chapter 34

She’d lost her parents to the rogue bear. She was awkward.

He noticed in the past week, she’d been wearing sweaters and cardigans, even though it was still warm.

As wolves, their blood ran on the hot side. They could sustain themselves in extreme weather, no matter what.

Heather displayed all the signs of a wolf rejecting her pack, and that scared the shit out of him. He couldn’t lose her before he had a chance to win her heart.

His wolf rubbed against the surface, and Brian turned to look at him. “It’s not the full moon yet.”

“I know.”

“What were you thinking about?” “Heather.”

“And?”

“I don’t want her to leave.”

“She’s not going to leave unless you do something stupid like scare the crap out of her by changing. Do I need to get Caleb?” Brian asked.

“I’m fine. There’s no reason to call him. Everything is more than fine.” David finished putting away the groceries and left to go to his room. He paced back and forth. The need to grab Heather and mate with her was so strong, a feral need he had to get better control of.

She always avoided him, but he sought her out.

Heather never knew it, of course. He was good at lurking in the shadows.

There were times he felt like a creepy stalker with the way he kept tabs on her. Even the small things like watching her read put him at peace.

For hours, he’d stayed perched in an uncomfortable spot in the library while she’d read some kind of romance novel.

There had been a really muscular man on the cover. Not that he was jealous by a book cover, because that would be totally lame. He was above all of that.

The truth was he’d spent the whole of the next day without a shirt. When he’d seen her come close, he’d made sure to be in some kind of flex to show off just how muscular he was.

Caleb, Brian, and Reese had thought it was the funniest thing they’d ever seen.

Assholes.

So he’d resorted to strip teasing. Using the sun and sweat to make him look appealing. At night, he’d even started to try eating her vegan food, foregoing meat to show his support.

Some nights she didn’t even join them. Mika would make some excuse and the uncle would make a random subject change.

What were they trying to avoid?

He didn’t know what the fucking problem was.

“Dinner!” The word was suddenly bellowed around the house. Would Heather join them?

He took several deep breaths, sure his wolf was in control before he left his bedroom. Arriving in the dining room, he was surprised to see Heather sitting at the table, already loading her plate up with food. This was a good start.

Reese had left a chair available to him so he could sit opposite her.

They all had spaghetti. Heather’s was bare of all meat and fats, while theirs had ground beef. There was also garlic bread.

Heather’s would be made with different butter. He’d Googled everything he could about veganism, but he was far from an expert.

He sat down opposite and watched as she twirled her fork in the spaghetti and filled her mouth.

Such luscious, full lips.

She rarely ate with them, and never with this kind of relish. Even as she chewed on her spaghetti, she took a large bite of garlic bread.

Her hands shook a little, and he wanted to know what was wrong.

“I hope that’s okay for you,” Bethany said.

“It’s amazing.” Heather covered her mouth as she spoke. “It tastes so good.”

Caleb jerked his head toward her suddenly.

David watched as her uncle looked in her direction.

“It’s really good food,” Mika said, laughing. “Bethany, you’re an amazing cook.”

Heather finished her first full plate and David watched as she filled her plate a second time. He didn’t have a problem with her eating, or the quantity. It was good to finally see her eating anything. Something else was off, and he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Are you okay, Heather?” Caleb asked.

She looked up, swallowing her food, and nodded. “Fine. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.” She’d finished the bowl in record time.

She looked at her empty bowl.

“There’s more in the kitchen if you need it,” Bethany said. “I’ll go and grab some.”

Heather left the room. Silence met her departure. “Guys, what is going on?” Bethany asked.

Caleb cleared his throat and looked toward Mika.

“Seriously, is that your polite way of saying leave? Wow, your manners really suck.

Either you’re going to discuss the concern that Heather is rejecting you guys in the pack or she’s going into heat.”

Another round of silence, and Mika shrugged her shoulders. “Which one is it? Are you going to tell me?”

“She’s not rejecting the pack,” Caleb said. “She’s coming close to heat.”

“Oh crap,” Mika said. “She doesn’t think it’s that.” “What has she said to you?”

“Is this a big deal?” Bethany asked. “I know when I had mine, you were there.”

Caleb reached out for Bethany’s hand and kissed her inner wrist. “Babe, you’re not a wolf. It will affect Heather differently. I’m surprised she’s being reluctant at all.”

David looked toward the kitchen. If she was in heat, or gradually building to it, then it wouldn’t be long before she was in a great deal of pain and only a mate would be able to satisfy her.

Her uncle cursed. “Is there any way we can stop this or at the very least… control it?”

Caleb burst out laughing. “Control it? No. It can’t be controlled. If she wasn’t close to her mate, then it would only be a mild, uncomfortable experience.”

David looked toward his best friend and his alpha. “But she is?”

“You’ve been near her for a good six months. We all know she’s yours. I don’t know what it is between the two of you, but you should have gotten closer by now. There is always a risk of this happening.”

Heather came back, plate loaded with food. The cardigan she’d been wearing was gone. She’d gotten a bigger bowl.

They were all looking at her, and as she lowered her fork, she glanced around at them. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

David cleared his throat.

“How are you feeling?” Caleb asked. Heather frowned. “Fine. Why?”

“Oh, screw this,” Mika said. “They believe you’re going into mating heat, and if you and David don’t get your heads out of your asses soon, there’s going to be a shitshow.”

He wished he’d asked to speak to Heather privately before Mika let the entire problem out of the bag.