Chapter 23: Anotha One

**Raegan**

I stilled at my mate's brother's words.

"That's a joke," I shook my head, "tell me that's a fucking joke."

He shook his head, I looked over to Shawn and Morgan. The both had grimaces on their faces.

"What the hell is he talking about?" I asked them, panic rising.

"*The fog, Raegan. It's the bond's way of ensuring that you produce strong offspring with your mate.*" The King's wolf said, his grip tightening on my waist.

I shook my head and pulled from his grip, "we're not *dogs*." I scoffed, "going into heat isn't possible for human bodies. We have menstration. Not heat. This is a bad joke, guys. I'm not laughing."

"It's not a joke," Shawn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I can't believe she didn't tell you," she sighed heavily.

"I should have mentioned it years ago," Morgan muttered, he looked distressed.

I moved further away from them for a second, looking between each of them.

"We have precautions we can take to help the symptoms," The King's Second offered, stepping towards me.

I crouched down into a squatting position, and put my head in my hands, "what kind of symptoms? What kind of precautions? Are you going to lock me in a cage like a dog too? Are we taking this whole 'heat' defintion that seriously, or do I still get human treatment and autonomy?"

The King's wolf growled loudly, and crouched beside me, placing his hand on my back, "*not a chance in hell are we going to lock you up.*"

I flinched at his touch, to which he whimpered. "I can't do this. I can't go through something like that," I shook my head, then looked up at Morgan, "why didn't mom tell me? Why didn't Jayce tell me? Isn't that something I need to know about? Or did no one think I was--" I gasped, and clasped my hand over my mouth. My stomach turned at the thought that had just run through my mind. "Oh my God," I pinched my eyes shut and fell from my crouch onto my knees, "none of you thought I would meet my mate. Or if I did you thought it would be too late," I gagged, and had to remove my hand from my mouth as the gag turned into another one. "no one thought it would be relevant because I was supposed to be marked and mated to Kai already."

I retched and vomitted where I knelt. I narrowly missed my knees and Marie's shoes.

"*Raegan,*" The King startled, and rubbed my back again. His touch helped, and I hated that it did.

"Get off!" I snapped, jerking away from him. I glared at him as I scrambled away. "I don't want *this*!" I shouted. I felt my wolf growling at me internally, and I pursed my lips to keep the quivering of my lip from starting. "I don't want the Goddess pulling my strings. I'm not *ready*!" I looked up at my brother and Alpha. They had similar expressions on their faces. They looked pained.

I covered my mouth again.

"I'm not *ready,*" I repeated.

The King's wolf whimpered again, whining softly as he watched me.

"What are y'all waiting for?" Cris' voice called distantly. "I thought we were sparring?" He chuckled.

I heard his footsteps, and then I smelled him and then he stopped.

"What the hell did you do to her?!" He growled.

I pinched my eyes shut and fought against the next wave of nausea.

The King growled back at Cris, and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"*Don't touch my mate,*" The King snapped and the hand was yanked from my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see The King standing between me and Cris who was now on the ground.

I bent forward and pressed my forehead to the cool dirt beneath me.

"Raegan," Shawn whispered my name, and I felt her hand on my back, "breathe. In and out. It's not as bad as it feels, I promise you."

"That's easy for you to say," I rasped out in between harsh breaths, "You don't feel the same way about the bond as I do."

She sighed, "I'm still gonna go through the heat too--"

"Can we not fucking call it that?" I hissed to her, laying my palms flat on the ground under my torso. "We're not animals."

"We are wolves, Raegan," she sighed.

"Fucking barely," I snapped.

"Just because you hate that you're part wolf doesn't mean everyone else does," she snarled.

I grimaced, and pinched my eyes shut.

"It's not that bad, Rae. I swear. My mom told me about it when I was fifteen, and it really doesn't sound all too bad as long as you have your mate by your side."

"Oh yeah? And what is it that you do with said mate? Mate and mark? Because that's what I'm currently *avoiding*, Shawn."

She sighed again, and her hand rubbed my back in a soothing manner.

"*Mating and marking is the only way to soothe the burn when it starts,*" my mate's wolf said, and I felt him crouch down beside me followed by his hand landing on my back mimicking what Shawn was doing but on the other side of me. "*And you will want the burn to stop when it starts.*"

"Burn?" I asked, my voice coming out broken and high pitched as I turned my head a little to look up at him.

He nodded, "*our human counterparts like to call it the Heat because it burns both partners.*"

"In heterosexual mateships that is," Cassian said quickly, then apologized and went quiet again.

"*It's going to feel like you're burning up from the inside out, starting with your reproductive organs,*" he explained quietly.

"So I'm going to get cramps?" I asked as I looked between his dark eyes. It was different speaking to a person's wolf. Something more re-assuring about what they were saying. I knew his wolf wouldn't lie to me about anything, he wouldn't sugarcoat anything for me either, and I needed someone to be honest with me about this.

He shook his head, "*no. Worse. So much worse. You'll feel like someone has lit your uterus on fire. I'll feel like someone lit my balls on fire.*" He smiled a little, trying to make the conversation lighter. It didn't work.

"And then?" I swallowed.

He sighed, and his hand on my back stilled. I bit my lip to stop the whimper from breaking through my lips.

"*And then it'll spread everywhere. Your stomach. Your lungs. Your head. Your thighs. Everywhere will feel like you're burning up and the only thing that can stop it is sexual intimacy with another creature.*"

"Any other creature?" I furrowed my brows, "not just you?"

He scrunched up his face in clear distaste, "*as much as I'd love for you to believe that I'm the only one that can fix it, anyone unmated can get rid of the burn.*"

I took in a shakey breath. "It... can we get rid of it ourselves?" I asked quietly so only he and Shawn could hear me.

His eyes flicked down my body and back up again, "*no.*"

A short whine successfully escaped me that time.

"*Shhh,*" he cooed, and lifted me up by my waist before pulling me into his lap and laying my head on his chest, "*it will be fine, Raegan. My human is already thinking up ways to avoid the heat getting to the both of us. Fret not, my dear, as much as I disagree with him he is rather clever when he wants to be.*"

"How long do I have?" I asked him while tucking my arms in between our torsos to grip his t-shirt.

He swallowed audibly, but didn't respond.

"Wolfman," I said, and looked up at his face, "how long do I have?"

"*Wolfman? Isn't that your nickname for the human?*" He tucked a loose tendril of my hair behind my ear.

"Answer me."

He sighed, "*two weeks. Maybe three.*"

I swallowed, "you're kidding."

He shook his head.

I gripped his t-shirt tighter and pressed my forehead to his chest again.

"If I tell you to mark me when I go through it, don't listen to me." I said.

His chest rumbled with a growl.

"Swear it, wolfman."

"*I can't do that--*"

"Promise," I snapped, and looked up at him.

His jaw clenched, and his grip on my waist tightened ever so slightly, "*I can't promise I won't succumb to your request when the heat falls upon us, Raegan.*"

"Please, I'm literally begging you to promise me this one thing, I can't live with knowing we might make a mistake that massive--"

"*I would never see it as a mistake,*" he snarled.

"*Please,* please just promise me you won't." I pleaded with him, looking between his eyes to try and find something to give me hope he could resist.

He bit his lower lip, and let out a long breath through his nose. "*The human promises. But I won't.*" He said finally.

"We can subdue you when it hits," Hannah said sharply to the wolf.

He laughed and glared at her, "*good luck with that.*"

She growled at him, "I won't let you ruin my friend's relationship with his mate."

"*She's my mate too.*" He hissed, pulling me closer to his body and wrapping his arms around me entirely instead of just his hands.

"If you try and mark my sister without her explicit, *sober* consent, I'll kill you myself, wolf," Morgan snapped.

Shawn hummed from behind me, voicing her agreement subtly.

The wolf growled, and held me tighter. I let go of his t-shirt, "give me back my mate," I said softly.

"*I am your mate.*"

"Give me back my *human* mate," I pushed back a little to create a breadth of room between our too close bodies, "please."

He growled, but his eyes started to switch between green and black. Eventually they closed and when they opened again they were green.

His grip on me loosened, and then he let go of me entirely, leaving it up to me if I stayed on his lap or not.

"I promise I won't let him mark you when it hits," he said softly, his brows knitting together as his eyes scanned my face.

"Thank you," I sighed.

He nodded, and I wrapped my arms around his torso to hug him once more.

He froze momentarily and then hugged me back gently. I inhaled his scent. Honey. Roses. Honey. Roses. He cleared his throat, "Raegan you threw up. I think we should hold off on sparring until tomorrow at least." He spoke quietly to me, and the concern evident in his voice had me melting like chocolate sitting on your car dash during summer.

"You're probably right," I murmured.

He chuckled, "let's get you upstairs so you can brush your teeth."

He stood up with me in his arms. I squealed and wrapped my limbs around his torso.

He laughed a little, and I let go of him. But he didn't let me down. He just pouted down at me.

"I can walk--"

"I *want* to carry you," he said, his lower lip jutting out a little.

I rolled my eyes, but he moved his hands down to the back of my thighs and wrapped my legs around his waist. I blushed heavily as I tried to get down again, but he shook his head and started walking.

"Easy way or hard way, Raegan. Hard way involves me throwing you over my shoulder. It's up to you."

"Primitive bastard," I huffed, but wrapped myself around him settling for the easy way.