With the help of the Alpha King and guards, people were ushered out of the room. Isaiah held Zira close to his chest as they slowly walked towards the door. Zira’s eyes were glazed over as she looked at him with much desire. The force of her heat washed over him, keeping him from focusing on the eyes of the other unmated males. He had never experienced this before, so they were both walking on new ground.
“Devon…” Isaiah could feel him wanting to shift.
“I will kill anyone who touches her,” Devon growled, and some of it came through Isaiah. Though it didn’t stop the other males from moving towards them.
“Everyone, stand down,” the Alpha King roared as he moved towards them with Royal Beta and Gamma behind him.
That stopped the movement as everyone turned to bare their necks to the Alpha King's command. Isaiah watched as the Alpha King approached and pulled Zira closer to his chest. She half moaned and whimpered against his chest. Her scent was the strongest it had ever been and once again the unmated males turned their heads towards them.
“Beta Kane and Gamma Frank will escort you two to a room where I highly suggest you handle your business. I do not like my palace to be in an uproar over an unmated she-wolf in heat,” the Alpha King growled.
“I’m sorry, Your Maj…” Zira spoke breathlessly, closing her eyes as another wave poured through her, cutting off her sentence.
She couldn’t focus on anything but the fire burning through her body. The place Isaiah was holding her was the only place that felt soothing. Everything else felt like she was swimming in lava. It was too much for her to handle. She pushed away from Isaiah to get some room to breathe. His scent was overpowering but she could sense the others right underneath it. Their desire was palpable, and she couldn’t handle it. Isaiah reached out for her, but she shook away from him. She needed to get back in control.
“I need air,” she yelled, racing for the doors.
Zira broke through the doors, not paying attention to the people screaming her name as she ran down the hallway. It was mixed in with all the growls from the unmated males trying to get to her. She turned her head back just in time to see Isaiah, the Royal Beta and Gamma, and even the Alpha King holding most of the males back.
A couple got through and charged for her as she stumbled into the hallway. She ran as fast as she could, but her heat was making everything difficult, and the palace was just too big to make sense of the layout. She turned a corner and felt her arm being yanked back. Her back hit a table that was against a wall as the two males blocked both ends of the hallway. One with white hair and the other with black. She was hoping they would fight each other and give her time to get away, but that fell right through the floor when she realized they were twins.
Maybe they would be like Isaiah and Isabella, she thought.
"Didn't they both want you," Nina reminded her.
"Not very helpful right now, Nina."
Zira steadied herself against the wall and held her hands out in front of her.
“Please,” she said, looking between the two, “I... I have a mate.”
“A mate who has not claimed you,” the black-haired one said. His voice came out rough which meant his wolf was on the surface. “We’re in the same boat.”
“I’m confused, why would you want someone who waits so long to mark you,” the white-haired one asked.
“It’s consent. Have you heard of it,” Zira snapped at him.
White hair smiled. “If you want, we can mark you here and now. We will not wait to make you ours.”
Zira could feel Nina’s displeasure. She didn’t like the way they were talking about them. Like she didn’t have a say. “You touch me, and I won’t hesitate to hurt you,” Nina growled through Zira.
They looked at each other for a moment and she could tell they were talking telepathically. Zira looked down the hall, thinking she could run past them but the way they flexed their hands told her they were prepared just for that.
Please, hurry Isaiah, she silently prayed, hoping to see Isaiah or anyone on her side. Their attention turned back to her, and they were grinning. Nina’s threat only seemed to arouse them even more.
“Well, we do like them…feisty,” white hair said, reaching for her.
Zira grabbed his outstretched hand and turned into him, putting her back against the front of his body. She quickly struck his groin with her fist, causing him to kneel forward. She used that momentum to bring him over her body and onto the ground. Before she could get a hit off of him, his brother grabbed her arms and pulled her against him hard. They both let out gasps as her heat dispersed from her body.
“Let’s not fight,” his voice rumbled against her ear. “It would be much easier if you just gave in.”
Zira took this chance to throw her head right into his face as hard as she could. There was a cracked sound as the man grabbed his nose, pushing Zira away from him. She tripped over her feet towards the ground but was able to catch herself. The white-haired brother on the ground grabbed her leg, which both aroused and angered her as he turned her around. The moment he did, she planted a solid kick to his face, not caring if she broke something.
He didn’t let go, but his grip was weak enough for her to yank from his hold. She stood up from the ground and picked up the nearest thing she could throw, which was a heavy vase filled with flowers. She turned around to see the brothers stalking towards her. Both looked pissed as one of them used the sleeve of their shirt to wipe the blood from his nose. Nothing seemed to slow them down. She surprisingly raised the vase easily over her head.
“Don’t you dare hurt those flowers,” white hair said with concern on his face.
“Seriously, Eke,” black hair growled at him.
“Mal, those flowers are exceedingly rare to find and very useful in most medicines.”
Zira, for a moment, looked confused as to why he was so concerned about the flowers and not the vase. Though the moment quickly passed as her heat shot a pain up through her body, causing her to drop the vase on the floor.
Eke’s eyes glowed a familiar silver/blue color as he went for the flowers while the other brother went for Zira. Before he could reach her, a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck. Zira could practically jump for joy at the sight of Hunter holding an irritated Mal and Jace blocking Eke, who was more concerned about the flowers on the floor. She knew her heat wouldn’t affect them since they were already mated.
“You okay, Luna,” Jace asked as Zira nodded.
“Where’s Isaiah,” Zira asked.
“He got caught in the stampede, but I linked him, so he should be on his way,” Hunter said, getting Mal to the ground. “He’ll be here shortly.
Zira felt hopeful and started to move that way until she noticed a few more males coming towards them. Hunter and Jace exchanged looks before staring at Zira.
“Zira, go and hide. Isaiah will find you,” Hunter said, picking Mal off the ground and pushing him towards Eke. "We'll hold them off. Now, go!”
Zira didn’t hesitate as she ran down the long hallway, trying to find the way out of the palace, but every door she opened just turned into another room. One she opened was full of other werewolves who stopped what they were doing to look at her. Of course, Nina thought it would be a great time to release her pheromones. Zira could see a few male werewolves sniffing the air and some looked back at her with lust in their eyes.
“Nina, what the hell,” Zira screamed at her while moving away from the room.
“Hey, it’s better to release it than let it bottle inside you. I’m doing you a favor,” Nina snapped back. “This isn't even the worst, so I suggest you find our mate and deal with it before someone else does it for him.”
“Are you serious right now,” Zira asked her while opening another door that led to a utility closet. “If any other male tries to touch me other than Isaiah, I will bite their head off.”
Zira could see Nina pacing back and forth in her mind. This heat thing made her anxious just as much as Zira.
“Our heat is unpredictable, and we wouldn’t have to deal with it like this if you had marked our mate,” Nina countered.
She was right, of course. If they had marked Isaiah when they had a chance, she wouldn’t be in this predicament. Zira could hear the stampede of feet coming from both directions, so she stepped into the utility closet. It was enough to walk in the room for her to hide deeper in the closet. She took a few bottles of cleaning supplies and dumped them on the floor near the door. She hoped the fumes would help cover her scent, but that meant maybe Isaiah wouldn’t be able to find her.
The stampede got closer, and Zira held her breath as she saw shadows underneath the door.
Please, please, please, she prayed.