COMPLETELY WEAK

VELORA

The back door leading into the house has been abandoned since I was eight. That was the day I took a bold step and sneaked out just to run after Eryx and his father. I had stolen a flower from Rose’s courtyard because I wanted to give it to him. I wanted to thank him for saving me from those bullies. I wanted him to know I had never forgotten what he did for me.

I never got the chance.

Before I could even catch a glimpse of them leaving, Rose found me. She locked me in the basement for the entire night while Aveline made sure I understood exactly who was responsible. That was the night I learned how cruel she could be. After that, I never dared defy her again.

So when Louisa told me Aveline had instructed me to use the back door when I returned, I didn’t ask why. I simply nodded and obeyed, even though she knew how much the darkness still reminded me of everything I had tried so hard to forget. I climb the long flight of stairs, each step making my legs shake harder.

“Almost there, Vel,” I whisper, wiping sweat from my forehead.

Kira has stopped responding. For a moment I wonder if I imagined everything that happened in the dressing room. But it felt too real — the voice, the pain, the strange presence inside my head. It couldn’t have been my imagination.

By the time I reach the final step, my legs give out. I collapse onto the floor for a few seconds before forcing myself back up. 

I go to Aveline’s room first and drop off her precious dress. Then I start toward my own. That’s when the pain hits. A deep, grinding pressure twists through my lower belly, heavy and insistent, as if something inside me is trying to force its way outward. The ache radiates into my hips and the base of my spine. I clutch my stomach and bend forward with a short, choked sound.

“Ah— Goddess—” I straighten slowly, breathing through it. I reach my door and take another step when a second wave of heat floods me — thick, concentrated, and so intense it feels like my skin is too tight. It comes so fast, I grab the cold iron handle to stay upright. Sweat breaks out along my hairline, my neck, the small of my back. The heat settles low and deep, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.

Was it my period?

The pressure returns, harder. I turn the handle and stumble inside. I don’t waste another second. I pull down the zipper of my dress and let it fall away, leaving me in only my underwear. Even the air feels heavy against my skin. I feel overheated from the inside out, like my body is generating its own fever.

“Water.” I cross to the table on unsteady legs, pour a glass, and drink it in desperate swallows. It barely touches the heat. I pour another and empty that one too. My hands are already trembling.

“Kira?” My voice comes out thin. “What’s wrong with me? I need you.”

There's only silence. The quiet stretches. A cold, horrible thought slips into my mind before I can stop it. Has she left me already? Is she disappointed that she woke up inside someone like me — fat, awkward, unwanted? The same girl everyone looks past. The same girl who gets locked in basements and ordered to use the back door. A girl who couldn't even defend herself. Maybe even my own wolf decided I wasn’t worth staying for.

The idea sits heavy in my chest. Tears burn behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. My hands shake harder. The heat has spread through my entire body now, but the worst of it still pulses from my core in deep, rhythmic waves that make my thighs press together without thinking.

I force myself toward the bed, breathing growing more uneven with every step. I barely make it to the window before pushing it open. Cool air rushes across my overheated skin. It helps for only a second before the internal heat surges again, stronger.

Then a knock sounds on my door. I’m too weak to answer. I grab the blanket and pull it over myself even though the heat trapped beneath it is almost unbearable.

“Velora? You in there?” I recognize the voice, but my mind is already growing hazy.

“Help me.” The words barely leave my lips. My head falls against the headboard as drowsiness pulls at me.

“Velora. We need to talk.” 

After a second of silence, the door creaks open. Hurried footsteps cross the room.

“Shit.” A warm hand wraps around my arm and pulls me upright. His breath catches sharply. “Dammit. Your scent is so strong.”

I blink slowly. “What…?”

He leans closer. I can feel the tension in his grip, the way his fingers flex once against my skin before he forces them to stay steady. His jaw is tight. He turns his face slightly away for a second, as if the air itself is difficult to breathe, before looking at me again. 

“Are you in heat?”

Heat? My scent is strong? What is happening to me?

“Water,” I whisper.

My eyelids flutter. Exhaustion drags at me again. The strange thing is that the moment he holds me, the heat inside my body intensifies; sharper, more focused, almost answering his presence. He tries to ease back. I grab his arm without thinking, and I feel the way his muscles lock under my hand.

When I finally manage to focus, his face comes into view. His expression is strained, eyes slightly narrowed as if he’s fighting something.

“Jaxton?” I whisper. “What are you doing here?”

He exhales carefully, worry and something harder mixed on his features.

“I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t reach you.” His eyes darts toward the door before returning to me. He swallows, throat working. “I need to get someone to help you.” he releases another controlled breath. “Your scent is too strong for me, Velora.”

“Don't go.” I plead with him, my hands tightening around his arm as my mind struggles to make sense of what I'm feeling. I don't know why I suddenly need him to stay. I don't even understand why his presence seems to calm something inside me.

“Vel, stop…” Jaxton's voice comes out rough.

His hands move to my face almost instinctively, cupping my cheeks. His thumb brushes gently across my skin, but there's something strained in his expression, like he's fighting against himself.

“I can't…” He barely gets the words out before the door swings open.

Jaxton jerks away from me, jumping off the bed so quickly that I flinch.

I don't understand what scared him that badly. Then I hear it. That familiar voice. Cold. Commanding. It cuts through the room like thunder.

“Get away from her. Now.”

Slowly, my body grows completely weak… My eyes slide shut.

“Please… Don’t go.” I plead with him; the words leaving me before I can stop them. My hands tighten around Jaxton’s arm as my mind struggles to make sense of what I'm feeling. Another deep wave of heat rolls through my core — heavy, pulsing, centered low in my body until it feels like my skin is too tight to contain it. I don’t understand why I suddenly need him to stay. I only know that the moment he touches me, the worst of the burning eases just enough for me to draw a full breath. Something restless and aching inside me quiets when he’s near, like a fever that finally finds cool water.

“Vel, stop…” Jaxton’s voice comes out rough, strained at the edges. His hands move to my face almost instinctively, cupping my cheeks. His thumbs brush over my overheated skin, but every line of his body is tight. His jaw is locked. His breathing is carefully measured, as if even the air around me is difficult to take in. I can feel the fine tremor in his fingers against my skin.

“I can’t…” He barely gets the words out. The door swings open hard enough to hit the wall.

Jaxton jerks away from me so fast the sudden loss of his hands feels like cold air striking fevered skin. I flinch. The heat surges back the instant he’s gone — sharper, more demanding — and a soft, broken sound escapes my throat before I can stop it.

I don’t understand what scared him that badly. Then I hear it.

That familiar voice. Cold. Absolute. It cuts through the room like a blade and settles straight into my bones.

“Get away from her. Now.”

The sound of it drains what little strength I have left. My body goes completely weak. The last of my resistance slips away in a single heavy wave. My eyes slide shut as the heat and exhaustion finally pull me under.