Chapter 10 Heat Rising (Ember's POV)
I woke to the smell of antiseptic and the sound of beeping machines.
The infirmary. How did I get to the infirmary?
My body felt like it was on fire. Every inch of my skin burned, and my clothes... when had I changed into a hospital gown?
"She's awake." A woman's voice, unfamiliar. "Miss Thorne, can you hear me?"
I tried to focus on the figure leaning over me. The school nurse, Mrs. Patterson. Her face swam in and out of clarity, distorted by whatever was wrong with me.
"Hot," I managed to croak. "So hot."
"I know, sweetheart. Your temperature is very high." She pressed something cool against my forehead, a cloth, maybe. It felt like ice and fire at the same time. "I've given you fever reducers, but they're not working. I'm going to call an ambulance."
"No." The word came out sharper than I intended. Some instinct deeper than logic screamed that leaving campus would be dangerous. Wrong. "No hospital."
"Miss Thorne, you have a fever of 104 degrees. That's dangerously high. You could have brain damage if we don't get it under control."
104 degrees? That should have terrified me. Instead, all I could think about was how empty the room felt. How wrong it was that I was alone.
"Trey." His name escaped my lips before I could stop it. "I need Trey."
Mrs. Patterson frowned. "Trey Jarred? Honey, I don't think your boyfriend visiting is appropriate right now. You need medical attention."
"He's not my boyfriend." The words felt like lies on my tongue. "But I need him. Please. Get Trey."
"What you need is a hospital." She moved toward the phone on the wall. "I'm calling 911."
"Don't!" I tried to sit up, but my limbs wouldn't cooperate. Everything felt too heavy. "Please don't. Just... just get Trey. Please."
The desperation in my voice must have reached her because she paused, her hand hovering over the phone. "Miss Thorne..."
The door opened, and I could have cried with relief when Ms. Silvermoon stepped through.
"I'll take it from here, Patricia." Her voice carried an authority that made Mrs. Patterson's hand drop from the phone.
"Ms. Silvermoon, this student needs emergency medical care. Her fever is dangerously high and nothing I've given her has helped."
"I'm aware." Ms. Silvermoon moved to my bedside, her pale green eyes assessing me with an intensity that should have been uncomfortable. Instead, it felt safe. Right. "But a hospital can't help her with this particular condition."
Mrs. Patterson's expression shifted from concern to confusion. "What do you mean? A fever is a fever."
"Not this one." Ms. Silvermoon placed her hand on my forehead, and I felt a surge of something not quite relief, but close. Like her touch was the only thing keeping me tethered to reality. "Patricia, I need you to leave us alone. Now."
"I can't just abandon a student who's clearly in medical distress..."
"You can and you will." Ms. Silvermoon's voice dropped to something that wasn't quite a threat but carried weight nonetheless. "Unless you want to explain to your superiors how you interfered with private family business."
"Family business?" Mrs. Patterson looked between us. "Are you related to Miss Thorne?"
"Distantly. Through her mother's side." The lie came smoothly. "And what she's experiencing is a hereditary condition that requires specialized treatment. Treatment you're not equipped to provide."
Mrs. Patterson hesitated, clearly torn between professional duty and whatever authority Ms. Silvermoon carried. Finally, she stepped back. "I'm noting in her file that I recommended hospital care and was overruled by a family member."
"Duly noted. Now please, leave us."
The nurse left, casting one last worried glance over her shoulder. The moment the door closed, Ms. Silvermoon's expression shifted from authoritative to deeply concerned.
"Oh, child." She brushed hair back from my face with gentle fingers. "This is happening much faster than I expected."
"What's happening?" My voice came out strangled. "Why is everything on fire?"
"You're entering your first heat cycle." She pulled a chair close to the bed, sitting so we were eye level. "It's a natural part of werewolf biology, but it usually doesn't manifest until after the first full transformation. Claiming your mate before fully awakening triggered it early."
"Heat cycle?" The words swam in my fever-addled brain. "Like... like an animal?"
"Like a wolf, yes." Her hand found mine, squeezing gently. "Your body is preparing for mating. For bonding completely with Trey. Everything in you is demanding his presence, his scent, his touch."
"Make it stop." Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. "Please, I can't... it hurts."
"I know. But there are only two ways to stop it." She paused, her expression grave. "Either Trey completes the bond by mating with you during your heat, or you endure it alone and risk your body shutting down from the strain."
"What do you mean, shutting down?"
"Heat cycles are intense for newly awakened wolves. Without a mate to help regulate your temperature, to ground you, the fever can become fatal." She touched my cheek, and her fingers came away damp. "You're burning up, Ember. 104 degrees now, but it's climbing. In another hour, maybe two, we'll be looking at 106, 107. At that point, your organs start to fail."
Terror cut through the haze of fever. "So I have to have sex with Trey or I die? That's insane."
"It's supernatural biology. Your wolf knows what it needs, even if your human mind rebels against it." She stood, moving to the window. "And completing the bond during heat would solidify the mate connection permanently. There would be no breaking it, no walking away. You'd be tied to him for life."
"But I barely know him." My protest sounded weak even to my own ears. "We've only... we only did it once. That doesn't mean..."
"It means everything to your wolf." She turned back to face me. "The human part of you might be confused, might want time to think and process. But your wolf has chosen. And right now, your wolf is in control."
I tried to sit up again, managed to prop myself on my elbows before the room started spinning. "What if I don't want this? What if I want to choose for myself instead of letting some supernatural instinct decide my entire future?"
"Then you better make that choice quickly." Ms. Silvermoon's voice was gentle but firm. "Because in about an hour, you won't be capable of choosing anything. The fever will consume you, and your wolf will take over completely. At that point, the only question will be whether Trey gets here in time to save you."
"This isn't fair." The words came out as a sob. "None of this is fair."
"No, it's not." She returned to the bedside, stroking my hair like my grandmother used to do when I was sick as a child. "You didn't ask for this heritage. Didn't ask to be the prophesied wolf or to have your entire future dictated by ancient bloodlines. But this is what you are, Ember. And fighting your nature will only cause more pain."
"What about the prophecy?" I managed to ask through chattering teeth. "If Trey and I complete the bond during heat, if I get pregnant... doesn't that just make everything the packs are afraid of come true?"
"Possibly. Or possibly it gives you the power to rewrite the prophecy on your own terms." She leaned closer, her eyes intense. "You're so focused on what everyone else wants, what everyone else fears, that you're forgetting the most important thing: you get to choose how this story ends."
"But you just said I don't have a choice. That it's mate with Trey or die."
"I said your body doesn't have a choice about the heat. But you always have a choice about what comes after." She straightened, moving toward the door. "I'm going to find Trey. The question is, when he gets here, will you accept what needs to happen? Or will you let pride and fear kill you?"
Before I could answer, the door opened.
And there he was.
Trey filled the doorway, his dark hair disheveled and his clothes rumpled like he'd thrown them on in a hurry. His eyes, those dark eyes that had flashed gold in the moonlight—locked onto mine with an intensity that made my fever spike impossibly higher.
"Ember."
The moment our eyes met, my body convulsed. The fever that had been simmering exploded into an inferno. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything except burn.
Somewhere far away, I heard Ms. Silvermoon's sharp intake of breath. "Her temperature just jumped to 106. We're out of time."
"What's happening to her?" Trey's voice, rough with panic.
"She's in heat. The mate bond is calling to her, and every second you stand there instead of touching her is making it worse." Ms. Silvermoon's hand appeared in my blurring vision, pressing something cool against my forehead.
"I can't just..." Trey started, but his words dissolved into a growl. "Fuck. What do I do?"
"Take her somewhere private. Your instincts will handle the rest." Ms. Silvermoon's voice was calm despite the urgency of the situation. "But you need to move now, Trey. She has minutes, not hours."
My body convulsed again, harder this time. My back arched off the bed, and a sound escaped my throat that was more animal than human. Every cell in my body screamed for him, demanded his touch, his scent, his presence.
"Trey." His name came out garbled, desperate. "Please."
That broke whatever hesitation he'd been clinging to. In three strides, he was at my bedside, gathering me into his arms like I weighed nothing. The moment his skin touched mine, the fever eased just enough for me to draw a full breath.
"I've got you." His voice rumbled through his chest, vibrating against my cheek. "Hold on, Em. Just hold on."