Azalea

Although he never said anything and tried to hide it for the rest of the day, I knew something was bothering Liam. We enjoyed lunch on the dock; he told me about all his favorite movies he wanted to show me. Luckily, it was getting too cold to swim, so I had an excuse not to admit I didn't know how.

After lunch, we went back to the house and cuddled on the couch to watch a movie. Being with Liam was starting to feel so natural and normal. His presence calmed me; his touch made my heart race—in a good way. I looked forward to hearing his voice and his laugh. His wolf still made me nervous, but I hoped that would improve.

Not long after the movie ended, Liam received a phone call he had to take. I could tell he felt bad, but I didn't mind. I knew running a pack from afar was difficult for him. I excused myself so he could concentrate on the call.

I went upstairs to get my reading book. I thought it might be nice to sit on the porch swing and read, as it was now evening. I returned downstairs and went out to the front porch. The sunset was better viewed from the back of the house, but the sky was a beautiful mixture of oranges and purples. I sat on one of the porch swings and looked up at the sky. I rarely had time to sit back and enjoy something like this. I was always so busy with the inn that I never truly relaxed, even on my days off.

As I sat there enjoying the enchanting view, I felt oddly warm, as if Liam's body heat were enveloping me. I removed my sweater but still felt warm. I fanned myself lightly with my book, seeking relief.

When my attempt to fan myself failed, I decided to go inside and get a glass of ice water. This was an odd sensation. Even in summer, I never felt unable to cool down. In the kitchen, I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and opened the freezer. The rush of cool air felt refreshing against my flushed skin.

I heard abrupt movement behind me, shifting my attention from my temperature dilemma to Liam, who stood in the kitchen breathing heavily. He held his phone, and it was still ringing. Had he not finished his call?

"Liam, what's wrong—" I began as he stalked toward me. A growl emanated from his chest. My face fell, and my heart began to race. I took a step back, colliding with the open freezer.

"Stop, Liam. You're scaring me," I said shakily as he continued to approach. His eyes were a dark, midnight blue, and his face wore an indescribable expression.

"L-Liam," I began again. He stopped six inches from me, breathing heavily. Someone was shouting on the phone. I tried to make out what they were saying. My cell phone rang from my pocket; I'd completely forgotten I had it. Liam stared at me as if in a trance. My phone continued to ring. I slowly reached into my pocket to retrieve it. The caller ID read "Lily," but I didn't know who that was. It must have been a number Liam saved before giving me the phone.

Liam remained motionless. I answered the call and slowly brought the phone to my ear, frightened that any sudden movement might cause him to react.

"H-hello?" I said, shaking.

"Azalea? Where is Liam?" a female voice asked.

"In fr-front of me. Who is th-this?" I couldn't help the stutter.

"My name is Lily. I am Damien's mate. Are you okay?" she said confidently yet calmly.

"Yes, but I am scared. I-I don't think L-Liam is okay," I said quickly.

"Can you quickly tell me what happened?" I could hear a male voice shouting in the background—probably Damien yelling at Liam.

"I was h-hot and came inside to g-get some water. Th-then he just appeared. H-he's not talking, and his eyes are dark. He is breathing h-heavily, too," I described.

"Oh, Goddess…" she trailed off. I heard her yell for Damien to stop. They had a quick, hushed conversation I couldn't understand before she continued. "Azalea, I have to ask you something. Have you and Liam mated yet?"

I gulped. Why did this matter? "N-no," I said, keeping my eyes on Liam, who stood as still as a statue.

"Okay. You aren't going to like this, sweetheart, but you are in heat. It's your body's way of speeding up the mating process," she said calmly.

"Heat?" I asked, confused.

"You don't know what heat is… Azalea, why didn't your mother tell you about this?"

Lily clearly didn't know me or anything about my parents. "I did—" I began but stopped abruptly when Liam stepped forward. I froze in terror. He grabbed the phone from my hand.

"Lily, get here now, bring Damien," he said, handing me the phone back and running from the room. I heard the front door slam. I heard someone shouting on the phone, so I brought it back to my ear.

"Azalea? Hey, answer me! Are you okay?" she said, panicked.

"I-I am okay. But Liam left. He left m-me," I said, still afraid but now also sad. What was going on, and why was he acting like this?

"Azalea, I need you to listen to me for a few minutes, okay? You are in heat, and Liam is trying to resist mating you. I don't think he wants to do it against your will, but I'm sure his wolf and instincts are telling him otherwise. Damien and I are coming to you, but I need you to do something. Are you following me?"

I nodded but quickly realized she couldn't see me. I whispered, "Y-yes."

"I need you to lock all the doors. It won't stop him, but if he loses control before we get there, it will slow him down. Go now while I'm talking." She paused. I didn't need to be told twice. I ran to the back door first and locked it. I then moved to the front door as she continued. "I'll explain more later, but you need to go upstairs and lock yourself in the bathroom. Take a very cold shower, okay? As cold as the water will go. Stay in the shower until I get there, okay?"

"Okay," I said, doing as she instructed.

"We will be there in 10 minutes. Stay in the shower with the cold water on, no matter what. Damien will find Liam, okay? Everything is going to be alright; I'm going to help you through this. Do you trust me?"

Oddly, I did. I somehow knew I could trust her, even though she was a stranger. "Yes," I told her.

"Good. I'll be there shortly," she said and hung up. I made it to the bathroom. I set the phone on the counter and quickly undressed. I opened the large, frosted doors and climbed into the shower. After some fidgeting, I figured out how to turn the water on. I turned it to the coldest setting and stepped into the stream. At first, the cold water felt amazing. My hot body began to cool down immediately.

I grabbed some soap and washed quickly, figuring I shouldn't waste time. As I washed, the image of Liam in the kitchen returned to my mind. Was I in heat? Was Liam fighting the urge to mate me? How did this all happen? I thought female wolves went into heat when their bodies were ready to produce pups.

After about five minutes under the cold water, I began to shiver. I was no longer uncomfortably hot and was quickly becoming too cold. I sat down on the floor, pulling my legs to my body to conserve heat while letting the cold water flow over me. Was Liam actually going to do it? Was that why he stopped in front of me?

Only a couple of minutes later, I heard pounding on the bathroom door, followed by a growl. My heart almost stopped; Liam was outside.

The pounding grew louder as I sat frozen. How long had I been in here? Where were Damien and Lily? If Liam got through the door, what would he do? I began to shake harder, completely unable to control my body.

"Dai, throw him in the damn lake. Cool him off and get Liam back now!" I heard Lily's voice. Her commands were forceful but not erratic. I could hear a struggle in the bedroom over the sound of the water. A moment later, the doorknob shook before turning. The door swung open, and a dark figure appeared.

"Azalea? It's Lily. Are you okay?"

It took me a moment to speak, but I finally answered, "Yes," in a small voice.

"I'm going to get you a towel, okay? I can't smell anything now, so I think the shower did the trick. Damien is calming Liam down. He won't touch you." She left and returned moments later.

"Can I open the door?" she asked kindly.

"Sure," I told her.

She opened the door slowly, turning off the water. "I'm going to hand you a towel, okay? Let's get you dried off and into some clothes." She handed me a large grey towel. I slowly stood and wrapped the towel around my body, wringing out my wet braid. I opened the shower door and stepped out. Lily leaned against the bathroom counter.

She was gorgeous. She had light brown skin and midnight black hair, which fell in soft waves past her shoulders. She had plump pink lips and long eyelashes that made her brown eyes look incredible. She was taller than me but not as tall as Liam. She was thin but fit.

She approached me. "Thank Goddess; you're okay. I thought he was about to get through the door when we got here. Do you have something warm to put on? You look a little cold."

"Y-yes, in the closet," I said. She went into the closet and returned with a stack of clothes.

"Thanks," I said.

"I'm going to make some tea; I'll be right back, okay?" she said. I nodded. She left, closing the door.

I walked to the bed and sat down. I felt overwhelmed, like I was on autopilot. I dressed and towel-dried my hair. Lily soon returned with two warm mugs, knocking before entering.

She handed me a mug and set the other on the bedside table. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. I gave her a weak smile, too overwhelmed to talk.

She sat beside me. "This wasn't exactly how I wanted to meet you, but here we are," she said with a chuckle. She looked me up and down. "I hope you know; Liam is going to kill himself over this. He's big and bad on the outside, but I know better. I only know a little of what Damien told me, but I know Liam has waited for you for a long time. He isn't the kind of wolf to do that without your consent."

I nodded. When I agreed to come here with Liam, I never imagined this. I never thought his wolf would take control and try to mate me.

"Azalea?" Lily said, breaking my thoughts. I looked up. "Do you know what heat is?" I shook my head. She sighed. "I didn't think so. Okay, basically, wolves have a primal need to mate. Once we find our mates, things generally move fairly quickly. It's not common for wolves to wait to mate and mark each other after finding their true mate. Damien and I only took about two days. If you don't mate and mark, your body starts to help the process along. Females can go into heat to lure their mate. It becomes incredibly hard to resist the longer it goes on."

I tried to process this. So, my body was trying to get Liam to mate and mark me because he is my mate.

"It's a little odd that it's happening so fast for you two. But he's an alpha, so I guess that can happen. Usually, this wouldn't happen unless it had been a month or more before mating," she said with a light laugh. I gave her a look. She clearly didn't know everything about Liam and me. I wondered what he'd told Damien.

"Wait, how long ago did you find out Liam is your mate?" she asked.

I sighed. I guess I should tell her everything. I took a sip of my tea. "It's a long story, but around three years ago. Liam's 17th birthday, to be exact." Lily looked at me in horror.

"What did Damien tell you about me?" I asked quietly. I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but she wouldn't understand otherwise.

"That Liam found his mate, and it was someone they knew as kids. He also said you were a werewolf but lived in the human town. I didn't get much else…" she clarified.

I sighed again. "Well, Damien and Liam did know me when we were younger. I grew up in the pack house with them. But not because my family lived there. My parents were traitors who tried to overthrow Alpha Robert when I was around five years old." Her eyes widened. "My parents died, and after that, no one would take me in. So, the Alpha and Luna did. But I had to earn my keep in the pack house. The other kids made fun of me; I learned to ignore it. I was just waiting until my 17th birthday and graduation before I left the pack house. But the night Liam turned 17, he accidentally found me and realized I was his mate. He didn't want his father to find out and didn't think I would make an acceptable Luna, so he convinced his father to send me to the human town instead of casting me out as a rogue. He thought I had a better chance of survival that way. When I got there, Liam rejected me." Lily looked dumbfounded. Her face shifted between sympathy, sadness, confusion, and anger. I gave her time to process everything.

"But if he rejected you three years ago, how are you mates now?" she asked finally.

"Well, I sort of never accepted the rejection, and the bond never fully broke. So, when he came in for lunch a couple of weeks ago, he saw me again, and I guess it started to repair," I explained.

"So, you've lived in the human town all this time? Didn't you ever feel hurt when Liam slept with someone? It wasn't often, but I know it happened," she said.

My heart sank. I had never thought about what Liam had done during those years. "I think I did feel things, just not the same as a normal wolf."

"Normal wolf? Are you not a normal wolf?"

"I have never shifted. My wolf left me, receded, I'm told, before I was ever able to shift. Liam's uncle thinks it has to do with my size."

She looked me up and down. "You are pretty small for a werewolf. If I didn't know already, I would have thought you were pretty young." I gave her a tight smile. "So, you really haven't ever shifted? And you don't know about heat cycles and mating?" I shook my head. "Wow, that's a lot to unpack, huh?"

I think I was going to like Lily. She was taking this all pretty well and wasn't sugarcoating anything. We sat sipping tea for a few minutes before I broke the silence. "So, uh, how long will this heat thing last?" I asked.

"Well, it usually only lasts a couple of days…" she said.

"Right," I said.