-Emmerson-
After I said goodbye to my family and Marcus practically threw me into the waiting SUV, I just curled up in the passenger seat facing away from him. I leaned my head on the cool window and it felt wonderful, when had I started feeling so warm? Now that I thought about it I felt really warm, sweaty even like I was coming down with the flu or something. That's weird, werewolves don't get sick. I pulled my hair up behind my head laying back on it to keep it off my neck, cursing my self for not putting a hair tie on my wrist earlier. I pushed my sleeves up and started to fan myself.
"Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Marcus's voice was strained and upset.
"I'm fine! Just a little warm." I snapped after a moment.
He sighed and turned on the AC, yep it was the beginning of winter and we had the AC going. It didn't really help though I felt like my skin was crawling. I groaned looking out the window in irritation. The sun was starting to set and we'd already been driving for a good thirty minutes in silence before this.
"I'm sorry..." Marcus said. I glanced over at him to see he was scowling, his hands gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white against his bronze skin.
"Good." I said before turning back to the window.
"I know I'm asking too much of you right now. I wouldn't have made you leave with me right now if it wasn't important." He said trying to explain. I sighed and glanced over at him in irritation, couldn't he see I didn't want to talk?
"You're right, you're asking too much." I said dryly.
In the back of my mind I knew I was being unreasonable, it wasn't really all his fault, I had been childish and rude too. But I was upset about everything, my emotions were everywhere and I couldn't wrap my head around even one of them for a second. I found a true mate yes, something that was special for our kind there was only one true mate for every wolf. I knew the importance of it but so much happened in one day, not giving me any time to actually process the situation. I had a career I was happy with, now all of a sudden it was over. I didn't even get the chance to tell my work that I was leaving. I probably wouldn't be able to see my family for a while either, being part of a pact that was hours away. So now here I sat feeling like everything was crumbling down around me and I still had to face getting to know my mate, alone.
"I'm sorry... I just... I'm sorry." He kept pausing as if he needed to say something else but didn't know how.
"I get it, you're sorry, moving on, why the hell do I feel like my skin is on fire right now." I growled angrily.
My skin literally felt like a flame was engulfing me, it was slowly growing in intensity the darker it got outside.
"It is because of the mark. When you basically said that you wouldn't accept me as your mate, my wolf went into a rage and we marked you as only true mates do. I wasn't aware that it would cause you pain to do so without mutual consent and I am sorry for that. Unfortunately as I was also not aware, when the mark is placed the female wolf begins to go into heat, it's your body's way of preparing yourself for..." He paused obviously feeling uncomfortable. "For the possibility of conception." He said finally.
I cringed at his words, no it wasn't really hard to guess after he had told me I was going into heat and that was basically what happened to other related animals, dogs and regular wolves. The idea of us having kids though, that made me cringe.
Yes he was hot as hell and yes he was my true mate as my wolf so readily pointed out, but even after that I was still upset over how abruptly I was taken from everything I knew. My wolf had no such concerns, she hated that I had spent so much time in an art gallery when I could clearly be home running in the forest. And now that we had found our mate she accepted that we would be going with him. Although she was still cross with him about how he had handled the situation just lesser so than I was.
"What exactly does that have to do with the fact that I feel like I have a severe case of the flu!" I grumbled.
"That's part of it, the fever, according to Hellen it's worse the first time after that it will be bearable."
"Hellen?" My wolf let out a growl not liking the sound of another woman's name on his lips whether we were mad at him or not.
A very brief smile touched his lips before he turned to look at me. "Hellen is the wife of the Alpha that came before me. She practically raised me since I was a pup." He explained and my wolf calmed down a bit.
"How long is this going to last?" I asked finally going back to the conversation of my feverish skin.
"I don't know. Hellen is looking into our archives to find any information she can on true mates."
I just nodded and went back to looking out the window. As we continue on our way my wolf became just as restless and uncomfortable at the heat engulfing our body. She whined and I mirrored her as the pain intensified dramatically.
"We are almost there. Just about ten more minutes." Marcus said from beside me.
I hadn't even realized it had been that long since we had left my packs territory. The fever was taking over my senses and emotions and all I could think about was wanting it to stop. I laid my head against the window as I shakily tried to take steady breaths. It was no use I felt like I was suffocating.
Before I knew it we were stopped and my door was being flung open. If it wasn't for my seatbelt I probably would have fallen out of the vehicle. Marcus's arm reached around me unbuckling my seat belt and picking me up in one swift motion. My eyes rolled back as searing pain scorched through me.
"Get her inside I have a ice bath waiting in your bathroom. We need to cool her temperature down now!" I briefly heard a woman's voice before I felt myself pass out.
The darkness was more bearable, less warm. But I became alarmed when I couldn't feel my wolf. Suddenly a shocking wave of icy cold surrounded me and I gasped opening my eyes wide. Marcus's eyes were staring into mine and he looked absolutely terrified. I realized then that it wasn't just his look it was his feelings being sent to me through the mate bond.
Looking down I realized I was in a bathtub in nothing but my underwear and bra. The water was ice cold and a good two gallons or more of actual ice surrounded me. I relaxed into it as the feverish heat started to calm down.
My wolf seemed to awaken as my body came out of shock of going from hot as lava to icy cold. I sighed feeling her comfort in my mind. She mentally noted that Marcus was still close by and I glanced up to him at her thought. I saw unshed tears in his eyes, no not his eyes, they were his wolfs icy blue.
"You weren't breathing..." he squeezed his eyes putting his forehead against the edge of the tub for a mere second before looking back up at me. "Your heart stopped... I..." he shook his head, his voice was thick with emotion.
Jesus if our emotions were any indication of what true mates were like after only one day, it scared me to see how we would respond to each other going forward. I laid my head back against the back of the large tub, not being able to process his words. My wolf berated me, he needed assurance that we were okay and I was just sitting there. I glanced back to him and knew she was right, whether I was pissed off at him or not he needed to know I was fine now. A pissed off Alpha wolf in his condition wouldn't be good for anyone as it had already been proved earlier in the day.
"I'm fine." I whispered my voice sounded rough like I hadn't spoken in days and had an extremely sore throat.
"You're not fine. You just died in my arms and you say you are fine!" His voice was a growl and I rolled my eyes. Did he always have to be so bossy.
"I am fine now." I said a little sterner. My voice didn't sound as bad that time. "I still feel feverish but it's bearable." I said moving my hand to catch some ice. The ice was melting already from my body heat.
I heard footsteps from behind Marcus and look up fully aware I was only in my underwear and bra. I relaxed slightly when I saw an older lady looking to be in her early seventies, with grey hair and soft eyes. She must be Hellen then. Marcus turned also look at the woman who handed him a small glass vile with a dark purplish liquid.
"Poor that in the water it should help her relax and hopefully bring down the fever a little more." She said to him and then turned to me with a small smile. "It is wonderful to meet you my dear, even if it isn't exactly under the most favorable of circumstances. I'm Hellen."
"It's nice to meet you too. And I'm sorry for all the drama." I said gruffly.
"If I have understood one thing over the years dear it is that a dramatic entrance is usually the best way to go." She said with a wink before turning to a grumpy, frowning, Marcus. "I'm going to go to town and get a few more bags of ice. From what I read about this it should last a few days and you may want it handy." She said before turning and leaving the room not caring to hear his answer.
"I like her." I said catching his attention.
He nodded before coming closer reaching his hand into the water and grasping mine. If it wasn't for the scowl on his face I would have pulled my hand away. I realized he was checking my heart rate, silly considering he could simply just listen with his wolf hearing. Something told me he just needed to touch me as if it would prove that I was indeed okay.
After he seemed satisfied he placed my hand back down and lifted his to my forehead. The coolness from his hand being in the ice water felt good against my head. I almost complained when he took his hand away.
"Your temperature has gone down quite a bit but I'm not sure how long it will last. The ice is melting fast." He seemed almost distant as he said this.
I frowned at his words and instinctively searched his thoughts through the mate bond. He was worried but that was already obvious, I searched further. His wolf was angry at him, at the fact that Marcus wouldn't stop my pain. Stop it? How could he stop it? I felt him start to shut me out then, turning away from me to leave the room. I reached out and grabbed his hand without thinking.
"Wait." I said panicked before he could pull away. He turned to look at me all emotion erased from his face. Now what? I struggled with what to say. "What are you not telling me Marcus." I finally said. My wolf perked up a little glad I had confronted him.
Marcus sighed and sat down leaning against the tub. I let his hand go content that he was going to stay there. "In the notes about true mates it talks about how the mate bond is so important to our kind. Hellen told me that, as a werewolf we all have only one true mate and the mate bond can only form with that specific person, as ours has. It's not just a mental connection though, we can feel each others emotion and pain, we can even see through each other's eyes if need be. The bond is meant to draw us together emotionally and physically to ensure our wolves are completely at one with each other. Male wolves are aggressive, easily provoked and territorial were as the female can control her aggression easier. The reason true mates are so special is because the female balances the males heightened aggression, keeping the male from the edge of going feral. As alphas it is even more important for us because an alpha male can't properly take care of his pack without the balance and harmony of his true mate. It's like darkness begins to take over their minds but it also can affect the pack."
As he talked I could feel in his mind that he had felt that darkness in himself and it made the way he had acted today a little more understandable. Not enough to make me instantly forgive his actions but enough to maybe understand him.
"The reason there haven't been true mates in centuries and why our kind is starting to dwindle, is because our packs keep to ourselves. The chances of finding our true mates in our own packs are little to none."
"Why are the packs like this now, I understand that wolves are territorial but if it's something so important as finding the one other person that keeps the darkness at bay wouldn't it be more important?" I asked interrupting him.
"That's what you would think, but I guess centuries ago they tried to hold some sort of meeting between all the packs to see if they could find more true mates and it didn't go so well. The Alphas weren't strong enough to control their packs and a lot of wolves died as a result." He answered, looking at the bathroom window.
"What else did the archives say?" I asked shifting uncomfortably in the tub. He looked back at me as if searching my eyes to see if I was really interested at the moment or just making small talk.
"It explained how to keep the fever at bay, and what will happen with you while you are in heat. How you will react." He said before looking away. I sat up looking at him more closely. He seemed reluctant to tell me exactly what was going on.
"Marcus..." I started to say but when he turned his head and looked at me, I stopped. His face was so close to mine and my wolf and I had a strong urge to kiss him. It was like a flip had been switched and my wolf was in complete control. I reached up and pulled his face closer kissing him fiercely. I tried to gain control but my wolf wouldn't listen, she didn't care if we barely knew him, he was our mate and his touch was the only thing that would keep the pain at bay.
Marcus turned his body towards me so that he was facing me cupping my face with his hands and taking the kiss deeper. Just when I thought that we were about to move into dangerous territory if things didn't cool down Marcus pulled back and nearly slammed himself back against the bathroom door. I leaned back against the tub breathlessly and tried to control the very restless and lustful wolf inside of me.
"That's how I'll react isn't it." I grumbled covering my face with my hands in embarrassment.
"I'd say that for the next couple days it may be best that we limit the amount of physical contact. Unless you want to complete the mate bond now. I don't feel like you are ready for that yet, and the ice bath seems to be working fine." Marcus's voice was a bit unsteady as he tried to calm down his wolf as well.
I groaned as all my wolf could do was remind me of that seriously hot kiss and how good it felt to have his skin on mine. She was relentless and I had the feeling if I made it through the next couple days without trying to jump Marcus's bones it would be a complete miracle. I watched as Marcus stood up and opened the door to the bathroom, leaving before I could say something. A few minutes later he came back into the bathroom holding a glass of ice water and looking a little less anxious. He handed me the cold glass careful not to make contact with my skin as he did. I took a sip of the cold water and felt it going down almost painfully as I swallowed.
"I'll go see if there is more ice." Marcus said before leaving again. I tried to search his mind to understand just what he was feeling but it was like there was a wall up blocking his thoughts and emotions from me.
I sighed, knowing the tension and awkwardness between us was just going to get worse because of the kiss. As I laid my head back I felt my eyes get heavy as if my brain realized how exhausted I was. The smell of lavender and something else I couldn't quite place surrounded me as I felt myself falling asleep. When I finally opened my eyes some time later I was laying on a huge bed. The sheets had been pulled down and I was still in my bra and underwear still slightly wet as was my hair, so I couldn't have been there long. I felt the cold AC hit my skin and it was a brief relief as I felt the feverish heat coming back. It wasn't as bad as it was before but it was getting there.
"Marcus?" I whispered looking around the barely lit room. Noticing the clock I realized it was nearly two in the morning. When I got no answer I slid off the bed carefully and walked into the dark bathroom, turning the light on. I sighed looking at the tub, the ice had long ago melted. Deciding a shower would stay colder I walked over to the good sized shower, easily three times the sized of a normal one and stepped into the shower. I stripped out of my bra and underwear quickly throwing them onto the bathroom floor and shutting the huge glass doors. I was hoping that they would dry by the time I was done. I turned the shower on as cold as it would go and stood under the stream of beating water letting it run down my burning skin as I looked around the shower. Finding a bottle of men's two in one shampoo and conditioner as well as a bottle of mountain falls body wash. I washed my hair and began washing my body when I heard the door to the bathroom open.
"Emmerson?" Marcus's voice came from the bathroom doorway.
"Um... yes?" I asked opening the glass doors ever so slightly and peeking my head out to look at him. My eyes widened when I realized he was only wearing a pair of low hanging pajama bottoms giving me a view of his muscular chest and arms.
Fucking hell he is sexy.
I thought as I admired his fine ass body. When I looked up at his eyes my heart nearly stopped. He his eyes were that bright icy blue and before I could say a word he was stalking towards me.
"Fuck." I said backing away from the door which was an even bigger mistake, you never run from a predator especially an Alpha male Canis lupus.
The shower doors where nearly ripped off their hinges in the next second and Marcus was stepping into the shower still wearing his pajama pants. My eyes met his fully dilated ones and he was pushing me against the wall in the next second his lips on mine. Shit, damn, fuck and hell I was done for as I felt his hard body against mine. There was no stopping this, not anymore, and being this close to him and breathing in his scent I wasn't entire sure I cared.