Mates Conquer Everything, Right?
45 Heat

I feel like I am lying on a hot baking tray and someone has turned the oven onto the hottest setting.

“Igétas?” I ask, my voice small and crackling.

I look into Vasil’s eyes. This wolf wants me and my whole body wants them too. He just growls at me. I see he is desperately trying to hold himself back, gripping furniture tightly to restrain his hands. I don’t know how long he is sitting there like that, I don’t think he can contain himself any longer. I’m not faring much better, Ijust know I need him by my side right now.

Another hot wave flashes through my body and I scream in pain. The moment I stop my scream, he is by my side, wanting to claim me. I reach out, wanting him to help me, to do anything to ease the pain and cool my body. My hand touches his, and the unbearable warmth I feel creeps back a little, but the moment doesn’t last long.

Tharros, Maya and Oliver come crashing into our room. The door flies off the hinges, and I’m screaming again. It’s not because I am shocked by their appearance, but because Oliver and Tharros are getting my mate away from me. His growls are fierce when Oliver and Tharros shove him to the wall, barely able to hold him there.

Maya places a hand on my head and instantly takes it off, like I literally burned her.

“My poor girl, I am so sorry this is happening.” Her smile is soft trying to calm me, but I am beyond calmness and comprehension right now.

“Get some mated warriors in here.” She says to the Alpha, and the next second I see through a blurred gaze both of their eyes becoming milky.

“What is happening?” I’m disoriented, feeling a warm wave hit me again. It is so strong that I almost lose focus.

“Hey, stay with me.” She is talking to Oliver, but I don’t catch what they’re saying.

Two warriors come into the room as she picks me up, going to the shower. Everything feels like blurs of movement around me. Cold water runs over me, but I only feel a little reprieve. I think I’ve been sitting here with Maya for five minutes, though I can’t fathom how much time is passing; it could have been longer. She was singing some kind of lullaby that had me focusing on her voice and not my pain.

Oliver comes into the room.

“Get out of here, you are not mated.” Maya chastises him through gritted teeth.

“I can control my wolf, mum. He is very worried about her, like a brother, not a potential mate.”

“I don’t believe you. Trust me, I will stop you if you come closer, even if you are my child.” Her seriousness is almost frightening, and I believe her.

“What do you need from me?” Oliver asks, not sure what to do.

Maya sighs, “I can’t get a hold on Theresa. We need to get an ice bath going or she will not make it.”

“How can it be so strong?” He seems worried and confused. Maya shakes her head.

“I don’t know, but her temperature needs to be lower. She is passing out every couple of seconds. She needs liquids fast.”

Am I really going in and out of consciousness? I can’t tell anymore. I am so hot, I can’t think.

“I need you to start an ice bath in the hospital and wake up Theresa. She knows more about heats than me.” Maya speaks fast, sounding worried. He’s on it.

“Alpha! What is the situation there?” she screams. I miss her singing voice to calm me.

“We’re taking him to the dungeon to contain him,” Tharros answers, and I hear a lot of warriors trying to get my mate away from me. I whimper and Maya strokes my soaking hair, sensing my distress.

“It will be okay, love. You are strong.” At that precise moment I feel a blinding pain in my abdomen, tearing me apart.

“Ah!” I’m screaming, feeling faint in her arms.

“Oh no,” I vaguely hear. “We need to get her away from here!”

I hear a warrior answer something. Maya dislikes his answer. I feel her picking me up and walking the hallways. I see a lot of the pack is awake and trying to see what is happening. I’m moaning in her arms, as she gets me with werewolf speed to the hospital.

“How is it going?” I hear a woman’s voice. This must be Theresa.

“Bad, I’ve never seen a heat so strong. It seems like it is killing her.” Maya sounds out of breath and I can’t keep my eyes open now.

“She needs to cool off and an IV bag.”

“Oliver has the bath ready. Can you get the IV?” They don’t speak anymore, just working to help me. I faintly think I must thank them if I get out of this.

Maya sets me down, not on a bed but in a bath with ice, lots of ice.

“Oliver, go to the pack kitchen and make sure that there is enough ice. She will burn through it quickly. Ask Zack or someone with more authority to go into the nearest city and buy a lot of it.”

“Can we not just place her in the refrigerator?” He asks. I hear in his voice that he is serious about that idea.

“No, we need to be with her and we need the hospital equipment. We have to cool her, not freeze her. Go now.” A second later I hear the sound of steps quickly drifting off.

“You are going to be okay, Violet. I will get you through it.”

My arm gets pinched by a needle and I groan.

“This has to work,” says Theresa.

Maybe she is right, I feel a little better, but I’m still hot and feeling like I am dying. Not dead yet though.

“How long will this be enough? She is human. A human in heat. That’s never happened before.”

“No, it hasn’t. We will keep her stable.”

“We need her to break the heat. A wolf can only stand it for a day or two...”

“And we don’t have records of humans in heat.” Maya finishes the sentence.

My body wants my mate, but it seems like that’s not a good idea. Everyone, including Igétas himself, is keeping him away.

I don’t have the energy to stay awake anymore. Maya sings her lullaby again and I let myself disconnect from the world.