Chapter 8 - Jet
“We’re not sacrificing her, Leon. I’m not explaining this again.”
My voice carried weight, hitting the wolf with more than a little of my alpha status pushed into it. Despite the apparent frustration grinding within him, Leon lowered his head, backing up with it down in a show of submission.