Rejected By MY Mate And Claimed By A Ruthless Alpha

THE HEAT

CHAPTER 7:

Eryx's POV

Eryx considered himself a calm man. When he'd been younger and forced to do terrible things, he'd been calm. When he first transformed back to a man from his wolf form, surrounded by gore, bathed in blood, he'd been calm. When he'd ripped the throats of the rebels outside his home a night ago, he'd been calm.

However, seeing Lyra stumble and fall, shaking convulsively, he found himself with an emotion that he'd felt very rarely, and thus knew not what to do with it.

Eryx panicked.

He grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to stabilize her. He called her name, loudly. "Lyra. LYRA!"

No response.

He reached our with his wolf, trying to touch her wolf, but he felt nothing. Her wolf had probably retreated into the deep recesses of her mind.

Eryx immediately picked her up. Immediately his skin touched hers, she had a violent reaction, her body vibrating like her bones were trying to escape. He shifted his hands, making sure there was no skin-to-skin contact, and bundled her out of the door.

The guards outside the door startled as Eryx kicked the door out, probably wondering when and how he had gotten past them.

"Get Nolan, now. Tell him to meet me in my chambers," Eryx growled out the command. The guards ran in different directions, going to look for him, while Eryx pounded down the hallway.

He ordered a serving girl to get a bowl of water and a rag. In a minute, he was in his chambers. The water and rag sat on a bedside table. He set the girl down gently on the bed, put the rag in the water, squeezed, and started to clean her forehead, trying to bring her temperature down. She was running high, her forehead was almost scalding.

Nolan came into the room a second later. The resident physician, Nolan had been working for Eryx since before Eryx was even born. The older man was still strong, despite his age. As he entered the room, he could feel their pack bond light up, his wolf acknowledging Eryx's. He walked into the room with a bag, probably packed, filled with tools and tonics.

"How long has she been like this?" He asked, not bothering with the small talk. Nolan had always been a very straightforward man, never in the mood to waste time. Especially when someone had to be saved.

He opened up his bag and did some preliminary checks, looking into her eyes, checking her heart rate. His brow raised, and he looked stumped for a moment. "She's fine, as far as I can tell. But from what I can tell, these are common symptoms of..." He took a deep breath, then wriggled his nose. "The poor girl is in heat. But it shouldn't be this bad. She is mateless, yes?"

Eryx bristled a bit at that, but he supposed Nolan was right. Lyra wasn't his mate. He wondered why that irked him.

Nolan took his silence for agreement and barelled on. "The urge is usually less in mateless wolves, because you know, they don't have a mate and thus not a strong enough bond."

He looked at the girl on the table, a furrow in his brow. "I may have to run some more tests, but regardless, I think the worst of it has passed. She looks like she's stabilizing. She should come to in a while."

Eryx nodded slowly. "Thank you, Nolan. I appreciate your help."

Nolan nodded, "What else is a doctor supposed to do? Besides, it was more that professional obligation that brought me here. I've been curious about her too."

Eryx turned to look at him, a dark look crossing his face. Nolan noted it and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Relax. The council isn't involved, nor did they send me. Just simple curiosity."

Eryx visibly calmed down, and he nodded again. He looked at the girl on the table. He could still smell her heat, it rolled off her in waves, drawing him to her. He wondered absently why he hadn't had her yet. There was a time when he would have already, but he didn't see himself doing that to her. She seemed so... fragile. His urge to protect her was stronger, way stronger than his urge to take advantage of her.

He leaned towards her, taking in her smell. He breathed in and sighed out slowly. As he drew away, a finger brushed her skin. Immediately, her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright, taking in a huge gasp of air. She shivered slightly again before falling back into the bed, eyes tired and searching.

"This is the second time I've fainted in as many days. What are you doing to me? What's wrong with me?"

She turned to look at him as she asked, eyes wide and pleading. Again, panic settled into Eryx's mind. What was he supposed to tell this woman, to make her feel better. He didn't know what was happening, didn't know why it was happening. And he was useless, totally useless in trying to reassure her.

Nolan beat him to the punch. Eryx started at the sound of his voice. He'd forgotten the old man was still there. Is that how much he lost himself when he was with her?

"Good evening, Ms. Lyra. My name is Nolan Gray. I'm the house physician. I specialise in... People like ourselves."

He watched Lyra's face go from confusion to understanding that the old man before her was a wolf too. Nolan smiles at her. It was a kind, grandfatherly smile. The type he'd given Eryx too when he was a child. However, Eryx had seen Nolan in action, in wolf form. That kind, grandfatherly smile reminded him too much of his wolf side. It had the exact same smile.

Nolan explained everything to Lyra, assuring her that though it wasn't too normal, everything was fine with her. And then he left, leaving her alone with Eryx.

"Are you better now?" He asked softly, trying his hardest yo be careful with this woman. She nodded slowly, "Yes, I am."

He stood up straight then, and nodded. "Good. You should stay here for the night. I insist." He said, already seeing the argument bubbling in her eyes.

He left the room, quietly.

Eryx had always considered himself a calm man. But his wolf was different. It howled in his mind, raged against his utter self-control.

His wolf wanted to ravage her, to take her completely. It screamed at him, reacting violently to her heat. He pushed it down aggressively, taking a deep breath. Then he walked away from the room, and the temptation within.