"Ah" I screamed as a wave of pain shot through my body.

I woke up in the middle of the night with my skin feeling as though it was on fire. Something was wrong and I couldn't understand why this was happening to me and why now.

Not being able to handle the heat, I immediately began to get undress in order to somewhat expose my heated body to the chilly night. This however did nothing to help at all as another wave of intense heat washed over me.

I curled up on the bed in a fetal position in just my underwear. I needed to cool down. Any form of cold would be great right now.

With that thought in mind I rolled out of the bed and crawled on the floor to the bathroom. My legs felt like jelly whenever I tried to stand, so I just dragged my body to the bathroom.

The floor was cold and it felt good against my hot skin, but it still wasn't enough. I opened the bathroom door and went over to the bathtub and filled it with cold water. I then turned off the water and got in still wearing my undies.

As soon as my skin came in contact with the water, I let out a sigh of relief. It was soothing, but it still wasn't enough.

What was wrong with me?

My skin was starting to burn even more despite being submerged underwater. I screamed in agony as the pain intensified. I was more than certain that my screams would have woken the entire house by now.

I screamed again and again as the pain only seemed to get worst. I was sweating profusely in the cold water. I was a trembling mess when someone came inside the bathroom and knelt beside me.

"What's wrong?" I heard a panicked Katie asked as she touched my forehead. I immediately backed away from her touch, which only seemed to cause even more pain.

"Please don't touch me" I sobbed.

"Are you ok?" she asked with a worried expression on her face.

"I-I-I'm bur-burning u-up" I stuttered with a hiccup.

"I'll get the doctor" she said and rushed out the room.

During the time that she was away I couldn't help but think about why I felt so aroused, even though I was burning up. There was an unquenchable desire that was itching to be fulfilled. I needed something, or rather someone to make it go away.

My hand accidentally brushed against my underwear front and I couldn't help the moan that escaped my mouth as I arched my back in need. That actually felt good, but it still wasn't enough.

Just when I thought that the pain was going away, it came back full force and knocked the air out of my lungs. I screamed louder than I've ever screamed in my entire existence. I couldn't take it anymore; I sobbed and thrashed wildly in the water getting the floor wet in the process.

'Need. Mate' my wolf's voice echoed in my head like a broken record.

The doctor finally came with Katie following close behind. He touched my forehead with his hand and I moved away from his touch and screamed. All this screaming was starting to hurt my throat, but I couldn't help it.

"She's in heat. We need to get the alpha here right now" he explained to a frazzled looking Katie who immediately sprung in action.

"It's going to be ok" the doctor said with a small smile.

"Please make it go away" I begged as another wave of pain washed over me. He gave me a sad smile in reply.

I don't know long I was in the bathtub for as everything seemed to be going in slow motion. All I could do was sit in the cold water and endure the pain. It was absolute torture.

"Leave" I heard that familiar voice commanded.

His raspy voice was like music to my ears. The heat was still there, but it was now bearable. I looked him in the eye as he walked closer to the tub in only sweatpants. He was shirtless showing off his well-defined abs.

I wanted more than anything to lick that delicious abs and run my tongue along his very prominent v-line until I found-

Stop it Ava!

What the hell is wrong with you? I scolded myself mentally for my very inappropriate thoughts.

He came to a stop at the side of the bathtub. He reached in and took me out and held me in his strong arms. His touch quenched the fire that had ignited within me earlier and I couldn't help but lean even more into him.

I would have been embarrassed for him to see me in my underwear, but somehow in this moment I didn't care. He placed me on the cool counter top and grabbed a towel.

"What are you-" I started, but was cut off by him.

"Shh, you talk too much" he shushed me.

"I do not talk too much" I argued and he raised an eyebrow as if to say 'oh really'.

I clamped my mouth shut after that and decided that I wouldn't say anything further. He began drying me with the towel and that really stirred up something dark inside me. I let out a moan and then covered my mouth with my hands in embarrassment.

I can't believe I just did that.

Just like that my body began to burn again. This time I think I knew what it needed.

Heat.

I've heard that word before and now that my mind wasn't clouded with pain, I knew what my body wanted. My body was forcing me to complete the mating process and if I didn't then I would be in pain for the next few days or longer.

I looked him in the eyes and pleaded with my own. I knew that he understood what I was trying to say. He gave me a wary look, and then he looked away from me and clenched his jaw.

I brought my hands up to over my bra cladded chest as I now felt very self-conscious. Maybe I just wasn't pretty enough or I wasn't his type.

He ran his hand through his hair multiple times in frustration as he seemed to be having an internal battle with himself. My skin was burning again and I cried out in pain clutching my chest.

"Please" I practically begged him.

"I can't take it anymore" I looked at him with tears blurring my vision.

"You don't want this" he said in a pained voice.

"But I do"

"No you don't. If we do this now, you might end up regretting it tomorrow" he tried to explain.

"I don't care. Just make the pain go away" I sobbed.

"We can't" he said shaking his head.

"You're my mate. There is no one else that I would want to do this with" I said bringing a hand up to his face.

"Ava-" he groaned, pain evident in his voice.

I gave him a reassuring smile and brought my lips up to meet his. He didn't respond at first and I think that he was shocked that I was the first one to make a move. Believe me when I say that I was shocked as well.

After a few seconds he finally responded. The kiss started out slow and sweet, but I wanted more. I began kissing him even harder and pressed myself up against him. Our lips moved in a frantic frenzy as we both fought to take the lead. He eventually pulled away from the kiss, which made me pout in disappointment.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked in a strained voice.

"Positive" I answered and brought our lips back together.