Page 28 of Soul Fated

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know, Bill. Maybe it's because it's still close by? Or maybe it's because I've had it for the past week?"

Bill held up a hand. "I'm not saying I know the answer, but I do know this. Mating isn't something to take lightly. It's a bond, a connection that's deeper than anything else you'll experience. And if you think this is just the dagger making you crazy, you're missing the bigger picture."

"Which is what, exactly?"

Bill leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing. "You’ve always worked alone, Kael. Maybe your wolf is trying to teach you something."

Chapter

Fourteen

Callista

Istood under the icy stream of water, my hands shaking as I tried to keep my balance. The spray from the showerhead hit my chest, and literal steam rose from my feverish skin.

I was a mess.

My fingers fumbled with the shower knob, trying to turn it colder. The water was already as frigid as possible, yet it did nothing to quell the fire burning inside me.

This was it. This was how I was going to die. Scalded to death from the inside out. Ironic, really, considering the gaping wound on my arm and my aversion to heat. I’d always been more of a cold-weather girl, preferring snowy chill to oppressive summer heat. Appropriate, then, that I was craving an ice bath.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember the last time I’d felt anything like this. My first heat had been bad, sure, but not like this. It had been more of an inconvenience than an emergency, a biological reminder that I was, in fact, an omega. But this?

I leaned my head back, letting the water pour over my face. The icy droplets felt like needles on my burning skin, but I welcomed the sensation. I reached out and braced myself against the shower wall, my skin slick with water. The tiles were cold under my palm, a small relief from the heat, but it was like trying to put out a forest fire with a squirt gun.

I need a mate. The thought slammed into me like a freight train, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block it out. My wolf whined, pushing against my consciousness. No. I could handle this. I'd dealt with pain worse than this over the past few weeks. I could wait it out.

My muscles tensed, and I fought the urge to curl into a ball on the shower floor. I didn’t just need a mate. My wolf wanted him. She could sense him, even with the doors between us. Kael was seconds away, and she was desperate.

“He’s not good for us,” I hissed. He wasn’t. He was a hired killer, working for the same people Nathan had been. I knew nothing about him besides that, and those details weren’t favorable.

But would it be terrible to have someone take the edge off? I knew wolves who did that all the time. Who called one of our single men or even a human. My wolf growled, and an image of Kael flashed in my head.

“Not helping.” Damn. She needed to settle down.

I turned off the water, wrung out my hair, and grabbed the towel hanging on the bar. I barely had time to register the rush of cold air before Lana stepped in, her dark hair pulled back, her eyes sharp with concern.

She closed the door behind her, locking us in the small, tiled space. "You’ve looked…better."

I tried to smile, but my lips barely moved.

Lana exhaled. “How bad?”

I forced myself to take a deep breath, but it felt like my lungs were filled with hot coals. "Worse than before. So much worse."

Lana shook her head. "I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do. Do you want something to eat? Bill says he makes a mean Kraft Dinner." Lana smirked.

I shook my head. "No. I just need a minute."

Lana nodded and leaned against the counter, her arms crossed over her chest. "Do you want me to stay?"

"No. You can go enjoy Bill’s noodles.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

I laughed, still clutching the towel around me. “This is terrible timing.”

“It’s predictable timing,” she said. I shot her a look. “Your body has been through hell, and now, with all this going on.” She twirled her finger in the air. “You need to be careful.”

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