Mya dragged me into the dining hall without further warning. My ribs screamed in protest, my leg burning with effort as she pulled me along behind her. I stumbled and her grip tightened on me, her arm coming to support my waist.

"Sorry!" She gasped, stopping our advance. "I forgot about your injuries."

I winced a smile, leaning more into her as I caught my breath. "It's fine, let's just go slower."

This was the first time I had set foot in the room for a mealtime, this morning being the only meal I ate outside of my bedroom. Looking up, more wolves filled the room than I could count! It seemed the evening meals were a lot more popular than breakfast ones. I swallowed nervously, as many scrutinising eyes landed upon me.

I could not see the Alpha, but my eyes fell on the familiar faces from this morning. I smiled awkwardly as Eve's face blossomed into a grin at my arrival. Her arm waved in the air, my name falling from her lips as she called me over.

Mya snorted, pulling me along. "You have been summoned."

I ignored her teasing with a roll of my eyes, starting the hobble to the table. Mya's arm remained around my waist, going as far as to pull my chair out for me. I gave her a strange look, but she just grinned, claiming she would get us both some food. The less time standing, the more I wouldn't mind being brought food.

"Hey, surprised to see you down here." Eve beamed, pouring me a drink from the water pitcher.

"Me too." I mumbled.

"What made you change your mind?" She wondered.

A frown erupted on my lips after I took a sip of the water. Her more annoying sibling was the answer.

"To chase after your sister." I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

Eve laughed, catching my attention. "What did she do now?"

"You make it sound like she has a habit of annoying people." I pointed out.

She grinned. "Mya is spontaneous and mischievous. Don't let her tough exterior fool you."

"Oh, trust me, it hasn't." I shook my head.

"What did she do?" Eve frowned.

I shifted awkwardly, not sure how to explain why. Your sister accused me of flirting and so I had to make sure that she knew I was just appreciating her looks? No, no, that doesn't sound good... Uh, your sister said I was eyeing her up and ran away, so I had to tell her I wasn't? No, that's just another lie.

"She wound me up, and I had to retaliate." Is what I settled with.

Eve studied me with a quirked brow, but nodded anyway. "She is good at that."

A smooth hand landed on my shoulder, trailing delicately down my arm to settle on my bicep. I had jumped at the intrusion, but a glimpse over my shoulder proved it to just be the devil herself. Mya grinned at me, setting down a bowl of steaming food. I eyed it curiously, seeing spaghetti and some kind of tomato-based sauce.

"I thought I would go easy and stick with spaghetti." She teased.

"Thank you."

Sitting down with a creamy look dish of her own, she climbed into the chair right beside me. Her knee brushed mine and stayed there, but she didn't seem to notice, or chose not to move away. I cleared my throat, picking up my fork.

"So, what were you guys talking about?"

"Ailia claims you were winding her up." Eliza smirked.

"I was just testing her." Mya shrugged.

"Well, you smell strongly of each other. Be sure the Alpha doesn't look too harshly on that." Everett grumbled.

It surprised me to hear him speak, his voice low and gentle. I wasn't sure why us smelling of each other was a bad thing. We had been in the same room for most of the afternoon.

Eve caught onto my questioning gaze because she cleared her throat to catch my attention. I looked to her, softening the creases that had formed at Everett's words.

"The Alpha won't like anyone's scent being so heavily on you. It's a primal thing." She explained.

Of course it was.

Mya snorted, mouthful of food. "More like anyone unmated. If I was mated, he would not care about the smell."

"He wouldn't care anyway, but you don't exactly reel in your sexual dominance." Eve gave her a stern look.

Mya's knee pushed further into mine and I stared down at the visible part of her thigh beneath the table. Taking a mouthful of the spaghetti before it got cold, the taste of the sauce pleasantly surprised me. It had a little soft crumbly chew, tomatoes, onions and garlic reaching my tastebuds and having a little party. Taking another bite, I was sure to pull up some of the finer white shavings I assumed were cheese, only to be even more happy when the salty, sharp taste of it exploded on my tongue.

A satisfied hum of approval left my throat as I took another bite. It took me a moment of chewing with my eyes closed to realise Mya's knee paused its movements against mine. Swallowing thickly, I raised my head to see why she had stopped. She was staring at me with wide pupils, her nostrils flaring. I froze, unsure of what may have triggered her wolf to explore me so intensely.

"Mya." Eve chastised.

A low grumble formed in the latter's throat, her eyes staring into mine almost feral.

"Mya, she is not yours." Caleb spoke. "Back down."

Mya froze under his commanding words. A few seconds passed before her shoulders relaxed and she blinked, looking away. A tenseness overcame her body, and she glared down at her half eaten place with a grimace. Abruptly, she stood from the table, her fists clenched at her sides.

"I'm going to go for a run. Sorry Ailia." She blinked down at me with a blank expression.

I wasn't sure what she was sorry for other than confusing me, but I watched her run from the dining room in a haste. Turning back to the group, I saw all of them staring at me.

"What..." I began, drifting off.

Eve sighed, taking control once more. "Mya's wolf has a hard time with its more primal side. She's approaching her heat, and her wolf has taken a liking to you."

Heat?

"Does this happen often?" I wondered, swallowing thickly.

She nodded. "Her mate... rejected her about four years ago. It's not something that is accepted in our world, so she found it difficult. She wasn't a warrior until two years ago. She took all of her heartbreak and frustration and poured it into work."

"Why did her mate reject her?" I frowned. "I thought you were bound to them forever."

"You are." She shook her head, her tone low. "Mya's mate didn't want that. She didn't want to be with another she-wolf."

Understanding dawned on me, and a small oh escaped my lips. "So she rejected Mya, for someone else?"

Eve nodded. "Female mate-ships are rare, but they happen, and her true-mate wanted a male to give her pups. Mya was just a patrol wolf, fast but not strong and definitely not male."

"That's so sad." I frowned, fiddling with my dinner fork. "But why is she so focused on me?"

"Once a wolf reaches their peak puberty, they go into heat. It happens every year but turns into every six months once they have mated..."

"So, they get hot?"

Eliza giggled, Eve giving me a small, smirking laugh. My frown deepened. What had I said that was so funny?

"Heat is like... a way for us to boost our population. It's an uncontrollable urge to mate and produce pups. It lasts a few days, and our bodies produce a crazy amount of hormones that call into unmated wolves. Both males and females. We take remedies now to soothe it, and most of us can handle it with ease." Eve explained. "But Mya had mated, which makes it harder because her body was... kick-started, should I say."

"That's... weird." I admitted.

"You don't have that in your world?" Eve cocked her head.

I shook my head, awkwardness overtaking me. "We have menstrual cycles, but they are the opposite of what you are explaining."

"We have those too." Eve chimed. "Every month, our body rejects the unwanted egg."

I gave her a strange look when those words left her mouth. Even Olive's face turned into one of disbelief.

"What?" Eve wondered, worried. "Every month we bleed for a week, then expel the unwanted egg to start again next month."

My eyes fell to the two men at the table, both seeming unfazed by her brash words. Olive was staring down at her lap, but I could see the blush on her cheeks. She would say nothing, so Eve's gaze fell onto me.

I shifted awkwardly. "Periods are... like taboo in our world. Most people don't enjoy hearing about it."

Her face contorted into shock. Even Caleb's brows rose.

"What?" She laughed.

I shrugged. "I don't know about Eliza or Olive, but women in my village didn't leave the house for the first few days, and supplies always came in blank packaging to be discreet."

"Then how do you get tended to?" Eve wondered, glancing between the two of us. "Who helps soothe you, provide for you whilst your uterus sheds itself?"

I frowned, utterly confused. "I'm not sure I follow..."

Eve sighed. "We speak well of here. Males are heavily involved in their mate's care, even periods."

That explains why the men seemed unaffected by her words.

Eliza nodded. "Caleb always treats me well to make me feel better. He fetches me supplies and food and gives me great massages. I never realised the contrast of humans until now..."

The very thought of sharing even the date of my period with Darius would bring a nervous sweat to my brow. He hated it. The very thought of it. Blood coming out of my vagina? He would convulse at the thought of it. As soon as I would say I was on my monthly, he would disappear for five days. Claims it was for work every time, but I soon realised it was to get away. Probably go get attention elsewhere.

After I while, I learnt not to care.

The thought had my stomach churn with unwanted envy. I could do nothing back then, talk to nobody without his permission. The fact these women had men going as far as to clean them and fetch them sanitary pads had a weird envy surge in my gut.

Why was I stuck with a man who hated everything about a woman except for the pleasure and ease of life she could give him?

"I'm sorry. Have I upset you?" Eve's coaxing voice snapped me out of the fog.

I swallowed, shaking the faint tears away in hopes she didn't notice. But everyone at the table did. I knew I was too late in coming out of my mind, because their nostrils flared and even the male's eyes darted to the wetness on my cheeks.

"It's okay, just had a... bad memory."

Eve's hand came to rest on mine, squeezing it lightly. "Whatever happened back then is gone now, okay?"

Why did everyone insist on telling me that? Nothing as prolonged as my past could leave, and this future was new and... wrong. And so overwhelming.

So instead, I just gave her a small nod and smile, accepting her words of faint encouragement as I dived back into my dinner. I made sure to the keep the sounds to a minimal, and gradually the others joined in, light conversation flooding the table once more.

Eve kept shooting me worried glances and after the sixth one, I turned my body round to face her. Raising my eyebrow, my arm fell along the back of the chair as I waited for her to speak. She looked around the table nervously, but shook her head, a sign that said she would ask in private.

I had a feeling I already knew what she wanted to know. Her sister had been diving into my past and had mentioned Eve's inkling of what I had been through. I could only assume my small tears as I got lost in my head triggered that part of her that itched to know.

Wolves were just as curious as me, I noticed.

Suddenly, the surrounding tables all started to vacate and leave out of the same door. I raised my eyes curiously, watching them as they flooded out of the dining room. Before me, the five wolves stiffened, shooting me nervous glances.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Someone has just arrived unannounced." Caleb stated.

"Unannounced? Like trespassed?" I wondered.

They all stood, gesturing for me to do the same. I smoothed down my clothes, dabbing a napkin to my mouth in haste.

"Not exactly..." He grunted.

Eve took my arm and pulled me in the opposing direction of the wolves. But I wanted to know, wanted to see what was going on. I wasn't going to go hide in my room, not if damn Olive could have a look. That meant it wasn't a threat.

I broke out of Eve's grip and followed Caleb's broad back to the commotion outside. There were harsh whispers breaking out as the crunch of gravel met my ears. A path seemed to clear through the groups of wolves and Eve chased after me. Anticipation and nervousness flooded me. It was weird. Why did I feel so nervous and on edge?

Caleb broke through the front line of wolves, Eliza right next to him as they came to a stop. I stumbled behind them, catching my breath as I successfully lost Eve in the group of wolves. My ribs hurt, my lungs aching with the small sprint, but my hand latched onto Mya's familiar shoulder as she stood beside Eliza.

I noticed she was back to normal now, but her friendlessness had gone from her face. Instead, it was stern, but I noted a small look of unease before she switched it to passive. I went to open my mouth to ask her what was going on, but my eyes ended up locked on a new target.

A shirtless, six foot tall target.

Alpha Asra stood before the group, his back to us all as he spoke to someone in front of a black car. Just as I turned to watch, I noticed his back stiffen, but before he could fully turn in my direction, the back door to the car flew open. A shrieking, excited squeal came from a blurring form as they ran from the car.

Something that felt a lot like dread pooled in my stomach as the black-haired female launched herself into Asra's arms. It only deepened into a cesspit when he wrapped his strong, bare arms back around her. Embraced chest to chest, her cheek pressed into his as they held each other.

A nausea settled in my throat, my heart racing in my ears. Time seemed to slow, people around me quieting as it felt like a million eyes were watching me. It only worsened when the pretty female pulled away to grab his face and pull his lips to hers.

***********
Hey sorry guys I've been sick yet again. On top of school holidays too
Can't win. Can't be healthy it seems lol
Will double update you to compensate haha