Chapter 4 Chapter 4

An Unexpected Heat

Ansel’s POV

The walk back from the athletic complex felt like a trek through wet cement. Every muscle in my body felt heavy, and a strange, buzzing warmth was beginning to radiate from the base of my spine.

It’s just wrestling, I told myself, clutching my gym bag tighter. Kendric just worked me over too hard. My body is just reacting to the stress.

I reached the suite and fumbled with the key, my fingers feeling uncharacteristically clumsy. My skin felt tight, like I was wearing a suit two sizes too small. I needed a cold shower and a long sleep. Most of all, I needed to be away from the lingering scent of Kendric’s pheromones that seemed to have bonded to my very clothes and triggered an uproar from my wolf.

Once inside, I collapsed onto the sofa, my head spinning. I pulled out my phone again, hoping the emergency alert had been a glitch.

It wasn't.

FROM: Jette (Sister)

ANSEL. Check your batch number NOW. 402 is toxic. Dad is losing his mind. People are ending up in the ER with heart failure. Do NOT take another pill. I’m sending a courier with the new formula but it won’t be there for three days. Stay safe. Don’t do anything stupid.

Three days.

I looked at the amber vial on the coffee table. I felt a bead of sweat roll down my temple. My internal temperature was definitely rising. A low, dull ache started in my lower abdomen, a familiar, terrifying throb that I hadn’t felt in years.

"No," I whispered to the empty room. "No, no, no. My cycle isn't for another three weeks. The blockers are supposed to hold it back."

But the blockers were failing. Or maybe, because they were tainted, they were triggering a physiological backlash. I stood up too fast, and a wave of nausea followed. I stumbled toward the kitchen, my vision blurred and my heart racing, desperate for water.

Denial is a powerful drug. I told myself I was just sick. A flu. A reaction to the adrenaline. Anything but the truth. If I admitted it was a heat, I was admitting I was defenseless.

I reached into the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of generic, over-the-counter suppressants. They were meant for Omegas with hormonal imbalances—weak, barely effective things. I swallowed three of them, my throat bone-drying.

"Just a fever," I muttered, leaning my forehead against the cool surface of the refrigerator. "Just a fever."

I checked the team schedule on the wall. The hockey team and the football team were supposed to be on the bus by now, heading across the state for the mid-semester tournament. I had stayed behind on medical leave—ironic, considering I was currently fighting for my life—and Kendric was supposed to be gone too.

The silence of the dorm was my only comfort. I could suffer through this in private. I’d lock myself in my room, ride out the "flu," and wait for Jette’s courier.

I made it to my bedroom, stripping off my clothes with trembling hands. My skin was hypersensitive; even the touch of my cotton sheets made the hair on my body stand. I curled into a ball, my breath coming in short, shallow pants. The scent of the room—usually so neutral—suddenly smelled wrong. It smelled like me. Too sweet. Too inviting. I couldn't deny it anymore, I was in heat.

“I should text Zora,” I muttered but my phone was out of reach now and I could barely move.

I buried my face in my pillow, trying to stifle a low moan that bubbled up in my throat.

Thud.

My heart skipped a beat. The front door of the suite had opened.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the common area. A bag was dropped onto the floor with a loud clatter. I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard it hurt.

"Ansel ? Are you here?"

Kendric.

I felt blood drain out of my face. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be on a bus to the capital.

"I know you're here, I saw your shoes," his voice came closer, muffled by my bedroom door. "Coach benched me for the weekend because of my shoulder. Said I needed 'rehab' instead of a six-hour bus ride. Lucky me, right?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't. I was biting my lip so hard I tasted blood, trying to keep my breathing silent.

"Ansel?"

I heard him pause. I could practically feel him standing on the other side of the wood, his Alpha senses sharp and searching.

"Hey, are you okay? You looked like crap earlier at the gym."

Through the crack at the bottom of the door, the air was changing. The weak, over-the-counter pills were doing nothing to mask the pheromones currently flooding my system. The scent was pouring out of me, thick and unmistakable. He was going to find out at this rate.

"Ansel ..." Kendric’s voice had changed. It wasn't mocking anymore. It was low and confusing. "What is that smell?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, a single tear escaping. My body was betraying me, reaching out for the dominant presence on the other side of the door.

"Go away," I tried to yell, but it came out as a broken, breathless plea.

The doorknob turned. I had forgotten to lock it.

The door swung open, and the light from the hallway spilled into my darkened room. He took one step into the room, and froze.

His eyes weren't hazel anymore. They were dark, blown wide with a primal hunger I had spent my entire life running from.

"Ansel," he breathed, his voice vibrating through the floorboards and straight into my bones.

I looked up at him, my vision swimming, my skin glowing with a feverish sheen.

"Don't," I whispered, even as my body arched toward him.

My heating, desperate wolf was saying something completely different.

"Kendric, please... don't."

But as he moved toward the bed, I knew it was too late.