The Heat #WATTYS2019

Chapter 38

Freki remembered opening his eyes amidst a sea of pain and finding peace for the space of a second. Then the agony had come back like a rising tide and he'd lost himself to the darkness again.

•••

He woke up to the sound of crackling fires and light breathing. His sensitive ears picked up the heartbeat of twenty or so wolves, close to sleep, if the slowness of them was an indicator. A tantalizing smell saturated the area, with a patchwork of various scents in the background. It smelled like rain and snow and a thousand storms, like ice and blizzards and fresh caribou meat, like long hunts in a thick rug of brilliant white and elk and he loved it.

     He'd known as soon as he'd opened his eyes what felt like mere moments ago, and he'd met amber-gold ones. At long last, he'd found her again. He'd spent two thousand years in pause, not daring to hope, loosing himself to nonsense, trying to fill the void that had filled his soul when she'd been murdered.

     He stirred and open his eyes to reveal amber irises. With great effort, his head finally cooperated and rose from the forest ground.

     A low growl sounded somewhere to his left and the white wolf quickly rolled over to see who was the author of the sound. His pupils dilated, trying his best to catch all the details of the wolf before him in one look.

     She was beautiful, a large, dark gray silvery beast with golden-amber eyes that seemed to glow with an inner fire that warmed his heart and set him ablaze with both desire and love.

Who are you?

Even her mind voice appealed to him. Rusty and cracking, like her throat had been damaged. He wished he'd killed whoever had done that.

I'm Freki, your soulmate.

His keen eyes didn't miss her stiffening.

Soulmates don't exist. That's why we have the Heat.

What?

Males claim females in heat without their consent.

Fury ignited within like a volcano ready to spit fire.

What! That should be illegal!

That's what you should tell the Clan Alphas.

And that's what I will. I'll bash their skulls in. No male gets near my soulmate with ill intentions.

How do you know I'm your soulmate?

I just know. I've met you before. A long time ago. The same soul. The mortal shell is not important.

How old are you?

Over two thousand years old. Like two thousand and twenty. You?

•••

Eclipse's mind reeled. He'd said it like it was no big deal. He was two thousand and three years older than her, and he seemed not to care.

I'm seventeen.

So young... I remember when I was your age. I'd just met you, for the first time and I followed you around like a lost pup.

The gray she-wolf was taken aback.

I don't remember that.

I know. That's why I'm going to spend every second until the day you die again recounting your past life and how we spent it together. Even if it was just three years.

Wow. No male has ever told me something so sweet. How do I react?

Eclipse noticed the mischievous twinkle in the male's eye before she got the message down the link.

Kiss me?

If you shift, I might.

Freki froze.

Shift? Would, he gulped, you shift too?

Depends...

•••

How many times had Sahara felt safe? She didn't know. She didn't know if she'd even felt safe once.

But now, standing guard next to an unknown male with fur the darkest of blacks and the design of a white skull on the side of his face, an unknown male who was scarred with red and healing wounds, an unknown male who had obviously killed before with no mercy, she'd never felt so safe.

He smelled like home. Not like the dry lands that covered the northern most points of the South Lands, but like warmth and food and protection and smiles and happiness and cuddles and teasing. She could not explain it, even to herself.

However, she was sure of one thing— this male, whoever he was, would have her unconditional protection for as long as he was with her.

Geri, a voice whispered in her mind. I'm Geri and you are my anam.

At her feet, the wolf had opened his eyes.

A/N) ugh I'm so bored...
On this book:
You might be wondering why I have no homosexual mates. It's not because I'm homophobic, at all, because I'm not. It's because Wolves evolved to survive, and to survive they must reproduce, and same-sex couples can't reproduce. Soulmates are designed to produce the best offspring with each other. They can't do that if they can't reproduce. It's life. Sorry people.
On me:
I got my prom dress today! I'll post a pic when I go to prom. It might contain my best friend because we're both single hoes so we're going together.
How 're y'all?
- Lexie

What's your biggest turnoff in an otherwise hot guy/girl (depending on who you're attracted to)?

Smoking. I like my planet, and I like my future husband alive.