mate!”
“No,” Storm scowled. “She’s not.”
“Bullshit,” Lucky replied. “You wouldn’t be asking about a female…a human at that, if your beast didn’t sense it when you saw her.”
“I only saw her once,” Storm grumbled. “Hell, I didn’t even talk to the female.”
“Holy smokes, my big brother found his mate.” Lucky leaned his head back and laughed again. Storm wanted to belt the little bastard, but he didn’t want him to cry.
“Let it rest, little brother,” Storm replied, taking a long drink from his beer bottle. “I’ll probably never see her again.”
The glare he gave his little brother was enough to get the male off his case. He should’ve never brought up the female, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her and the scent she carried.
Calla awoke to the sun setting on the day. She tossed the covers aside as the sweat pebbled on her skin. Luna was across the room, sitting in a chair by a small fireplace. She set her book on her lap and smiled. “How are you feeling?”
“Same,” Calla moaned when the wave of need hit her core.
She’d dreamed about Taze again, but this time, he’d walked away from her when she returned to the pride.
“I can give you another sedative now, but I’d like for you to eat something first.”
Calla nodded and sat up in the bed. Luna had been so helpful over the past five days. She didn’t know how she was going to repay the female. “Thank you for helping me.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she cooed as she returned with a Tupperware dish containing half a chicken and some mashed potatoes. “You need protein, but I also know the medicine can make you a little nauseous.”
Calla ate as much of the chicken as she could before the hot flashes became too much. The ache in her belly wasn’t from food. It was her nature wanting a male’s seed. Without it, she would suffer for another few days.
“God, this is painful,” she cried out as the pain and heat in her body flared.
“It’s almost over,” Luna reminded her as she uncapped the syringe. “Just a few more days.”
The pinch of pain from the needle was welcomed. She’d had enough food to satisfy the healer’s mate, and the medicine would take ten to fifteen minutes to work. She rolled over to her side and curled up in the fetal position while Luna discarded the rest of her meal.
“I don’t want anyone knowing about this,” she moaned as the pain continued.
“This is your time, Calla,” Luna said, then sighed and came over to sit on the edge of the bed. Calla closed her eyes as the white wolf stroked the side of her face. “You do not have to tell anyone about this, and it’s your right as a woman to keep your mating heat private.”
“My brother,” she yawned, feeling the first seconds of relief from the medicine. “He’s going to hound me until I tell him.”
“When are you going to realize that you are not your brother’s concern?” Luna scolded. “What you are going through right now is a private awakening of your womanly body. The only person who controls how this heat goes is you, and if you had a mate, you two would make this decision together. You don’t owe Malaki any explanations.”
“What about Taze?” she asked as tears built in her eyes.
“Is he your mate?” Luna asked. Calla appreciated her cautiousness with the information, but everyone knew the two of them were mates after that meeting in Talon’s office. She was sure word had spread throughout the pride within a day or two.
“My panther says so,” she sniffled. “I just…I don’t know if I can…because…”
Luna’s eyes searched her face, and the healer’s mate sighed heavily as tears built in her own eyes. “You talk about it when you’re ready.”
Calla felt the darkness coming. The medicine was reaching its peak, and she closed her eyes for several minutes, blinking rapidly as she awoke. Luna was across the room already, and she was packing away her supplies. When the female noticed her eyes were open, she returned quickly with a cool rag to lay across Calla’s forehead.
“It’s okay, Calla, you can sleep now,” she whispered.
Calla closed her eyes, accepting the darkness, but her mind brought up a picture of Taze when he was chopping wood this past fall. He’d been shirtless. Something about that day brought out a desire she’d kept hidden for so long. The animal inside her prowled with need, but