She knew Harold was her mate. There was no denying the pull she felt from her wolf. His concern for her, however, was what those human romance novels from long ago were made of. She shook herself. They couldn’t touch. This wasn’t a damned romance novel. She was a wolf and he was a panther…two totally different species.
She followed him into the room and waited until he stepped aside, wondering what would happen if they did touch. Was the mating bond the same between all shifters? Did the species ever cross-mate? Was that even a thing? She had been so sheltered in her pack, she’d never learned about the others. There’d been no other shifters in her area, and even if there were, her pack would’ve forbidden any involvement.
She didn’t want to impose on him, but the demand from him was enough to appease her wolf, so she climbed into his bed as soon as the door closed. The moment she did, her wolf growled from his scent. She whimpered and buried her face into the pillow. His scent surrounded her and she was surprised when she felt wetness between her legs.
“He’s my mate,” she whispered softly.
Her legs sawed together as the ache built. She was aroused to the point of pain. Should she touch herself? Even after all she’d been through, the thought of sex still disgusted her, but with Harold’s scent around her, she felt…safe.
She wanted that with him, but she couldn’t tell him. Her new pride would be leaving in two days, and she was going to fulfill her commitment to help him organize and be on her way.
Their mating would never work. She had to convince herself to stop thinking about him and tell her wolf to back off.
The ache in her womb wasn’t getting the memo, though. Another wave of heat hit her and she moaned a little louder, trying to turn her face into his scented pillow, but the sound was so loud, she was sure he’d heard her. His scent, however, strengthened the need.
“Luna?” Harold knocked on the door. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she called out, whimpering on the end when she heard his voice. She wanted to ask him to come in, because the need was getting stronger by the second.
“You are not fine,” he growled low in his throat. “Unlock the door and let me in so I can check on you.”
“No, please,” she cried. “Please do not come in here, Harold.”
There was a moment of pause before the handle on the door rattled a few times. She heard his panther’s growl again and the handle on the door twisted hard. The sound of the mechanism breaking was the only warning before he burst into the room.
“What…” he froze, his nostrils flaring from the scent.
“I’m in heat,” she cried, not even caring to wipe away the tears that were falling from her eyes. “You are my mate, and my wolf needs you.”
“You are in no shape for a mating, Luna,” he stated, but his words were strangled. She glanced down at his denim jeans and his cock was already hard for her. His knuckles were white from where he held the doorframe with all of his strength.
“I’m healed,” she groaned when another ache had her pulling up into the fetal position. “If you cannot touch me, please give me something.”
“You want me to medicate you?” he asked in shock. Those beautiful, icy blue eyes were amber now.
“My pack’s healer would give the females something to sedate them when they were in heat and unmated.”
“I will take care of you,” he offered, but turned around to leave. Luna buried her face into the pillow again when she realized he wasn’t going to touch her.
When he returned, Harold wore special gloves and had a syringe in his hand. She rolled over so she wasn’t facing him and allowed the male to inject her with a sedative in the back of her arm. It only took a few seconds before the ache between her legs eased and she fell asleep…only to dream for hours about the male who was fated to be her mate.
Harold collapsed in the hallway outside of his bedroom, sliding down the wall to sit heavily on the floor. Luna’s wolf had claimed him and she was obviously in heat. The scent inside his bedroom was pure sexual need in the air, and his cock wanted her more than the air he was sucking into his lungs. It took all of his power not to mount her to see if they were truly mates, but he wasn’t that type of male. Especially to a female who’d been through so much over the last month. Plus, she was obviously not of his kind, because a female in heat could only be detected by her mate.
The more he thought about the female, the more he wanted to rage against the men who’d done this to her, but Evie had taken the liberty of killing the human. Tears pooled in the healer’s eyes. He didn’t know what to do. She was going to be leaving in a couple of days, but his panther had been on edge ever since the announcement had been made. They didn’t want her to leave.
“Harold?” his alpha gasped as he pushed the door to his home open wide. The door was always unlocked for his pride, but it shocked him to see the alpha on the threshold. His mind automatically went to the alpha’s mate.
“Is Liberty well?”
“Yes,” Talon huffed. “It’s you. I felt your distress. What the hell is going on?”
“I’m sorry, Talon,” Harold said, climbing to his feet. “I did not mean to scare you.”
“Is Luna okay?” the alpha asked, looking around the home. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared. His alpha took a step back when he realized the scent in the air.
“She is in heat,” Harold replied. “I know I’m not to speak of my patients, but I need to inform you I had to sedate her tonight.”
“Sedate her?”
“She is in pain from her fertility, and I refused to touch her,” Harold grumbled. “She says that her wolf has claimed me for her mate.”
“Oh…” Talon froze, his eyes going wide. “So, her scent can be detected by anyone?”
“It seems so,” Harold replied. “She is nothing like us.”
“Can we cross-mate?” Harold was thankful his alpha was staying calm, because at the moment, the healer was ready to go insane with lust from the female’s scent.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Harold replied. “The Community was trying that at their facilities, but as far as I know, none of the experiments worked.”
“That was because they weren’t mates,” Talon reminded him.
“Do I touch her, Talon?” Harold asked in desperation.
“What does your panther tell you?” Talon pushed, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. His alpha was knowledgeable and an old friend. Harold trusted his advice more than anyone else’s, just as he’d done with Talon’s father before he passed. Both males were worthy of their titles.
“To go in there and claim her the moment she wakes up,” Harold stated, honesty ringing through his words. “I want to love her.”
“What is holding you back?” Talon continued with the questioning.
“I’m having a hard time understanding why her? Why Luna, of all females? What if the histories have been wrong for thousands of years and our kind can mate outside of our species?” Harold wondered aloud. “Over the course of our existence, each shifter group has stayed to themselves. Only since we were found out by the humans have we been interacting with them. Think about the people of our pride who never found their one true mate. What if they had been destined to be with someone else?”
“Like a panther with a wolf?” Talon asked, his brow raised in a questioning quirk.
“Yeah, like a panther with a wolf.” Harold sighed. “What do I do, Talon?”
“Follow your heart, my friend,” Talon offered.
“My heart is shattering for her,” Harold admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose.