Chapter 53 The Heat Beaneth My Skin
Dahila
I woke before the sun.
The room was quiet, but something felt wrong.
A mother knows.
I turned toward the smaller beds near the window where my triplets slept. Libby was curled into himself, breathing softly. Lily had kicked her blanket away, one tiny hand stretched above her head.
Liam was different.
He was too still.
My heart began to pound.
I got up quickly and crossed the room. When I touched his forehead, my breath caught.
He was burning.
“Liam,” I whispered, brushing the hair from his face.
His lashes fluttered, but he didn’t fully wake. His skin was hotter than it should ever be. Wolves heal fast. Children heal even faster.
This was not normal.
I pressed my palm to his chest. His heartbeat was steady but fast. Too fast.
“Libby ,” I said softly, shaking his brother’s shoulder. “Stay here with Lily. I’ll be back soon.”
Libby blinked sleepily. “Is Liam okay?”
“Yes,” I lied gently. “He just needs help.”
I wrapped Liam in a light blanket and carried him in my arms. His body radiated heat against mine.
The corridor outside was still empty. Most of the pack would not be awake yet.
I walked quickly.
The healer lived in the east wing, but there was one problem.
The healer would not move without permission.
And permission came from one person.
Dagnoth.
I did not slow down as I approached his chambers.
But then I heard it.
A sound... It was low, soft and Intimate
I froze.
The door was not fully shut. It was slightly open, just enough for sound to slip through.
A woman’s breathy laugh, I couldn't tell if it was just my ears, the laugh seemed forced.
A man’s voice — deeper and painfully familar
His voice.
My stomach tightened.
No.
I knew that voice anywhere.
The Luna.
I stood there, Liam heavy in my arms, heat pressing against my skin while another kind of heat burned in my chest.
Jealousy.
It was sharp. Sudden. Ugly.
I hated it.
I had no right.
He was Alpha. The Luna was his equal in power, in status. It was expected.
Normal.
Then why did it feel like something inside me was cracking?
Liam shifted weakly in my arms, and the movement snapped me back to myself.
This was not about me.
This was about my son.
I lifted my hand and knocked.
The sounds inside stopped immediately.
There was a pause.
Fabric rustling.
Footsteps.
The door opened just enough for the Luna to step into view.
Her hair was loose around her shoulders. Her robe hung carelessly, not fully tied. Her expression when she saw me was not pleased.
“Yes?” she asked coldly.
I adjusted Liam in my arms. “I need the healer. Liam has a fever.”
Her eyes dropped to him briefly, then back to me.
“We are occupied,” she said flatly. “Return later.”
Later?
My fingers tightened around the blanket. “He is burning.”
Her expression did not soften. “Children get fevers.”
“This is not normal.”
She exhaled sharply, clearly annoyed. “You are overreacting.”
My jaw clenched. “I am not.”
Behind her, I could sense movement.
She shifted her body slightly, blocking the doorway more fully.
“The Alpha is busy,” she said, her tone now edged with something sharper. “You will wait.”
Liam whimpered faintly in my arms.
The sound broke something in me.
“I will not wait,” I said quietly.
Her eyes flashed. “Know your place.”
The words hit hard.
For a moment, I almost stepped back.
Almost.
But Liam’s skin was still burning.
I swallowed the jealousy. The humiliation. The anger.
“I am not here for myself,” I said evenly. “I am here for my son.”
She opened her mouth to respond—
And then a deeper voice came from behind her.
“What is going on?”
The Luna stiffened.
She turned slightly. “It is nothing.”
“It does not sound like nothing.”
Footsteps approached.
And then he was there.
Dagnoth stepped into view behind her, fully dressed.
Fully dressed.
His hair was slightly disordered, but not in the way I had imagined seconds ago.
His eyes moved from the Luna to me.
Then to Liam.
Everything in his expression changed.
“What happened?” he asked.
The Luna spoke first. “The child has a mild fever. She insists on disturbing us.”
Dagnoth’s gaze never left Liam.
He stepped forward, and the Luna had no choice but to move aside.
When he reached me, he did not hesitate. He placed his hand against Liam’s forehead.
His jaw tightened immediately.
“This is not mild,” he said.
The Luna went silent.
“He was fine last night,” I said quickly. “This morning he was like this.”
Dagnoth’s eyes flicked to mine briefly.
There was no irritation there.
No annoyance.
Only focus.
“How long?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I woke up and found him burning.”
Liam stirred weakly again.
Dagnoth’s voice turned sharp. Commanding.
“Send for the healer. Now.”
The Luna hesitated.
His gaze snapped to her.
“Now.”
She left without another word.
The corridor felt smaller suddenly.
Quieter.
Dagnoth kept his hand on Liam’s forehead, then moved it to his neck, checking his pulse the way warriors are trained to do.
“This is not an ordinary fever,” he muttered.
My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”
He did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at Liam more closely. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if searching for something beneath the surface.
“Has he shown any unusual signs recently?” he asked.
“No.”
“Nightmares? Sudden strength? Loss of control?”
I blinked. “He’s a child.”
“Yes,” Dagnoth said quietly. “He is.”
There was something in his tone I didn’t understand.
Footsteps approached again — faster this time.
The healer.
Finally.
But before the healer reached us, Liam’s body suddenly jerked in my arms.
Not violently.
But enough to make me gasp.
His eyes opened.
And for a brief second—
They glowed.
Not the soft gold of a wolf.
Not the usual shade I knew so well.
They were darker.
Almost crimson.
Dagnoth saw it.
I know he did.
Because his entire body went still.
The healer arrived, slightly breathless. “Alpha—”
“Check him,” Dagnoth ordered immediately.
The healer placed his hands over Liam, murmuring under his breath as he assessed the heat, the pulse, the energy beneath the skin.
His expression slowly shifted from concentration…
To confusion.
Then to something close to alarm.
“That is not possible,” the healer whispered.
My heart began to race. “What?”
The healer looked up at Dagnoth.
“His blood,” he said carefully. “It is changing.”
Silence fell heavily between us.
“Changing how?” I demanded.
The healer hesitated.
Dagnoth’s voice was calm.
“Speak.”
The healer swallowed.
“It feels like… two lineages are awakening at once.”
My breath caught.
Two?
“That cannot happen,” the healer continued. “Unless—”
He stopped himself.
“Unless what?” I asked, my voice shaking now.
The healer looked at Dagnoth again.
As if asking permission.
Dagnoth’s eyes were dark.
Hard.
“Say it,” he ordered.
The healer inhaled slowly.
“Unless the child carries something ancient in his blood.”
The corridor seemed to tilt.
Ancient.
Dagnoth’s gaze shifted back to Liam.
Then slowly…
To me.
And in his eyes—
There was recognition.
Not of the past.
Not of jealousy.
But of something far more dangerous.
“What did you not tell me?” he asked quietly.
My heart stopped.
Because I did not know which secret he was talking about.
And suddenly…
I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.