The Wolf God's Unwanted Luna

Chapter 118: Shift in the Tides

Seeing the look of absolute shock on my face, Zaliver sighed softly and wrapped his strong arms around me, guiding my head gently to his bare chest. I could hear the steady, powerful beat of his heart under my ear, a grounding rhythm amidst the sudden storm of my thoughts.

"When a female werewolf enters heat," he began gently, his voice rumbling against my cheek, "she feels the effects full force unless her mate helps relieve them. Her scent shifts, drawing in unmated males like moths to a flame. But with you... your scent drives me completely insane. It sends me into a lust haze I can’t fully control. And it seems like my reaction only intensifies your heat. Your shifting into a new form might’ve triggered it too. Interesting."

His tone turned thoughtful at the end, as if he was cataloging this information like some fascinating new discovery.

Of course it was interesting to him. In the end, he got the mate. He got the bond. I was the one with the fire threatening to burn me from the inside out.

I was going into heat. Damn it.

Everything he said aligned with what I already knew. A female in heat went through stages, each more intense than the last, and the only way to cool the blaze was with her mate or medical intervention. Without either, she could be left suffering. Alone. Males didn’t have cycles like this. But they could sense when a female’s heat started, and they usually responded by becoming hyper-focused on mating and producing pups.

But if what Zaliver said was true, then every time I had a flicker of heat and he picked up on it, his reaction would spike mine... and suddenly the spark would explode into a full inferno. A vicious cycle of pheromones and instinct. Great.

Was I ready to mate?

The question felt like a heavy weight in my chest. I didn’t even know how to answer it. My emotions were a whirlwind: part fear, part longing, part sheer confusion. I’d gone through my first heat at sixteen, and I remembered the pain like it was yesterday. It was nothing like the soft ache of cramps. It was brutal. Like being lit on fire from the inside, then blasted with freezing pressure. Like every nerve ending was being ripped open and set ablaze.

Did I really want to go through that again?

No.

But with Zaliver... could I handle it?

I shifted in his arms and looked up at him. For a moment, he looked completely at peace. His eyes—those piercing, oceanic blues—softened as they met mine. His arms tightened protectively around me, and for a second, I wondered if the universe had designed him to be this tempting on purpose... this magnetic. Maybe it wasn’t just my heat talking.