Solstice Heat by Leila Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

threw the covers off and hit her arms and legs. There was nothing there. But she could have sworn something was rippling through her. It chased away all her euphoria.
     
    “Stop. Stop.” Jason grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her body. “That’s just your wolf. The more sex we have, the closer she gets to the surface. You won’t be able to change until after the solstice ceremony.”
     
    Gio snatched her hands away. “What did you just say?” She had to have imagined that.
     
    “What? New wolves all experience their first change at either the summer or winter solstice. The call of the wolf is at its strongest then. After—”
     
    “Not that.” She scooted away from him and rubbed her left arm. “The part about us having sex bringing her closer to the surface. You never said anything about that. You said if I didn’t have sex, I would lose control and turn into a fucking nymphomaniac. Now you’re saying when we have sex, the wolf gets stronger?” The need to hit him burned through her. She stopped rubbing her arm and started scratching her palm.
     
     
     
    Dumbass. Dumbass. Dumbass . Why had he said that? The wolf had to get stronger. It was a natural progression. The wolf was like an infant. The more times she came to the surface, the tougher she got. And to emerge at the solstice ceremony, she would need to be capable.
     
    “Look, it takes a lot to change. Your wolf has to be robust enough to finish the change, or you could be stuck somewhere in between. I’ve seen that, and believe me, you don’t want that.” And neither did he.
     
    “What you’re saying is if we didn’t have sex, I might have been able to control the wolf?” She was pissed. He heard it in the gruff undertone of her voice.
     
    “You can’t control the wolf by starving her. All that does is turn her desperate. I’m sorry that having sex with me was such a hassle. But it was necessary—whether you believe it or not.” He knew he shouldn’t be mad at her. She was most likely tired and scared. But going from an oh my God to a not-so-subtle reference that she would rather not have had sex was too much of a swing for him.
     
    Jason moved to his side of the bed and lowered himself into his chair. He wheeled into the bathroom and took a quick shower. No one had ever said finding a mate would be easy. Nothing worth having ever was.
     
    “Hey.” A soft voice sounded from just outside the shower stall. He was getting slow. First Dane, now her. He was going to have to start paying more attention to those around him. “Look, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to insult you.”
     
    If that was not trying, he’d hate to see what happened if she put her mind to it. “It’s okay. You can grab a shower; then we’ll get some sleep. If I know Donovan, he’ll be over bright and early. And we need to figure out how to introduce you to the rest of the pack.”
     
    “You don’t think they’ll like me?” Her voice quivered. “Is it because I’m black?”
     
    He opened the door and stared at her. She stood near the doorframe looking as if she didn’t really care. He wasn’t fooled. “No. Race isn’t an issue in the pack. We’re all different: skin color, hair color, and eye color. We get a lot of outcasts up this way, so anything goes.”
     
    “Why wouldn’t they like me?” She pouted as if begging for him to kiss the hurt away. And her forehead scrunched as if she was going over her image in the mirror, looking for a reason.
     
    “It wouldn’t be you. It would be me. A lot of them don’t think I should mate. I know, I know,” he said when she started making sounds as if she was going to argue. “We aren’t a couple, but since humans can be changed, and you are changing, they will assume you’re going to stay with me.”
     
    “I thought wolves only had one mate. You know, soul mates.” She waved her hand in the air.
     
    “Yeah. That’s if you’re lucky. Not everyone finds their soul mate. Wolves