Every time you cross my mind you get right under my skin
Am I crazy out my mind the situation I'm in
And it gets harder just to breathe feel like the walls are closing in
All I need is some closure

Yeah, I can't eat, I can't sleep, I get anxiety
When you're not here with me, I get anxiety

• • •

I don't remember the ride home. I do, however, remember the snarls that sent half the pack running when we entered the front door. I was crying out from the amount of pain that was coursing through me, the dripping arousal that my body used to try and lure Princeton in to mate, to take me.

The human side of us both weren't ready, but the primal, animalistic sides were. Oh boy, they were, and they did not hesitate to let us know. A slow snarl escapes my lips and I dug my palms into the ground and tried to drag myself to the stairs as a heavy weight overtook my entire body. I whispered as I collapsed to the ground, body shaking with the amount of pain and arousal that mixed inside my stomach.

"Rivera." Princeton's tight voice caught my attention. I whimpered and moved my eyes to where Princeton stood there, stiff as a board and looked down at me with a slightly clenched jaw. "Tell me what to do," he growled, "before my wolf manages to take control and do something you aren't ready for."

"G-go get your mom a-and Zaria." Knowing they're both mated seemed to make the request satisfactory and have his wolf check it off as 'okay,' as he darted off up the stairs, past me.

Which left me alone. That is until I heard shuffling, and instantly my eyeball darted to the corner of my vision. I strained painfully to see an unmated male standing there with darkened eyes. His lip curled slightly and a small growl escaped his throat, his pupils dilating.

No! I tried to inch my pained body to the edge of the stairs, anything to get away from the male who began his stride toward me. I knew he would try to mate me if I did not do something now.

I could shift, which would only heighten and expose my heat scent — as well as the pain — and risk causing the other male to shift as well in order to catch me, and with wolves being as huge in their shifted form as they are, I would probably have to use what speed I could to escape. Doing that would not end well for me in the slightest.

I could also call for help by screeching at the top of my lungs, which would attract more negative attention from males and females who are unmated and could smell my heat from across the damn house. Do I risk drawing that amount of attention to get help from my mate?

The pain in my waist answered that for me. "Help! Princeton help!" I cried, causing the male behind me to snarl and lunge at me.

Pain erupted in my back as he landed on top of me and pinned the back of my neck to the ground and snarled. He did not speak, simply held me there as he waited for me to submit in his blinding rut.

I let out a warning hiss through my teeth, calling on an angsty Feline to help me. She could sense my distress and she instantly understood why I was in such a state. Within seconds I could feel her presence pressing against the front of my skull, begging to be released to fight the male from my back.

I nearly relented in giving her control, but was stopped when I heard a very feral, very unhappy snarl from the top of the stairs. My head snapped up and saw Princeton with Lana and Zaria standing on either side of him. Princeton's dark brown eyes had filtered into gold, and within seconds there was a very large, very pissed off wolf at the top of the steps.

I never took time to notice the color of his fur. I never really saw him in his wolf form — he usually trained in his human form in order to better communicate with the other wolves in the pack he was practicing with.

His fur was a beige, tanned color mixed with patches of white, black and brown, almost looking like a really delicious cookie dough.

Now I wanted cookie dough. Fantastic. Get yourself together, Rivera. You're pinned down under a heat-crazed male that isn't your mate and your mate is pretty pissed off. Heat management now, cookie dough later.

Good point, Subconscious. I applaud you for reminding me what needed to be done.

I hadn't noticed the male on top of me had loosened his grip out of fear and the amount of power leaking from Princeton and his family at the top of the stairs. With lightning speed, I pushed my palms on the floor and shoved myself up. The male yelped and was sent flying off of my back. Princeton barked furiously and darted down the stairs, not seeming to care about the nice hardwood his claws scraped against in the process.

Zaria and Lana were quick to move. As Princeton leaped over my body and grasped the stunned male by the ankle, chomping down hard, the two females crouched next to me and began checking over me. "Did he hurt you?" The older of the women asked briskly.

I shook my head. "Not really. I'm just shocked," I mumbled, glancing to my right when I saw movement in the corner of my eye. In the archway, pack members had begun to gather to watch the situation unfold. Princeton's wolf was snarling in my attacker's face, blood from the wound he had made dripping onto the male's face.

The male made an attempt to cower away, submit in the best way he knew. Princeton has his tail linked over his back, and his fur stood on end as he made the "alpha stance" as I affectionately called it, over the male.

Lana wrapped her arms around my waist, causing a painful burn to scrape through me. In the Feline world, when a female is in heat and someone who her Feline does not recognize as her Chosen [ or in this instance, her mate ], touches her, the body will respond in a way that is not pleasant. More mating pheromones will pump out of the body to encourage her mate to chase off any of those who wish to try their way into his mate's pants. It's not Lana and Zaria's fault, it's just a factor of my genetics. Not even Feline can control it.

Princeton's wolf sensed the pheromones and snarled, leaning down to nip at the male's jugular before standing off from him and shifting back. Zaria quickly passed him a pair of jeans without looking away from me with a concerned frown.

"Let this be a warning to every single unmated member of this pack," Princeton snarled, his golden eyes scanning the faces of each person before landing on me. Pupils dilated. Lips curled. "A female's heat does not mean she can't exercise her right to consent. It does not matter whether she is mated or not. If she is running from you, you will learn to control your goddamn wolves and you will respect her desire not to mate. Females, same goes for you. If you're in heat and you're looking to ease that pain, do not try to force yourself on any male who does not wish to help you through the pain. You know of other ways to handle such issues. We have advanced medicine and Heat Treatment Plans for a reason. Use them. We are not as feral as our ancestors any longer, and I sincerely hope you start acting like it."

I bit my lip to hide my proud smile as the other wolves shifted their feet awkwardly and glanced at one another. Princeton did not appear to appreciate the long, drawn out silence and he barked, "Am I clear?"

"Yes, Alpha," The members murmured, unable to resist the power that radiated from Princeton's heavy command.

Princeton let out a pleased growl before turning to me with burning eyes, eyeing me. "I want everyone cleared of the alpha wing. Only my family is allowed within that wing until my day so. Got it?"

More murmurs of agreement came from the crowd of shifters and Princeton squinted. "Good. Now leave us, and do spread what I have said to you to the rest of the pack."

When everyone was gone, Princeton growled as he approached me like a tired predator who had finally managed to take down his prey. He met my gaze for the longest time.

I could see the internal struggle in his golden eyes, the shift of brown within them that showed the human side of Princeton in there somewhere behind the wolf that was currently in control. His entire body was tense and his fists were clenched so tight they had turned white. "Take her to my room and make sure that only you and Zaria enter. I do not want anyone else from our family or the pack inside. I will set up the guest room for myself until her heat is over."

Despite the sharp throbs that punished my stomach with the movement I made to keep upright, I rasped, "Princeton, my heat could last for two to three weeks. I haven't mated in so long since my miscarriage that it'll last as long as it can to ensure mating. I — I can't take your room for that long," I whispered.

He watched me, the hardness in those gold eyes softening a great deal. He must have sensed the pain behind the words I spoke. "If your heat lasts a month, so be it. I know it'll be less painful with my scent there, things that remind your Feline of me. I will visit you each day and be with you as long as my will can hold itself. I do not want to lose control and force you into something you wouldn't be ready for."

I nodded weakly. "Are you sure?" At this point, I did not want to get into one of my usual arguments with Princeton. My body was not in the state to handle an argument without ripples of pain crippling my ability to properly think and speak.

"Yes." He inched forward, almost hesitantly, and reaches out to touch my cheek. The usual passionate intensity of our touches were increased by tenfold, yet it relaxed the throbbing in my chest and stomach. His thumb left a trail of warm flames across my jawline and he leaned closer to kiss me gently, but it only lasted seconds before he ripped away from me. "If you need anything, ask my mother or Zaria. If you need me, ask them as well."

I nodded weakly and Princeton turned his attention to his mother and sister. "Only mated guards are to stand outside her door. And she must be guarded in case another young male is put into a rut by her scent. Strict orders on strong bonded mated guards, one male, one female, outside of her door with strict orders to tend to her needs if you two or myself cannot. She is not to be touched by them — only you and Zaria may touch her if she happens to need help with changing or bathing."

"Yes, Alpha," Zaria responded professionally, understanding that her brother was not the one she needed to address during this time. "We will make sure all of this is done. Anything else?"

I met Princeton's gaze again and the way those eyes softened turned my stomach into mush. "See if the treatment plan works on Feline females."

• • •

Princeton had been completely right about his scent easing some of my pain. The second I changed into a pair of his sweatpants and one his Harlem Globe Trotter t-shirts [ with the help of a very gentle Lana ], followed by laying under his blankets on top of his bed, everything eased.

It wasn't nearly as helpful like when Princeton touched me earlier, but it sure as hell did make the radiating pain in my body tone the pain level down from as painful as it can get to extremely painful so it was a good sign.

They had said something to me, but I had been knocked out and nearly asleep by then. Females in heat, to deal with the pain if they aren't mating, usually shut their bodies down and sleep most of the heat to avoid the pain. We are able to control and draw out our needs until the high point of needing to refresh the "stock", so to say. When our bodies decide we need some quick maintenance it will wake us up. We'll eat, sleep, get liquids, shower and pee, and then go back to bed and repeat the process.

Two hours later, I was gently awoken by Zaria. I sat up in the bed, only wanting to go back to my slumber before the pain settled against my nerves again and flared up. "What?" I murmured, resting against Princeton's pillow and inhaling.

"We wanted you to meet your guards so they don't scare you when you wake up later." Zaria's voice was so soft, softer than she usually spoke to me with. It was almost like a lullaby, but when she gently touched my shoulder I knew she wanted me to really take a look.

I turned over underneath the sheets and peered tiredly at the two. One was a female with black hair pulled into a bun, with dark skin and matching eyes, and next to her was a bulky male with a short blonde beard and blue eyes. "This is Costa," Zaria introduced, gesturing to the female, then the male, "and Hermes." I studied them both, surprised at how unaffected they were by being in a small room with the intense smell of a female during heat. Respect to them for that control.

"Hello," I greeted quietly. Costa gave me a gentle, sympathetic smile while Hermes waved rapidly at me with a playful grin.

"We are at your service, Your Grace," Hermes said with a dramatic bow. "We shall serve and please, with no regulations. Whatever you request you shall receive."

Costa sent her companion a twisted look, face scrunched up. "You're a real piece of work, Hermes. Nobody wants to hear you rhyming," she complained.

I laughed softly and watched them with appreciative looks. "It's nice to meet you guys. Thanks for doing this, it makes me feel safer than being alone in here." Admitting that wasn't hard for me, not after I'd been tackled to the ground by a stranger.

"We doubt anyone will disobey Princeton, especially when he uses his Alpha mojo like that, but either way we won't let you get hurt," Hermes promised, flashing me a reassuring smile that warmed my heart and eased some of my anxiety.

I gave him a weak smile and nestled deeper into the sheets as pain overtook every nerve of my body like promised. A soft whimper even left my lips from the amount of pain that burned through me.

"Let's leave her be." I watched Costa visibly wince as her gaze landed on my figure. "I remember my heat being so painful that I almost killed my brother."

When they left, Zaria eyed me.

And then suddenly the window next to Princeton's bed shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.