Wolf #2: The Beast Within [COMPLETED]

Chapter 50

A/N: Here is a little spicy chapter for y'all!

Warning: Mature and sexual themes

Chapter 50

I keel over for a moment, hands on my knees and breathing deep. Nancy lays a hand on my back but she lets go when I smile at her. Throughout the day, my body periodically has cramped up like most of the females.

The time for the pack's seasonal Heat has begun, and so have the fights between females too. Mallory has gone back to help Breccia with its Heat, which means that Nancy and I are left to deal with the waves of injuries and fights.

After a long day, I sprawl out on the couch in the apartment and kick off my shoes. Rachel is out for the evening to meet Olivia's family—something I know she's really nervous about. I send her a quick text of encouragement.

As I set my phone down, the door opens. Jace walks inside but doesn't make it a foot inside before he freezes. Our eyes lock onto one another.

"Mi reina," His voice is deeper nowadays, and I can't believe how much he has changed in just a short amount of time. It makes me hope that he actually has changed...but I can't believe—I can't fall for it...I also can't concentrate when he's standing only fifteen feet away from me.

This apartment isn't big enough to escape him when I'm like this.

For the briefest of moments, my breath quickens. My core feels like a newly-forged, iron rod. His amber eyes swirl as a soft, purring growl leaves my chest before I can swallow it down.

"How was your day?" I clear my throat and look away.

His eyes follow the curve of my stretched-out body, "Good. Spent the day with that asshat Beta."

I smirk, "Yeah, Mac's not very welcoming to newcomers."

"Nor should he be," Jace reads my mind and turns on the kettle. He grabs a mug and makes me a tea, "We're not part of this pack."

Everyone keeps saying to me like I need to be reminded.

I don't say anything to break the fragile peace between us. He's been surprisingly patient these past days and has been making a concerted effort to stop treating me like a clueless baby. And I've been trying my best to be open with him—I try to let him know about my day and catch him up on everything he missed while I've been up here in Alaska. It seems to have soothed his nerves too, and I have realized that Jace must have felt insecure about all the secrets I have had to keep from him over this past year.

"How are your ribs?"

"Tender, but much better." My eyes are heavy, and my body is beginning to cramp again. This Heat is going to be interesting, considering that I would be dealing with injured ribs too.

Thanks to Nancy and Mallory's skills, and a minutely faster ability to heal, my fractured ribs have mended fairly quickly. But they are still fragile and bruised. I have to be careful with what I do.

So far I haven't run or danced or sparred in over a week, and it's killing me. I've never been this inactive in years. My muscles are cramping up just from doing nothing. My Wolf wants to stretch out and shift, which is exhausting as well.

This was the worst time to go into Heat. I think about everything I have to try control and suppress. Visions, shifting, the ever-persistent powers inside me, and now my Heat.

The familiar, comforting sounds of Jace clanging and working in the kitchen make me sleepy though. I breathe in the air that has become saturated with his scent and sigh contently.