Claws

Chapter Twenty

"It's alright. It's not going away," Zale sighed, looking down at Mae as she continued to suck his blood. She was drinking him like a freaking juice box. His arm kind of tickled, burning hot where her lips touched his skin. Her pheromones were all over the place. He should have gotten a medal for how much self-restraint he had with this girl. His only hope was that he'd be able to keep it up. He'd never wanted an inhibitor so bad. Her dress was almost torn to shreds, and on top of that, she was sopping wet. No wonder she was shivering like crazy, even under his jacket.

Zale cleared his throat as he carefully lifted her head up and set it on his lap, adjusting his jacket over her body. He needed to focus. He slid his fingers through the side of her hair to the back of her head to check the condition of the wound. It was almost done closing up.

"You're going to be sore. Alpha blood can only close up external wounds, not anything internal. You'll have bruising on your neck along with swollen vocal cords, so you might not be able to talk for a few days. Three of your ribs seem to be broken as well. You'll probably fully heal in a week or two, even with rapid healing so--" Zale stopped when he felt Mae's lips leave his skin and her arms slide under his coat again. When he looked down, he was shocked to see her facial expression.

It was completely and utterly glazed over. She looked like she was in some sort of daze. She sniffed the air as Zale raised an eyebrow and frowned. She wasn't even self-aware anymore. He'd rarely seen a Claw this deep into their heat.

"Smells good," Mae slurred, sniffing the air again. Her glazed amber eyes met his, and her lips parted. She sighed and leaned closer to Zale, pressing her nose against his abdomen.

Zale tensed, gripping onto her shoulders as she nuzzled her nose into his shirt. "You little...seriously. Let go." Dang it. He was releasing pheromones now. Zale clenched his teeth together. What kind of alpha male wouldn't release pheromones in this situation? It was totally normal. Totally....

"Smells good," Mae repeated, snuggling closer to him. Zale felt her breathing his scent in even as her arms wrapped around his torso. He tensed even more, lifting his hands off her and holding them in the air. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Were his pheromones calming her down? Wouldn't they make her condition worse?

"This kid," Zale sighed, shakily exhaling as he grabbed her shoulders again. He needed to get her off him. "Come to your senses, you little brat. You hate me, remember? Look what you're doing to the guy you call a slut twenty-four-seven."

Zale, as gently as possible, tried to push her off of him. To his surprise, she lifted her head up and snapped at his hand, baring her sharp k-nines. "Mine," she growled. "My alpha."

Zale's cheeks grew hot. What did she just say? "Mae, you are so out of it right now. Come on. Let go." Zale tried to shove her off again with a little more force, but this time, she actually bit his hand and held on tighter to him. "Ouch! What the heck?"

"Mine!" She yelled, quickly glaring up at him. She snuggled closer to Zale, nuzzling her nose into his shirt again and closing her eyes. He felt her inhale his pheromones. "This is mine!"

Why did he find this kind of adorable? She was acting like a little kid, protecting her favorite toy, unwilling to share. "Alright, alright," Zale sighed, awkwardly patting her head. "Your alpha. I get it. I won't go anywhere." Oh, she was totally going to regret saying that when she woke up. If she remembered it, that was.

After a short amount of time, Mae's shivering grew worse, so he decided to shift into his wolf form and wrap himself around her. She looked up with panicking eyes and reached for him when he pulled away, having to reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere and was just going to make her more comfortable. When he wrapped himself around her, she snuggled deep into his fur and held onto him as if her life depended on it. So this is what her heat was like. He thought it was supposed to be painful. This was so strange. At first, her pheromones were making him anxious and dizzy, but the more he took them in, the calmer and warmer he felt.