Page 69 of Forsaken Desire
I peeked over at Samantha. She was human and knew more about shifters than I did.
“Do humans have a heat?”
Red bloomed across her face.
“They can if their mate is an Alpha. Alpha’s mates get all the special bits. Knotting, Heat Seasons . . .” She cleared her throat and tugged at the collar of her shirt. I frowned.
“Don’t look so worried, Luna.” Her lips twitched at the corners. “You have lots of sex to look forward to.” She laughed. “And don’t be shocked when it happens, because I’ve heard there’s also alotof . . . moisture.”
“What happens if there is no mate to sate you?” I wasn’t sure where my question came from or why I asked it, but it spilled out of me.
“Take whatever I say with a grain of salt, since I’ve never had first-hand experience, but I hear it's awful. The deep lust turns into excruciating pain.” Her nose wrinkled, and she shrugged. “Thank Moon, you don’t have to worry about that.” She wiggled her eyebrow up and down suggestively.
I’d gotten severely sick—multiple times—but that was impossible. My pain must have just been denying my shift for so long, because I hadn’t known Lucian until recently.
I rubbed my hands against my jeans. Thinking back to those painful stints made my palms damp. Each time, I’d started a fight to get placed in solitary confinement . . .
She cleared her throat, pulling me out of my thoughts. “And here we are.” She waved her hand at the house on the left. “Bruno and Duane live here. There are like two extra bedrooms for guests.”
Guests? I stiffened. What about Cierra? She was a dominant.
“You’re wondering about Cierra, aren’t you?”
I nodded tightly.
“She lived in that one.” She pointed to the duplicate house on the right. “It’s the one Soril and I will be moving into. Do you want to take a look inside?”
“Have you been in there?”
“Not yet.” She shook her head. “Alpha said to clean it up and throw away anything that was left behind.”
I gritted my teeth and kept my chin up as I entered the house. A waft of Cierra’s scent hit my face. I snarled and entered. The foyer had a little stand. I passed it and crossed a kitchen. Vanilla started to seep past her scent. My stomach dropped. It thickened more with each step into the house. Two doors were open on my way to the third. I hesitated and entered.
A large bed took up most of the room. My toe snagged on a thong, and I kicked it aside. It was just one of the pieces of lingerie littered around the room. My heart squeezed like someone had their hand wrapped around it. Corsets, various thongs, pantyhose. . . all laid across the mattress, covered in a black silk bedsheet the exact same as Lucian’s.
Beside the doorframe lay a bundle of men’s clothes, heavy with Lucian’s scent.
“She did that on purpose,” Samantha muttered. “What a bitch.”
I inhaled, breathing in vanilla mingling with a scent. They clashed, making my stomach lurch.
“I have to go,” I choked out and ran out of the house.
“Luna?” Her shout rang behind me, but bile was slowly rising. I made it to a bush next to the stairs, and my breakfast exited my mouth. I squeezed my eyes tight. Seeing vomit only made me keep vomiting. I kept my breathing shallow and spat.
With the front of my shirt, I swiped my mouth. The first thing I was doing was taking a shower. Another wave of nausea gripped my stomach, and I was expelling more.
A broad male face flashed in my head. A face so familiar and yet so hard to grasp. But in my gut, I knew it was my father. I had his dark wavy hair and his darker complexion.
My stomach lurched, clashing with my agony at my mate’s scent mingling with another woman’s.
Lucian came hometo me lying on the bed, trying to feign sleep.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice my blotchy face.
I swiped my palms across my face to get rid of the traces of tears that had slipped from the corner of my eyes. The very few I hadn’t been able to quench.
“Josephine?” he murmured into my ear. “Why are you acting like you’re sleeping?” The hair rose on my neck at his breath brushing my skin. After showering, I’d tried my hardest to fall asleep, but all I could think about was the male face and . . . Cierra.
