The Alpha's Runt Mate (complete)

Chapter 14: Willa POV

Chapter 14: Willa POV

Nate muttered out "How?" before his eyes went black. His wolf had taken over. I whimpered at his size. He phased instantly into his large black wolf. Compared to me he was massive. He was beautiful though with dark eyes that matched his fur.

He howled at me to follow him as we ran down the cleared path. We tried to keep up with him but sometimes our tiny body and short legs struggled to keep pace. Eventually he noticed and slowed his pace.

We stopped at a lake to drink water. Side by side we looked down onto the water with the moon allowing us to see one another's reflection. Out of nowhere he nestled his face into the crook of my neck and I froze. He was licking where he was supposed to mark me. I whimpered, feeling anxious and unsure. I really wanted to be marked but I wanted it to be Nate, not his wolf, and on our terms. We could not mindlink yet so I couldn't consent in this form. I really wanted it to be something we discussed first.

He howled and I felt my arousal creep up on me. The mate bond was driving me crazy. My wolf howled back. Seconds later his teeth pierced my flesh. I felt my eyes bulge and my wolf cried out in pleasure. I felt nothing but physical pain, my insides burning. Flashbacks of beatings and Lucas flooded my mind and all I could feel was extreme pain. My wolf and I were two halves of the same person and yet the marking made it feel like we were separate because we felt different things. We had never felt this far from one another.

Suddenly my internal crying came to the surface and I phased to my human form involuntarily. Nate phased, his blue eyes on display full of concern. "Willa? Willa!" All I could do was whimper. Something inside me felt broken. Nate's voice was ringing in my head, but it couldn't save me from the darkness engulfing me. I lost consciousness in the dirt like I had done so many times after being attacked by Lucas.

The next time I woke Nate was dressed and hovering over me with a woman dressed in a white lab coat. I blinked several times, my eyes struggling to adjust to the bright light.

"Willa, baby, can you hear me?" Nate was talking to me but it sounded distorted at first. My neck hurt and my body burned as if on fire. "Y-yes," I croaked out, barely able to get out a whisper. The doctor started checking my vital signs and said, "My name is Robin. I'm the pack doctor. How do you feel?" A tear ran down my face as I said, "It hurts everywhere." Nate's face dropped in response. The doctor asked me questions and had me describe the best I could what I experienced before I passed out.

"What's going on with her, Robin?" Nate asked the doctor who had strawberry-blonde hair and hazel eyes. "I think your marking her set off her first heat and simultaneously caused a traumatic episode," she theorized. Nate looked upset as he mulled over the doctor's words. 

"I told you to wait to mark her, Alpha. I told you to bring her to me for counseling," she lectured. He shook his head, his face red and twisted, "I know, I know. I was just hoping we had bonded enough that this wouldn't happen."

He looked up at me and begged for forgiveness. I didn't know what to think. I wasn't one to be unforgiving but he had broken his own rule of consent. He had made such a big deal of boundaries and consent and within a few days he had done a 180 in order to appease his wolf. I had made a lot of changes for him. I expected the same from him. I didn't answer immediately, needing to think about forgiveness.

"What is a heat?" I asked more to the doctor than Nate. I had heard whispers about it but no one ever explained what it was. They both looked at me with wide eyes. "Willa, do you know anything about your heat?" The doctor asked. I shook my head, "No. I've heard the phrase but no one told me what it meant." The doctor looked to Nate and said, "This is a conversation I should have with her. I recommend giving us a few minutes alone."

Nate reluctantly left the small white clinic room. The doctor closed the door and came back over to me. "Basically a heat is a monthly event where you will feel both pain and desire to mate. If you and Nate do not mate you will be in pain for about a week before it eases off for a few weeks. If you mate you will feel intense pleasure and it will stop the burning feeling you're experiencing until the next cycle. Getting pregnant is the only way to stop heats all together."

I stared at her with wide eyes and said, "Are you saying this won't stop until I have s*x with Nate?" She nodded, "The heat is your body's attempt to speed along the mating process. It would have happened eventually with or without marking. It's normal and natural. In your case it was most likely triggered early by stress. Most wolves don't experience it that fast after turning 18. You were a pup until recently. I have to assume your natural wolf instinct is trying to deal with stress with the physical pleasure of mating. However, mentally it may be more stressful than relieving for someone with your trauma."

I felt tears threatening my eyes as I pulled my legs and arms in, curling into a ball. I wasn't ready. Mating was something I might want one day but now? I started sobbing, overwhelmed and distressed. Robin rubbed my back until Nate burst through the door.