EIGHT

Her heart pounded heavily as she looked around quickly; the room was dark, the fire had burned down to embers. Wreckage was sitting at the foot of the bed, watching her with wide green eyes.

And her body was on fire. She felt like she was literally burning up.

"No." She pressed her hand between her thighs. Her underwear was soaked completely. Slick dripped down her legs when she shifted, and her body cried out in need.

"No, no, no....."

Her wolf stirred again, stronger this time, like she could bear the heat.

"Mate....."

Sera doubled over, clutching her stomach. The heat wasn't fully established yet, but it was coming. She could feel it building like a wave, gathering strength, preparing to crash over her and sweep away everything she'd built to protect herself.

Three years. She'd gone three years without a heat, three years without her wolf. And now it was all coming back.

Because of him! Because he'd brought her back. Because his scent was literally everywhere, because his voice was in her head, because.....

She groaned when the heat struck again. It was almost painful at this point.

Her body didn't care about her hatred or about the fact that she'd been rejected, it didn't care about the body didn't care about the scar on her throat or the years of loneliness. Her body simply wanted what it wanted.

'mate.......'

She pressed her face into the pillow and screamed, the sound was muffled, frustrated, and furious.

She hated this, she hated this so much. She hated how helpless she was.

The heat crested, still not a full wave yet, but a warning, a sought of precursor. Her vision went white for a moment, her back arched off the chair. Her mouth fell open in a silent cry as pleasure ripped through her, it was unwanted and overwhelming, leaving her shaking and gasping and empty.

When it passed, she lay in the dark with her chest heaving heavily and her entire body trembling.

Wreckage meowed softly.

"I'm fine," she whispered, trying not to unsettled him. "I'm fine."

She wasn't fine. Her wolf was awake, and she was restless, whining, and reaching for something she couldn't find.

Caelan.....

His name burned in her chest.

She hated him, she hated him for what he'd done, for the contract, for the ultimatum, for dragging her back to this place where her body betrayed her at every turn.

But her wolf didn't hate him, she wanted him so very much. And the heat was coming, it wouldn't be long before she'd be doubling over in pain and screaming if her body wasn't appeased.

Sera stood up slowly, her legs were unsteady as she walked to the window on shaking limbs and pressed her forehead to the cold glass.

The forest was dark, somewhere out there, Silas's enforcers were hunting. Somewhere out there, Ironwood's pups were starving. Somewhere out there, Caelan was probably awake, probably planning, probably waiting.

One week, she'd said, and he had a few days left. Or at least she thought she did, but the heat gold her she was out of time.

The heat would hit before dawn, she could feel it building; the pressure, the need, the desperate clawing at the walls of her control.

She could go to him. She could knock on his door and beg for his knot and hate every second of it. Or she could lock herself in this room and ride out the heat alone, the way she'd done when she was younger, before the rejection. But it hadn't been this bad then, it hasn't been this painful. Back then, she'd just be really horny and she'd have to masturbate for hours.

But this time was different, this time, she needed to mate for real, this time, her wolf was wolf would scream for a mate who was only a hallway away. Either way, she lost.

Sera closed her eyes.

Another wave of heat rolled through her, it was gentler this time, but deeper. Her knees buckled. She caught herself on the windowsill, her breath camein ragged gasps.

Please. Please. I can't do this.

Her wolf didn't answer.

The answer was already written in her bones, in her blood, in the slick that soaked her thighs and the ache that pulsed between her legs.

She was going to break, and soon.

Fuck.

She was painfully aroused, not the gentle yearning she remembered from her youth. This was a raw, primal, and consuming need. Her clit throbbed with every heartbeat, her inner walls clenched around nothing, desperate to be filled, to be stretched, to be knotting.

Sera pressed her thighs together, the pressure helped for just a moment, then it made everything worse. The friction sent sparks up her spine, and she bit her lip to keep from moaning.

Caelan was somewhere in this building, his room was on the same floor. She didn't know which door, but she knew he was close. She could smell him, and her wolf was howling.

'go to him....'

"No." She said it out loud, her voice was cracked and desperate. "No, I'm not... I won't."

She tried to stand straight, but her legs gave out immediately.

She hit the floor hard, her knees bruising against the wood, but the pain barely registered. Everything was drowned out by the need.

This wasn't normal heat, she realized it with a flash of terror. This was her wolf waking up after three years of dormancy. This was the bond now mutated, twisted, starving, and demanding to be fed. This wasn't just biology, it was magic.

And magic didn't care about her hatred.

She crawled toward the bed, her arms shook and her vision blurred. Every movement sent fresh waves of pleasure and pain through her body, and by the time she reached the mattress, she was sobbing.

She pulled herself onto the bed. The sheets were cold against her burning skin, and the contrast made her gasp. Her hand moved between her legs before she could stop it, she needed to feel better, and her fingers found her clit through her soaked underwear, the touch was so intense that she came immediately.

A sharp, sudden orgasm ripped through her without warning.

She arched off the bed, mouth open in a silent scream, her vision went white again. But it wasn't enough, it was nothing.

The pleasure faded in seconds, leaving behind a need that was even worse than before. Her clit was hypersensitive now, aching for more, but her fingers weren't enough. They were too small, too thin. They couldn't give her what she needed.

She was crying now, tears were streaming down her face, mixing with the sweat on her neck, dripping onto the pillow. She hated this, she hated him. She hated her body for betraying her, she hated her wolf for waking up her stupid, desperate, pathetic need for the man who'd tried to kill her.

Another wave hit, and this one was worse.

Her whole body convulsed, her back arched. Her thighs clamped together, but that only made the pressure build, and when she came again, without even touching herself this time.

She screamed. It was a raw and desperate scream. It echoed through the empty halls. She felt like she was losing her mind.

She lay in the wreckage of the bed, gasping and trembling as her body twitched with aftershocks. Her underwear was destroyed. The sheets beneath her were soaked. She could smell herself filling the room like a fog.

He'll smell it......

The thought cut through the haze of need.

Caelan would smell her heat, he was an alpha. His senses were so much stronger than hers, even at her best. And right now, her scent was flooding the entire east wing.

He's coming.....

She wanted to get up and barricade the door to keep him out. But her body wouldn't move.

Another wave rolled through her, slower this time. Her hips rocked against the mattress on their own. Her hand found her clit again, she rubbed in desperate, frantic circles, chasing another release, needing something to take the edge off.

She came again, and again.

Each orgasm was weaker than the last, each one left her more empty, more desperate, more hungry.

She knew it now, this wasn't a heat she could survive alone. This was the bond demanding completion, and it would tear her apart from the inside if she refused.