Heat

I woke up on fire. Every pore oozed sweat and heat. What the fuck was happening?

*You are in heat.* A coy smile danced on Praesul's lips.

*This is your doing!*

*When we find our mate we go into heat within 24 hours. It can last up to 48 hours the first time.* Mirth dances in her sun colored eyes.

I pull off the plum dress and lay in just my thong. I tried to get up but my body was weakened. After a few minutes. I stood and walked two steps toward the bathroom. My vision blurred and blackness threatened the edges of my sight. I collapsed on the floor and let out a blood curling scream.

Caelum rushes into the room. Noticing my state of undress he looks around for an attacker.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" His eyes were anywhere but on my mostly naked body.

I could see the hard set of his jaw and his muscles bulging at his neck.

"I'm -" I bite back another scream and crawl toward the bathroom. "in heat."

Shock is evident on Caelum's face but slowly turns to suspicion.

"I think I'd be able to tell if you were in heat." He pulls me up by my arms and keeps his eyes staring straight ahead.

"My...necklace...hides...it..." I choke out in barely a whisper.

"Well let's get you into an ice bath. I've already mind linked a few pack members asking them to leave the ice outside your door." He placed me down awkwardly in the tub carefully avoiding touching me in any inappropriate places. My sister would be proud. He turns on the faucet and cold water fills the tub. "I don't think human medicines like Tylenol will...WAIT!"

His voice echoed in my head and I groaned loudly.

"IF YOU ARE IN HEAT THEN -"

"Lower your voice!" I growled. An Alpha command. I gasped in horror. "Caelum, I'm so sorry I didn't mean..."

"It's about damn time!" He smiled then frowned. "Seriously though. Who is your mate?"

A knock at the door. Caelum assures the pack members I'll survive and hauls bags of ice into the bathroom. Slowly, he adds them to the now warm water, trying hard not to make a splash.

I don't know if I should trust him with the truth but I've never been one to lie. "Well, to be honest, I've got two mates."

Caelum's grip slips, and the rest of the ice bag falls into the water. Plastic and all. Talk about a splash.

"I've never heard of that happening before."

*She is punishing us.*

*Who?*

*The Moons Goddess. Serves you right for wearing that necklace.*

*Oh, shut up!*

The heat barely subsides before the water is scalding. We keep draining the tub then adding water and ice.

"What am I missing today?"

"Nothing planned. The first round of challenges are happening. No one has requested access to our floor and it's well past noon. I'd say that's a good sign you won't be challenged by any of the larger packs. They like to get their challenges out the first day and schedule them the next. That way they can go home early from the tournament if the need arises."

"This is the actual fucking worst." I say with my eyes closed. My breathing labored.

"The only way to get rid of it is-"

"Sex with my mate. I know." I sigh in frustration. "That would be completing half of the bonding process. All he'd have to do is mark me and I'd be claimed for life."

The disgust in my voice was thick and Caelum was surprised by my words.

"I thank the Moon Goddess everyday for giving me Stella. She is a precious gift and I want her to have everything she could ever dream of." He says genuinely and I turn away. "Having a mate is like finding something you never knew you were missing. It's like finally finding peace and balance within yourself and with another. Touching each other is like -"

"Fireworks exploding in your veins. We know!"

"Exactly!"

The heat is unbearable. The thought of Rex or Indicum touching me send magma oozing between my legs. I know Caelum can't smell my arousal but I feel self conscious anyway.

"Bring the last of the ice, I'm going to try to sleep. Also, set the thermostat to 33 degrees."

"Are you sure?"

I nod and get up. Steam rises from my skin and I dry without needing a towel. I throw off the thong that clings to my skin. Naked, I curl up in bed and Caelum puts ice all around me.

"I'll come back every hour to swap out the ice."

"Thank you." I smile but he doesn't see. His eyes are averted again.

Once he left the room, I thought of them again. Rex and Indicum touching my scorching skin. I closed my eyes tightly willing my body to stay cool.

Instead Praesul taunts me. *Think of Rex's silver and blue eyes.*

I think of how his eyes look like a splash of water surrounded by the moon. My body betrays me and clenches. I imagine his eyes staring into mine as his lips kiss my sex.

"Fuck!" I moan.

Praesul laughs. *Or think of Indicum's blue, almost black eyes.*

I curl into a ball whimpering. I'm slick between my legs and it isn't from sweat.

*Stop!* I cry. Salty tears pour down my cheeks. They mix with the melted ice in the bed.

Praesul whimpers. The heat is causing her discomfort too.

I think of them both. Rex and Indicum. Both caressing me and sharing my body. Suckling at each nipple. Rex biting and pulling one nipple with his teeth. All the while Indicum licks and firmly sucks the other.

My hand finds my sex and rubs. Slowly at first and I feel myself building. I picture Rex holding my hips as he expands my insides. Then I imagine Indicum placing his large member in my mouth. The pressure is intense, I feel like my insides are going to explode. And then I hear them both whisper, "cum." I cry out an incoherent obscenity as I squirt all over the bedsheets. So that's what an orgasm feels like. Although I'd fooled around before, no one had ever made me feel like that.

The heat subsided but I'm still warm. A knock at the door. Had it been an hour already?

"Caelum?"

"Who else?"

I sighed in relief. "Hurry up with the ice."

"I have something else for you."

He walked in with Claire. A half human pack member we'd brought along. She's one hell of a warrior even if her wolf is slightly smaller than a typical shewolf. She carries in the ice. Looking at me naked on the bed she places ice all around me. Caelum kept his body turned so he couldn't see. If they heard or smelled what I'd just done, they didn't show it.

"What is it?"

"Your first challenge."

"From who?"

He held the ring out to me. It was a lot larger than mine. I read the inscription in the inside. Alpha Basileus Rex of Clan Argenteus.

His name ignites the fire in my veins but the challenge chills me to the bone at the same time. Praesul whimpers loudly, clouding my thoughts.

"What day?" I manage to ask wearily.

"Day 5 at dusk."

"Please send a warrior to report back to him. I accept his challenge." I let the ring slip on my finger for a moment before giving it back to Caelum to return. The faint spice and wood smell lingers on my finger and in the palm of my hand.