BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 194: SECOND HEAT WAVE

Chapter 194: SECOND HEAT WAVE

{"Hotter than a house on fire"}

We knelt on the mountain floor, not with fear but with respect.

The golden-furred ones stood silent in the mist, their massive leonine bodies unmoving, eyes like molten brass fixed on us. They weren’t breathing, not like we do, but I could feel their judgment settle on my skin like ash. Flora and I bowed low anyway, foreheads to the black stone, our hands splayed wide in the old vow. Not for us. For what we’d protected.

"For your mercy," I murmured, and the wind carried it into the rock." Thank you for your guidance. Behind us, the mountain’s passage groaned open one last time.

"I will drag Amos, you take Fennel," Flora said, rising without looking back.

"Fuck Yes." I stood and turned toward the dark.

Fennel Cobalt sat slumped against the stone wall, his wrists still cuffed in rune steel, his mouth twisted in that smug little grin he always wore when he thought he’d won something. Amos, his father, his partner in treachery, groaned as Flora hauled him by the collar. He looked worse, his face bruised from the last time he tried to fight back, one eye swollen shut.

"I’d say good morning," I told Fennel, "But I don’t owe you anything polite."

"You owe me a thank you," he rasped, spitting blood onto the floor. "Your fucking golden creatures are safe"

"You were trying to rip the heart out of something ancient and sacred." I gripped his arm and yanked him to his feet. "You don’t get to call that ambition."

"We would’ve become gods." He rasped.

"You would’ve become ash." I retorted.

We dragged them out, limb by limb, the golden-furred creatures watching with their silence like they were the ones passing sentence, and the mountain closed behind us like a mouth. No crack, no echo.

We didn’t speak as we descended Sagstone’s flank, the prisoner and the traitor on our shoulders, the air heavy with morning mist. Below, the Bay shifter army camp sprawled like a waiting storm, leather tents, silver flags, and fire pits already lit against the chill. I could see the guards stiffen as we approached. One of them raised a horn.

"You’ll regret this," Fennel hissed in my ear as we neared the camping site.

I tightened my grip. "I already regret not letting the guardians finish you."

At the camp’s edge, the soldiers parted for us like water. Whispers followed in our wake as two criminals, dragged from the mountain’s gut. Flora dropped Fennel like he weighed nothing and let his arm fall from her grip like she was done pretending he meant anything to her.

"Walk yourself," she said. Her voice was all stone and wind. "You’re not mine to drag anymore."

Fennel staggered, nearly falling, blinking like the light hurt. "Fuck you"

She didn’t even flinch. "You made your choice in the mountain."

Before I could blink, Amos jerked out of my hold, slipping from my grip like a slick fish and bolting forward. "Fennel!"

"Amos, wait—!"

He flung himself at Fennel, arms wrapping around him like the reunion was something holy. The Bay shifter army soldiers growled before their blades moved low and guttural, a sound you feel in the marrow. Like wolves baring their teeth before a bite.

One soldier stepped forward, growling at them. "They show affection now?"

Flora turned to her, her voice even and sharp. "They’ll show obedience next. Take them to the prison. Bay shifter lands. Lock them where the moon doesn’t shine."

The commander, a hard-eyed woman with jagged braids and a crescent brand on her throat, crossed her arms. "That’s all?"

I stepped forward. "Hand them over to Beta Spark and Wav.e"

That got their attention, and the growls quieted, and a different kind of fear rippled through the line.

"Tell him they tried to steal from the guardians, and the mountain gave them back alive, for now." I responded and added, "But the vampires who had accompanied them did not survive. "

Amos still clung to Fennel, whispering something I didn’t care to hear.

"He won’t just punish them," Flora said quietly beside me. "Spark will break them."

And as the wind curled around us, carrying the scent of pine and steel, I felt the earth settle under my boots as Amos and Fennel were dragged back to Bay shifter lands.

Hours later, the camp had quieted, but not stilled. The soldiers whispered around the fires; their voices were tight with tension. Somewhere, a blade was being sharpened too slowly. I sat near the edge of the encampment, letting my thoughts unspool like thread. I could still feel the mountain under my skin.

Flora dropped down beside me without a word. Her presence settled something in my chest.

She brushed a leaf from her shoulder, then glanced sideways at me, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "We need a bath."

I tilted my head toward her, amused. "Are you saying I reek of ash and arrogance?"

"I’m saying we both smell like ghosts." She leaned into me just enough for her arm to touch mine. "And I’d like to feel like myself again."

I didn’t answer, just stood and offered her my hand, and she took it.

We left the camp without a sound, our steps syncing without thought. No one questioned us—we were warriors, yes, but mates too. There was something sacred in our silence. The kind that only comes after surviving something ancient and almost too big for our bones.

The path to the hot spring wound through Sagstone’s lower ridge, steep and shadowed, marked by scent more than sight. She followed me like she always did, trusting me even when I didn’t speak. Flora blinked as we stepped into the clearing, steam curling in the moonlight, the pool nestled between smooth black stone and glowing mineral veins that shimmered just beneath the surface.

"You’ve been keeping this from me?" She teased me.

I looked back at her, catching the glint of curiosity in her eyes. "I forgot it was even here until you mentioned a bath."

She didn’t speak again. Just began to undress with the same ease, and I followed, the night air cool on my skin until the spring welcomed me in its heat. Flora slid into the water beside me, sighing like she hadn’t breathed fully in days.

We stayed like that, quiet, close, our bodies floating in warmth and trust.

She leaned her head against my shoulder. "You always know where to take me."

"You always follow," I whispered, brushing a wet strand of hair from her cheek. "That’s what makes us work."

Her hand found mine under the surface, fingers tangling slowly, and we stayed there as the stars crept higher, the water lapping gently at our skin. Only this: a spring hidden in stone, two wolf hearts still beating in rhythm, and a bond older than any mountain.

We stayed in the spring until the stars blurred.

Until the warmth of the water couldn’t hold off the pull of the world anymore.

Flora rose first, her skin silvered by moonlight, hair slicked back, droplets sliding down her collarbone. I followed her out slowly, reluctant to leave the cocoon of heat and silence we’d built.

The night air hit like a hush, and we dressed without a word, damp clothes clinging in all the wrong places. Flora was fastening her belt when it hit me.

The second wave.

I’d barely felt the first somewhere between the chaos of the mountain and the smoke of betrayal, but this one struck like fire behind the ribs. A tight coil unwinding. Deep. Merciless.

Heat. Real, undeniable heat.

My breath hitched, sharp and sudden. My knees buckled. I staggered back a step, clutching a nearby rock to stay upright.

Flora’s head snapped around. "Rita?"

Her voice—steady, sharp—cut through the haze, but it didn’t stop the burn.

"I—I’m fine," I rasped, but my voice broke halfway through. Liar’s voice.

Flora was beside me in a heartbeat, her hand warm on my shoulder. Her eyes searched mine, wide and bright with realization.

"Oh," she breathed. "It’s your second—"

"Heat," I whispered, nodding once, jaw clenched. "Didn’t think it’d come so soon."

Her hand slipped to my back, grounding me. "We’ve been pushing hard. The mountain, the fight, dragging those two bastards down its throat... Your body’s catching up."

I shuddered, half from the chill of the air, half from the fire building low and wild inside me.

"You need to rest," Flora said gently. But there was tension under her words now. Something hotter, something tethered.

I looked at her and saw her scent shift just slightly, her pupils blown wider, breath shallow. She felt it too, the fact that I was in heat and this was the second time in a span of two days.

I gripped her wrist, steadying myself. "You don’t have to—"

"Stop," she said, voice soft and sure. "You’re my mate, Rita, and whatever words that you want to say, better stop before I get angry." She cupped my face like I was made of something sacred, not trembling heat and loose knees. "We’ll get through this. Like we always do."

"I just need to breathe," I murmured, and then an involuntary moan escaped my mouth

"You can breathe," she whispered, brushing her lips just once against my brow. "I’ve got you."

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