"Woof," I sighed as I crashed onto our bed once we got back to the Pack House.

"How are you so tired?" Shane chuckled as he sat on the bed next to me.

"How are you not?!" I exclaimed. "We hunted for what felt like hours before we found a few bucks, then we ran like a thousand miles here!"

"Then we need to work on your endurance, little one." He smiled as he started playing with my hair.

"Whatever!" I laughed as I playfully punched his chest. "Are you sure that Zac's okay?" I asked. After we found Zac, his nose was bleeding and he was very sore and he was throwing up.

"Yeah," Shane nodded. "His body's still just getting used to all this. It'll take him a little while for his body to fully heal, especially because he's so young. But don't worry. The pack doctors gave him some meds, so he should be better within a few more days."

I felt my chest become tight at the thought of anything bad possibly happening to that little angel. I nodded my head. "When I wake up, reminded me to go check on the munchkin." I said as I took my shirt off due to the heat that was pumping through my body before I crawled under the sheets.

Soon, I felt the bed dip next to me before I felt Shane's strong arms wrap around me and pull me into his now bare chest. He kissed my head before I fell into in nice sleep.

****

I woke up to my body on fire. Well, it wasn't actually on fire but I was burning up. I started panting, causing Shane's eyes to snap open. "Ariel what's-" Suddenly he stopped as sniffed the air and growled.

"What?" I frantically asked as a huge pain exploded in my stomach, causing me to hunch over and groan in pain.

"You're going into pre-heat."

"Pre-what?"

"This means that you're going to go into heat soon and we have to mate or else your wolf dies and eventually, you do too." He said the last part a little softly.

"What do I do?" I asked, panic rising in my throat as sweat beaded on my forehead and my stomach twisted into a million knots.

"I have an idea," Shane said and before I knew what was happening, Shane picked me up and carried me toward the bathroom, the pain slightly dulling due to his skin touching mine.

"Shane what are you-"

"Just relax and take deep breaths," he calmly said as he sat me on the edge of the bathtub. I just nodded, unable to speak as the pain I felt intensified.

He quickly ran a cold bath and as soon as it was done, Shane sat me in. The cold water washed over my clothes and body soothing me a little, but there was still a fire burning within my bones. "Hey, Ariel," Shane gently said, squatting in the tub in front of me. "Focus right here for me."

I nodded as I focused on him and not on the pain that was gnawing at my being with an intense hunger. "We're going to need some kind of physical contact in order to help this pass, okay?" he said and my eyes grew wide. "Don't worry," he gently said, reading my expression. "I know my limits." I slowly nodded, still a bit unsure, before I felt his lips on mine and the pain immediately numbed a bit. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer and he ended up between my legs due to the size of the bath. "Ariel," he said as he looked me up and down. "I don't know if I can-"

"Please try," I pleaded. "I need you." He looked me in the eyes, an inner conflict evident in his eyes before he slowly nodded. The more our bodies touched the more the pain numbed and turned to pleasureful bliss.

He soon started kissing down to my mark where he placed open mouthed kisses that made butterflies explode within my stomach and my grip on him to tighten with my nails digging into his back causing him to tense.

The remaining pain was now a dull throb, but I didn't tell him that. I didn't want it to end. He slowly made his way down to my collar bone, leaving a few love bites here and there before he started leaving gentle kisses on the skin between my collar bone. After a few more moments, he continued down, kissing my stomach, causing a few giggles to escape from my lips. I was extremely ticklish. He continued until the water at my mid-belly stopped him, causing him to let out an irritated groan making me chuckle.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, looking me in the eyes.

"Better, thanks," I said, a small smile on my face.

"The pleasure was all mine," he smiled before he climbed out of the tub, his basketball shorts dripping with water. He soon picked me up and gently placed me on my feet. I pulled the plug out of the bath and the water swirled into oblivion.

"I guess we should get changed, huh?" I said with a small chuckle as I picked my soaking clothes off the bathroom floor.

"Guess we should," Shane said with a smile. We quickly ran into his closet and picked out some new clothes. He went with another pair of basketball shorts while I picked out a black bra with matching underwear along with an oversized gray shirt before we crashed back onto the bed.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked as I placed my head on his chest.

"Positive," I said before he kissed my forehead and wrapped an arm around me. "Thanks, Shane," I said.

"Anytime," he whispered before I fell into yet another peaceful sleep with my mate.

****

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you did please don't forget to vote, comment, fan, etc. See you in the next chapter and as always...

Love y'all- Jordan (Insert unicorn emoji here)

EDITED JULY 15, 2016