N. Walters: Alexandra's Legacy

Her father swore and she felt his hand on the back of her head pressing it toward her knees. “Breathe, Alexandra. Just take one slow breath at a time. Focus, honey.”

Alex concentrated on pulling air into her lungs and finally the buzzing in her ears subsided and she felt stronger. She raised her head and met his worried gaze. “Explain it all to me. I need to understand.”

“Females come into heat for the first time when they are in their early twenties. It varies from woman to woman, but it is always within a two-year span from age twenty-one to twenty-three.” He sent a hard glare toward Joshua and the younger man faded back toward the kitchen. “You’ve been feeling restless lately, maybe having sexual feelings for the first time in your life. Your body is yearning for something, but you’re not sure what for.”

Alex could feel the heat creeping up her cheeks and knew she was blushing. This was definitely not a conversation she wanted to be having with her father. The fact that he knew what she’d been feeling these past few weeks was totally embarrassing. All she could manage was a single nod. She couldn’t look at him.

He wouldn’t allow her to hide from him. Hooking his thumb beneath her chin, he tilted it upward until she was facing him. “There is nothing to be embarrassed about. It is perfectly normal. It means you are a healthy, vibrant young woman who is ready to start a life and a family of her own.”

“There’s got to be more to it than just that.” She wasn’t stupid. If it was just a matter of her becoming an adult, it shouldn’t be any big deal.

“Unfortunately there is.” He offered her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “For any species, survival depends upon procreation. To keep the population healthy, mother nature has built in a few extra features.”

She was afraid to ask, but more afraid of not knowing. “What extras?”

“You’ll soon go into heat. Your body will crave a male. You’ll need him, want him with a fierceness that will shock you. It is the time that you will choose your mate. Your scent will draw any unmated werewolves for miles and they will all fight to be the one who claims you.”

“You mean they can smell me?” Her voice grew louder with every word she spoke, until she was practically yelling. She tried to stay calm, but that was impossible. This was unbelievable, like something out of a nightmare, except Alex knew she was wide awake. “They know I’m aroused. In heat like some bloody animal.” She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was crazy.

“Yes. It’s called estrus and every female werewolf experiences it.”

“I don’t want this,” she muttered, as her mind whirled, trying to understand everything she’d been told and sort out the implications.

“I know you don’t, Alex. I’d hoped that maybe it wouldn’t happen this way for you. There haven’t been too many half-breeds in our history, so I honestly didn’t know what to expect. But lately, I’ve sensed the change in you. Felt your wolf waiting to embrace you.”

She swallowed hard. “That’s what you meant when you said I’d go through the change?”

He nodded. “It’s different between males and females of the species. Males come into their wolf when they mature in their early twenties. For the females, it’s the mating process that unleashes the female wolf inside, allowing her to change into a wolf on command.”

“That’s not fair.” Alex was outraged. Males didn’t have to go through what the females had to go through, what she had to go through. Typical. It didn’t seem to matter if it was humans or supernatural beings involved, men always seemed to have it easier than women.

Her father shrugged. “Fair or not, that’s how it is.” He paused. “It’s really a wonderful thing if you allow it to happen and embrace the moment. You’ll be more powerful than you’ve ever imagined even when you aren’t in wolf form. Your hearing will be keener, your vision sharper, your reflexes faster and your muscles will be stronger. You’ll also heal faster if you sustain any injuries.” His eyes narrowed. “Even as a child you never got sick. You were always fast and strong. I didn’t know if that was as much as my wolf blood would give you or if you’d develop as a female werewolf.”

That was all fine and good, and she’d deal with it when she had to. Right now they had a much bigger worry, and he was standing in the same room with them. “But why is he here?” She jerked her head toward the opening between the kitchen and living room where Joshua was lurking.

“That’s what I’m about to find out.” Straightening from his crouch, her father motioned Joshua back into the room. “What’s going on?”

Joshua prowled back into the room, his loose-legged gait reminding her of her father. “Ian sent me.”

“He is alpha?”

Joshua nodded. “He came just after you left.”

“I wasn’t sure he would even though I’d sent for him. How is my brother?”

Alex sat up straighter. Her father had a brother? She had an uncle? Every second seemed to be revealing something new to her. She stared at her father. It was as if he was a complete stranger even though she’d known him her entire life. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling. Anger began to stir deep inside her, shoving aside the swirling confusion.

“He is well, but very concerned about you and about his niece. The pack needs both of you. Times are hard and there is much fighting among the brethren.”

Her father laughed but it wasn’t a particularly pleasant sound. Alex could hear the disgust in his tone. “Some things never change. Killing one another over petty grievances rather than banding together for the greater good. For survival.”

“As you say.” Joshua inclined his head slightly. “But the fact remains that a wolf who knew you from the past happened by your shop a little more than a week ago and saw you and your daughter. He immediately started back to the pack to tell Ian, but he must have told someone else what he’d seen.

“Word spread quickly even though he managed to get himself killed before he could give away more than the name of the city you were living in. By then it was too late. Most of the unmated males from the Wolf Creek pack, as well as the Blue Ridge and Cumberland packs, have descended on Chicago. There may be more. We’ve all been searching. The difference is we want to protect both you and your daughter, the other packs will probably kill you in order to take Alex and they won’t give her a choice in mating. They will fight for her and she will go to the victor.”

Her father’s expression darkened. “You all want to claim her. Do not pretty it up.”

“Of course we all want her. She is an unmated female. Not only is she beautiful, but she is your daughter as well. There are many who want her for that reason alone.”

“Hey!” Anger bubbled to the surface, as she jumped to her feet. “Don’t I get a say in this?” Alex was tired of them talking about her like she wasn’t even there, of discussing her life as if it were a done deal.

Joshua Striker turned to her, his dark eyes boring into her. “Unfortunately, no.” He paused and ran his fingers though his hair. Alex found herself wondering if it was as soft as it looked. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. What was she thinking?

“Actually you do have two choices. Come with me to Wolf Creek and you’ll have your choice of any of the unmated males. Or…” he glanced toward her father, “…you can stay here and have to defend yourself against any other males that come to claim you, putting yourself and your father in danger.”

“What if I don’t want to mate with anyone?” Adrenaline surged through her veins. She wanted to wake up and find out that she was still in bed and all this was just a bad dream. But it was all too real.