Page 26 of Soul Fated

I clenched my fists, trying to focus on anything other than the insistent pull I felt to cross the room and straddle Kael on the chair. My wolf was insatiable, and it was like she was trying to claw her way out of me to get to him.

I’d experienced plenty of heats before, but none of them had felt like this. It was as if my body was disconnected from my mind, and my flesh wanted to fuse with his. To touch him. Taste him. My wolf was howling, and I had to bite my lip to keep from doing the same.

“I have to get out of here,” I groaned, spinning toward the door. My skin was too tight, my clothes too constricting. My wolf was pacing inside me, and I wanted to scream at her to settle the hell down.

I stumbled forward, knocking my shin on the coffee table. This was not how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to be in control, to be the one calling the shots. But with Kael in the room, I felt like a puppet with my strings being yanked.

Kael wasn’t a match for me. Not a fated mate. He couldn't be. This was simple biology, and I just had to ride it out.

I bit the inside of my cheek. Poor use of metaphor. "I need a glass of water."

"Do you want me to get it for you?" Lana offered.

I probably looked like a drunk alpaca, but I shook my head. I had to get out of that room.

“The kitchen’s that-a-way.” Bill pointed to his right, and I stumbled into the hall. I walked toward the kitchen while my wolf surged inside me and caught the doorframe, forcing air into my lungs.

My thighs burned as I forced myself forward and grabbed a glass from the cupboard, then filled it with water from the tap. I drank, then splashed some of the water on my face. The cold was a shock, but it didn't do anything to cool the feverish sensation under my skin.

I set the glass down on the counter, then gripped the edge, my knuckles turning white. My wolf was pacing, her fur standing on end, and I had to fight the urge to rip off my damn clothes.

I needed to touch him. I needed to feel his skin against mine, to bury my face in his neck and breathe him in. The urge was almost unbearable, and I had to bite down on my lip to keep from crying out.

This wasn't me. It couldn't be. This was the dagger, or the moon, or something else. Anything else.

Lana appeared in the kitchen, her eyes narrowing at the sight of me gripping the counter for dear life. "What's going on?" she hissed.

“What the hell do you think is going on?”

She took in my labored breathing, the flush on my skin, the sweat on my brow.

Lana’s eyes widened. "When was the last time you felt safe? Like, truly safe?"

I blinked. "What are you?—”

Lana strode past me and craned her neck to peer out the window. “Damn it.” She spun to face me. “It’s almost full.”

“Mmhmm.” I squeezed my legs together.

“You’ve been under an insane amount of stress, and with me holding this, your body feels more relaxed.”

“Right,” I gasped.

“And then there’s Kael?—”

“This has nothing to do with him.” I gritted my teeth.

She nodded once, her expression darkening. She knew what this meant as well as I did. Wolves were vulnerable in heat. Our hormones were all over the place. Back in Kitimat, I would’ve gone directly to the sweat house. I would’ve dropped into a hot tub with the other women and rested.

But I was currently in a shanty in the middle of shit nowhere, trying to keep myself from jumping the man who’d tried to kill me. “Lana, what do I do?”

Chapter

Thirteen

Kael

Her scent hit me like a battering ram. I gripped the coffee table, holding on for dear life as Callista’s perfume filled my lungs.