Annabelle’s POV
Jonathan finally came home around 8 p.m. Its almost three in the morning; meaning, its technically Friday. The day that Arnold gave us until he ‘takes action.’ Jonathan is sound asleep, but my nerves are keeping me awake. I’ve been laying here for almost an hour, unable to sleep.
Honestly, I’m terrified. I’m afraid of what Arnold will do. I’m afraid for my mate, for Ford, for my small non-blood family, for all the people protecting me, and for the Sunset Guardian Pack. When word gets out that I’m their Luna, there will be a huge target on each of the pack members’ backs. When I’m officially Luna, they will be my new weakness. When Arnold finds out that Jonathan and I aren’t mated, he might do something crazy. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I just want everyone safe.
I slowly climbed out of bed and Jonathan subconsciously reached out for me. He grabbed the pillow that I was laying on, and cuddled with it. A smile spread across my face as he inhaled my scent and purred. I still don’t understand why we purr. Like we’re not cats.5
I quietly left Jonathan’s room, then made my way to my office. I passed by a few guards that gave me curious looks, but didn’t ask any questions. I walked into my office and sat in my desk chair. Just a few weeks ago, this was Mom’s office. I looked around the room, that was still filled with all my mother’s stuff. She has at least 70 books on the shelves, framed paintings and family photos hang on the walls, two black leather love-seats, and her favorite gray rug that still has paint splatters.
I remember when we made those stains. Ford, Thomas, and I were painting in the living room, the rug used to be in there. We had a paint fight, and the rug ended up getting splattered. Mom washed it, but it never came off. She ended up putting a beige one in the living room, and putting the gray rug in here.
I continued to randomly roam around the office. I sat on my mom’s life sized teddy bear. I inhaled her faint scent of vanilla. I missed her scent so much. I missed my dad’s earthy scent also. I went through the door that connected the King and Queen’s offices.
Dad’s office doesn’t look as professional as my mother’s. His shelves are filled with movies, he has billboards filled with random pictures, one long leather couch, a billiards-table, and of course, his favorite chair. The burger chair, that he wouldn’t let any of us sit on.
He absolutely loved that chair. I slowly sat down on the plush chair, and inhaled his scent. It comforted me. I dragged the chair out of his office, and into mine.
I sank down in the burger chair and cuddled with the huge teddy bear. My parents’ scents surrounded me, I felt safe.
“Anna?” someone called from outside the door. I ignored it and buried my face in the bear. The bear’s fur got wet from the tears that escaped my eyes.
I don’t even know why I’m crying. I’ve always missed them, but I guess its really getting to me now. I understand that they’re not coming back, that I’ll never see them in person, that they won’t be here to hold me.
Light shone in the office as someone opened the door. I clutched tighter onto the bear and silently cried. I heard the person walking towards me. They put their hand on my shoulder causing me to tear my face away from the bear.
“Why are you still awake?” Thomas asked with a look of concern etched on his face.
A small whimper escaped my mouth. “I m-miss them s-so much” I whispered. Thomas sighed and wrapped his arms around my shaking form. My breaths came out in pants, and my eyes stung from tears. Why am I so emotional?
“Shh” he said while gently rocking us back and forth. My small whimpers became strangled sobs. My stomach dropped, my body felt like it was on fire, and I abruptly let go of Thomas.
His eyes flashed golden before Thomas backed away from me. He didn’t hold me up, so I fell to the ground. I curled up into a ball and cried my eyes out, just like I did after turning on my emotions. I’m a complete wreck. I opened my mouth, letting a loud howl escape, the sound echoed through the castle.
With my wolf abilities, I was able to hear dozens of footsteps coming to my office. They got louder and louder. My head was pounding. I covered my ears, but it didn’t do much.
“Make it stop!” I shrieked. My vision started to blur, but I could make out the shape of the door. It opened, and people were blocking the doorway. They started shouting, so I squished my head between my hands. My eyes were clamped shut.
‘Babe’ Jonathan said through the mind-link.
I clutched my stomach and curled into a fetus position. “Make it stop! It hurts!” I shouted.
I felt someone gently rub my back, making the pain slightly bearable. ‘Sweetie, you’re in heat’ Alyssa’s soft voice said in my head.
I took deep breaths and shook my head. “I’m not supposed to have heat” I whispered, once the pain subsided. I slowly opened my eyes and noticed that only Jonathan, Alyssa, Elliot, and Kelly were in the office with me.
Jonathan grabbed my hand and rubbed circles on the back with his thumb. I sighed in content as Jonathan squatted down to hold me.
The door opened, and Arnold casually strutted in. “Its the end of the week” he stated.
Jonathan got up and dropped my hand. “You!” Jonathan growled. “What did you do to my mate?!”
Arnold smirked. “She’s just going through heat, just like every other she-wolf”
“She’s not supposed to! The Moon Goddess said-” Kelly cut herself off before revealing more information. But of course, Arnold heard her.
“The Moon Goddess said what?” Arnold pressed, looking interested.
Kelly avoided his gaze, and Elliot stepped forward. “What. Did. You. Do” he said slowly.
Arnold wasn’t the tiniest bit intimidated. “A friend of mine helped. He’s… powerful”
“You got help from a witch?!” Alyssa screeched. Everyone is getting help from witches these days.7
Arnold nodded and turned to walk out the room. “Just a friendly reminder: Anna needs to be impregnated with your child by the end of the month”
*****
My sweaty body was trembling on the leather couch. Alyssa placed a cold towel on my forehead as Kelly wiped my sweat. Its been five hours since my heat started, my temperature is way too high, even for a werewolf.
I let out what felt like the billionth whimper. My clothes were drenched in sweat. “Its too hot” I complained. Kelly began to help take off my pajamas, when Alyssa stopped her.
“Can you control yourself?” she asked Jonathan. He looked at me with pained eyes, before gently kissing my forehead.
Jonathan nodded at Alyssa. “I just want her comfortable” he said while stroking my hair. I softly purred, just by touching me, Jonathan makes some of the pain go away.
Kelly finished unbuttoning my flannel shirt and I pulled it off my arms. I shimmied out of the flannel pants, leaving me in my undergarments. Jonathan’s eyes roamed my body and started glowing. Before loosing control, he took a deep breath while closing his eyes. His blue-gray eyes stared into mine as he continued to brush my sweaty hair out my face.
Alyssa sighed. “We need to get her temperature down” she stated.
Jonathan nodded in understanding. “How do we do that?” he questioned.
“You need to stop touching her” Kelly said softly. “You’re giving off body warmth. Touching her eases the pain, but it makes her temperature higher”
My mate sighed, but reluctantly agreed. After kissing my forehead one last time, he moved to the wall, away from the couch. A wave of burning pain immediately started. I felt tears roll down my cheeks, and I pursed my lips to keep myself from screaming.
“Damn it!” Jonathan cursed, and began pacing back and forth next to the wall. He was loosing control. I opened my mouth to tell him to calm down, but instead of words coming out, I screamed in agony.
The burning got stronger and hotter. Clawing my insides out might be less painful. I think my first shift was less painful than this.
Alyssa’s eyes clouded over, meaning she’s mind-linking someone. A few seconds later, Ian came in my office with a kiddie-pool. Elliot was behind him with three big bags of ice. They ripped one open and poured into the inflated pool.
“Jonathan, put her in the pool” Kelly demanded. Jonathan quickly picked me up bridal style. He placed me on top of the layer of ice, then Elliot poured the another bag of ice on top of me. I felt the ice melting, but it was quickly replaced by the last bag of ice.
Kelly pressed the back of her hand on my forehead and groaned in frustration. “This isn’t helping!” she exclaimed.
“Make it stop!” I begged no one in particular. Jonathan sat in the pool with me and just held me. I sighed in content, before another wave of pain hit me.
I screamed, causing Jonathan to jump out of the pool. Tears flowed down my face as I took deep breaths, trying to lessen the pain. “It hurts” I whispered weakly. “I just want it to go away”
Alyssa looked at Jonathan, having a silent conversation. Jonathan nodded, then Alyssa walked out with everyone else behind her. Jonathan gently pressed his lips to mine, but pulled away too soon. “There’s only one way to make it go away” he reminded me.
I nodded. “I’m ready” I confessed.
Jonathan looked skeptical. “Are you sure? Don’t do this just because Arnold said we had to” I simply nodded to answer his question. “I need you to be 100% positive” he stated.
“I love you so, so much. I’m ready to be mated to you, Alpha White” I said confidently. Jonathan carried me out of my office, and into his room.
He laid me on the bed and got on top. He used his elbows to hold his weight off of me as he kissed me again. The pain of my heat was disappearing. Jonathan’s tongue swept across my bottom lip, and I quickly granted him entrance. He pulled away, breathless.
I watched as his eyes took in every inch of my body. This suddenly felt unfair. I was wearing undergarments, but he was still fully dressed. I reached for the hem of his shirt, and Jonathan helped me pull it off. I threw it somewhere to the right side of the room as he bent back down to kiss me.
Jonathan rested his hands on my waist, while my hands roamed around his body. Without breaking the kiss, I tugged on the waistband of his sweatpants, and he swiftly took them off. I pulled away for air, but Jonathan continued. He trailed kisses down my jaw and to my mark.
He lightly kissed around it, before swiping his tongue on my skin. I let out a moan, and felt his excitement on my thigh. I abruptly moved away, and Jonathan gave me a concerned look. I caught my breath before speaking. “Do you have protection?” I asked while blushing. Jonathan chuckled and nodded.
He pulled the square package out of the nightstand, and ripped it open. “This is gonna hurt” Jonathan said softly.
“I know” I whispered.
“I love you more than life”
No details. The only important thing is that we became fully mated.