"How long has it been since he's bedded you?" Dahlia dropped her tea cup, and nearly spit out the tea that she had just sipped a moment earlier. Thankfully the cup was nearly empty when her grandmother, who only moments earlier had been revealed to actually be her mother, had asked the question.
"Grandmother?!?!" She immediately reverted to what she'd always called the older woman as she cried out in horror at the question that the Widow Lemp had decided to break the silence by asking as they sat quietly at her dining room table.
"This morning before we had breakfast and came here, why do you ask?" Silas seemed entirely unphased by the question, although he appeared to regard Mrs. Lemp with barely concealed curiosity.
"Well it's odd that she has yet to have broken a sweat yet, don't you think? When did you say her heat began?"
"I'm not sure we did-" Dahlia began but Silas quickly interrupted her, more and more interested in the direction the conversation was heading.
"Yesterday afternoon. While I was gone dealing with the intruders. I had to race to find her. She was on her way to find you, but got lost in the forest, near the stream north-west of town." Silas' gaze was intense as he waited to hear what Mrs. Lemp would say next.
"And it came back again before morning, did it not?"
"Yes, when I came home from the second attack she was on fire. And then again in the morning."
"Very odd indeed." The widow clucked her tongue and turned to look at a rather ornate wooden clock that hung on the wall.
"What is about this that's odd? Can someone please explain to me what is going on?" Dahlia was clearly exasperated as she said the words.
"You know originally I didn't approve, but more and more I'm seeing why she would be a good fit for an Alpha. You're going to have your hands full, Varlett." Mrs. Lemp smiled wickedly at Silas.
"You see Kitten," Dahlia saw her mother roll her eyes at Silas' use of the term of endearment, "because I believed you had such a small amount of wolf in you, I didn't know if you would go into heat at all and then when you did I wasn't sure quite how long it would last or how frequently the spells would be. Maybe they would be further apart, although unfortunately they do not seem to be less intense. Although now that we know that you are fully half wolf it makes a bit more sense why you were so strongly affected."
"What I'm finding curious, Dahlia," her mother broke in, "is that your heat should get more and more intense, at least for the first three days, possible for four, especially since you are mated to an alpha. The length of time between when you-" she paused and raised her eyebrows suggestively- "need to be together, should get closer together, the heat will be more unbearable, and the pain will be worse."
"How could that even be possible?" Dahlia muttered, remembering what she had gone through the previous day.
"Rarely wolves who have rejected their mates have even died from the pain. It is not something to be toyed with. However there are instances where what is happening with you has been seen, although it is not very common and as you may have guessed, it is more common when the woman in question is mated to an Alpha."
"How can anyone guess anything at this point?" Earlier while they were talking, her mother had brought out scones that were fresh out of the oven, but now Dahlia pushed hers away, a pout showing clearly on her full lips.
"Do you know, Alpha?" Mrs. Lemp turned her sharp gaze towards Silas who was staring at her with wide eyes.
"I am almost afraid to say my thoughts out loud, in case I'm wrong." He said the words so quietly that Dahlia wasn't entirely sure she'd heard them.
YOU ARE READING
Little Red's Riding
Fantasy"Why, Alpha?" he had sat down right next to her when he arrived, and now she leaned closer to him so that their lips were only inches apart. He could smell the sweet scent of strawberries and cream that drove him out of his mind whenever she was nea...
