It's been a few weeks since I started dating Kyle. We're at his place, ready to have our alone time. He hasn't exactly been needy when it comes to physical intimacy.
At the same time, I don't want to back away from doing it, as I did with the others I'd dated before.
Kyle's kisses are gentle. Slowly but steadily I begin to enjoy them. When he starts to kiss my neck, he whispers my name.
And in that instant, for a second, I thought I was with Luke. I never had a deja vu moment like this with anyone before and it makes me confused, as a flood of memories of the time I spent with Luke when I ran away with him comes to my mind.
My chest starts to tighten, and breathing becomes hard. I move away from Kyle. He starts to get worried. "Rose, are you alright?"
The last time I was in heat was when I was in Luke's arms. And now those memories that I had suppressed have triggered my heat, after five long years.
"M-My phone," I say. Kyle quickly gives me my phone. I call Claire. Panting, I ask her to bring me the inhibitor.
"Rose, we need to go to the hospital," Kyle says.
I shake my head. "I'm fine. Claire will soon be here with the medicine."
Because Kyle is a human, he is not affected by my heat.
I forgot how painful being in heat can be. And when it decided to come back, my heat came back with a vengeance. I drink the cold water Kyle gives me, but it doesn't help.
And it also doesn't help that my mind keeps going back to the past.
After our families and pack found out about our mates, they gave Claire and me two choices. Either go to our mates (and never come back) or go to Australia and start to forget about our mates.
We chose the later. But I wasn't ready to leave just yet. I wanted to do something before I left. I wanted to sleep with Luke.
Claire was against it. But I thought if I could be with Luke, even if for only a night, I might be able to move on. It was selfish of me, but that seemed like the only way I could leave Moore Cliff without regret.
I knew Luke would never agree to that.
So I lied to him.
I asked him to run away with me. I told him I'll leave everyone behind and go with him.
He believed me. We left. Only Claire knew what was going on, and that I would come back. Sid and everyone else thought I'd run away for real, and for that, Sid never forgave me.
I stayed with Luke for two days before I told him the truth and left him. It was the most painful moment of my life. He pleaded, he threatened. I saw tears in his eyes. But I still left.
Claire soon arrives at Kyle's place and gives me the injection. I reassure Kyle that I'm perfectly alright before leaving with Claire.
"What happened?" she asks me on our way.
I tell her everything.
––––
Having that heat took a toll on my body. I slept until the afternoon today. Claire skips her work and stays with me.
Feeling thirsty, I get up and head for the kitchen. After gulping down a glass of water, I walk back to the living room. That's when the front door forcefully opens.
It was like the world stood still when I saw Luke's face. But that stillness lasted less than a second.
"Did you do it?" Luke angrily asks. "Did you sleep with him?!"
He comes towards me without stopping. Everything's happening too fast, and my body doesn't move.
Luckily, Claire comes between us on time. And Ben stops Luke.
When the feelings on my legs return, I move behind Claire.
"Did you sleep with him?" Luke shouts.
My voice doesn't come out.
"She didn't," Claire says. "She had her heat. That's what you must've sensed."
I don't know how that was possible. But that seems like the only explanation for the sudden appearance of the two boys we ran away from in our living room.
"How?" Luke asks. "How did her heat trigger?!"
"Kyle reminded her of you. She started to remember everything, and her heat came. It was you who triggered it. So calm down, now," Claire says.
Luke doesn't calm down, but he stops pushing against Ben to reach me.
Ben turns around and faces Claire. "How long are you both going to torture us this?" he asks.
Claire's eyes well up. "B-Ben."
"This needs to stop," Ben says. "Please, Claire."
"It's not that simple," she says.
"It is simple. Can't you see what this is doing to us? Clearly, none of us has moved on. So why are you keeping us apart?"
"That's not what I heard. You've someone by your side now," she says.
"And so do you. We all have someone by our side who we're stringing along with no intention to commit. The longer we keep doing this, the more we're hurting them, Claire."
A sharp pain starts in my chest. I struggle to keep standing. It doesn't feel like heat, but the pain is as strong. Yesterday's heat must've left me vulnerable. The state of my emotions is beginning to reflect in my body.
Claire steadies me. When Luke approaches, she stops him.
"She needs me!" Luke says.
Reluctantly Claire moves away. The instant Luke holds me, it feels like I am breathing for the first time, and up to now, I've been living my life while holding my breath.
My body, however, still feels weak and is not ready to feel all the feelings Luke's embrace is giving me. I start to lose my consciousness. But I hold onto it long enough to utter his name. "Luke."
––––
When I wake up in my room, I'm lying on my bed beside Luke. Naturally, I get up to leave the bed but Luke pulls me back. "I'm not going to let you leave me again," he says.
He pulls me to his chest. Looking closely at him, I realize Luke is no longer a boy but a grown man. Kyle indeed looks like Luke, the Luke I remember from my past. But he's nothing like the Luke I'm looking at now.
The boyish charm of Luke is replaced with the regality of a Beta. His once sharp eyes now look powerful. His then clean, smooth jaw now has a stubble.
Luke looks older than his age, in a good way.
He moves my hair behind my ear and starts to kiss me.
Even the way he kisses has changed. It's not gentle anymore, but domineering and demanding, and I unconsciously submit and yield.
I kiss him back.
When he starts to take off my clothes, I stop him. "I can't," I tell him.
He tightens his grip around my waist. "This time I won't listen. Even if I've to put my mark on your neck without your permission, I'll do it."
"Luk–"
"No, Rose. I gave you all the time in the world. But neither you could move on, nor could I. We still are mates. I'm taking you with me. That's final."
I shake my head. "No. You promised me." I pull out the chain I've been carrying on me for half a decade. I show him the ring. Tears start flowing down my eyes. "You said I'll get to choose the menu. I'll get the flowers I want. And everyone will be there. Everyone."
I bury my face in his chest and cry. He hugs me tighter.
Luke might have changed. But I have not. I'm still the same girl who's holding onto the ring he gave me with a promise.
