Ice Blue [ Book One ]

12 // Heat [ Part One ]

Some days I close my eyes and fade away
And I fade away
That's just the dark side of me
Some nights all the colors turn to grey
Just like the dark side of me
I'm not afraid of the dark

• • •

"You're staring at him again."

"I am not. I am sending him looks every so often to make sure he's not injuring himself."

"Sweetie, you're staring. Your eyes have not drifted from him in fifteen minutes."

I released a frustrated huff and glanced at Zaria who was smirking at me. "God, you're really whipped."

"Shut up, I am not whipped," I denied, sending her a small scowl, but made sure to make it look more playful than intense. "I am allowed to watch your alpha train the adolescents without making it look like I'm drooling over him," I said broadly, sticking my tongue out at her. "The other females do it."

Yes, and I did not like it one bit. Not that I would admit it. Having the females watch my mate like bitches in heat made me want to show them just how much more territorial a feline could be.

My thoughts quickly made me realize I was getting a bit too jealous. My relationship with Princeton, whatever it may be at the moment, was still young and new.

It didn't stop Princeton from immediately announcing to anyone who would listen that we were making it work and taking it slow. It was pretty cute to watch him talk so adoringly about me and kiss my cheek whenever he had the chance. He wasn't afraid to show me off and make me feel like a Queen.

Zaria rolled her eyes and tugged at a string on the padded wall of the gym, ripping it from the mat that was attached to the wall itself. She flicked the string to the ground like she was shooing away a pesky fly. "They're not 'watching the alpha train the adolescents', Rivera, but your trust in him is sweet."

My nostrils flared at her words, because she was both right and insensitive all at the same time. "Thanks for that," I said dryly, letting my icy gaze wander to a few females watching my mate like bitches in heat [ no pun intended ].

Heat. I almost shuddered at the thought. Werewolf females got their heats only after they've been marked and it's the full moon. Unmarked females will not go into heat when the full moon hits. It's to both prevent a male from assaulting an unwanting female that's not his mate, as well as to give mated couples a time stamp for their pregnancy.

When a she-wolf goes into heat, her ability to get pregnant is at its strongest. Of course, she can get pregnant like a human female without the heat based on her ovulation, but the heat is the most assured way of pregnancy for her. Wolves get pregnant easier than felines because of this heat cycle, and are less likely to miscarry if they conceive under the full moon. It's some freaky ass stuff, but it's how their systems work.

This cycle is also to bind the pack closer through spiritual closeness. Mated pairs will disappear for the night respectively, and the rest of the pack will hunt together as a unit — rankings are ignored for that night, all wolves equal to the other next to them.

That's what I envied, secretly, about wolves. Their systems of reproduction and group bonding have a deeper, meaningful way to go. They had an assured way of making sure their unit did not fall apart, and a very strong system of adding to that unit.

Felines were different, very different. Our heat cycles came monthly, just like a wolf's and their full moon, but ours weren't set in an exact time. A heat will hit a female at any given time. If one female is in heat, there's a possibility it might cause another female to go into heat. A female who is pregnant and miscarries will go into heat after the body heals itself from the loss of the child, so that is something to watch for. It could happen any time. If a female skips a heat, it's not a cause for concern. It usually means her body isn't ready to attract a mate to carry a child. It's still "preparing" itself.