I'm wrapped in my bedsheet like a burrito 🌯

This is the only way I can think of to keep me safe from – myself. I don't want to even accidentally see Leon – not when I'm feeling like this: it's like something switched on and won't turn off.

It's an uncomfortable combination of sexual desire, body sickness and mental fatigue. I can't point out what's wrong, just that I'm not well.

Luckily, Nara and Jenny returned next day on time, and I told them everything that happened.

At first, they roasted me like they never did before, but once they realised that my body is legit suffering, especially from when I got a fever since yesterday morning, they both have been by my side, taking care of me.

But no amount of ibuprofen, tomato soup or witchcraft medicinal herbs is doing the job.

By afternoon, my fever had increased and I've started to have stomach pain. We decide to see the pack doctor. All I want is an injection to knock me out so when I'm awake again whatever it is I'm suffering from is gone.

————

The doctor moves the torch in front of my eyes. I'm not sure what use that is considering he'd already taken my temperature, my blood pressure and even some of my blood to test and still hadn't found what's wrong with me.

The doctor clicks off the torch and straightens. He stays silent in deep thinking before saying, "Ms. Winston, did something happen to you recently? Something right before you started showing the symptoms?"

I guiltily glance at Nara and Jenny before looking back at the doctor and shake my head. "No. Nothing."

"You sure? Bec–"

Leon and Jack dart into the clinic.

I've always said Leon is the reason for all the problems in my life, but now I know for sure because as soon as I see him my stomachache intensifies.

Leon quickly comes towards me.

"Don't!" I tell him. "Don't come near me."

Unlike everyone else in the room, the doctor stays calm, nods his head and says, "Just like I thought."

"What's wrong with her?" Leon asks.

"Alpha, it seems your mate is in heat."

"WHAT?" says everyone in the room except the guy who shocked us with his diagnosis.

"How can that be possible?! She's a witch!" Nara says. She sounds like she wants to punch him.

The doctor, who eerily seems to be accustomed to being shouted at, calmly replies. "That's true. But she is mated to a strong Alpha. Just as she can feel the mate bond between them, her body seems to emulate a she-wolf's heat cycle as well. It definitely is highly unusual, but then again, their bond in itself is rare to begin with," he says melodramatically.

This is not the time to be philosophical, doc! Stop the damn pain.

"Okay, then, do something about it," Nara says, my hero. "She's in pain. Give her something."

"I'm afraid medicine won't work. The pain and discomfort of a woman in heat can only be subdued by her mate. If he holds her, she'll start to feel better."

In disbelief and anger I look at Leon. He looks guilty – but not guilty enough!

Nara says, "Are you kidding me? He's the reason, she's like this!"

"What do you mean?" the doctor asks.

Great! This is what I need now: another person knowing that embarrassing secret.

Fortunately, I'm not the only one who doesn't want to update the doctor on our sensual encounter. "I got her, Ian," Leon says to the doctor. "You guys can leave."

"No. What if it gets worse?" I ask, barely stopping myself from crying because of the pain.

"It won't," the doctor says. He turns to Leon and says, "Please stay with her till all the symptoms are gone."

The doctor leaves us first. Nara and Jenny look between me and Leon, not sure of what to do.

"Don't go," I tell them quickly.

"It's okay," Leon says. "She'll be fine."

Nara looks like she wants to say something to him, something that's not nice, but keeps quiet.

Sparing one sorry look at me, my friends leave my side. Jack follows them.

Leon moves closer to me and I instinctively move up the bed. He raises his hands slightly and says, "I'm just going to hug you. Nothing else. I promise."

Dude doesn't get it. I'm not even sure which one of us I'm worried about losing their control.

He slowly comes over, climbs up the bed and lies down beside me, pulling me closer to him.

The instant his hands touch me, my body relaxes. The sickness and fatigue I felt before start to lift off, and I can feel my fever beginning to come down.

Breathing out in relief, I snuggle into his embrace.

After a couple of minutes of staying like this, I'm almost back to normal. And that's when I realize, he's not.

His body temperature has spiked and his breathing has become fast.

I look up at his face and he's biting down on his lower lip.

He's turned on by our proximity.

Inwardly, I smirk and rejoice. He deserves to be in pain after putting me through that. So... I hug him tighter, pretending to be still healing, while he continues to suffer in silence.

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