Chapter 105: A wolf’s heat
AYLA
I reclined in the bathtub feeling the hot water warm my bones.
It had been two days since my powers had manifested in front of everyone and two days since I had been confined to my room at the Alpha’s behest.
I had guards at my door on rotation and no one was allowed to see me, not even my mother.
I did not want to think about it. About the fact that I now knew my father was not in fact my father.
I guess I should be happy about it. I had spent so long wondering why he hated me, his daughter so much but all the while, I wasn’t really his.
Nyx, for the most part had gone silent after her ominous warning about not trusting anyone.
Of course, I was fine. Whatever could go wrong that already hadn’t?
I sank deeper into the water until it lapped at my chin.
A commotion at the door jolted me from my thoughts. I sat up, water sloshing over the rim of the tub.
"My prince, the Alpha’s orders..."
"Move."
Damon?
I rose so fast I nearly slipped. I reached for my robe, pulling it around my shoulders as I crossed the room and pulled the door open.
My eyes widened as I took him in.
He looked good.
Like he had not been dying mere two days ago. His color was back and judging by the anger in his eyes and the firm set of his jaw as he eyed the guards, I would say his strength too.
"You are okay," I breathed.
"All thanks to you, I hear." He smiled then turned back to the guards.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Do you know how I was able to heal you?" I blurted out.
Damon turned back to me and a grin spread across his face.
"Yeah. Something about light exploding out of you."
He has no problem with it, I think to myself. Of course, he doesn’t. He knew I killed two men and swore they deserved it.
Unlike Ares and Cassian who could not even look at me.
I had tried to reassure myself that they were confined just like I was, but Damon was here, wasn’t he?
They could have come but they had not.
"I am going in," Damon said.
"My prince, we were commanded to not let anyone in"
"Then have me reported." Damon snapped. "Tell my father I forced my way in. Whatever you want but I am going in there to thank the woman who saved my life. Now get the fuck out of my way."
The guards hesitated for a moment before they stepped aside, letting Damon walk through.
He shut the door behind him and pulled me into his arms.
I stiffened immediately.
The robe was all I had on and with his body pressed to mine, I could feel every inch of him through the thin fabric.
The heat that had been simmering under my skin for two days roared to life.
This is not what I should be thinking about right now, I chided myself. But it was all I could think about.
His scent hit me next and my mouth watered.
What is going on? I thought in a panic. I had never felt this way before... smelled things so vividly before.
Ever since my powers activated, ever since Nyx awoke, my body had been a furnace. I had thought it was the poison working its way out of my system or maybe exhaustion but the ache between my thighs had a name now and that name was need.
"Are you okay?" Damon pulled back, his hands still on my shoulders.
"Yes." My voice came out rough.
He studied my face. Whatever he saw there made his brow furrow, but he did not press.
We moved to the bed and I took a seat.
"Thank you for saving my life." Damon said, sitting beside me.
"I should be the one thanking you, Damon." I turned to face him. "The Forest of Death? Why would you even think to go there?"
"I did not think." he chuckled. "You were dying and that was the only way."
"You could have died."
"I did die."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I made a deal with a woman... she called herself the lady of thorns. She gave me twenty-four hours to live and get the widow’s bloom to you. If you had not healed me when you did, I would be dead."
My mind raced back to the moment I had been pulled into a space. The woman I had seen there who claimed Damon was hers. It had to be the lady of thorns.
"Ayla?"
"Hmm?"
"You are sweating."
He leaned closer, raising a hand to my forehead.
"I am fine." I muttered. "It has been like this since I healed you and I got my wolf."
Damon went still.
"You got your wolf?"
I nodded.
A grin spread across his face now.
"What?" I demanded. "Why are you smiling?"
"I think you need to have sex, Ayla."
I choked.
"What?!"
He nodded his head.
"Ayla. You are an Omega who just awakened her wolf for the first time. Your body is in overdrive. The heat, the sweating and the way you are looking at me right now..."
"I am not looking at you in any way."
"You are looking at me like you want to eat me."
My face burned.
"The only fix," he said, leaning back on his hands like he had all the time in the world, "is to mate. Besides, do you know what day it is today, Ayla?" he drawled.
I thought about it, my eyes widening in realization.
It was a full moon today.
"But..." I sputtered.
"But what?" he cut in.
The smile on his face had disappeared now, replaced by something else entirely and he was looking at me with hunger in his eyes.
"I can smell your arousal." He gritted his teeth. "We both can"