by Jade Royal
“Look, about the way I attacked you--”
“You don’t have to explain it,” Jaxson said. “I’m sure it’s not real easy for you.”
“She feels the bond. She just doesn’t want to commit. Coming from a past like hers, I don’t blame her, but I don’t know how much longer I can go without completing the bond, and the full moon is nearing. I can’t be going crazy when I have to help a pup change and deal with a human transition, and I’m afraid of losing control because of this.”
“I understand. I pray I do not find my mate any time soon. All this shit is too much.” Kellan grimaced as a feeling passed through him.
“What?” Jaxson asked.
“Gemma.” Kellan breathed, and he rushed around the cabin to the front. Gemma was just beyond the porch holding her stomach as her body convulsed and pulsed. Her eyes were turned to her wolf eyes, and she was growling. Her father and mother were trying to soothe her, but Gemma lashed out at them.
“Get back!” Kellan snapped at them. With Gemma being close to puberty and with the full moon around the corner, anything could have triggered her wolf. With a born wolf, you could never stop a shift from happening. It was like when a female had their menstrual cycle; it was going to come when it wanted to, and right now, she looked on the verge of shifting. The problem with that was when wolves shifted for the first time, their hormones were almost uncontrollable, especially a she-wolf, and once one she-wolf went into heat, she triggered other she -ves.
“She’s gonna go into heat, Gabe!” Kellan shouted at her father. “I can’t stop her from shifting.”
“But-but-she’s not due for puberty yet!”
“That doesn’t matter right now! Tristan! Get all the she-wolves deep in the woods for now--including Bliss.” Even as Kellan gave the order, Tristan didn’t move. He was locked into place, looking down at Gemma. His wolf eyes were sparkling. Gemma was looking right at him, as she got on her knees, holding her stomach.
“Are you going to be her first?” Gabe asked. In old traditional packs, the alpha was the one who took care of she-wolves reaching puberty. They would be the ones to satisfy the heating needs of the wolf, but that’s not the kind of pack Kellan was running.
“No!” Kellan stated. “And I think she already has eyes on a particular wolf.”
“TRISTAN!” Kellan boomed throwing his alpha waves at the wolf. Tristan immediately snapped out of his trance.
“Mine!” Gemma growled at Tristan.
“No.” Tristan breathed shaking his head. “No.” He took off hurriedly pulling Kyra and Rita along with him.
“Bliss, come on!”
“No, I’m staying here!” Kellan looked towards his mate that stood close by. He went to her.
“Sweetie, you have to go. Your wolf is going to get triggered into shifting, and it’s gonna be a heating frenzy. Unlike Gemma, you can’t shift at will. It has to be a full moon. Your wolf tries to shift now, it’ll kill you. Please just go with Tristan.” Kellan didn’t have time to see if Bliss listened to him. Gemma let out a shrill howl. Her bones popped and snapped as she began to shift. Kellan went to her side. She rolled all over the ground, contorting as if she was having an exorcism, but in a way, she was. Naturally, her heating waves pulsed energy around her. All the nearby males except her father were affected. Kellan felt himself growing hard, and both Jayce and Jaxson were fighting their wolves back. Kellan didn’t shift because his wolf might lose control and mount her the moment she shifted because naturally, that’s just what they did when a she-wolf was in heat, so he stayed human and dealt with his body’s response to her arousal. If Tristan hadn’t run off, he’d be able to satisfy her heat, but knowing his possible mate was right in front of him, he probably didn’t want to deal with it.
Fur erupted over Gemma’s skin as her wolf finally began to take over. Gemma let out a half scream half howl as her mouth and nose transformed. Her tail burst from her backside and paws took place of her hands and feet. With a burst of energy, her wolf fully emerged. The wolf fell to the ground, her energy depleted from her shift.
“No one move.” Kellan ordered. “If she gets spooked, she’s gonna take off.” No one, even him took a step to the new wolf.
“Gemma.” Kellan called. “Talk to me.” But she didn’t speak. It was vital that Gemma be able to talk to him because that meant she had consciousness inside her wolf. If not, it meant the wolf had completely taken over, and Gemma would have been lost.
“Gemma, come on,” Kellan said, panicking that she was going rogue.
“She said she’s afraid.” Bliss spoke up. Kellan looked at his mate. “She’s talking to me in my mind. She said she’s scared and doesn’t know what to do.”
“Tell her to connect with her animal,” Kellan said. This was the second time a she-wolf had reached out to Bliss when they were in a panicked state.
“Bliss, go up to the wolf. But walk very slowly.”
“What? But I don’t know-”
“It’ll be fine, sweetie. Just remember what you did with Kyra. Let the wolf feel your alpha vibes, and she will be relaxed around you, then help Gemma shift back into her human form.”
Bliss took several deep breaths before she walked slowly towards the wolf. She was already letting her alpha vibes wave out towards the wolf. The animal looked at her but didn’t move. Bliss knelt next to her and petted her softly.
Have you been connecting with your animal, Gemma? Bliss asked.
Yes. She wants to see our mate.
Convince her she’ll see him soon, but she has to let you out. Kellan said you have to imagine what you looked like as a human and tell your wolf you want to be human again.
While Gemma connected further with the wolf, Bliss coaxed the wolf into keeping calm to let Gemma take over again. Then, next thing Bliss knew, the wolf’s fur was receding, and in a splash of energy, the wolf was gone, and Gemma was laying on Bliss’ lap naked. A wave of hot energy washed over Bliss. She felt her stomach tie into knots as she began to pant heavily. The panties she was wearing were soaked immediately. Gemma groaned in pain while still holding her stomach. Kellan came over to check on Gemma. She sensed the presence of a male and latched onto him.
“No, Gemma,” Kellan said showing her his wolf eyes and sending his alpha waves at her. She whined and backed off.
“Why is she doing that?” Bliss asked.
“She’s in heat, and she’s going to be in pain until it dies out or until someone satisfies her, which no one here apparently wants to do.” Bliss groaned and held her own stomach feeling the same knots Gemma was feeling.
“Oh no,” Kellan said. “Gabe, bring Gemma to your tent and keep her comfortable. She’ll have to be isolated until she starts bleeding and her heat is over.” Gabe nodded in understanding. Kellan picked Bliss up and headed towards the woods to meet up with the others while Gabe carried his daughter to their tent.
The further Bliss got away from Gemma, the more her cramps dissipated. She sighed and rested in Kellan’s arms. She couldn’t imagine having to go through that kind of pain for how many hours. When they reached a clearing, Kellan put her down. Tristan was pacing while everyone else was scattered around.
“You should go and relieve her,” Kellan said to him. Tristan shook his head. It was obvious the concern and fright in his eyes. He wasn’t ready to deal with having found his mate yet.
“Well then, by tonight, she will be better. She’ll still be in heat but not enough to trigger any of us. Now that she’s turned, Jaxson, those lessons you are going to give will be essential to helping her control her wolf, but you have to tread lightly while dealing with her. She’s going to be sensitive in a lot of ways.”
“Lessons?” Bliss asked.
“Yeah, the defense lessons like I was giving you. Kellan has approved of me giving more lessons to you, Rita, Gemma, and Kyra.” The females clapped and cheered, excited to be learning defense.
“Why did you run from her?” Bliss asked suddenly. She was looking at Trist
an. “With the way Kellan has explained mating, it’s very important, and wolves understand that when you find your mate, you become mated, but Gemma, you ran away from her.”
“It’s important to our culture, Bliss, but it’s far more important for Kellan to mate because he’s the alpha. It’s not important for me to mate right now.”
“Well, why not?”
“Not really any of your business, is it?” He gritted.
“But--” Tristan cut her off by growling at her. Kellan shot a glare at Tristan. The wolf didn’t need to feel his alpha’s vibe to know he needed to stop. He was actually lucky Kellan didn’t attack him. He was crazy for growling at his alpha’s mate, but thinking that a newly turned seventeen-year-old she-wolf was his mate made him panic. What was an old fuck like him going to do with a young, innocent mate?
“You wolves confuse me.” Bliss shook her head.
“You wolves?” Kellan asked. “Forget you’re one of us now?”
“How can I?” Bliss flexed her back, feeling a tingling through her body. She cracked her neck and breathed through the weird feeling.
“You okay?” Rita asked her.
“Yeah. I felt something when Gemma shifted back, but the feeling is going away now.” Bliss thought back to the way Gemma shifted.
“So, that’s how shifting for the first time looks, huh?” Bliss asked.
“Yup,” Kyra said. “The shifting isn’t so bad. It’s the damn heating cycle that comes after it. I nearly cut my damn clit out so the endless throbbing would stop.”
“I don’t understand.” Bliss started. “Why is there a heating cycle after you shift for the first time?”
“It’s just a sign of maturity and puberty,” Jaxson said. “It’s your body telling you that you’re ready to have pups. For males, after we shift, we are stronger, gain muscle, and we can effectively produce pups. We can fuck whenever we want, but our sperm can’t make shit until we hit puberty and shift. Same thing for females.”
“But what about my case?” Bliss asked. “I went through puberty in my human years. I’ve had my period since I was fourteen, so technically, I could have babies now if I wanted. What changes for me with me shifting?”
“Well, if you’re pregnant right now, Bliss, your baby is going to die the moment you do shift,” Rita said. Bliss was actually horrified, and very thankful she wasn’t carrying a fetus.
“During pregnancy, Bliss, she-wolves don’t shift. It gets hard for them sometimes, but shifting kills the pup.” Jaxson informed her.
“So, if I got pregnant after I shifted, my baby would be a shifter, or can I get pregnant by a human male?” The moment the question left her mouth, she heard Kellan growling.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” She spoke up immediately. “It’s just that Maverick wanted a baby with me, and I was human.”
“It all depends on certain factors. Maverick is an idiot for trying to get you pregnant, Bliss. Any of us would be stupid to get a human pregnant or to get pregnant by a human. It’s not like interracial dating. We procreate with humans, then our kind will start to disappear. I’m not at all prejudice, but I’d like my pups to actually be pups.” Jayce commented. Rita scoffed loudly.
“It’s hard to believe you want pups in the first place.” She scoffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. Jayce growled at her.
“Yeah, well it don’t matter, now does it?” He snapped at her.
“Doesn’t matter?” She gasped. “How doesn’t it matter?”
“We’re in a new pack now, Rita, which means ain’t none of us having pups until our alpha does, so be pissed at me all you fucking want to. Ain’t shit I can do about it!” Bliss was surprised such a tone was coming from Jayce. He’d been nothing but level headed and calm around her, and for him to be snapping at Rita no less, Bliss was confused.
“Why can’t you have pups until the alpha does?” Bliss asked.
“That’s just the way it works with packs, Bliss,” Rita said. “The only time a wolf becomes an alpha is because they’re born as dominant wolves, lineage, and a battle to the death, but nowadays, no wolf kills to become an alpha--except for Maverick. Naturally, an alpha will have pups who grow to be dominant wolves and take on the role of being alpha in another pack or his father’s pack. In a sense, packs keep a certain order. We’re all bound by blood, so we’re connected. No one in the pack can have a pup before the alpha pair does, and if the alpha can’t produce offspring, he’s going to be challenged.” Rita informed her.
“If that’s the case, how come you all are the same age?” Bliss asked pointing to the four men.
“We’re not the same age, Bliss, and the minute Kellan gets you pregnant is the minute any other member of the pack can get pregnant.”
“Who said anything about Kellan knocking me up!” Bliss exclaimed.
“Yeah, sure.” Jayce scoffed. He leaned against a tree glaring at Rita. She was glaring right back at him, and they seemed to be having a conversation, but none of their mouths were moving. Both of their faces made expressions, and they made gestures as if they were talking. After two minutes, Jayce finally stomped off. Rita turned away from the group, but Bliss saw the lone tear that rolled down her cheek.
“First you and Bliss…” Jaxson started. “Then Rita and Jayce, and now Gemma and Tristan? Oh, I am not eager to find my mate. Too much fucking drama.”
“Jayce and Rita are together!” Bliss gasped.
“No, but it’s blatantly obvious they got a thing for one another. Too bad they aren’t mating though.”
Kellan looked at the disarray in his pack, and he felt like he was already failing them. He rubbed his eyes and began walking off so he could think.
Don’t go far, Bliss spoke into his mind. He turned and looked at her. She was looking at him longingly. He was going to have a serious talk with her. With his pack in this delicate state, he needed her to mate with him and be at his side. An alpha pair was stronger than an alpha alone, and he needed Bliss to be his. If not, there was no way he was going to be able to stand being near her.
Chapter Fourteen
By nightfall that night, the pack members returned to the cabin, but the pulses of Gemma’s heat was still radiating around the area. Everyone ignored it as best as they could, but it was hard, especially for the females.
Gemma’s heat cycle was going on for three days, and it was unbearable. Even Bliss, who hadn’t shifted yet, was feeling the effects.
“When is it going to be over?” Bliss asked as sweat dripped down her temple. She was fanning herself feeling like her body wouldn’t cool down.
“It should be over soon. I’m just sorry for Gemma. Three days of a heat cycle and no one to relieve the pain,” Kyra said.
“It hurts that bad?” Bliss questioned.
“It’s pain when you have no relief, trust me.” Bliss winced as pain lanced through her abdomen. She quickly hid her expression not wanting anyone to worry.
“I think we should do something other than just sit here,” Bliss said. “My skin is crawling like a muthafucker, and with this heat thing, I just want to do something. I can’t be still.”
“We should do some training with Jaxson then,” Rita said. “And I need to do something too because if I see Jayce, I’m afraid of what I’ll do.”
“What’s the story between you two?” Bliss asked.
“One I don’t wanna talk about right now,” she said. Bliss could understand. She was coming from a complicated past too.
The women walked out of the bedroom and went to find Jaxson. Him, along with Kellan, Jayce, and Tristan were sitting outside watching the perimeter of the cabin. The other members of the pack were loitering around their tents. Kellan was talking about nearby packs to send people to when the women came out. The moment the women were present, Kellan stopped talking and looked up at them. He had a bag in his hand as well, and Bliss remembered him leaving the cabin earlier to head to town for something, but when he came back, he didn’t make it clear as to w
hat it was he needed to get.
“What’s in the bag?” Bliss asked him, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“Something to help Gemma.” She waited for him to continue, but that was all he said. Bliss shrugged realizing he didn’t want to say anything else.
“Jaxson, can you train with us?” Bliss asked. “We need something to do.”
“Good idea,” he said standing up. He stripped off his shirt and was ready to go. Rita looked at Jayce, and the temptation to run to him was hard to resist, but Kyra took her hand and helped her walk away from him.
“Lemme talk to you, Bliss, before you go,” Kellan said standing. At that cue, both Tristan and Jayce took off. Tristan looked towards the tent Gemma was occupying before shaking his head and walking off.
“What?” Bliss asked Kellan.
“It’s about us.” Bliss rolled her eyes, not ready to have this conversation.
“What about us?”
“Are you going to continue to deny our bond?”
“Are you going to continue to pester me into mating with you, even though I hardly know you?” She countered.
“Don’t be stubborn about this. You’ve been exuding the same energy I have. You’re jealous, territorial, and need me around you. Why are we putting ourselves through agony and not just completing the mating bond?”
“Because I don’t want to be attached to a man right now, Kellan, and my wolf is making me do all those things! I’m not doing it because I want to.” She snapped.
“Really? That’s how you feel?” Bliss nodded.
“Remember, I’m only staying here so you can help me shift, and then I’m out. I can’t be tied down again, and I have a mission now, and you won’t help me. Taking out Maverick is my new purpose, and if you’re going to hold me back, then I’m going to leave.”
“So, what? I give you this power, and you turn and use it to become a killer?” Kellan asked. “Is that the type of woman you are?”
“He nearly killed me!” she yelled.