29. Chapter 29
Heat
Ugh!
Waking up this morning, my whole body hurts.
I feel like I just got run over by a bus and my head is pounding.
My wolf is clawing at my chest, whining with no real emotion or thought as to what is wrong.
I thought that wolves don’t get sick, but clearly I was wrong.
This feels like the flu but ten times worse!
My body is shaking with chill but inside I feel so damn hot.
This is the worst fever I’ve ever had. I feel wet and sticky between my thighs and that is so weird because I’m burning up.
Even the sun shining through my window is too bright, though normally, I love waking up with the sun on my face.
Today, I want to shove my curtains closed and never see that burning ball of gas again.
Groans slip from my mouth as I roll in the bed, throwing the blanket over my head to block out the offensive sunlight.
After five minutes of lying there in pain, my door bursts open.
My mates all rush to the bed and I’m pulled into Hutch’s arms. Erik pulls the blanket down from my head and I whimper when the blinding light pierces into my eyes again.
Skylar rushes over and pulls the curtains closed, blocking out that light that hurts so much.
Erik pets the hair off my face as Hutch holds my body to his chest. I’m still wrapped in the blankets, but having them all close helps ease some of the ache while the inferno in my belly only seems to burn hotter and the slickness between my legs grows with the heat.
“Red, what’s wrong? We felt your pain in the bond and rushed here.”
I want to answer them, but my thoughts feel hazy.
My body feels like there's a fire in my belly and its smoke has drifted up to my mind and blurred my thoughts.
I squirm around in his arms as the slick wetness gets to be uncomfortable.
Nothing makes sense and the pain is making it so much harder to focus and settle my thoughts.
My mates are all talking around me, trying to figure out what is wrong with me.
They talk about what they know and what they can guess based on my jumbled thoughts and emotions.
“She is burning up!” Hutch screams above the others when he puts his hands on either side of my face. “We need to go get August and James. Erik, you’re the fastest, run and get them.”
Skylar leans into my face, replacing Hutch’s shaking hands with his firm ones.
He stares into my eyes and takes a deep breath.
Once my scent hits him, he makes a choking sound in the back of his throat.
Leaning in, he kisses my head and I whimper, needing more of his touch and kisses.
None of this makes sense, the more my mates touch me, the better I feel, but as soon as the contact stops, the burning gets worse again.
“Erik, stop.” Skylar calls out and Erik pauses in the doorway. “She isn’t sick.”
“Then what the fuck is this, Skylar?” CJ’s words are practically a growl at the other Alpha. His hands are shaking and Hutch is rubbing my face and hair.
“She’s in heat.”
All of my mates freeze, Skylar is staring at me as if I’m the answer to his prayers, CJ looks a bit worried, Erik looks like he wants to rip me from Hutch’s arms, and Hutch just keeps holding me and muttering words in my ear about everything being okay.
I whimper again, pushing my head against Hutch’s hands, begging for more, though I don’t really understand what I want more of.
I heard Skylar say I’m in heat, and I know, logically what that means, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.
“Erik, run down to the kitchen and get some snacks and as much water and Gatorade as you can carry. CJ, call your parents and let them know what is going on. Hutch, you have her?”
Hutch nods and uses both hands to rub various spots on my body, my arms, my legs, my face and hair.
CJ pulls out his phone and Erik disappears out the door.
I cry out, reaching a hand out to where Erik was just standing.
CJ's whole body goes stiff at the noise and Hutch’s hands move faster.
Skylar bends back down and brings his face close to mine.
“Shh, Red, it’s okay. Your mate will be right back. I know you're in pain and need us. Is there somewhere in the house you feel the most comfortable? Maybe somewhere you haven’t let anyone else see yet?”
I blink, breathing in his scent as his words slowly register in my mind.
I feel most comfortable in my secret room, but I feel weird about them seeing it.
I stole stuff out of their room, and there is a lot of girly stuff in there.
I’m scared that they won’t like the room, so I don’t want to tell them about it.
Although, it does sound like an amazing place to be right now.
There are no windows for the sun to peek in and everything in there is soft and comfortable.
Plus it is so small that all of my mates would be close enough that I could reach out and touch any of them that I wanted.
Blinking again, I focus on Skylar in front of me and nod at his question.
“Good girl. Do you want to tell me where? Hutch can carry you in there and we’ll hang out all together until you feel better.”
Gods, that sounds amazing. I feel like a needy mate, but all I want is to be close to them.
They make the burning less painful just being around.
Though, the thoughts of what we will do while in that room aren’t as tame as the ‘just hanging out’ Skylar suggested.
I want to do more than that. Even though it doesn’t make any sense in my mind why my body, that aches so fucking bad, wants to have sex.
Right now, sex is the only thing on my mind.
My hazy thoughts are crowded with images of my mates and their naked bodies rubbing all over me.
My body flushes at the thoughts running through my head.
Hutch must have noticed, because he groans deep in his chest and even through the blankets I can feel how hard he is.
“Patience, Little Omega. All good things come to those who wait. Right now, I need you to tell us where we are going.” Skylar brushes a lock of my hair off my shoulder and stares deep into my eyes.
“Closet.” My voice is rough and scratchy, the need bleeding through my every word. “There’s a door on the back wall behind where my jeans are hanging. It’s my secret room.”
Hutch quickly climbs out of the bed with me still in his arms. I squirm a bit, feeling too hot in the blanket and not wanting to take it into my room.
Everything is perfectly placed in there and the blanket will throw the whole room out of whack.
That’s another reason I’m nervous about my mates going to my secret room.
I don’t want them to move shit around. I made each of them a spot, and I don’t want them to mess up the perfectness of my room.
“What’s wrong, Red?” Hutch squeezes me to his chest as I wiggle around more. Erik walks into the room and I sigh in relief at having them all together again,
“I’m hot. Can’t we leave the blanket here? I have more in my secret room if I get cold again.”
Skylar tries to hide his chuckle but I still hear it.
My heart sinks and my wolf gets pissy at the man for laughing.
What exactly does he think is so fucking funny?
That I don’t want the blanket anymore because I’m hot?
Or does he think it’s funny that I have other blankets in my secret room?
Maybe he is laughing at the fact that I have a secret room?
No matter why he is laughing, it's still rude!
“Well, Skylar, if you’re going to laugh at me you can just stay out here!
My room is special to me and I worked really hard to make it perfect.
If you think it’s so damn funny, you don’t have to come!
” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, the tears come.
I don’t really want him to stay out here.
I just don’t want him to laugh at me. I need all of my mates, but I want them to accept all parts of me, even my crazy secret room that I am obsessed over.
“Great going, boy genius, you made the Omega cry!” CJ smacks Skylar over the head and makes his way over to where Hutch still has me in his arms. Erik growls at Skylar while Hutch is glaring hard enough that the thought ‘if looks could kill’ pops into my mind.
Skylar looks perplexed and a bit uncomfortable, but right then, CJ is petting my face and rubbing my tears off my overheated cheeks.
“Shh, don’t cry, Red. He didn’t mean it like that.
He shouldn’t have laughed. We think it's adorable that you went through so much trouble to make sure your ne … Um, the secret room is perfect.” he kisses each of my eyes then leans back and smiles softly at me.
“How about you give the idiot one more chance, and if he is mean again, we can kick him out of the secret room?”
That does sound fair. Afterall, I really want to show all of my mates my room.
I did work really hard for weeks to make sure it was perfect for them and me.
And my wolf is a little despondent at the thought of any of them not seeing it.
I can give him one more chance, but that is all he gets.
If he is just going to make fun of me and my room, then he won’t be welcome.
I nod my consent to CJ and wiggle in Hutch’s arms again, still feeling way too hot wrapped in the big comforter and uncomfortable with taking it with me.
“Good girl, Red. Come on, I’ll help Hutch unwrap you from this blanket and then we can go see the room, okay?” nodding at CJ again, I pull my arms out of the blanket and reach towards him.
He smiles warmly and takes me out of Hutch’s hands as Hutch grabs the big blanket and strips it off my body.
I wrap my legs around CJ’s waist and my arms around his neck so he is forced to hold me like a mother would hold her toddler, on his hip with his arms around me.
I rest my head on his shoulders and point to the closet, silently telling him where to go.
Skylar moves ahead of us, leading the way into my closet.
His eyes move around the space until they stop on the jeans section.
The door is partially visible behind all the denim, so he heads that way, pushing my clothes on the rack until there is nothing in front of the door any more.
Holding my breath and squeezing my hands into fists to keep them from shaking, I wait for Skylar to open the door.
There is no going back once they see this room, they will know all of the weird things I've been trying to keep from them. But I truly think they will like it. Or at least be happy that it makes me happy. I didn’t even think about them seeing my art that I hung on the walls or random knick-knacks I stacked in the corner, like the massage gun or the case of bubbles.
Honestly, some of the stuff in this room is more fit for a child's room than an adult’s cave of comfort.
But there is no time to change it now, even if I wanted to.
Which I don’t. I know that they are my mates, but this feels like the biggest test our relationship has faced yet.
I want them to pass, because I’m not sure my heart could take losing them if they don’t like this space I created.
Skylar looks back one more time, watching my face as he slowly opens the door.
The scent of the room is the first thing that hits me, and that alone is enough to have my hands still and my stomach to relieve a few of the knots that formed when we started to head this way.
Skylar heads in, his head swiveling in all directions as he takes in the room.
Hutch follows closely behind, both of them staying close to the door.
CJ carries me in, but gently sets me on my feet as soon as we cross the threshold.
Erik follows right behind us and freezes in front of the door as CJ pulls it closed.
The fairy lights I hung up around the ceiling gives us enough light to see the whole room, but are soft enough to not hurt my eyes like the sun did in my bedroom.
My mates’ attention is bouncing all over the room.
There is a lot in here, between the giant pool like cushion in the middle of the room covered in blankets, pillows, and random pieces of their clothing, and the empty cabinet in the corner on the other side of the door, and the stacks of stuffed animals, bubbles, and trinket toys, every inch of space is taken up by something.
It doesn’t feel cluttered though, at least, not to me.
I crawl into the middle of the cushion, grabbing a stuffed whale as I go, and instantly feel better.
I’m surrounded by my mates’ scents and all my favorite stuff.
My drawings are hung high on the walls, showcasing everything from ocean animals to portraits of my mates, all detailed with charcoal and brought to life in black and white.
I painted the walls a dark royal purple and most of the blankets and pillows are black or dark colored.
The only pops of color are my mates’ clothes and the stuffed animals.