The Alpha's Daughter (Un-Edited Version)

The Alpha's Daughter - Chapter 20

Cal:

How had I not realised? How had I not picked up on the fact that Annie had gone into heat? I stayed where I was; if I had got any closer, I wasn't sure if my wolf would have been able to contain himself. Annie groaned and put her head to the pillow again. I could hear her fear-filled sobs; they echoed off of the walls and rebounded straight to my chest.

I didn't even know that she could go into heat. I had thought that the part of the werewolf cycle had bypassed her, just like the transformation. Judging by her reaction, she hadn't known either. Was it wrong of me to feel just a pang of happiness? By the end of this, she could be having my baby. She could be growing round with my child, our child. The thought made my wolf growl happily. It was like his lullaby; thinking out his mate and pups. At least it got him off of my back.

I got up to leave; perhaps she wanted to be on her own.

"Cal?" she said, her voice muffled from the pillow. I turned slowly, looking at the lump in the bed where she lay.

"What?" Why did my voice have to sound so croaky? Annie remained silent, but she lifted her head once more from the pillow, turning to face me. Her eyes were wide; scared, vulnerable, and...reproachful? Wait, did she blame me for this? I reached out to wipe her tears away but she slapped my hand away, choking out a sob. I sat there on the bed, waiting for her to do something.

Annie began to hit me, smacking her fists into my chest...and I let her. Hair hair whipped around her face, tears dripping onto both of us as she wept. Then she collapsed into me, her body shuddering and jerking. I pulled her closer, wrapping my arms around her.

"It's not fair," she gasped.

"I know, baby, I know," I murmured, stroking her hair. What else could I do? Tell her that I was glad she was in season? Tell her that, right now, I wanted to mate with her properly? Yeah, and then she would probably cut my balls off with a blunt axe.

Annie pulled her head away from me, looking horrified. Shit.

"You what?" she growled, scooting back up the other end of the bed. "You want to do what?" The tears in her eyes seemed to vanish in her rage. I stood up, backing towards the door as she picked up the lamp on the bedside table. I ducked as it came sailing through the air towards my head and shattered against the wall. Before Annie could pick up something else, I darted to the door, wrenching it open and bombing it out onto the landing. I slammed it shut as she hurled something else at me.

I slid down the door, listening to Annie's furious sobs. How was I supposed to know that she had been listening to my thoughts? I buried my face in my hands. What the fuck was I going to do? It wasn't like I could stay away from her for the rest of her heat; that was like asking Sierra not to slip herbal remedies into our food. I heard footsteps coming towards me and I looked up, only to see Radleigh staring down at me. The marks from my fingers around his throat had faded significantly; they had been reduced to faint, dull red splodges, like a rash. There was no hint of a smile.

"You know then?" he said, sounding bored. I nodded slowly, taking everything in. Radleigh squatted down in front of me, his face murderous.

"You even try and fuck my sister when she doesn't want it," he spat. "And I'll kill you." I would have backed away, told him that I would never do something like that. But I was a werewolf and I was being threatened.

And the two things did mesh.

I growled. Radleigh sprung up but he wasn't fast enough. I got him by the waist and slammed him against the wall opposite. This time, Radleigh was ready for the fight; he kicked me, sending me sprawling onto the floor. The next thing I knew, he was on top of me, punching my face in until someone dragged him off.