Xavier led me down the hallway.

For an old man, he moved quickly. He moved with certainty, too. I could imagine that Xavier probably knew every hallway and staircase by heart.

"Where do you think he is?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Xavier said, "I think he might be in his study. He has a lot of his meetings there."

We were practically running down the steps to the second floor.

Through the window, I could see the sun setting behind the mountains off in the distance.

We've got to hurry.

Once we reached the main entrance to the second floor, I could quickly tell there was a much heavier flow of traffic through that part of the castle than there was in the living quarters.

Men and women were walking everywhere. Xavier and I passed an office room where I saw people sitting at desks and staring at computer screens, some of them in engaged in heated telephone conversations.

"Who are those people?" I asked.

"That's the communication department," Xavier explained. "Most of the people in that room can speak languages you and I have never even heard of. It's how we keep in touch with others of our kind around the world. It's also how we stay informed of other affairs."

I raised an eyebrow at this, but continued to follow him down the bustling hallway.

We came to one more hallway that everyone was walking right past and Xavier stopped.

He gave a groan of frustration and threw his hands in the air.

"What is it?" I asked.

"They're not going to let us in," he said. "He's probably in a meeting."

I looked to where he gestured and saw two tall men guarding the only door on the hallway.

"They have to let us in!" I said walking over to them.

The two men stepped in front of me before I could reach the door.

"I need to go in," I explained, "it's urgent."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. We can't let you in unless you have the proper documentation to access the Alpha Superior's chambers during delegation processes."

"What?" I asked incredulously. "I'm his mate! Is that not good enough?"

They didn't answer me.

"Evelyn, they can't let you in," Xavier said, pulling me back. "No one is allowed into the Alpha's chambers unless called upon to do so. Men who go in there otherwise have ended up dead."

I yanked my arm out of his grasp.

"It's a good thing I'm not a man, then," I said.

I ran towards the guards and, ducking under their arms, was able to slide in between them on the floor.

I pushed the door open quickly and ran inside.

"Evelyn!" Xavier shouted.

The guards quickly stopped him from running in behind me.

I came face to face with a wall. To my left and right were both passages leading into different rooms.

But which one is he in?

I heard the guards coming after me so I ran to my left.

This room looked like a library, a large desk sat in the middle of the room, but there was no one occupying it.

He's not here.

I groaned loudly.

"Evelyn?"

I whipped around to see Adam standing in the entrance of a passageway I hadn't seen when I came in.

I sighed in relief.

Before I could say anything he stopped me.

"Are you here to finish me off, darling?" He asked. "I must say, if you are here to kill me, I hope you brought more than a bar of soap with you this time," he said.

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm still pissed about that— and I'm not forgiving you any time soon— but we've got a bigger problem now," I said.

His eyebrows furrowed.

Before I could explain further, the two guards came bounding out of the passage I'd run through.

They came to a halt when they saw Adam.

Immediately, they kneeled.

"Your Highness, we tried to stop her but-"

Before the guard could finish Adam interrupted him.

"She's fine. Leave," he said waving his hand dismissively.

By the look on their faces, this clearly disturbed them, but they stood up and began to walk away.

"I need to talk to you," I said.

"I gathered..." Adam said sarcastically, walking over to his desk.

"I'm going to go into Heat," I said.

His head shot up and he looked at me with such intensity I thought I would melt.

"What?" He asked, walking over to me.

"Heat," I repeated. "I'm going to go into Heat tonight because you claimed me— without my permission, I might add— and I need to figure out how I can stop it."

"Shit," he muttered.

"What?" I asked. "Is that a shit 'I-forgot-that-would-happen' or a shit 'I-didn't-think-she'd-find-out'?"

"I didn't realize tonight was a full moon," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So you did know this would happen?!"

"Who told you this?" He asked, ignoring me.

"Your great uncle Xavier," I answered.

"Unbelievable. So he's finally climbed out of his hole?" Adam asked rhetorically. "What else has he told you?"

"That you're two-hundred years old!" I exclaimed. "But we'll discuss that later. Right now we need to figure out what we're going to do about this full moon, because I am not having sex with you."

Adam gave me a fierce glare. "What? You're saving yourself for someone special?" He asked sarcastically.

"Maybe I am!" I retorted. "And how would you know I'm saving myself? I might not be a virgin for all you know."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

I let out an aggravated groan.

"We need to fix this!" I said. "I'm not going into Heat."

"Keep telling yourself that," he said, turning and walking back to his desk. "But it's going to happen whether we want it to or not. There's nothing we can do."

Adam strolled over to his desk casually and sat down.

"I want to pound my fist against your head," I said with a clenched jaw.

"And I want to pound you against that wall," he said looking up from an open file and pointing at the wall behind me with his pen.

My jaw dropped.

All I could do was stare at him, speechless, and pray my face wasn't as flustered as I was.

He did not just say that...

Adam gave me a smile.

"You might want to run a cold bath. The sun should be setting at any time now," he said. "I'll sleep somewhere else tonight so you can have the room to yourself— not that you'll be sleeping— but it would be best if I wasn't there."

"So you're going to completely abandon ship?" I asked incredulously. "You caused this!"

Adam laid the file down on his desk and folded his hands.

"If it makes you feel any better," he said, "I'll be going into Heat as well for the first night. After that, well, then you're really on your own."

"How many times does it happen?" I asked, eyes wide.

"Almost every full moon until you decide you're ready to get laid," he said, standing up and walking around to lean against the front of his desk.

"And you only have to suffer through it once?" I asked in disbelief.

He laughed. "Once is all it takes for a male, we're not the stubborn ones. Most females don't last long though... it's supposed to be more painful the longer you resist."

"You're just saying that," I said crossing my arms.

He scoffed. "You'll find out sooner or later. Until then, you might want to leave. Me and you against this desk is starting to sound like more and more of a good time."

I rolled my eyes and stormed off.

"And Evelyn..."

I turned to look at him.

"Keep the bedroom door locked tonight," he warned.

- - -

I paced back and forth on the carpet, nervously watching the clock beside the bed.

It had only been thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes since the sun had completely gone down.

I didn't know what it was when I felt it the first time. I thought I was just hot.

But as I changed into shorts and a t-shirt and found no relief, I realized what was happening.

My entire body felt like it was trapped in a fire pit.

This bedroom quickly began to feel like a kiln.

I went to the French doors and opened them up to reveal a balcony.

The layer of snow on the balcony was almost up to my knees, but it felt amazing.

I threw myself on the ground and began to do snow angels.

This was only momentary relief.

I felt as if my skin was melting the snow.

I stood up, my shirt and shorts soaked to the skin, and began to peel off the layers of clothing.

I never thought I would find myself completely naked, standing in almost a foot of snow, and yet somehow completely feverish, but there I was.

I ran back inside, leaving the doors open to let in the fresh, cool air.

I went into the bathroom and quickly turned on the bath. I made sure the water was as cold as it could get and I filled the tub full of it.

This offered a fleeting solace from the Heat.

As the night progressed, I tried to come up with more clever things to do that would keep me cold, but my body only grew hotter with every effort.

I was miserable.

A few times I thought about going to find Adam and get it over with, simply so I wouldn't have to ever go through Heat again.

These were short-lived moments.

Each time the thought would cross my mind, I would just splash the thought away with cold water or a snowball to the face.

Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to bare it any longer, I saw the sun start to rise over the mountains on the horizon.

I found myself lying on Adam's bed, covered by nothing but a sheet, watching the sunrise like it was the first time I'd ever seen it.

I was certainly more excited to see the sun that morning than I had ever been. It was like Christmas morning.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I remember being woken up by the sound of Adam's voice.

"Evie..."

I opened my eyes to see him staring down at me.

I was lying on the bed in the wrong direction, my head at the opposite end and my body completely tangled up in the sheets.

Adam stood over me at the foot of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

I rolled over.

"Like shit thanks to you," I croaked. My throat was drier than the Sahara desert.

I looked up at him once more and noticed the way his black hair was tousled roughly and dark circles were prominent under his blue eyes.

"Rough night?" I asked sarcastically.

"Don't pity me," Adam said.

I shook my head. "Don't worry, I don't."

Upon second glance, I noticed he was also shirtless.

Damn, he is sexy as hell.

I shook the thought from my mind.

He's also stupid and incredibly selfish, I reminded myself.

I sat up and stretched my arms out over my head.

The sheet slipped slightly, but I pulled it back up to cover my cleavage.

"I'm starving," I mumbled hearing my stomach rumble. "Do we have any breakfast?"

I looked at Adam for an answer but instead caught him staring at my exposed skin.

"Avert your eyes, pervert," I said snapping my fingers in his face.

He blinked and looked up at me.

"Breakfast?" I asked again.

"Sure," he said taking a deep breath. "What do you want?"

"Literally anything," I replied. "I would eat radishes or raw zucchini right now if I had to."

Adam didn't find the comment at all funny like I had intended him to.

He simply walked over to the phone and requested breakfast be sent up to the room.

"You have room service in your house?" I asked in disbelief.

Adam didn't answer, just walked around the bed and began to pull out clothes for him to change into.

He was only in his boxer briefs.

It was a view I had dreamed of seeing in daylight.

Adam turned to say something to me but stopped short when he noticed the open French doors on the other end of the room for the first time.

"Why are the doors open?" He asked angrily.

"Because it was hot in here," I said in a duh tone.

"Don't open these doors again," he said walking over to close them.

He closed one but stopped himself from closing the other when he saw something.

My clothes were still on the balcony.

I put my hand over my mouth as my face turned beet red.

Adam reached down and picked up my lace panties with his finger.

He turned to look at me, still holding them up.

"Are you naked?" He asked in a husky voice.

That's kind of hot.

I couldn't find anything to say but he continued to stare at me, waiting on an answer.

"I mean... I was hot," I said defensively.

I swore his eyes grew a few shades darker.

Slowly he turned around and picked up the rest of my clothes from the balcony, including my bra, and dumped them on the floor inside the room.

Wordlessly, Adam closed the door and walked back over to his wardrobe.

He grabbed the clothes he'd pulled out and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Exhausted, I laid my head back down on the mattress and dozed off into a light slumber.

My eyes shot open when I heard a knocking on the door.

I sat up and listened to see if I could hear the shower running but I couldn't.

Maybe Adam left?

Slowly, I got out of the bed, carefully keeping my body wrapped up, and walked over to the door.

Before I could open it, Adam's hand was blocking me from pulling open the door.

"Do I really have to remind you that you shouldn't open the door when you're naked?" He asked, his warm breath fanning the back of my neck.

I turned to look at him.

"No, you don't."

I pulled open the door swiftly and came face to face with a older woman holding a tray of fruit, toast, and glasses of water.

"Good morning," I said with a smile. "I can take that from you."

She was obviously flustered seeing me in nothing but a sheet, but she turned white when she saw Adam standing behind me holding the door open. I can't imagine what she thought had been going on behind that door.

"Thank you," I said.

"Yes, thank you," Adam repeated, closing the door.

She didn't say a word.

I walked back into the room, holding the tray of food.

"That wasn't funny," I heard Adam say.

"It wasn't supposed to be," I retorted.

I placed the tray down on the bed and hopped back onto the bed myself.

"Strawberry?" I asked Adam, eating one myself.

"No thanks," he quipped.

I ate almost half the plate of fruit and more than two pieces of toast before I was satisfied.

All the while, Adam walked around the room, picking up and re-straightening things.

"You're kind of a neat freak," I said eating a slice of pineapple.

I had been watching him clean. More specifically, watching his ass when he bent over to pick something up.

"Are you checking me out?" He asked, staring at me.

"Shamelessly," I replied.

He rolled his eyes.

"What are your plans today?" Adam asked. "Assuming you even get out of the bed and do something that is..."

I scoffed. "You're not my favorite person in the world right now, so I don't think my plans for the day should concern you."

Adam smiled.

"Who is your favorite person in the world right now?" He asked.

"Me," I said. "This food is amazing. I'm about to go take a nice, hot bubble bath in a huge bathtub that happens to be sitting in the middle of a palace. And, not to mention, I've only just found out that my mate is practically a god among men and could potentially give me anything that I want in this world, so I'm feeling pretty good."

I took another bite of the pineapple slice.

"Of course," I added, "he is kind of an asshole, but he's a hot asshole. So I'm hoping he has a change of heart in the nearby future so I won't feel so guilty about wanting to make out with him. All this provided that I can actually forgive him for marking me without my consent and dooming me to long nights of unbearable Heat."

The look on his face made me laugh.

"Like I said, I'm going to take a bath. Don't wait around for me though. I don't really want to see your face for the rest of the day," I said getting off the bed.

I grabbed a glass of water and walked into the bathroom, still holding the sheet around me with one hand.

"Oh and by the way," I said stopping myself. "This mate thing you're trying to force on me is going to be a partnership, not an ownership. Until you've accepted that, you won't get anything from me."

With that, I closed the bathroom door and dropped the sheet.

- - -