COW M.

CH. 13 (unedited)

I let my legs slip from underneath me and turned slightly while stretching my arm, this time I reached it and quickly pressed the answer button before it could go to voicemail.

"Finally girl, I thought you were dead or something," Alex, I had totally forgot about her.

"Well I kind of was... I've been out for the last three days, had a fever or something..."

"You are in heat..." Ming supplied quietly.

"Ming says I'm in..." it clicked, my phone fell...

In HEAT? In heat? IN HEAT?

I looked at Ming, perplexed, he looked back at me confusion written all over his face. Had I heard him right? It couldn't be, there was supposed to be a period between the time you met your mate and the period of heat, was there not? Alex had had nearly a month in between her meeting her mate and her heat.

"You did not realise?"

"That's impossible..." I stared at him and he shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. I picked up the phone, made my excuses to Alex and told her I would call back soon before shutting it off and dropping it back into my lap.

"We are not the most conventional couple... pair," he amended, as if he was not sure what to call us, "so there are bound to be some oddities in our... mating... process..." Ming proceeded with his explanation as if he'd heard all the questions I was asking in my mind.

ΑΩΩΑ

It was noon of the following day when I woke up again, David sitting next to me on my bed, same spot as last time. As soon as I opened my eyes, he discarded the book he'd been reading and, worry etching his face, examined my temperature.

"Good, your temperature's gone down." A relieved sigh left his lips. His dangerously alluring lips... no No NO! Hadn't I just been dreaming about Ming, HIS COUSIN, for goodness sake!

I looked away, feeling my pulse quicken and my face heat up. I sat up, covered myself with the duvet and looked around the room. Ming wasn't there. I felt myself flush and wondered about my dream again.

"Would you like anything to eat now? The housekeeper brought something up just ten minutes ago, it should still be warm..."

"What did she bring?" I asked absentmindedly, still wondering about the dream I'd had. I'd been wondering/denying if the fever had something to do with my having found my mate, if he was really my mate... and now I had this dream...

"She made you some porridge, oatmeal. Your mother asked her to make some in case you woke up hungry. There's actually a whole pot downstairs" he smiled.

Still in thought I forgot to answer making David agitated.

"Look Madeline, if you're still mad I understand, it's just... I didn't know... If you want me out of the room I can leave, but they asked me to keep an eye on you so I'll have to check on you once in a while... I just hoped we could talk? Madeline?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked up at him "I'm not mad at you, I was just wondering, I'm sorry, I'm a bit distracted. You were saying?" I paused frowning, meal... he'd said something about oatmeal. "Yeah, I'd like some oatmeal." He blinked his eyes a few times, I must have totally missed the point... then shrugged and turned to grab the plate from the bedside table beside him.

I ate some of the broth and swirled my spoon through the rest of it absentmindedly. I felt hot all over and decided to lay down again. Depositing the plate on the bedside table and grabbing my phone off of it, I snuggled back under the covers and switched on the screen. No new messages. I turned to look at David.

"Where..." I changed my mind and instead asked if Alex had called on the home phone, seeing as I had no missed calls from her although it had been four days since we last spoke.

"No she did not," he felt my forehead again, a concerned look on his face, then grabbed something of the stool that sat next to the bed. "Here, Ming told me to give you this, said it would do for now" he handed me a pile of fabric eyes twinkling. I accepted it, confused, and held it out before me. It was a shirt. I frowned at David "David? What use do I ha..." a Cheshire cat grin graced his features. I blinked a few times, looked back at the shirt, then it dawned on me. I promptly dropped the piece of clothing, raced to the en-suite bathroom, hid inside and locked the door.

Sitting down on the edge of the tub I heard David's muffled laugh. Feeling heat creep over my skin I felt dizzy, stood up again and went to the door. Completely embarrassed, I opened the door a notch and trust my arm out in a demanding fashion. I could hear a new burst of laughter coming from the room, then, a second later I felt fabric graze my hand.

"Here you go milady," David said with a mocking posh accent and continued laughing. I retracted my arm, shirt in hand and dropped to the floor beside the door, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"What day are we?" I wanted to know.

"Wednesday, Madeline, Wednesday..." his laughter died down.

"What happened yesterday?"

"I don't know, you tell me," he answered, "Ming ushered me out of the room yesterday morning, before I'd even settled in, and stayed with you all day." So it wasn't a dream?

He had completely stopped laughing and seemed rather serious now. "Madeline, please tell me, you are Ming's mate right?" ...I let out a soft yes and he sighed. "Why did you not approach him then?"

"Would you have if your mate was continuously glaring daggers at you?"

"...Hah... you do have a point there, though... you knew why he squinted at you didn't you?" I wisely remained quiet.

"Did he tell you, did he tell my parents?"

He snickered at the uneasiness in my voice but answered anyway. "He didn't have to tell me after the way he pushed me out of the room yesterday, though he did, yes. But he told me before your parents arrived home so as far as I know they don't know yet, no."

Another wave of nausea came over me and I swiftly wrapped the shirt around my neck.

Ming's fruity scent invaded my nostrils and my entire body relaxed in a matter of seconds.

"Ming's going to be back from work in a few hours, you should take it easy, take a bath or something. I'll be down the hall in my room but I'll keep the door ajar in case you faint ok?" he didn't wait for an answer. "Oh and by the way, Ming called Alex last night, that's probably why she didn't call you..."

I heard him exit my bedroom and leave the door open as promised. I sighed and slipped back into my bedroom. Grabbing my phone I went back into the bathroom to get the water flowing for a relaxing hot bath.

Then I dialled Alex.