Symptoms of Heat

Elena.

It was already late in the evening when I woke up from my sleep. The sky seemed to turn a bruising shade of purple, with a soft orange tint to it. Not that I could notice it, because all I could notice was the unpleasant heat.

While sitting up, I kicked off the blanket and got out of bed. My whole body felt sticky and hot, making me groan as I tried to cool myself down. While tying my hair into a sort of messy bun, I opened the window and leaned my face out, while taking a deep breath. The cold air felt like it was pricking my face as well as my neck, before the impact wore off.

But unfortunately, none of it worked. The heat started to spread throughout my body, and I could feel my skin turning beet red. Shortly after, the heat became unbearable, making me want to take off my clothes. My room felt suffocating and I tried to catch my breath, but it was no use, as I had never been able to catch my breath.

Out of breath, I quickly filled the bathtub with cold water and got into it. In a rush, I drowned myself in the water while holding my breath. Just like at the open window, the impact only lasted for a short while, before it completely vanished.

For a while, I stayed like that and tried to get rid of the hot sensation in my head, but alas, that was all I could feel.

It was starting to get painful.

In a sitting position, I held onto the side of the bathtub and shouted at the top of my lungs for Zayn.

"Zayn!" I shouted, my voice breaking in the middle of the line. My body was as if on fire, and I felt like I was lying naked in the middle of the desert.

As I pleaded for the fifth time, I heard my bedroom door slide open, and my brother came running in. He stopped at the bathroom door, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. From my slightly blurred view, I could see his tanned skin and fluttering hair, and a familiar warmth came over me. For a moment, I felt relieved knowing that I would be safe.

"El, what's wrong?" He asked in an urgent tone, his hand about to cover his eyes as he turned away from me slightly. I was at a loss for words, I could only scream out in pain. When Zayn heard me crying, his expression turned to shock, before turning back to worry.

He seemed clueless, but he still tried to help. While continuing to walk back and forth, he hurriedly searched for a towel and knocked over a nearby trash can. Once he found what he was looking for, he opened it and threw it at me. Before I could even grab it, he reached out to hold it, while opening his eyes.

Despite me trying to hold it I was too weak, I just slipped into the bathtub. Another whimper escaped out of my lips as my tears began to fall. Even though I would not have said that I cried a lot, it seemed like I was always crying these days.

"What's wrong Elena!" He once again urged me on, shaking my body as he tried to get an explanation. My sobs became quiet and I could not really ignore them, my mind getting more and more muddled.

"It's so hot." That was all I could say.

Zayn looked distressed, he just didn't know what to do. Meanwhile, I was still crying for a long time, until exhaustion took over my body. All my energy felt so heavy and weak, and my voice fell silent.

Without saying anything, I just shut my eyes and took a deep breath. The last thing I could hear was Zayn calling my name.

*****

Suddenly there was a soft murmur from my parents. I could not focus on what they were saying, but the first voice I heard clearly was that of Zayn. He spoke in a hurried voice to my parents, there was a worried tone laced in his voice.

"She-She just screamed, she said that she was in heat!" Zayn said. Meanwhile, my mom and father were talking to each other, they were arguing.

"Are you really sure?" My mom asked Zayn, in a questioning tone.

"Mom, I have told you so many times, that is all there is to it!" Zayn replied with a heavy sigh.

My mom breathed out, and I felt her cold hand touch my forehead. My brows furrowed while letting out a groan as I tried to open my eyes.

The moment I was able to do so, I was instantly greeted by the anxious and worried faces of both my parents. It was almost sunset, and it still seemed a bit slow. I guess I slept longer than I thought.

Apparently, my mom dressed me in teddy bear pajamas. There was a blanket wrapped around my body and an ice pack bag on my forehead.

My hand slowly moved to touch my forehead, then removed the ice pack that was starting to make my head hurt.

"Oh Goddess, Elena, baby, how are you feeling?" My mom asked as soon as I started to wake up while brushing my hair out of my face. Her eyes looked deep and concerned, while at the same time showing a motherly expression.

"I'm fine Mom," my voice sounded hoarse, and my brother moved to hand me a bottle of water. With great difficulty, the bottle was finally opened, and I downed half of it at once.

I felt better after that, finally fully grasping what had happened. I had never experienced anything like this before, so I had a lot of questions for my parents, just as they had for me.

"Do you remember what happened?" It was my father's turn to ask, as he sat beside me. His calloused hand took mine and squeezed it. My father was never good at comforting people, but I always appreciated his efforts.

Once I had recalled and put my thoughts back together, I answered him. It was almost difficult to remember what happened, but I had a brief description.

"I have no idea, I just suddenly woke up in a state of heat. I tried to cool down, but it was no use, so I went to the bathroom," I spoke slowly, looking up at the ceiling. "I started to feel pain, so I called Zayn."

My mom looked agitated, just like Zayn before. Seeing her like that made me cringe. One of the worst things is knowing that our parents don't know what to do.

While turning her face away from me, my mom glanced at my father, her mouth turning into a frown line. My father shook his head while squeezing my hand once more.

"That can't be." That was all my father said.

My mom just turned to me, her formerly scowling face turning into a soft smile. I was not sure if the expression on my face was also flustered or worried.

"Elena, we need you to be honest," my mom said, her voice slightly shaky. It seemed that she was struggling to piece together what was on her mind. Slowly my feelings started to stir as I stared at her, not sure what to do since she was acting so vulnerable.

"Have you found your mate yet?"

My eyes widened instantly, and all I could do was fall into stunned silence. At once, I turned to glance at Zayn, who seemed just as stunned as I was.

I knew that I could no longer keep it a secret, and I had to believe that there was a reason why it had come out. After all, I had been having a hard time keeping the secret to myself. With blazing eyes, I looked back at them.

I could not speak, so all I did was nod.

Meanwhile, my mom let out a long breath, with her hand covering her mouth. My father stood up, with my hand slipping from his grasp and dropping to my side.

I could see my mom's eyes glazing over, then I saw her stifle a sob, trying to calm herself down.

"Sweetheart, did he reject you?"

I flinch out of my stunned state and feel myself getting pissed off. It seemed like everything I was trying to stay away from was just creeping more and more into my life.

It was as if my mom picked up on that, and came over to me and hugged me tightly. Our embrace was only interrupted by my father's furious bellow while stomping around my room.

"That son of a bitch! I will fucking kill him!" He snarled, and the wolf inside him seemed to be screaming to get out. I rarely saw him like that, in fact, I only saw him a few times.

"James, calm down!" my mom blurted out with an intense fierceness. My father let out a growl, before sitting on a chair near my bedroom door, with his arms crossed.

While my father started to calm himself down, my brother took his place by my side. He gently stroked my hair, which would normally earn him a hard jolt to his adornment, but I decided not to make a big deal out of it. Just this once.

"What is this that you are hiding, Zayn?" My mom asked Zayn. She was not being upset, but she was just genuinely curious. Then, my brother quickly nodded and said sorry.

Shaking her head, my mom immediately wrapped her arms around Zayn and sat on the other side of Zayn. We sat in silence for a while, before my mom finally spoke again.

"You got heated up, which is why you started to feel what you felt. When a female is rejected by her mate, her soul will fight to get her mate. If she can't get him, then she will experience such a hot period." My mom said cautiously while making sure that I really got the point.

As she spoke, I could only grimace, thinking that it all sounded horrible.

"And also it will happen as long as you are still being rejected by your mate," added my mom who finished her explanation. At the last part, it really caught my attention, and I found myself starting to sit up.

"Wait, wait, are you saying that I will always be like this?" My voice sounded stuttered, and my mom just nodded slowly.

"Well, it will happen gradually, at first it will only happen a few times, and then it will get more frequent as you get older."

I let out a groan, my burning anger at Killian rising again. He should have known! How could he not feel the heat? Then why did it only happen to the females?

"This is so damn frustrating," I grumbled to myself, rubbing my face. Meanwhile, my mom could only chuckle while patting my thighs.

That was when I started to feel the heat starting to creep up again. This time it was more rapid, even more stinging than the previous one.

"Mom-" I started to say. And yet, before I could get the words out, the heat had already spread throughout my body. With my breath hitching, I kicked the blanket away from me, and my mom started yelling for my brother. However, I could not hear what she said, as everything felt like it was muffled.

Then I shut my eyes and hoped that the pain would go away soon.