POV Kali
The heat started suddenly, spreading from deep inside me until my whole body felt on fire. I gasped against Zion's lips and doubled over, grabbing onto his arms as my temperature spiked and every nerve in my body became hypersensitive.
"Zion," I breathed, my voice already rough with need, "something's happening to me..."
He caught me against his chest, his nose flaring as he smelled the change in my scent. "Your heat," he said, his voice deeper now, more growl than speech. "Your wolf is responding to mine, to the bond. It's been suppressed for years, but now..."
His words trailed off as I looked up at him. I could feel my eyes changing, shifting to my wolf's amber color, and everything felt desperate and needy. This heat was nothing like what I'd experienced as a teenager. This was consuming, demanding, and completely overwhelming.
I tried to pull away, embarrassed by what was happening to my body, but Zion held me steady.
"Don't fight it," he said softly, though his own breathing was getting heavier. "This is natural. This is right. Your body knows what it needs. Me."
But even as he spoke, I could hear voices getting louder in the corridor outside. Kastian's angry voice was getting closer, along with what sounded like several other men.
"They're coming," I gasped, trying to regain control even as another wave of heat made my knees weak. "Kastian, my father, the council - they can't see me like this."
Zion's whole body went rigid. The smell of my heat combined with the threat of other males near me seemed to trigger every protective instinct he had.
"No one sees you like this but me," he said fiercely, scooping me into his arms. "No one touches you, no one even looks at you until this passes."
He carried me toward a wall I hadn't noticed before, pushing aside a tapestry that showed ancient wolf battles. Behind it was a hidden door.
"My private chambers," he explained quickly. "No one enters without my permission."
The room beyond was clearly his most personal space. A huge bed took up most of it, covered in dark blue silk. Windows showed the moonlit palace gardens, and I could see personal things scattered around that belonged to the man, not the king.
As he set me gently on the bed, I tried once more to think clearly. "The political situation," I panted, "Kastian's demands, the alliances - we can't just ignore—"
"Yes, we can," Zion interrupted, his own eyes beginning to change as his wolf responded to mine. "You're in heat for me, because of me. Nothing else matters right now."
The pounding on the main chamber doors got louder, with angry voices demanding to be let in. I could hear James trying to handle the situation, explaining that the King was busy, but Kastian's furious shouts cut through everything.
"That's my mate in there! I demand to see her immediately!"
Zion's response was swift and territorial. He strode back to the main chamber and I heard the door open with a bang.
"Your mate," I could hear him saying with deadly calm, "is no longer your concern. She is in my chambers, under my protection, and will remain there until I decide otherwise."
"You cannot simply steal another Alpha's wife!" Kastian shouted back.
"I'm not stealing anyone," Zion replied, his voice carrying absolute authority. "I'm protecting my fated mate."
The argument that followed was brief but intense. Kastian tried to assert his legal rights as my husband, but Zion's authority as Lycan King combined with his barely controlled anger made his position clear - I was under his protection now, and any attempts to remove me would be considered acts of war.
When he returned to the private chamber, I had managed to compose myself a little, though my scent still filled the air with desperate need.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, embarrassed by my body's response and the chaos it was causing. "I never meant for any of this to—"
Zion silenced me by gently placing a finger over my lips. "Never apologize for being what you are," he said softly. "Your heat, your response to our bond - it's beautiful, natural, and exactly what should happen between true mates."
He sat carefully on the edge of the bed, not touching me too much. I could see him fighting his own instincts, trying to give me space even though every part of him clearly wanted to be closer.
"The question is," he continued, his silver eyes dark with promise, "what do you want to do about it? I can have Healer Morwyn bring suppressants, help you manage it until the political situation calms down, or..."
His pause hung in the air between us, loaded with possibility.
"Or?" I whispered, though I thought I already knew what he was offering.
"Or we can let nature take its course," he said simply. "Let the bond complete itself the way it's supposed to. Let me take care of you the way your body is begging me to."
The choice he was offering felt huge and terrifying and exactly what every cell in my body was screaming for. My wolf was practically whimpering with need, calling to her mate. But my human mind still tried to be practical.
"If we do this," I said slowly, "there really won't be any going back. Not to Kastian, not to my old life. Everything will change."
"Everything has already changed," Zion said gently. "The moment we touched, the moment the bond snapped into place, there was no going back. The only question now is whether you fight it or embrace it."
He reached out slowly, giving me time to pull away, and brushed a strand of hair from my face. Even that small touch sent shivers through my overheated body.
"I want to take care of you," he said, his voice rough with barely contained desire. "I want to give you what your body needs, what your wolf is crying for. But only if you want it too."
Another wave of heat rolled through me, stronger than the others, and I gripped the silk sheets beneath me. My body was making the choice even as my mind tried to think it through.
"I want..." I started, then stopped, overwhelmed by sensation and need and the intensity of his silver gaze.
"Tell me what you want," he encouraged softly.