For Fox's Sake (#3, Completed)

17. Burning desires 🌶️

NATALIA

My skin was burning, leaving me writhing from the searing heat that commanded my body. I tossed and turned, unable to sleep, pressure building between my legs, calling me to reach between them and touch myself.

My hand slid underneath the hem of shorts, my finger searching for my pulsing nub through the material of my panties. Except, when I tried to give it what it wanted, there was nothing. No satisfaction, no building release. Only the unquenchable thirst of my body to climax, to shatter like never before.

Beads of sweat dripped down the back of my neck when my eyes snapped open. I had no clue where I was; neither the bed nor the room were familiar to me, but his scent was everywhere. Looking around to get my bearings, I spotted him on the sofa chair on the other side of the bed. His muscular chest moved up and down as he slept there, wearing nothing but grey tracksuit bottoms. The sight of him alone set my body alight again, even more so when I heard him groaning my name—my real name—in his sleep.

The memory of how I got here was a little hazy, but I remembered being back in my room in Windfire when waves of warmth began washing through me, intensifying with every surge. I felt needy, desperate to be touched, to be kissed by my mate. The desire was so strong that Ciara was going crazy in my head, so I did the only thing I thought could help—shift to let her go for a run. Except, it didn't help. Everything became more amplified. The smells, the sounds. The need to be with my mate, to let him breed me. Both my wolf and I were under the spell of the same pull.

What's going on, Ciara? I minklinked as she had sprinted through the forest.

We are in heat, she answered with a strained voice. Only our mate can help us.

If he didn't reject us again, that was.

This was certainly not how I wanted to approach James after the last time we spoke. I wanted to give him the time and space to make his decision, but our mate bond had other plans.

The lust that had spread through Ciara and me, the arousal, they were intoxicating, almost blinding. It had been dangerous for us to cross shifter territories like that because we were going to attract every unmated male that we came across, but neither of us had any choice—we had to get to the Red Tails skulk as soon as possible.

Thankfully, the heat had been coming and going, allowing Ciara to regain her clarity as she had run along the lake's shore, dipping in the water now and then to cover the scent. But by the time we got to the skulk, it was back in full force. As if it knew that we were getting closer to him.

I had never been to the Red Tails before and it didn't help that the skulk was spread out over a huge area, with individual cottages hidden in the forest. Finding the Alpha's cottage alone would have taken us forever, yet somehow my wolf had been able to lead the way. Although I was an Omega, I came from Alpha bloodline, so Ciara's ability to pick up the scent of James and his fox was stellar. But when some of the foxes caught our smell, we both knew we had limited time to get to him.

The relief of seeing him had been overwhelming, much like the desire that coursed through us. I barely had the energy to shift back, collapsing in front of him. And as he picked me up in his arms, another warm feeling had settled inside me, a new sensation this time-faith that everything was going to be alright.

That feeling was still there as I watched him sleep. Because no matter how much he denied it, how much he seemingly refused to accept that there could ever be us, he was here, looking after me.

Don't let it get to your head, Nat-it's not like he could have sent you back in that state, the voice of doubt whispered in my head.

Suddenly, the hope inside me was no longer shining brightly, flickering under the blast of self-doubt.