Alpha Queen [1]

xxxi

Fire.

It always came in the middle of the night during the fullest moon. First there was the burning heat, then the piercing pain, and last but not least. . . the intense desire.

It didn't take long for me to wake up in my own pool of sweat. My skin was burning and everything hurt. I opened my eyes and Ares was already on the move.

"Heat again," Ares said quietly.

It happened so often that it became routine. It wasn't too bad; Soren found a way to reduce my pain with the pills while Ares made sure I was comfortable until it passed.

He dimmed the lights and ran a bath for me. He came back to my side and handed me the pill to reduce the fever along with a cold glass of water.

"It'll be okay," Ares squeezed my hand and swept some hair from my face.

But this time was different. The heat was hotter and the intense waves of pain never let up even for a second. It wouldn't be suppressed with any amount of cold water.

Just as he was about to pick me up and lift me into the bathtub, I reached out and fisted his shirt in my hand.

"Wait,"

"What is it?" He immediately stopped.

I threw the pill on the floor and he looked at me in utter confusion. There was no turning back.

"Remember when you said you wouldn't touch me until I was ready?" I sucked in a breath as another stab of pain hit my body. "I'm ready now."

"You're only saying that because you're in pain—"

"Ares I've spent months thinking about this." Maybe I was stretching the truth but it had been on my mind almost every other day. "We're mates. I know you better than anyone. I love you and I want you. . . forever." I touched his face and searched his blue eyes.

"I love you, too, but I want to wait until your mind is more clear." He moved away from me very slowly. "I don't want you to feel pressured."

My patience was quickly waning. The heat was taking over and I just wanted him. Now.

My body acted on its own. I leaned over and gave him a deep, passionate kiss. I could feel him trying to resist me so I pulled away and kissed the sensitive spot on his neck right where I would've marked him.

It didn't take much to seduce him after that.

"You're mine." I whispered in his ear and he twitched. "So please. . . please make it stop."

Ares looked like he was at war with himself. For a second I thought he would reject my request because once he made up his mind, he normally stuck with it. He was nearly impossible to convince.

Then he got up and turned off the water in the bathroom. He let the bath empty before shutting the lights and closing the door.

When he came back he was very gentle with me. I reached for him and we kissed until we both ran out of air.

Our clothes ended up in a pile on the floor. I'd seen Ares without his shirt many times so it wasn't a surprise. However, this was the first time that I was completely undressed in front of him. Naturally I couldn't stop myself from feeling self-conscious under his all-consuming gaze. But he made me feel so safe that it didn't take long for me to open my heart fully to him.

Fire met fire and his skin quenched the feverish ache. It was almost as if he extracted the pain straight from my body and took it on as his own. Ares and I were finally connected mind, body and soul.

And in that moment I truly knew that he loved me.

.•*•.

Ares was stroking my head when my body hummed to life the next morning. I was laying on his chest and listening to the steady beat of his heart. His fingers ran through my hair and lingered at the base of my neck.

I could die right where I was.

"Good morning," he murmured. Somehow he always knew when I was awake.

"It is," I smiled and opened my eyes. As soon as I lifted my head to look at him, I gasped. "Oh no."

"What is it?"

I grabbed his face and moved his head to the left. I'd left a pretty big reddish mark on the side of his neck. I hadn't meant to leave it in such a visible place but I guess I got carried away.

"I, uh, left something right here." I touched the love bite and Ares quivered. He didn't seem to mind though.

"I've never seen you like that."

I flushed. "I honestly don't know what came over me. All I knew was that I wanted more." Normally I was too shy and submissive to make moves like that. Maybe heat played a part.

"I liked it." There was dark passion still in his eyes.

Then he rolled us over so that I was on my back. He began kissing me like he had last night. From this angle the mark looked even worse. Definitely noticeable to others.

"Is the pain gone?" He asked out of the blue.

I nodded. "Like it was never there."

"Good." He tilted his head. "I do find it strange that you even have heat to begin with."

I shrugged. "I'm full of surprises."

We got out of bed together and started getting ready. He took a brisk shower and then I went into the bathroom to do the same.

Once I was alone, I couldn't help but sweep my hair over my shoulders and look at myself in the mirror for a minute. My skin glowed and the lighter parts of my brown eyes seemed to shine but other than that I didn't look any different. I didn't feel any different.

Tasha, Milla and I would sometimes talk about what happened after sex. Of course I couldn't say anything without blushing like mad so I just listened. The way they talked about it I'd thought there would be some major transformation going from girl to woman.

After my shower, Ares was waiting for me on the bed. He was dressed in a simple white shirt and jeans.

"What's on the agenda for today?" It was almost ten o'clock so it wouldn't be long before he was off.

"I figured I'd spend the day with you."

"You don't have anything more important?" I knew how tight his schedule was with the many pack meetings and people he had to help so he had to be playing hooky. There was only one Alpha after all.

"You are the most important." Ares said instead.

I didn't know what to say to that so I just smiled at him like an idiot.

"Are you interested in joining me for an early brunch?" He suggested.

"Yes, very interested. I'm actually pretty hungry right now."

We started to leave but then I remembered something.

"You might want to cover that up," I pointed to his neck but he grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"Let them see."

I tried to keep this chapter PG-13 and mildly spicy cause of wattpad rules lol also I passed my finance exam for my job so I'm not actually laid off ?!