Mated

Heat

Kieran rolled over on the pullout sofa with a small grunt; comfortable as it may be, he still managed to find a bar with his low back. He pulled himself closer to his new mate and inhaled deeply against her hair. She smelled good. Better than usual. She had an almost exotic and erotic smell to her. He hummed and breathed her in, moving to kiss on the side of her neck. She murmured in her sleep, shifting her head against his, and fell still. He kept going. He pulled his body flush to hers, wrapping one leg possessively over both of hers, and nibbled at the exposed flesh of her neck.

"Kieran," she whined, shrugging her shoulder. Bone connected with his chin but he didn't care. "Kieran!"

"Hmm?" he hummed, moving to suckle her ear.

"Knock it off," she growled, sitting up in the bed. She untangled his leg from hers and tried to get out of the bed. He grunted and pulled her back. "I said NO!" she yelled and suddenly the side of his face lit up in pain. He shook his head, trying to process the fact that she had just slapped him, and tried once more to pull her back.

What is wrong with me? He wondered. She hit me and I still want her. Fiercely.

Another strike across the face and this one seemed to knock some sense into him. He let her go and she scrambled from the bed. He watched in confusion as she stormed towards the bathroom and hopped out of bed. He glanced down and seeing his erection, he immediately sat back down and put a blanket over his lap. She didn't need this. He didn't understand. Last night they had started to get hot and heavy and she had ended things abruptly and this morning she seemed to want nothing to do with him. Kieran got to his feet, erection be damned, and started pacing along the sofa. He felt a mixture of what was almost anxiety, arousal, and shame and movement was the only way to work it out.

"Kieran?" Lyric whispered from the hallway.

He glanced up and saw her standing there, pulling at the hem of his shirt she was wearing—almost like she wanted to cover herself—and her face was a deep red. She wouldn't look up from her toes, which were clenching and unclenching against the wood floor, and took a shaking breath. Kieran wanted to go to her but didn't trust himself.

"What's up?" he asked. He shuffled over to the sofa, hoping it would block any view of his arousal.

"I—I," she started. "I started my period!" She started crying at the last word.

Ding ding ding! The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Periods, also called a heat cycle, made mated males do all sorts of weird irrational things. This morning for instance.

"Lyric," he soothed, starting to walk towards her—his erection was gone as soon as her tears started flowing.

"Don't come near me!" she shouted, backing up several steps.

"What? Why? It's just your heat cycle," he said softly, but he stopped walking. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm scared," she cried. "M-my heat cycles ar-aren't like a normal werewolf."

"How so?"

"It's like it's more powerful or something," she gushed, wiping her face. "You shouldn't even be here. I should quarantine."

"Quarantine?!" he had to laugh. "Lyric, baby, you're on your fucking period. It's not like you can pass it to me."

"You don't get it!" she yelled through her tears.

"Explain it to me then." He wanted to growl at her in frustration. He also wanted to take her to bed and mate her.

"There's something about me," she whispered, her breath hitching. "My periods. They seem to make any male in the vicinity go nuts. You should go back to the house and leave me here, it's safer."