I woke up what felt like hours later with my body aching everywhere from sitting in one position for so long.
I yawned still feeling exhausted even though I had slept most of the ride.
I glanced at Aries as he parked in front of a cabin.
His expression was unreadable so I looked around and noted that we were deep in the forest somewhere.
I was sick of the forest.
I felt a ball form in the pit of my stomach.
If I saw one more goddamn tree I felt like would lose it but I guess the alternative was going home and that didn't sound appealing to me either.
"Why are we in the woods?" I asked, "are your friends in there?"
He cut the engine and went around the car to open the door for me.
"This is our hideout," he said, "I've asked them to meet us here,"
We walked into the cabin and I was impressed with how big it looked on the inside compared to the outside.
"It's beautiful," I couldn't help but comment while I looked around at the cozy neutral tones the inside had.
"Jasmine decorated it," was all he said.
"How long will we have to wait?" I asked curiously.
He shrugged.
We spent the next few hours talking and enjoying each other's company when out of nowhere I started feeling nauseous later at night.
The next few nights were the worst nights of my life.
I went into heat and the pain was very much like the pain you feel from a heavy fever combined with your period.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I shook my head and ran to the bathroom just in time to yack inside the toilet.
Aries held my hair and rubbed soothing circles on my back.
I couldn't explain how but my body suddenly felt like it was on fire and I wanted to peel off all my clothes and jump into the freezer.
"Why is it so hot?" I said groaning after I got up.
Aries picked me up and carried me to the kitchen, "my legs still work you know," I murmured into his chest.
"I know," he said, "but I don't want my princess hurting herself," he cooed at me as if I was a child.
I rolled my eyes as he put me down and then walked over to the refrigerator, "what should I make you to help your stomach," he asked
"I don't really care," I mumbled putting my cheek to the cool countertop.
He made me a cup of ginger tea and set it in front of me.
"Drink," he said.
I slowly put my head up and eventually began drinking only to notice hints of something I didn't recognize in the tea.
"What-"
He interrupted me, "it helps with heat,"
My eyes widened, "how long am I gonna be in heat for?" I asked in between sips.
He frowned, "depends," he said.
I raised an eyebrow, "On?"
"How long we take to complete the mating process," he explained.
It was my turn to frown, "I don't wanna feel this sick,"
He was next to me in an instant so quick I barely caught it with my eyes, "we can change that any time you want," he knotted his fingers in my hair and tilted my head so he could kiss the side of my neck.
A shiver ran down my spine and I had to try very hard to hold back a moan.
What was this man doing to me?
We had just met and I already wanted to jump his bones.
"Wow, I didn't think you'd want to put on this kind of show for us," A voice said from behind us making me jump with surprise.
"Jazz," Aries said smiling and letting go of me to run and hug her and spin her around.
I frowned and felt a pang of jealousy run through me.
Why was he touching her like that?
"I'm here too you know," a man appeared at the door and we awkwardly made eye contact before we turned to watch the little show Aries and Jasmine had going on.
"Luca," he said putting out his hand and flashing over to me.
I was about to take it when Aries' loud growl made me jump away from Luca.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "so you can throw yourself at a woman but I can't shake someone's hand,"
I grabbed Luca's still outstretched hand and shook it out of spite.
Aries growled but I ignored him, "nice to meet you, Luca, I'm Rose,"
Luca's hand felt cold and foreign against mine.
"You look oddly familiar," he said, "have we met?"
I laughed, "No, I highly doubt that," I replied amused by that.
I've been told I looked a lot like my dad so maybe that's what he meant.
"Why did you ask us here?" Jasmine asked.
Aries moved to stand next to me and I took a step away before crossing my arms.
He made a face but otherwise didn't comment on my attitude, "she's my mate,"
"No way," Jasmine said smiling widely, "congratulations,"
"I wouldn't be so quick to say that," Luca said warily, "Didn't you run away from home and abandoned your pack?"
Aries sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah, I did,"
"Wait you did what?" Jasmine said incredulously, "that's so irresponsible of you,"
"I didn't have a choice," Aries said, "They wanted me to take over and I wasn't ready,"
"Not ready?" Luca said, "we've all been preparing to lead our packs since we learned to walk,"
Aries shook his head, "the council secretly had other plans for me,"
This piqued my interest, "what plans?" I asked and he pressed his lips into a thin line.
"I don't think it matters anymore," he replied bitterly, "I won't be going back,"
Luca shook his head, "You can't just abandon your pack like that they are going to need a new Alpha when your father retires,"
"I already made up my mind," Aries said with a growl.
"What about her?" Jasmine said and everyone turned to look at me making me a bit self-conscious.
"What about her?" Aries asked.
"Well you can't just leave her unprotected," Jasmine said, "she's going to need the protection of a pack,"
"She's right and now that you mention it, why does she smell human?" Luca said with a frown on his face, "that can't be a good sign, a human with an Alpha?"
Aries' face went blank and I glared at them, "hey I could still shift," I said.
"You're a wolf?" they both said at the same time with shock on their faces and I nodded.
How many times was I going to have to go through this with people?
"Yes, I was born one but never shift and we don't know why," I said.
The sound of breaking glass made us all go quiet.
Luca and Aries growled and Jasmine moved closer to us in a flash.
"Rouges," Aries said, "how did they find this place, "
"Gee, it's not like we're in the middle of nowhere in the woods," I murmured sarcastically.
"This place is spelled actually, no one is supposed to be able to find it unless they are witch," Jasmine clarified for me.
A horse-sized wolf had made its way from somewhere in the back of the cabin to where we stood in the kitchen.
The wolf was brown but was so matted and covered in dirt it looked black in some spots and it was foaming at the mouth.
I quickly hid behind Aries when a loud growl escaped its mouth.
"Luca," Aries said and Luca nodded shifting immediately.
"Let's go," Aries said dragging me towards the door and Jasmine following suit.
"We're just going to leave Luca?" I asked looking back as I was being pulled away by Aries.
"He'll be fine," Jasmine said subbing circles on my back reassuringly but when we exited the house nothing was reassuring.
We were surrounded by wolves that looked just as matted and dirty as the one inside.
These wolves weren't foaming at the mouth though and two out of the five were super small.