MISSY

I sat in the kitchen, helping get dinner ready for the night. Maddox was off training, so I didn’t expect to see him until dinner.

“What’s on your mind?” asked Miss Marci.

I looked up from the potatoes I was peeling. “Oh, um, nothing really,” I said. Earlier, my heat flared up again. Luckily I was able to lock myself in my room, and Maddox wasn’t with me.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want. But I am always here,” she said with a warm smile.

“Did you ever find your mate?” I asked her.

She chuckled. “Ah, so this about young Maddox,” she said. I nodded. “No, I never got the pleasure of finding a mate.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said.

“There is nothing to apologize about. I am thrilled that you found yours. Just because I didn’t find my mate doesn’t mean I didn’t experience love.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. Although it usually works out for the better, having a mate doesn’t always mean being in love. Some resist the soulmate the Moon Goddess has given us and cannot accept the love it brings.”

“So what happened?”

“We were young and in love, and we spent much of our time together for years. But, one day, the Moon Goddess did bring him his mate, and we parted ways.”

“That’s so sad,” I lamented.

“Maybe a little, but I was also happy for his happiness. But I do not think that is a problem with you and Maddox. You two seem very smitten,” she said.

“We are!” I said quickly. “That’s not it.”

“Is this about mating?” she asked with a knowing look.

“How did you know?”

“Well, you aren’t marked yet, dear girl. It was only a matter of time before your biology kicked in. I am guessing you are experiencing your heat?”

I nodded. “Yea, it started the other night. But I am not sure if I am ready for all that.”

“What are you afraid of?” she asked.

I stopped for a minute, thinking. I wasn’t sure there was anything to be afraid of. Maddox loved me, and I loved him. I knew he would never hurt me, too. “Nothing, I guess.”

“Then what is holding you back?”

“I-I don’t know. Nothing, I guess,” I answered. Miss Marci just smiled.

“Maybe you should talk to your mate. Making sure you are on the same page about things is probably the best first step,” she advised. She turned and went to the ovens to pull out the trays of dinner rolls.

–

“Busy?” Maddox linked me as we were finishing up dinner.

“Dinner is about to be served,” I said.

“Come upstairs,” he said.

“Give me a minute,” I agreed. I left Miss Marci to finish getting dinner set out and headed upstairs. I assumed he was in my room, probably having grabbed a shower after training. He sat on the bed shirtless when I walked in, rubbing a towel over his wet hair.

“There you are,” he said, tossing the towel aside. “Come here.” Maddox opened his arms, and I walked straight into them. He pulled me down onto his lap. “I missed you,” he said, nuzzling my nose.

“I missed you, too,” I said, pecking his lips back. No matter what was on my mind, I always felt better in his arms.

“I think we should talk about the elephant in the room,” he said.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “My heat?”

“Yea,” he said. His hand traced lazy circles on my back which was oddly comforting. “We haven’t mated, and obviously, this will continue until we do.”

I nodded my head. “I know.”

“I want you to know that if you aren’t ready, we can wait. But if you are, I would like to mate and mark you, Missy.” I gazed into his chocolate eyes for a minute. When I didn’t say anything, he continued. “We have had other things getting in the way, but now that your parents are back, we can spend some more time just the two of us. I’ve been ready since our birthday, but I would never want to push you too fast, heat or not.” His hand came up and cupped my cheek. “What do you think?”

“I’m ready,” I said quietly.

His eyes slowly lit up. “Really?” he asked. I nodded my head. He swooped in, covering my mouth in his, making me laugh. When we pulled apart, he had a cheesy grin on his face.

“Not tonight,” he said. “Tomorrow. There is something I need to take care of first.”

“Okay,” I said. “Tomorrow.” He kissed me again, still with a dazzling smile on his face.

“I love you, Missy,” he whispered.

“I love you, too, Maddox.”

MADDOX

I was more than excited that she said yes. It’s been weeks since I found out she was my mate, and I have wanted to put my mark on her ever since. Everything going on with the vampire situation had put this weird hold over our lives, though.

Luckily, Luna had already gotten me started. Not only did she give me the key for the house, but she had a few wolves go over, unboard the windows, and start cleaning it up. When I went by this afternoon, they had already cleared most of the dust that had settled in the house out, and one she-wolf was hanging some linens out to dry.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

They agreed to help me get everything arranged, so I would undoubtedly be ready by tomorrow night. My mood could only be soured by one thing.

–

“Hey, M, you should know that Vlad is asking for Missy again,” Austin linked me as we headed down for dinner.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I replied. “Why can’t he leave my mate alone?”

“He is adamant to speak with her. The only one we are allowing to visit him right now is his father, but Vlad has asked that he not come,” Austin said.

“Missy is not going to talk to him,” I said.

“I can understand how you feel-” Austin started.

“No, you can’t. Vlad almost got her killed. He fed Warwick information for almost two years,” I cut him off.

“Okay, okay,” he said. “I just thought you should know. Eventually, it will get to Liam then Lea, and she may come to Missy since she is her daughter.”

“Let me talk to him,” I replied quickly.

Austin hesitated. “I don’t know if that is such a good idea….”

“Please. Let me talk to him. I just want to put a stop to his insistence,” I pleaded.

“Fine, but it has to be right now. If Liam finds out I let you down there, he might get mad. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, I guess….”

“Fine. Yes. Okay, I’ll be there in just a minute,” I said quickly.

Missy looked up at me as we entered the dining room. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said. “But there is something I need to go do. I will see you after dinner, okay?” I leaned down and kissed her forehead, and she just raised an eyebrow at me.

“Okay….” she said as I turned and left the dining room.

I sped out of the packhouse and across the lawn toward where the prison entrance was. Austin was waiting for me outside the door. “You got here fast,” I commented.

“I was already here; I was about to leave to have dinner with my mate. I’m only giving you ten minutes, and then you’re done,” he said in a flat voice. I nodded my head. “And if your mate finds out, I was not involved.”

“That isn’t very fair,” I said.

“She had a crush on me first,” he grinned. I rolled my eyes. “No, but you better be prepared for her to get mad if she finds out.”

“It’ll be fine. Let’s go,” I said. I needed Vlad to know that Missy was mine, and after tomorrow, she would wear my mark forever. He needed to leave her alone and let us live our lives.

“Alright,” he said. “Your funeral.” The guard let us into the prison, and Austin led us down onto the level where Vlad was being held. The cells were closed rooms with only open barred doors exposing the occupant to what was outside their cells. Although the prison was substantial, not many people kept here, from what I could see.

Austin stopped in the middle of one hall and pointed to the last cell on the left; I nodded my thanks. “Ten minutes,” he reminded me as he walked away. I closed the distance to Vlad’s cell and stood in front of the door.

He was sitting on the bed with his back against the wall, staring at nothing. I cleared my throat, gaining his attention. His head snapped toward the door, eyes falling on me. “Where is Missy?” he asked.

“She is busy,” I said.

“Why are you here?”

“Because you insist on speaking to my mate,” I said, trying to keep my temper in check. Tom was chomping at the bit to just rip him apart. “Do you want to tell me why that is?”

“Does she know you are here?”

“What she does and doesn’t know do not concern you. I suggest you answer my questions.”

“Why should I?”

“Cause while you are waiting to know if you will ever see daylight again, I determine if you ever see her again.”

Vlad raised an eyebrow. “And she is okay with that?” he asked cockily, tilting his head.

I let out a low growl. “Why do you want to speak to my mate?” I repeated.

“Like you said, I may never see the daylight again….” he said, turning his head back to stare at the wall. “I would at least like to apologize to her before they kill me.”

“What if you don’t deserve that courtesy?”

Vlad sighed. “I probably don’t. But you don’t get to be the judge of that. You weren’t in my shoes; you have no idea.”

“I’ve got a few,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest to control myself. His attitude was only stoking the rage inside of me.

“That’s just it, though. You don’t. I’m not saying that I deserve forgiveness or anything. I just want the chance to talk to her. The last time I saw her was in Warwick’s cell, and I just…” he fisted his hands and closed his eyes. There was pain in his expression.

Tension hung in the air as I watched him. After a minute, his face and hands relaxed. “ I thought I could keep her safe. I thought he only wanted Alpha Liam.” His voice was quiet now, remorseful almost.

“Tomorrow, she will be mated and marked. If I have any say in the matter, you will never see her again,” I said in a cold voice. His head whipped back to me, his eyes wide. Tom whooped in victory at his expression. I pivoted on my heel and marched back down the hall of cells, reveling in his pained cry that echoed in the halls.

–

After a short run to work out some of the lingering frustrations with Vlad, I headed back to the packhouse. I went straight up to Missy’s room, hoping she would have just headed there after dinner.

When I got in the room, she was putting away some clean clothes. I came in and sat on the bed; she looked at me over her shoulder. “So, where did you need to go?” she asked.

“Nowhere important,” I said, trying to skirt around the issue.

“You wouldn’t have gone down to the prison and spoken with Vlad, by chance?” she accused as she slowly turned to face me. My eyes went wide. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”

“No, I-”

“Why did you go if you were so adamant that I wasn’t going to talk to him?” she yelled.

“I’m sorry!” I tried to interject. I stood up, taking a step toward her.

“Seriously? What were you even doing? Marking your territory, laying your claim?” Her words stopped my steps. I threw my hands up in surrender.

“Missy, please-”

“Gah, Maddox, you can be so dumb sometimes! I tell you I want you to mark me, then you run off to taunt Vlad!” She was fuming. She threw her hands up in the air and turned away from me.

“Missy, I am sorry, but it needs to stop. He shouldn’t be asking to see you. How are we supposed to move on when he wants to keep pushing back in?”

“We agreed. You don’t make unilateral decisions. We talk about things,” she said quietly.

“I know,” I told her. “But, darling, he almost got you killed. You still cry in your sleep! How am I supposed to be okay with you going near him or him thinking he has any right to speak to you?”

Missy was quiet. Silence stretched between us, making my stomach turn.

Finally, she broke the silence. “Maddox…” she said in a hoarse whisper. Then I smelled it. Her scent hit me like a wave, but it was so much more. “Maddox…” she said, her voice almost a pained whine. Missy bent over, clutching her stomach.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as Tom started to fight for control.

“Mate! Mate! Mate!” he chanted.

“No. No. No.” I pushed back, doing everything to keep control.

“Maddox, it hurts….” I heard Missy cry.

“It’s not time yet,” I told my wolf, trying to keep him back. Missy was in pain, and I needed to reign in my own urge and help her. I rushed forward, grabbing her. Her skin was on fire, and she g*****d, clutching her stomach.

“What do you need, darling?” I asked quickly.

“Hot… It’s hot…” she grumbled. Without hesitation, I dashed into the bathroom and went straight for the shower. I stepped in, not bothering to undress either of us; it was probably safer to leave her clothed anyway.

I hit the knob, and cold water poured over us. I held her under the stream as she g*****d. I breathed slowly through my mouth, avoiding as much of her scent as I could as I focused on holding back the urge to mate with her right now.

Missy was still burning up in my arms. “What do I do?” I asked her.

“Touch,” she m****d. “Mate touch…” her eyes were squeezed shut. Had it been this bad the other night? I tried to remember everything I was taught about she-wolves in heat. I remembered something about a mate’s touch easing the pain. I slid down to the floor, keeping her in the stream of cold water over us. I balanced her in my lap and began running my hands over her, touching every bit of skin I could.

Tom pushed in my head harder, but I pushed right back. I would not hurt her, and I certainly would not do this when she was like this. When we mated, it was going to be slow, special; she would enjoy the experience.

Missy’s body started to relax in my arms. Her head slumped against my chest, and she breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath. Slowly her body temperature began to come down. I ran my hands up and down her arms in a steady rhythm as her heat passed.

When she began to shiver, I went to move us out of the water. Her hand clutched my arm tightly. “Not yet,” she whispered.

“Okay,” I said. She laid against me, shivering slightly, and I held her, waiting for her to feel better.

After another 15 minutes of cold water battering us, Missy said, “I’m okay now.” I stood up gently, keeping her in my arms. I tapped the knob to turn off the water and stepped out into the bathroom. I set her down on the counter and quickly grabbed a towel to wrap around her.

I cocooned her in the towel, trying to get her dried off and a bit warmer. “Thanks,” she whispered. I cupped her chilled cheeks in my hands, pushing her wet hair out of her face.

“I’m sorry I went to talk to Vlad,” I said softly. “I can’t stand him having anything to do with you.”

“Maddox…” she sighed.

“Missy, I am sorry, but it’s a hard line for me. I almost lost you before I even really had you because he was a scared, weak little boy. Please, just don’t entertain him.”

She nodded her head. I leaned my forehead against hers, and we stood there for a minute, me dripping cold water from every crevice and her sitting on the counter wrapped in a towel.

“Thank you for resisting,” she said.

“I would do anything for you; you know that,” I told her.