Chapter 6
POV: Amara
Riven stood abruptly the second our eyes locked.
Every conversation in the lounge died instantly.
The heat inside me twisted painfully harder under the weight of his attention, my body practically trembling from it now. And I was sure my face was showing this.
God.
I needed this to stop.
One of the wolves nearest the fireplace frowned slightly. “Alpha?”
Riven never looked away from me.
“Out.”
The single word cracked through the room like thunder.
Nobody argued.
Chairs scraped sharply across the floor as wolves immediately stood and moved for the exits, confusion lingering in the air while they glanced between us.
I barely noticed them leaving.
My entire body hurt.
The pressure low in my stomach had become unbearable, heat curling beneath my skin so intensely it almost felt like fever.
Riven moved toward me slowly.
Controlled.
Careful.
But he stopped several feet away without touching me.
Not even close enough for accidental contact.
And somehow that distance felt intentional.
His expression remained unreadable, though tension carved harsh lines into his jaw.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.
My throat tightened.
Humiliation flooded through me instantly.
I couldn’t say it.
Couldn’t stand there and explain this to him while my body burned alive from the inside out.
Instead, I forced one word past my lips.
“Lyra.”
Something shifted immediately in his eyes.
Understanding.
Not full understanding.
But enough.
Riven turned toward the hallway without hesitation. “Joseph.”
The Beta appeared almost instantly from outside the lounge doors.
“Get my sister.”
Joseph took one look at me and immediately lost all traces of humor.
“I’m on it.”
Within minutes, Lyra was hurrying into the lounge wearing a loose sweater over sleep pants, dark curls pulled into a messy braid.
The second she saw me, concern crossed her face.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Mortification nearly killed me on the spot.
“I’m fine,” I lied weakly.
“You look like you’re about to pass out.”
That was unfortunately true.
Lyra guided me quickly toward a smaller private office near the back of the lounge while Riven followed silently behind us.
Still not touching me.
Still keeping that careful distance.
The office was warmer than the hallway, dimly lit by a single lamp near the bookshelf. Lyra immediately grabbed a folded robe hanging near the door and wrapped it gently around my shoulders.
My skin burned even through the fabric.
“What are you feeling?” she asked softly.
I stared at the floor.
Heat crawled up my neck.
God.
This was humiliating.
“Amara.”
I swallowed hard. “I think…” My voice almost disappeared. “I think it might be my heat.”
Silence.
Then Lyra said carefully, “Okay.”
Not judgmental.
Not shocked.
Just calm.
That somehow made it worse.
“You’re older than twenty-one, right?” she asked gently.
I nodded stiffly. “Twenty-five.”
That definitely got a reaction.
Lyra blinked once. “Your heat never came before?”
I shook my head again, clutching the robe tighter around myself.
“The doctors in my pack thought…” I hesitated. “They thought constant silver exposure may have delayed it.”
Riven, standing near the doorway behind Lyra, went completely still.
I avoided looking at him.
“I worked in silver research constantly,” I continued quietly. “Most of my life was spent in laboratories or mines. They said it could’ve affected my hormones.”
“And because it never happened,” Lyra said slowly, piecing it together, “you focused on work instead of relationships.”
I gave a tiny nod.
Because how could I explain it?
Everyone else around me spent years wanting things I simply… didn’t.
Romance.
Desire.
Mating.
None of it ever felt urgent.
Not until now.
Not until him.
Lyra crouched slightly in front of me, her voice staying gentle.
“Have you tried relieving the pressure?”
I frowned weakly. “What?”
Her expression turned delicately sympathetic.
Oh no.
Oh God no.
Heat flooded my face instantly as realization hit.
“She means touch yourself,” Riven said flatly from the doorway.
I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.
“Riven,” Lyra snapped.
“What?” he replied without apology. “That’s what you were asking.”
I covered my face with both hands immediately.
This was genuinely the most embarrassing moment of my entire life.
“I hate this pack,” I muttered miserably into my palms.
To my horror, Joseph made a strangled sound outside the office that suspiciously sounded like suppressed laughter.
“Leave,” Riven said coldly toward the doorway.
Joseph vanished instantly.
Lyra sighed before looking back at me more softly. “You don’t need to be embarrassed.”
“I absolutely do.”
A tiny smile pulled at her mouth despite herself.
“Did you try?” she asked carefully.
I groaned quietly into my hands.
“That’s a yes,” Riven said.
“Can you stop participating in this conversation?” I shot back in horror.
Something dangerous flickered briefly across his face then.
Not amusement exactly.
But close.
Too close.
Lyra pinched the bridge of her nose. “Amara.”
I exhaled shakily before forcing myself to answer.
“…I tried.”
Both of them stayed silent.
Mortifying.
“It made it worse,” I admitted quietly.
That wiped every trace of humor from Lyra’s face immediately.
She stood and crossed toward a nearby cabinet, pulling several bottles and packets from inside.
“That actually makes sense,” she murmured while mixing medicine carefully into a glass of water.
I blinked. “It does?”
“If your heat was delayed this long,” Lyra explained, “your body may be reacting more intensely now that it’s finally presenting fully.”
Wonderful.
Fantastic.
Exactly what every woman wanted to hear.
“You essentially skipped years of gradual hormonal adjustment,” she continued gently. “Your wolf went from dormant to active all at once.”
I stared at the floor miserably while she handed me the glass.
“So I’m dying.”
“You’re not dying.”
“It feels dramatic enough to qualify.”
That finally earned the smallest breath of laughter from Lyra.
Even Riven’s shoulders shifted slightly near the doorway.
But when I glanced toward him accidentally—
His expression was hard again.
Controlled.
Only his eyes betrayed him.
Sharp blue locked onto me with an intensity that made heat pulse through my body all over again.
Not cold.
Never cold.
Restrained.
Like every second inside this room cost him something.
“Take the medicine,” he said quietly.
And somehow the roughness in his voice affected me more than the words themselves.
The medicine tasted horrifying.
I swallowed once before immediately grimacing. “That is disgusting.”
Lyra looked entirely unapologetic while leaning against the desk beside me. “It’s medicinal.”
“It tastes like tree bark mixed with regret.”
To my absolute horror, Joseph snorted loudly from somewhere outside the office.
Riven’s mouth twitched.
Actually twitched.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You almost smiled,” I accused weakly.
His expression flattened instantly. “You’re hallucinating.”
Liar.
Still, within minutes, the unbearable pressure inside my body began easing little by little. Not gone completely—far from it—but softer. More manageable.
Like I could breathe again.
I sagged slightly in relief against the back of the chair.
Lyra watched me carefully. “Better?”
“A little,” I admitted. “Still weird. But less… catastrophic.”
“That’s good.”
The heat beneath my skin slowly settled from wildfire into simmering warmth, and for the first time all night, I felt like myself enough to think clearly again.
Or mostly clearly.
I glanced toward Riven near the doorway.
He still hadn’t moved closer.
Not once.
Even now, with concern visible beneath all that cold restraint, he kept careful distance between us.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
His eyes lifted immediately to mine.
“And I’m sorry,” I added. “I interrupted your meeting.”
“It wasn’t a meeting.”
I blinked.
Riven crossed his arms lightly over his chest. “I already wanted everyone out.”
A tiny crack in the armor.
So small most people probably wouldn’t notice it.
But I did.
And irrationally, it warmed something inside me.
Lyra noticed too.
A slow smile pulled at her mouth as she glanced between us.
“Well,” she said casually, “at least you two have something in common.”
The room went still.
Riven’s jaw tightened instantly.
I frowned slightly. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” Riven answered immediately.
At the exact same time Lyra said, “He means—”