Heat Within the Change - Alexander's POV

If the Moon Goddess wasn't enough, I could tell by the look in Alexi's eyes, something wasn't right. She looked away from me and I found that it was time to move closer to her. 'What if something happens?' I thought, though I was too worried to care for an answer. Like Lucius would give one anyway, but to my surprise he spoke rather hastily, 'Get to her side quickly. She's going to fall.' And without further instruction, I moved closer to her. She weaved in and out of the crowd as if she was going to be moving towards her mother.

Stopping for a quick moment, was when I noticed it was happening. Her legs began to wobble, and her knees buckled underneath her as her body seemed to fall in slow motion, I wrapped my arms around her. Her mother screamed as she fell, and it made others gather. Jackson, her father, was quickly at our side when the scream happened. Seeing his daughter on the ground and in my arms, he grew rather concerned. The Lunar Ceremony hadn't started quite yet, and now this had happened. Thinking back to hearing what Justin said as I was changing in the shadows, I looked at her mother. "Mrs. Bloode, please direct me to Alexi's room and please someone go get the medic." I said as I pulled her into my arms once more. I could hear others already on the move. Looking backwards towards the lifeless body of Justin, I sighed. "Nikolias, take care of him. Make sure he is locked up or whatever so he doesn't get away. Find Hazel, she should know where to put him." I spoke to my second in command as I headed towards the front door. Without looking at one another, we both had an agreement and plus, my potential mate was my concern.

As her mother was already walking towards the front door, I followed after her. Looking down to the girl, I sighed. 'Why does something always have to ruin our evenings?' I thought, with a very low growl to myself. I could hear her breathing, it was ragged and all over the place. Normally we all ran anywhere between 107.3-109.6 degrees being a werewolf, but her body temperature was much hotter than normal. I could feel my eye twitching once again, it was starting to agitate me more than today's events had. 'Calm down Alexander. She's going through the change and she needs a calm support system and plus, she's the last female pure blood with my previous mate. I will not be too thrilled if you let her get away.' Lucius spoke, though with more authority to his voice and then when he spoke of her inner wolf, had I not been listening to something? I couldn't recall much other than trying to keep blood shed from happening.

Entering the foyer with Alexi still in my arms, that was when I noticed how red her face was. The sweat building on her brow as condensation did on a window. I grew more furious noticing this now as was Lucius, although he seemed to be mad at both of us for not taking notice earlier. 'Maybe the Moon Goddess taking Justin's inner werewolf abilities away, was the best thing.' I thought, but was cut off quickly. 'It was. Do not say maybe.' Lucius once again sounded upset, though was not saying much more. He was blunt, even rude at times, but he kept my head on straight, even when my father died. Nodding to ourselves, I looked at the young wolf standing by the stairs. Without saying a word, he pointed to the top of the stairs.

As if everyone already knew how serious this situation was, I was slightly amazed by their organization tactics. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I looked around. Though I couldn't help, but be tempted by her sweet scent. Yes, she was in my arms and yes I wanted her, but with urgency I followed the scent. There was a room, where the door was wide open. A teenage girl's room appeared to me, but nothing like I had ever imagined. I could see her mother ripping the blankets off the bed and as if she could feel my presence, she waved me over. Making my way across the floor, I looked at her mother with worried eyes. "Where do you want me to place her?" I asked as I was already beginning to place her on the bed.

"There is fine. I need to get her changed into something more suitable. Please give us a moment. When Jace gets here, you can come in. We may need you Alexander." Her mother said with her voice was filled with fear. There was something she was hiding from us. I knew it, and it was the same feeling I had when she was helping my pack. Though, I never questioned those who helped without ever being asked. Nodding I walked towards the bedroom door and grabbed the doorknob as I slowly shut the door behind me, I stole one last glance. Still going through a change and looking sweaty, she was still like a diamond in the rough. Finally closing the door, I moved towards the wall on the opposite side.

Leaning against it, I let out a slight tired and soft sigh. 'She'll be okay Alexander, but you will have to help her out of this. Remember how you were when you changed, it's not much different.' Lucius told me as he seemed worried. 'You're right.' I told him as I noticed Jace walking up. Pushing myself off the wall, I blinked lightly. Jace looked over his shoulder at me and sighed, he asked, "Do you have to be here?" When the door opened there stood Alexi's mother Marie. "Enough of that already Jason." she said using his name. She then moved out of the way and turned to look at Alexi laying on the bed. Her face was contorted in pain and I could see her body was twitching from every aching muscle. Jace walked towards her quickly, placing his hand on her forehead. "She's running a fever and really hot. I have already told some of the men to get ice, it will be here later than we need it. I guess that's why you brought him up here." he said as he looked at me with cold eyes. Something about love made him disgusted, but why was that? Lucius growled deeply in the back of my head and exclaimed, 'I do not like him.' I didn't bother replying to him, but he was more active around Alexi and her inner wolf than he had ever been with me.

"Exactly Jace, now you know how to get the fever of the change down until the ice gets here. Alexander I have faith you will be able to help Alexi through this. See you all soon, I must go speak with my husband now." Marie said and then hastily left Alexi's room. Jace stood up and I quickly followed his movements. He moved over towards the desk and pulled out a few items. Tossing a rag through the air and towards me, I reached for it and grabbed it before it hit the floor. "Get that cold please, we need to try and cool her down a little more before I tell you what to do." he said in a rather demanding voice. Rolling my eyes, I did as he asked. Though when I walked into the bathroom, my naval cavity was flooded with the scent of Alexi. It was very strong and gave me goosebumps. Taking in a deep breath, I released it and then got the rag wet. Ringing it out lightly, I walked over towards Alexi and placed it on her forehead. "At least you know what to do so far, how did you learn this?" Jace said with a slightly impressed tone. Looking down to Alexi, I knelt down beside her bed and moved some hair from her face. "I had a sister once, so I know a little about this process for females. Much different than ours and twice as excruciating." I told him with a voice filled with sorrow. It worried me more now, that my potential mate was going through the same.

Jace looked at me, as if he noticed the tone of my voice. I could tell he wanted to ask, but didn't really want to push his limits. Standing up, I walked closer to him and sighed lightly. "My sister died because of the change, but there is an issue we must talk about also. If you haven't already, I can smell she has more than one thing going on." I said and then cleared my throat. 'That was rather hard to say for some reason.' I thought and then shook my head. I hadn't noticed sooner with everything that had been happening, but now that she was wearing a different set of clothes to help cool her down, I could tell she was also in heat. Jace took a slight whiff of the air and then covered his mouth. "Y-You're right." he stuttered and I growled lightly at him. "I'm not interested in her, but it seems she is. I need to alert Marie, but you need to just stay there. I am not sure how this is going to work out now." he said as he moved over towards the door quickly, then out of sight.

Once we were alone, I couldn't help myself when I moved closer to her. Kneeling down beside her bed, I gently took her left hand in my right. Using my left hand to dab the sweat off her brow, I noticed her stirring a little. She groaned lightly and I hushed her with a gentle tone. "Easy now little wolf, the change is in effect and there are other things happening to you. Just relax now." I told her gently as I placed the rag to the side. Caressing her right check in my left hand, I watched as her eyes slowly opened. Alexi gripped the hand that was holding hers and then her facial features contorted in pain as she let out a cry of agony. Watching as she began to curl into a ball, she turned to face me. "D-Don't leave." she asked with a scared tone of voice. Gently running my fingers through her hair, I couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "I wouldn't if I could." I told her as I noticed she had been holding her breath through some of the pain. "You need to breathe through the pain or it'll get worse." I explained as I looked into her beautiful multi-colored eyes. She nodded and tried to regulate her breathing, but it wasn't doing much.

I got to thinking of my sister and sighed as I did. I stood up and chewed the inside of my lip. It has been a little longer than expected since Jace left and told me not to move, but it was nearly midnight and she wasn't ready to go through that in her state. "Alright move over, your mother is going to kill me and no telling what your medic will say." I said as I looked at her with a shrug. She moved over slowly, but enough for me to lay down on the bed next to her. I then wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to my chest. "Follow my breathing, it will help regulate yours." I told her as I took in her beautiful aroma. "A-Alright." she said shyly. I smirked to myself as I could hear her embarrassment, it only made my heart flutter. Alexi then placed her hand on my chest, which only made me jump slightly. "N-Nervous aren't we, Alexander?" she said followed by a giggle. I wasn't sure if she was feeling the pain or if it was the effect of the heat now, but she was acting differently. She had a deeper shade of red to her cheeks, like she was overheating again. Although her eyes held a glazed look to them as if she were intoxicated by something. "Not nervous, just another feeling." I said. She was partially right though, I was slightly nervous now that she was acting like this. "Just lay down and breathe Alexi, that's what you need." I told her as I pulled her back to my chest. My heart was still beating as fast, but it started to slow down. I could tell she was tense, but being in my embrace seemed to help.

By the time Jace and Marie arrived, it had been a little over an hour and Alexi was half asleep on my chest. Jace turned away from the sight of us and Marie's face was bright red. "She's calmed down enough, but she still has a fever. You took your sweet time, but I think I managed to do my part for now." I told them as I gently slipped out from underneath Alexi. Watching her closely for that moment, I waited to move closer to her mother. "Is the ice bath ready?" I asked, knowing that was the next part to cooling her down. Jace nodded, but tapped my shoulder to get me to lean in towards him. "You'll need to get in there with her. Her body will not take too well to the cold. Read this scroll." he whispered softly as he handed me an old piece of parchment wrapped finely with a royal blue ribbon. Nodding as I walked away from them, I gently unraveled the delicate paper. It felt fragile under my fingers, so I knew not to damage it. 'Ah the smell of the old ones, a favored memory.' Lucius said as I could feel the goosebumps crawling over my skin. 'It does smell nice, but that was odd to feel that sort of feeling from you. Let me get back to reading so I can see what they meant. Maybe this will give me more of an explanation for when Kailee died.' I told him as I began to read the texts.

*𝒯ℴ 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒽ℴ𝓂 𝓁𝒶𝓎 ℯ𝓎ℯ𝓈 𝓊𝓅ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒶𝒸𝓇ℯ𝒹 𝓈𝒸𝓇ℴ𝓁𝓁,

𝒜𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒸𝓇ℴ𝓁𝓁, 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓊𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃ℊℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝒶 𝒻ℯ𝓂𝒶𝓁ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃. ℋℯℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷ℯ 𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℒ𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓇 ℳℴℴ𝓃. ℐ𝒻 𝓈𝒽ℯ 𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓊𝓇ℯ, 𝒹ℴ 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁ℴ𝓌 𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝒶𝓇 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓅𝒽𝒶 𝓃ℴ𝓇 𝒶𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓂𝒶𝓁ℯ. ℐ𝒻 𝓁ℯ𝒻𝓉 𝒶𝓁ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓁ℴ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ, 𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝓃ℯ𝓇 ℯ𝓈𝓈ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓉𝓉𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒾𝓉𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒾ℴ𝓃 ℴ𝒻 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃ℊℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓉, 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒹𝓇𝒾𝓋ℯ ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝓃ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓈, 𝒸𝒶𝓃 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈ℯ 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒽.

ℐ. 𝒯ℴ 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝒶 𝒷ℴ𝒹𝓎 𝓉ℯ𝓂𝓅ℯ𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒹ℴ𝓌𝓃, 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝒸ℴℴ𝓁 - 𝒾𝒸ℯ, 𝒸ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓇, ℯ𝓉𝒸.

ℐℐ. ℐ𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒽ℯℯ𝒹 ℴ𝓃ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓃ℯ𝒶𝓇 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓁ℯ, 𝒽ℯ 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒷ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝒶𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒶𝒸𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃ℊℯ - 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓇ℯ𝓈ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ, 𝓈𝒸ℯ𝓃𝓉, 𝓉ℴ𝓊𝒸𝒽, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓋ℴ𝒾𝒸ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝒷𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀 𝒻𝓇ℯℯ.

ℐℐℐ. ℬℯ 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓁𝒻 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃, 𝓈𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝒻ℯ𝓇𝒶𝓁 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓇𝓊𝓃 - 𝒾𝒻 𝒽ℯ𝓇 ℯ𝓈𝓈ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓉ℯ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ𝒹, 𝓈ℴ 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂𝒶𝓁ℯ 𝓇𝓊𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽ℯ𝓇.

ℐ𝒱. 𝒰𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀 ℴ𝒻 𝒹𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓁𝓋ℯ𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃 𝒷ℯ 𝓉ℯ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ𝒹, 𝒻ℯℯ𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓋ℯ𝓃, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂ℯ𝓂ℴ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓇ℯ𝒹 - 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℯ𝒻𝒻ℯ𝒸𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃ℊℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓉 𝒷ℯ 𝒷𝓇ℴ𝓀ℯ𝓃.

𝒯ℴ 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒽ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒸𝓇ℴ𝓁𝓁, 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℴℴ𝓃 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓅𝓈 𝓊𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓁𝓁ℴ𝓌 ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝓇𝓊ℯ 𝒹ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓎 - 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓅 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒻ℴ𝓁𝓁ℴ𝓌 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇𝓈?*

I choked lightly as I read the gentle line work of the writing. Raveling up the scroll and sliding the ribbon back over it, I turned around with a light red hue to my cheeks. "M-Marie, t-th...this is a little absurd. Is there another scroll about essence tethering?" I stuttered as I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to process all of the information that was just handed to me. "Afraid not, not that I have seen or studied anyway. Scrolls like these are sacred, but scattered. It is hard to find even two that talk about similar things, in one place. Now I must go speak with my mother because of you two. Why can't you alpha's keep it in their pants?!" Jace said, though seemed rather upset about the fact. Marie looked at him and patted him on the shoulder while she turned back to me. "Looks like we all have a mission to accomplish here. She's in both of your hands now. Jace, go speak to Alpha Rosebude and Alexander, you get Alexi down the stairs and to my bathtub. The pups running around will show you there. I need to tell our guest to bed down for the night and we will resume our festivities tomorrow after all this." Marie said as if she was ordering us to get to it quickly.

I pushed by them and looked down to Alexi, she seemed peaceful, but I could tell behind all that, she was writhing in pain. Gently lifting her into my arms, I could hear her muffled groan as she pushed herself closer to my chest. "Easy now little wolf, we are moving. Care to talk to me?" I said softly as I cradled her in my arms. I could hear her groan in denial of wanting to speak, which only made me chuckle. "Well alright then listen, you still have a high body temperature, but we are about to fix that. There is also something we need to talk about, before the full change takes effect and even after." I said softly as we walked out of her room and towards the top of the stairs, where a small pack of pups looked upon us. I could hear her yawn as she tried to stretch herself out in my arms, a useless attempt, but she still did it anyway. "Luna said to follow us, revered alpha." said a young wolf that didn't even reach my waist. "Such large words you pups know, lead on then." I told them, but not without chuckling.

"They know such words because they are what's left of the true Bloode wolf line, my unfortunate uncle's remaining blood as I am both of Crescent and Bloode." Alexi spoke in a mere whisper, almost sounding a little intoxicated still. I nodded as we made our way down the stairs and past the foyer. We managed to walk by a large living area then to the master bedroom down the only hall on the first floor. Taking little strides instead of my normal ones, I didn't want to step on any of the pups running around us. Leading us to the last door on the left that was open, I walked in and Alexi groaned lightly. "I-It hurts." she whimpered as I could feel her body growing hotter once again. Quickly making my way into the master bathroom, where a large tub of ice waited for us. I grit my teeth and looked around, hoping to see something Marie might have left us. 'On the toilet.' Lucius told me and I glanced over there. I nodded to myself, only thanking Lucius for the heads up. Setting Alexi next to the tub, I moved towards the clothes that were laid out. "We need to change you from those sweats and into shorts, too much heat will harm you little wolf." I told her as I walked closer to her. Handing her the clothes, I realized I was tasked with taking care of her. So how would she be able to change clothes in her state?