After a minute or so, Blake spoke again. “I hope he doesn’t take too long to decide. Otherwise, I hope you have a really strong vibrator.”
“What!” I pushed away from him, seeing a smirk on his face. “Why would I need a vibrator? This is serious, and you’re making your sex jokes!”
He simply replied, “Well, you’re going to go into heat.”
“Heat?” I looked at him, wondering what he could possibly mean.
“Wait, you didn’t know that werewolves go into heat?” He looked at me with his eyes wide. “Damn, first order of business is to update the health program at the pack school. Things are so outdated around here. I can’t believe your mom never told you about heat, or really anyone else for that matter.”
“My mom doesn’t tell me anything. We pretend sex doesn’t exist in our house. Why would I go into heat?”
“After you meet your mate, you go into heat every month until your mate marks you. That means you get super horny. That’s how the Moon Goddess encourages werewolves to mate.” He then chuckled to himself, clearly laughing at some inside joke I wasn’t privy to.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m just remembering when Ria used to go into heat. One time she was so horny that she begged me for anal sex. We never marked each other, so she used to go into heat all the time. Best sex I ever had.”
I looked at him, considering this new information.
Then Blake continued, “You know, if Luke’s that big of an idiot that he actually needs to think about being with you, I’m happy to offer my services. I have tons of experience sleeping with a woman in heat.” He smiled at me. “Anyway, more seriously, nothing against Lucy, but if he doesn’t see how amazing you are, that’s really his loss. He was always the smart one but now I’m reconsidering what I thought of him. Someone would have to be a complete moron to reject you.”
I considered what Blake said, not sure if I agreed with him. After all, Lucy looked like a supermodel. And while she could be a bit flighty, she was a very loyal friend and great at making someone feel loved. After thinking for a bit, I asked, “When will I go into heat?”
“I’m pretty sure it coincides with when you ovulate. When was your last period?”
“How do you know so much?”
“Well, besides the fact that my mom’s a doctor, my mate used to go into heat every month, so now I have very intimate knowledge of it.”
“Oh. My last period was about a week ago.”
“If I had to make an educated guess, you should be going into heat in about a week.”
“Oh.”
He put his hands on my shoulders, giving me a stern look as he stared into my eyes, “Make sure you stay away from all unmated males when you’re in heat.”
“Wait, why?”
“They can sense it and it’s really hard to resist the desire they will have for you.”
“What about my parents?” I asked, panicked. “Will they sense it? What about my dad?!” I was practically gagging at the thought.
Blake softly chuckled and replied, “Don’t worry about that. Parents can’t sense their daughter’s heat, and they’re mated and marked anyway, so they can’t sense it in anyone else either. It’s only the unmated ones you have to worry about, and really only the males in most cases.”
“Thank the Goddess.” I gave a relieved sigh, relaxing back against Blake’s body as he brushed his fingers through my hair.
“If you really wanted to seduce Luke, that would be the time to do it. I can guarantee you he won’t be able to keep it in his pants if he’s around you.”
“I don’t want to seduce him. I want him towantto be with me, and not because I took advantage of him!”
“Technically it would be the Moon Goddess that’s taking advantage of him since that’s how this whole thing works. She gives you a mate and encourages you to be with them. Part of that tactic is putting you into heat so that the two of you mate with each other. But, anyway, if you don’t want to encourage any type of mating, definitely stay away from all unmated males.”
He tightened his grip on my arm and continued, “If any man as much as touches you without your permission, you let me know.” I turned my head so I was facing him, and he had the look of someone I would never want to cross, his eyes taking on a devil-like appearance. “The punishment for mating by force in our pack is death, and I will not hesitate to kill anyone that does.” The way he said it made me shiver. It was evident that he didn’t mean metaphorically.
I put my hand to my forehead, feeling overwhelmed by all this new information, tears flooding back to my eyes. Noticing my reaction, Blake pulled me tightly against him, holding me against his chest. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. It will all work out,” he whispered against my ear. “I promise.” My tears dropped freely, soaking his shirt.
I lay against him as he rubbed my back, comforted by the feeling of being against his body. And then a thought came to me—why couldn’t Blake have been my mate?