Page 58 of A Soul to Embrace

It happened again in summer, and the dry heat had been dizzying to her heightened senses.

Does this happen every six months?From what Jabez had taught her about seasons, years, and time in general, it appeared there was a pattern.

She wanted to ask for help regarding this, but she didn’t know how to explain it. Inside felt swollen, but only low in her stomach. Her skin felt hot and itchy, but scratching at her fur did little to help. She’d pant with her blurred gaze searching for something, but she didn’t know what.

She was missing information; there had to be something that would explain all this. Would Jabez know?

The idea of asking him was mortifying. Whenever she looked at him with questions regarding this affliction coming to the forefront of her mind, she’d grow squeamish and silent on the matter. Because it was something obviously internal, it somehow felt... embarrassing?

Perhaps because her nipples hardened and her pelvis pulsed, she found it strange.

All she knew was that she wanted to be left alone.

It only affects me for a day or so,from what she could remember.Would it be strange if I asked him to leave until it’s gone?

She lifted the book to look down at her body. Even now, her breasts looked bigger than they had before, and her nipples were sensitive. They were never sensitive! She often forgot she had them, although lately they’d been frequently hardening whenever she looked at his face, or his smile, and sometimes his back whenever he bathed.

Between her thighs would swell with heat, like it was doing now.

I feel weird.

It was like the symptoms of her every-six-months sickness were starting to affect her whenever he was around. Sometimes all he had to do was peer at her and her body fluttered.

It increased her nervousness for what she knew was to come. It was the true reason why she’d longed to be alone.I hope he doesn’t think it’s because of what I learned.

She’d actually had every intention of resuming her lessons until her insides had started to grow warm and her heart pounded heavier. That would only worsen over the next several hours until it peaked and then eventually waned.

Zylah was aware she had some kind of purple slit between her thighs, but it was usually hidden and inconspicuous until the sickness. Then it would swell and puff, and the only thing that could ease this strange ache was rocking on her thighs on her side.

Was it odd to do that? But it was the only thing that stopped the ache, although she didn’t know if she found it pleasurable or not. She was always too lost and confused to really register much else but her own fear.

Dropping her book to her lap, she covered her eyeholes and shook her head.Why do I feel so shy?

It didn’t help that she reacted strangely to Jabez whenever he was near. What had once been a comfortable presence suddenly felt constricting for reasons she couldn’t decipher. Her emotionswere heightened, and her senses were more acute towards anything regarding him.

The smell of his hair, his skin. The warmth of him, and the way the shadows wrapped around him or dust glittered around his features. How his eyes saw into her, as if they could peer into her very centre.

Her embarrassed glow only brightened when she remembered the way she’d stared at him with longing while he’d slept. She’d left before he could wake when she realised she’d been reaching forward to brush his hood back just a little to better see his handsome features.

I want to touch him.She didn’t care how or where, justsomething. Her body was itching to do so.

“Zylah,” Jabez called out from below, making her squeak in surprise.

Like before, her orbs flared to a reddish pink, as if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

Still, she picked herself up and walked to the ledge of rock before her. She jumped down, falling a few metres to land beside Jabez. She brought herself into a tall crouch, stopping herself from towering a few inches above him, and instead submissively kept herself lower.

Something about seeing his face after so many hours had her pulse fluttering and a bashfulness puffing her fur. She scratched at her neck awkwardly, wishing she wasn’t having this intense reaction. Even his earthy scent swelled around her more strongly than usual, making her nipples bud and between her thighs heat.

“Y-yes?” she asked, before noting the bag strapped across his muscled torso. She stood upright as uncertainty shoved its way up her spine. “Are you...leaving?” Her sight shifted to a deep blue, and she nervously inched closer in preparation to grab him so he couldn’t escape her. “If-if it’s about my avoidance...”

His features were expressionless, like a coldness had come over him since the awkward conversation they’d had the other day with herparents.He looked down at the bag as if to note it with nonchalance.

“I’m going to head to the village for food.”

Unable to help herself, she grabbed his wrist when something lanced her chest. “But you’ll be returning?”

Finally, an emotion crossed his features, causing it to tighten and his long ears to twitch. His brows furrowed as he lifted his red eyes to her skull. “I was expecting that you’d ask to come with me, like you usually do.”

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