Aurora’s P.O.V
I paced around my room restlessly, my heart thumping against my ribcage hard enough to leave bruises. But I couldn’t settle down.
How? How was this even possible? Caleb was a werewolf? Then how on earth was he sick?
Was it…was it because of-
“Aura!” Caroline called as she burst in through the doors, and instantly, I was racing into her arms. She held her arms open for me, and I wrapped my arms around her, feeling the comfort of her embrace like a calming balm to my soul.
“It’s alright, Aura. Calm down.” Caroline soothed her fingers through my hair as she spoke in a calming voice. “Everything’s gonna be alright.”
I nodded against her shoulders, feeling that odd sense of calm wash over me, but it wasn’t long before my worry for Caleb’s health resurfaced and I let go of her and stepped back so I could look her in the eyes.
“How is Caleb? Has his fever gone down yet?” I asked her urgently, grabbing onto her shoulders. “Is it…was it something I did? Was it my fault?”
“Aura, no, no!” She shook her head, trying to calm me down once again. “It’s…a bit complicated. Umm…how do I say this?”
“What’s going on?” I shook my head to clean my mind. “I…I don’t understand, Caroline. Caleb was burning up! I don’t even know if werewolves could get sick. How could this happen to him?”
“We don’t. Get sick that is, at least not easily,” Caroline sighed, rubbing at her temples. “Our genetic material is just build different and usually, our temperature is higher than that of a normal human, so germs don’t survive in our bodies for long.”
“Then why is this happening to him, Caroline?” I urged, fear gripping my heart with icy fingers. “Why is this happening to Caleb?”
“Well…umm…it’s just that…it’s a wolf thing…” Caroline hesitated, looking around the room as she bit her lip and scratched the back of her neck.
I frowned. Something didn’t feel right about the whole situation. Caleb was sick, he had a bad fever and had to be taken away to the infirmary, and yet, even after two hours of waiting for someone to come and give me an explanation on what was happening…I didn’t get anything. And now that Caroline was here, the one person who I expected to give me some kind of proper explanation…she too seemed to be hesitating to tell me the truth?
What on earth was even going on with Caleb and why wasn’t I being told anything? I needed to know the truth! I needed to know if it was…because of me!
“Is it because of me?” I blurted out at last, unable to hold it in any longer. “Is…Caleb sick because of me? Did I do something to him?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that, Aurora…like I said before, it’s complicated. It-”
“But you didn’t deny it either, Caroline.” I retorted. “That means somehow…I’m at fault, right? He is sick because of me!”
Caroline looked down at the ground and once again, bit her lip, stalling further while icy fingers gripped my heart, fear making my blood freeze in my veins. “Oh god!”
‘Every time it beats…it’s for you.’
Caleb’s words from last night rang in my ears. How he had made me feel his heartbeat and how I had comfortably fallen asleep in his arms only to wake up to this nightmare!
God…how could this happen to Caleb, especially when things were starting to look up for us. Did the gods really wanted me to feel miserable all my life? Why couldn’t I have one day of happiness?
“Aurora…it’s not what you think! Caleb doesn’t have any…disease…” Caroline finally confirmed. “He’s in Rut!”
I blinked. “I don’t understand.”
Rut? What…did that even mean?
Caroline gave a nervous laugh as she took a step back. “Look…I know this sounds…really crazy, but it’s a werewolf thing. I mean, the weird part is that Caleb went into heat this early since you’re not of age yet. It’s…how do I explain…it’s when the wolf can’t sense it’s mate or there is a physical and mental barrier between the mates and the wolf feels like their mate is slipping away from them. It’s usually what happens when both mates are…adults and well…they have a strong urge to…consummate their relationship…?”
“You mean…have sex?” I raised my eyebrow, feeling my throat dry up as Caroline proceeded to nod, confirming my theory.
“Yesterday, when Caleb couldn’t find you, his wolf got frightened and it tried to stretch the connection to reach you, but it couldn’t. His wolf thinks that you’re slipping away from them and is desperate for that connection between mates. It just…wants to know that you’re safe and unharmed. It also wants to communicate with you through the mind link, just like it does with everyone else in the pack. That’s kinda why Caleb is in pain; his wolf is restless and agitated and not cooperating with him.”
I understood what Caroline was trying to tell me, but I just couldn’t fathom what she was trying to tell me…
“So…” I spoke in a monotonous voice, my mind having gone completely numb, but my heart kept thrashing inside my chest like crazy. “You’re telling me…that I need to…sleep…with him?”
“What?” Caroline’s cheeks turned a bright red when she realized what I had just said, before she started to shake her head vehemently. “Oh god! NO! No! That’s not what you need to do! I’m so sorry that I gave you the wrong idea! You don’t have to go that far unless you absolutely want to!”
“Then what is it? What do I need to do to get him to feel better?” I asked, needing clarity. “Caroline?”
“He…needs to mark you, Aurora,” Caroline hesitated, before answering truthfully. “He needs to mark you as his mate, so his wolf will be at peace and the connection between the two of you will be secure.”
“And how does he do this?” I ask. “Mark me, that is.”
“He needs to bite you.”
“Excuse me?”
Bite me? Did I…was I hearing things or did Caroline just say that Caleb needs to ‘bite’ me so he could get rid of his…Rut? What the hell?
“It’s nothing dangerous or bloody, I promise.” Caroline reached out to take my hand, squeezing them reassuringly. “It’s just a tiny bite on your neck, right above the carotid artery, which had a direct link to your heart. The scar won’t even be visible to the naked eye in a couple of days.”
“I…I…” Fuck! How on earth was I supposed to respond to that?
Bite me? Quiet literally? Weren’t they wolves? They why was this starting to feel like a vampire horror story?
“Look, I know this sound bat-shit crazy-”
“No kidding.”
“-but, I wouldn’t be asking your help if it wasn’t a necessity.” Caroline pleaded, her eyes wide as they stared into mine. “Caleb is in pain. If this keeps up, then he could have even further health hazards if his wolf continues to be non-cooperative. I just want you to…consider this.”
Consider letting Caleb bite me? That was as weird as it got, but I didn’t exactly live in the normal world anymore.
The second I found out that Caleb was a wolf and I was his mate, normality had flown right out the window. I knew I would get entangled in their world more and more, if I decided to continue to stay here, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. My own home no longer felt like a home and this was the safest I had ever felt.
But now, it wasn’t just about letting Caleb ‘bite’ me that was the problem. It was the fact that once I agreed to this, I would get even more entangled into this world and Caleb will have no other option but to be stuck with me for all his life.
I had wanted…hoped, that if I moved away, if I cut off the connection between us somehow, Caleb could move on, but it seems that it wasn’t actually an option. No matter what Trisha and Mia had told me, the truth was, Caleb and I would always be entangled by the treads of fate, the one that the Moon Goddess had weaved herself.
But the question was…did I really want to deny this? Had I ever really wanted to break things off with Caleb before any of this ever started?
The answer was simple. No.
I had grown attached to him, to this pack and going back to my old life, to my ‘normal’ life, felt almost impossible.
“I’ll do it.” I finally told Caroline, turning to face her fully. “I’ll let him bite me. I’ll let him mark me as his mate.”