by Lila Rose
I knew why my uncle hadn’t given it to me to study, because I had refused to tell him about my feline side. Still, he could have given it to me recently, instead of Jezanna.
“Don’t be upset with your uncle. You were out. I was supposed to pass it along to you, but I got caught up reading and couldn’t stop.”
I offered a stiff nod. “What are you getting at, Jezza?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but someone behind me cleared their throat. “Excuse me.” It was a familiar male voice.
Turning, I came face-to-face with Rodney. He was a friend of Jason’s, only he was a nicer one. At least he wasn’t there the night Jason and his mates helped MaryJane.
What was even stranger than the men staring at us was Rodney had never approached me before. So of course, I wanted to know why. “What can I do for you?”
His smile was big and bright. His eyes lit with something I wasn’t used to seeing, kindness, eagerness as well. “I was hoping you’d want to go out with me tonight?”
Um… Huh?
“No,” was yelled. Spinning, I looked over Jezanna’s shoulder to see Malcom. He worked in the Chinese takeaway place down the road. He stepped up to us. “Go out with me, please, Leila.”
My shocked gaze turned to Jezanna. Her eyes were as wide as mine. Men around us started shouting out their complaints towards Rodney and Malcom, and then following through with their own invite for dinner. Some even forwent the invitation for dinner and had went straight for a party in their bedroom.
“Shit, shit, shit,” rattled off Jezanna’s tongue. It was the first time I’d ever heard her swear, so I knew whatever was happening was serious. She pushed the trolley towards the approaching men, then took my wrist in her hand and pulled me down the aisle to the front of the shop, shoving men out of her way as she went. They tried to grab me, grope me and begged me to stay. Jezanna picked up speed as she ran us through the front glass sliding doors.
Xavier was at our sides the next second, his face full of concern. He’d been waiting out the front after checking the grocery store was clear of anything other than humans. “What is it?”
“We must get Leila home and now. Call in Sophie, Raven. Jesus, any female fighters we have close.”
“What?”
“No, Xavier, please just do it.”
A nod and he propelled me into his arms where he raced us to the car. Behind us, I saw the doors to the store open again and all the men rushed out of it. Before Xavier threw me into the car, all I could hear was my name being called over and over. Their voices sounded so pained, filled with anguish and loss because I was leaving.
This shit was starting to freak me the hell out.
Xavier jumped in and started the car. Jezanna was already in the passenger seat, her phone to her ear.
“Jezanna?”
“Please wait.” She hit her hand to the dash. “Come on, answer,” she cried.
Looking to Xavier, he also had his phone to his ear, mumbling something I couldn’t hear into it. “What’s happening to them?” I mumbled to myself. “Is there a new drug going around?” Maybe some type of gas had leaked into the town.
“Jack, finally. We have a problem. Leila tells me she doesn’t turn nineteen until a couple of months and you would have read what I did in the book—”
“What in the hell happened?”
“Men swarmed her at the store.” Jezanna glanced behind her and out the back window of the car. “We’re being followed by at least five different vehicles. We’ll be taking her to our house. There’s a basement we can hold her in until this passes. Make sure you warn all men to stay away. Xavier, who is not feeling the pull, is calling in the women within both our circles to help keep them out.”
“Fuck,” he yelled. “Fuck, we had time. We had time.”
“Did Leila’s mother tell Justin her birthdate?”
“Christ, hang on.” We could hear Jack call out the question to my dad. “Shit. No, she didn’t. He just placed it at the day he got her.”
Jezanna sighed. “Meaning we have a big problem to deal with and no time to prepare.”
My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. My body shook. I felt cold, but my body was extra hot still.
Answers, I needed them.
“Exactly. I’ll warn the men. Call Isaac, he’d left early on a mission. Tell him what’s happening and to stay away.” He swore again. “You take care of her, Jezanna.”
“With my life,” she whispered and then slid the phone away from her ear. She looked to Xavier. “Tell me they’re coming.”
“They are and Seraphine arrived back last night.”
“Good, we’ll need her.”
“Hold the fuck on. Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on with me?”
Ignoring me, Jezanna asked Xavier, “Since you’re not affected, please call in Jensen as well.”
“I will as soon as I know what’s going on and before Leila bursts a blood vessel with concern.”
Jezanna turned in her seat to face me. “I’m sorry, Leila, but I needed to act first before the information was passed because things are about to become difficult for us.”
“How?” I snapped.
“A passage in the book caught my attention, which is another reason I hadn’t passed it along. I wanted to prepare for it and help you through it in any way I could because it will be hard to… comprehend.”
“Jezanna,” I whined. “Get on with it.”
“On your nineteenth birthday, you will go into ‘heat.’”
My hand went up to silence her. I studied her face for any signs of hilarity, but couldn’t find any. “You have got to be kidding me. I’m not some dog.” She couldn’t be serious, not really. Shaking my head at the thought, I started laughing. It was plain-old ridiculous. I was going into heat. Heat like a bloody cat. What the fuck? No way, no how.
A hand touched my knee. Seeing it was Jezanna’s, I glanced up to her. “No, Leila. I’m not joking. House cats go through it as well, but again, it’s different for werecats,” she stated with an apologetic tone.
“That shit does not happen. This is real life, people. Why in the hell would I go into heat?” I scoffed. “No. Nope. Nuh-uh.”
“How can you explain the reaction from the men down the street?” she asked.
Hell. I didn’t know. Therefore, I offered a shrug.
“Leila, I am sorry this is happening, but it’s uncontrollable. The desire the men feel is undeniable. They will lust after you until this passes. They will try anything to get within arm’s reach of you. They want you. They need to hear your voice, touch your skin and the urge to want to be inside of you is unmanageable. Their mind only has one thought, which is to claim you.”
“When will it end?”
“Either in a couple of days or…” she trailed off. Her pinched eyes told me she was worried.
“Or what, Jezza?” I growled.
“Or it will pass if your mate claims you.”
Mate? I didn’t understand the mate talk. But it was coming up more and more. MaryJane and Kalvin. Even Isaac mentioned something about it, but I couldn’t recall what he’d said.
“I don’t have a mate, so it looks like I’m going to have to put up with stalkers for a few days. Jesus.”
Jezanna shook her head. “Everyone has a mate. It’s lucky if we find them in this life. Some have even gone through many lives and never found theirs.”
Believing it was another story. I wasn’t ready to burst Jezanna’s bubble because I could tell she thought she’d already found hers with Caelen.
“Why don’t I feel any different if I’m in heat?”
She bit her bottom lip.
“Jezanna?”
“The only change you will have is the difference in your scent, which is a calling card to men, and feeling warmer than usual. That is until the night passes onto your actual birthday.”
“And then?”
She cringed. Shit, I’m not going to like this. “Then
, you will feel the change. Your body will… God, I don’t know how to say it.” She ran her hand over her face. “Your body will desire a release.”
Slumping back in the seat, I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Jezza. “Are you trying to tell me I’ll become some horny slut?”
“Um, yes.” She nodded.
I snorted. It was all unbelievable, yet the men’s reaction to me at the store was proof to some of it. Still, I couldn’t see myself wanting to fuck everything in sight.
“So what, I just have to twiddle my nub and I’ll be okay?”
Xavier coughed out a laugh. I leaned forward and hit him in the back of the head.
“Sorry.” He smirked.
“Watch it or I’ll hump your leg.”
He cringed. “Note to self: stay away from Leila.”
“Leila,” Jezanna said, catching my attention. “If you did do what you said, it will only give you release for a moment. You will not be satisfied until this passes or your mate hears your call.”
“My call?”
“What the men are feeling from taking in your scent is mild compared to when midnight comes. Your body will send out a pulse until it finds your mate. It will call to him and he’ll have no control over it until he seeks you out and claims you.”
“And this is if I have a mate.”
“Yes.”
“Fuck, what about Isaac?” It would kill him if some stranger came to claim me.
“Isaac may be your mate, but…”
Nodding, I said it myself, “He’s not here. How far away did he have to go?”
“A few of his people needed his help. He couldn’t have left them, Leila. They were in trouble.”
“Meaning, he’s too far away.”
Sinking into the seat, disappointment washed over me. Then again, I was being stupid thinking Isaac could be my mate. Especially when I didn’t believe in them.
“I feel like I’m on some other planet. Why does this only happen to werecats?”
“Apparently, because the werecats were a dying breed, one went to seek a witch’s aid for their species. A spell was placed upon all werecats so they were able to find their mates in their first lifetime, which could lead to reproducing more of their kind.”
A dry laugh escaped me. “So a witch spelled us into horny wenches that put a call out to our mates so we can get knocked up?”
“Nice way to sum it up, Leila,” Xavier commented.
“Shut it, you. Okay, tell me.”
“No more time for stories.” Did that mean Xavier didn’t believe it either? “We’re here.”
Jezanna tensed and ordered, “As soon as the car stops, you get out and run for the door. I’ll be with you.”
It had been a long time since I was at Isaac’s house. Since the night my heart was crushed. Luckily, he’d mended it or I would have refused to enter the house. Everything looked the same. The house was still outrageously big, the drive was still long and the gardens were gorgeous, as always.
The only difference was out the front stood Sofia, Raven, Ty’s sister, Penny, Trixie and Daphne, who I’d met at Boozers, and three other vampire women I’d never met. One of them would have to have been the ever-absent Seraphine.
My gaze was torn from them when the car stopped in a jolt. No time to think, I threw my door open and I was out it, racing with Jezanna at my side for the house.
Trixie was at the opened door and I would have made it, if it wasn’t for the body tackling me to the ground.
“Jeremiah!” Jezanna screamed.
I was rolled over and Jeremiah loomed over me. His nose twitched as he drew in my scent. “You smell delicious.”
“No, brother,” Jezanna begged from our side. She gripped his arm, but he was strong. His nose ran along my collarbone.
“Boy, are you going to hate yourself for this in two days,” I said.
He pulled back to study me. “I won’t.”
“And I won’t for doing this either.” I cocked back my fist and threw it into his jaw. He tilted sideways, enough for Jezanna to drag me out from under him.
We started for the house. I glanced behind me to see Xavier, Penny and Trixie were holding back some men from the store who’d caught up with us. Sofia took Jeremiah to the ground after he tried to come at me again. Daphne ran to aid Sofia and together, they dragged Jeremiah away.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
We’d just slammed the front door closed when it opened again, causing me to scream, which I was ashamed of. But hell, weird shit was happening. Of course, I was going to be scared when the strange stuff was because of me, and because men wanted to hump me.
Penny leaned her back against it, breathing hard. “I-I,” she panted, her hand went to her chest. “I can’t control them, can’t take away their thought of Leila. Nothing I do works.” Her voice was tight with agitation.
“I was afraid of this.” Jezanna sighed. “Penny, thank you for coming to help. For now, stay inside and let the vampires control the situation.”
She nodded. “I’ll have to. I’m strong, I know how to fight, but they’re crazy out there and even the vampires are having a hard time.”
Jezanna left my side and walked into the sitting room. There, I saw her look out the window. “Jensen is here, which will help, and…”
“What?”
She actually giggled. “Sofia has knocked out my brother. I hope he stays that way, the stubborn git. He would have stayed, thinking he was strong enough to ignore the pull.”
“It’s going to be a long two nights,” Penny said.
“So you know what’s going on?” I asked as Jezanna came back to my side. She steered me down the hallway. Only instead of heading to the kitchen, she made a left and we went down another long hallway.
“Yes, Jack rang and filled us in.”
How fucking embarrassing.
Her hand touched my back as we walked. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like any of it really is your fault.”
Scoffing, I said, “Feels like it.”
“It is not,” Jezanna bit out. “You weren’t to know a spell was put upon werecats. You should have been prepared. Maybe with more time it would have helped.” I snorted. “You’re right. Nothing would have helped.”
“This is something that will only happen this year, right?”
“Thankfully, yes. Which is also why the spell isn’t 100 percent guaranteed for you to find your mate.”
At least there was that. One year of total embarrassment. “Where are we going?” I asked when we turned down another hallway.
“To the dun—basement.”
“You were going to say dungeons? You’re taking me to the dungeons?” Pictures of dark, dreary, damp dungeons flashed in my mind. “Are you going to chain me as well?”
She laughed, stopping at the top of some stairs that wound down and around. “Don’t be silly,” she said before starting down the stairs. Frozen in place, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go down there. Closed-in places scared me senseless. “Leila, get down here. Maybe if we have you underground, the pull may ease enough for Penny to work her magic or for us to get them away from here without too much of a fight.”
It made sense. It really did. However, it was a bloody dungeon. Underground. Small. Dark. Scary.
“You will be safe,” she called back up.
“I’m a person who loves freedom, Jezanna,” I called. “Not being cramped in a tiny, stinky room. Probably with dead people from ages ago.” I turned to Penny with wide eyes. Her pity showed, but I also saw she thought I should do it. She nodded towards the stairs.
“Let’s walk down together.” She took my hand in hers and stepped down on the first step. I hesitated, until she took another step and tugged on my hand. Soon, I found myself following her.
What felt like a million steps later, we came to a door, which was propped open by Jezanna. She shifted and a light sprung to life.
Penny walked in first, then I followed with Jezanna behind me. M
y mouth dropped open. The room was huge. Dropping Penny’s hand, I turned this way and that, looking at everything around me. A TV was mounted on the wall next to the door. A slim desk was under it holding a DVD player and Xbox. To the far side of the room was a couch and coffee table. In the middle lay a four-posted king-sized bed. Paintings were scattered on all walls. I calmed immediately. To the right of the room was another door. I walked to it and opened it.
The bathroom resembled Isaac’s en suite. It was spacious with a double shower and large Jacuzzi, a toilet and washbasin. There was even another TV mounted on the wall above the bath.
Turning, I asked a smiling Jezanna, “Why do you have this down here?”
“Newly-turned vampires are sensitive to light. For their comfort during daylight hours, until they grow out of it, they stay here. As soon as we arrived to town, we changed the dungeon into a room where they would be happy in. It never takes vampires long for renovations.”
“You could have said this upstairs,” I said, exasperated.
“I know.” She smiled.
We all jumped when something crashed upstairs.
“Incoming,” was yelled.
“We must go. I’ll get food down to you soon. For now, open the coffee table top and you’ll find snacks and bottled water.”
“Fuck!” a female screamed. “You’re lucky you’re human or I would have sucked your bone marrow out, you little shit.”
“Who—?”
“Seraphine.” Jezanna spun and walked out of the bathroom. I followed. “Come, Penny, we have to help.” She looked back to me. Penny waved over Jezanna’s shoulder before Jezanna said, “We will keep you safe. I promise.”
“I know. I’m just sorry I can’t help fight.”
“There will be no blood spilt tonight. It’s best you keep yourself for the real battle to come.” With a nod from me, she walked out, shut the door and called back, “Lock it, Leila.”
I went over and did just that. Turning back to the quiet room, I eyed my surroundings once again. Another bang sounded from above me. It was unfair to let them deal with this because of me. But I had no choice and it sucked.
Staying still wasn’t an option. My body twitched in agitated movements. I needed to relieve the ache between my legs that my whole body felt. My skin was tender to the touch. I was burning up and my breasts felt tingly as much as my core did. Wetness soaked my panties. I would remove them, but if I did, I knew I’d do anything to have someone help me with the throbbing sensation. I paced around virtually naked, my clothing long gone because it hurt to have them on my sensitive skin, all except a sports bra and my panties.