Page 98 of Ravaged Wolf
My face hits the dirt.
Gracie lets out a peel of laughter.
Aled hollers to her, “I’m letting you win, you know.” They disappear in the direction of the cabins.
I drag down air into my starved lungs.
Trevor exhales.
“You’re safe,” he says to me, his gaze unwavering.
“We’re not back there,” I remind him, stepping into his open arms. “We’re here.”
“We’re good. We’re okay,” he murmurs as we cling together as Gracie and Aled’s voices disappear in the distance.
My breathing has almost evened out when, out of nowhere, an unmistakable wave of heat crashes over me. Mybelly tightens, and wet gushes from between my legs, soaking my panties.
I gasp, the tips of my claws springing from my finger unbidden, pricking Trevor’s shoulders through his shirt. He hisses, but he doesn’t flinch. He’s frozen, except for his flaring nostrils.
I can’t panic again. I just panicked. I can’t breathe or move, either.
“Trevor,” I whimper.
The sound spurs him to action. He scoops me up like a bride and storms toward the den.
“Trevor?”
“It’s going to be okay,” he says, staring wildly ahead. His pupils are huge, but the black doesn’t trigger me. I’m already triggered. And besides, his terrified expression is very much Trevor’s.
“What are we going to do?” We haven’t talked about this. It didn’t even occur to me to consider that another heat this soon was a possibility, maybe because my mother only had one, but Arlais went into heatfive times, and none of Trevor’s brothers are more than two years apart.
Shit.
Pups.
Am I ready for pups?
“Pups,” I yelp like we’re driving, and Trevor doesn’t see a car ahead braking.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got the water and electrical done, and I’ll have forced heat installed by winter, and if all else fails, we have the wood stove.”
I was not worried about heat—my panic hadn’t gotten as far as logistics—but oh dear lord, yes, we need another room. A pup can sleep with us for a while, but eventually they need their own space, and what am I even doing, thinking about that?
My skin is drenched. I’m in heat. It’s coming on lightning fast, and soon, I’m going to be mindless and begging again like back in the woods at Moon Lake—
“Stop!” I smack Trevor’s shoulder. “Stop! I’m going to puke!”
“Shit.” He drops me to my feet. I collapse to my knees. He sinks down behind me and snatches my hair back from my face. I fold forward, dry heaving. My wolf yips inside me, excited. Ready. She thinks I’m presenting.
Nothing comes up. After a few long minutes of retching, I gasp, “I’m good.”
Trevor sits back on his heels. I plop down on my butt. We’re both struggling for air like we ran a race. My wolf whines in confusion. Things are not unfolding like she expected.
We’ve crushed a little patch in a dense tangle of ferns. Green vines climb the trees around us. I feel very far away from the world, but not alone. My mate is at my back and twined in my heart.
I love him. I want him. This is scary—terrifying—but good. We can do this again, but right. I grasp behind me, and he grabs my hand.
“We’re not panicking,” I tell him.
