Zara

There were so many of them, so many... So many dead bodies. Every lifeless face belonged to a person, someone with a family. This fact didn’t change the pace or the fury of my movements.

"Where are Sophia and Govinda?" I shouted through the telepathic link, meeting Alpha’s midnight wolf’s gaze. I dodged a silver knife thrown by one of the brown wolves, snarling as it flew past my ear.

I slammed into them, knocking him to the ground before sinking my teeth into his throat. "My dad is safe."

Alpha, throwing the old brown wolf’s body to the ground, replied, "Sophia and...Govinda, with her aunt. Your father resisted, but he’s far from the city for safety."

"Damn," I groaned to myself. I sent Marcus and Holly to Sophia’s aunt. I assumed Sophia and Govinda would evacuate with the rest of the town. Instead, they stayed in the city, which was risky, but they would be close by in case of our victory.

Instead of panicking, I established a mental link with Sophia. Though she couldn’t transform, the wolf still lived within her, and she had a place in this pack.

"Sophia?" I called, narrowly avoiding an attack. The brown wolves appeared from behind, but I caught him in time, knocking him down before the silver knife flew in the other direction. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Even at night, the air was damp and thick. The fur on my body made me unbearably hot. If I’d been in human form, I probably would have been sweating. I pushed past the feeling and moved forward, pushing any physical pain deep within my mind.

"Zara?" She practically screamed. I could hear the suppressed excitement and relief in her single word. "Oh, my Goddess. Where are you? Did you escape from your father?"

"I don’t have time to explain," I grumbled, launching myself into the air and slamming into a dwemon approaching Ryan from behind. "I’m in town, fighting. Marcus and my half-sister, Holly, are on their way to your aunts. Holly is injured and needs help. Please don’t kill Marcus. He’s the one who helped me escape."

She was silent for a few minutes, and for a moment, I felt sorry for Marcus. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Even though I trusted her, I had a strange feeling that Marcus and Govinda were close.

"You don’t want me to kill Marcus?" she asked slowly, as if she’d misunderstood.

"Don’t kill him," I repeated, nodding to Mason as he joined me in dispatching another demon. "I know what you’re thinking. He wasn’t in my head. He made me pretend so my Father wouldn’t kill me. Trust me, Sophia."

"Fine, but come as soon as possible," she snorted, breaking the mental connection.

I didn’t have time to think before another wave of unimaginable warmth swept through me. My whole body trembled, and I shuddered as the heat intensified.

I felt uncomfortable in my skin, in my wolf form. All that fur was slowly suffocating me. The heat grew until liquid fire flowed across my skin. A strangled groan escaped my lips as the fire bubbled across my skin.

My mother warned me about this when I was a child. It was a way to ensure offspring, to speed up the mating process. Soon after marking, a female wolf would go into heat. This heat would always change, sometimes occurring as quickly as a month after marking.

A she-wolf’s heat was short, usually only once a year. My mother told me how terrifying it was, as if someone had doused my body with gasoline and set it on fire.

When I was older, she told me what would happen during my heat. That other males would notice, and some might even start fighting over the wolf.

I realized what was happening the moment the fire began to boil in my veins, devouring my cells and causing blisters on my skin. I should have noticed the signs sooner, but I didn’t. Now it all became clear: an increase in body temperature, sudden hot flashes that had been going on for several days.

My heat had come at the worst possible time. In wolf form, self-control was much more difficult, and it took all my concentration to keep my wolf in place. All she wanted was to find Alpha, to let his touch quench the fire burning within us.

The best thing to do when a wolf goes into heat is to spend time with her mate. Only a mate could scare off other wolves. Alpha was too distracted by the ongoing fight, and I couldn’t bring myself to pull him away.

This pack needed an Alpha to fight, but I knew Alpha Kane would never allow another male to claim me, though I couldn’t make that decision myself.

Mason sank his teeth into the brown wolf, who had noticed my fall and was trying to take advantage of the situation. Through the searing pain, I was acutely aware of Alpha’s location. My wolf’s desperation filled my mind. She needed someone, anyone, to quench the fire crackling beneath our skin.

I gritted my teeth in pain, a bestial groan escaping my clenched jaw. I felt my wolf power weakening, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to regain control once it fully took over. Large black spots flashed before my eyes as I writhed on the ground, dimly aware of the wolves standing around me, protecting me from the enemies.

With a pained cry, I rolled over on the grass, my bare skin red and inflamed. It took all my energy to transform back into a human. Soon, my scent would spread, serving as a beacon for any wolf seeking to mate.

Even now, I saw some of our wolves tense as their instincts took over, letting them know the she-wolf was in heat.

Large arms wrapped around me, and a familiar voice barked orders to the other wolves around me. I half expected to see my mate, but it wasn’t him. Ryan hugged me, oblivious to the fact that I was naked and shaking.