In Heat

In Heat: Chapter Five

     “Enough!” my dad shouted, making me turn to face them. “This is not the time for this. We should be concentrating on jade and figuring out what’s wrong.” He continued.

     “I just told you, Jade is going into heat, go get Malachite and Jasper or even better get Caleb and Liam back in here. They will you the same as me.” Harper said pleading with my parents to believe him.

     “Harper her scent smells exactly the same as it normally does.” My mother said, her voice wobbling slightly.

     “Of course her scent smells the same to you Anna you’re female and Marcus, before you say anything you’re her father it won’t affect you.” Harper spoke with confidence.

     “I know how it works Harper but really it shouldn’t be affecting you either, as you’re blood related.” My Father replied.

     “I never said it was affecting me I just said I could pick up the subtle difference, it’s not affecting me at all. Besides I’ve mated.” Harper relied quickly, putting me and by the looks of it him at ease.

     “Ok we’ll keep an eye on it but for now we’re continue as usual. We will gather all the information we can and see if we can figure this out. We’ll assemble the elders and find out what they know.” My father said before turning to me and kissing me on the forehead.

It felt like for the first time in hours they acknowledged my presence in the room. I know they were all concerned about me but I was getting more than a little annoyed with them talking as though I wasn’t even here. I watched as my father walked hastily out of my bedroom door. My mother turned to follow him but turned back quickly and embraced me tightly before hurrying out after my father. Now it was just me and Harper left, I slowly looked over at him to see and soft smile on his face. He slowly walked towards me and knelt down in front of me.

    “Don’t worry Runt we’ll sort this all out, I promise.” He said taking my hands in his.

     “Thanks Mutt.” I replied wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.

     “Anytime jade, we’re family I’ll always look out for you.” I said quietly.

We stayed like that for a moment before he got back up and made his way out, closing the door behind him. As soon as the door was closed I stripped out of my wet underwear and grabbed a baggy t-shirt. I was suddenly overwhelmed with tiredness; I climbed into bed and almost instantly fall asleep.

     After tossing and turning for about an hour I finally decided to get up. I had managed to sleep for an hour before I started to feel restless and uncomfortable. The only way I could describe it is that I felt penned in, trapped almost. As I climbed out of my bed the late afternoon sun was calling to me. I quickly turned to the mirror and ran my hands through my hair, which as I didn’t bother to dry it had gone curly and wild. After a minute of trying to tame I gave up and looked down at the baggy t-shirt. I thought about changing out of it but I just wanted nothing more than to get out of this house and feel the grass beneath my feet. I knew I had nothing on under the baggy the baggy t-shirt but it was so big that it flowed down to beneath my knees so it would do. With purpose I walked out of my bedroom and headed down the stairs, ignoring the stares of my sisters. Once I stepped of the last step I hurried off towards the front door and opened it quickly. I ran down the porch steps and rejoiced as I felt the soil and grass under my skin. Within seconds my body began to relax and feel at ease. I didn’t really know where I was headed all I knew was that with every step I felt more like myself. As I walked pasted Catherine and Harper’s house I couldn’t help but turn and look at it, know that Caleb and Liam were inside. I don’t know what it is about those boys but they drew me in, they called to me. Noticing some movement form inside I quickly turned away from the house and continued to where ever it was I was going. I longed to go into the woods and run but if Harper said is true I didn’t want to be out there on my own. I had seen what had happened to unmated males when a female went into heat, as I am younger than most I would have no way of fighting them off. Of this was only possible if Harper was correct, at the moment it was not for certain. I hoped that wasn’t the case I don’t how I would handle it. I remember seeing my sister’s going to heat, luckily so far Sapphire and Ruby had yet to go into to heat but coral and pearl. I grimace just thinking about it. I remember hearing them screaming out at night at the beginning, then after that they had watched closely, as they would attracted every unmated male around them. In some cases they would from themselves at them. Luckily their mates were close by and helped them through it. What would happen to me if I was heat, I had no mate to ease the fire and pain. Normal a female would only be in heat for a week but that was because her mate would quench the desire inside her. How long would I be heat for? What would I do to end my torture? I couldn’t be in heat I just couldn’t. Harper had to have been mistaken. Of course going into heat would occur because a female had found her mate. I know I have suspicions that the masked stranger was possible my mate but I can’t go into heat without shifting I just can’t. I thought were interrupted as I heard movement form behind me. Without realising had walk almost all the way around the pack grounds and I wasn’t too far from home. What worried was though, when turned to investigate the noise I saw several males sniffing the air and a couple slowly making their way towards me. Starting to feel uncomfortable by the way they were look at me and started to walk faster praying I would make it back home before they reached me. As my beloved home came into view I started to feel relieved and continued to pick up my pace. Eventually I made it to the steps of my front porch, I let out a sigh of relief but I was short lived. Before I could take a step onto the porch I suddenly became aware of a strong presence behind. It made my body tingle and heat up, part of me was scared and yet another was excited. I could sense them stepping closer to me; I could feel their body heat against my back setting my body alight.

     “Hello Jade.” He said.