CHAPTER 102: CHAPTER 102: MY HEAT CYCLE

Selene’s POV~

The steering wheel felt hot under my palms, or maybe it was only me. I wasn’t sure anymore. The air in the car was thick and heavy, pressing against my skin until I could hardly breathe.

My breath came out ragged, too fast, and too shallow, and no matter how many times I tried to calm myself, it just wouldn’t slow down.

My whole body felt like it was burning from the inside out, like a fire had been lit under my skin and was spreading fast, leaving me restless and aching in ways I did not want to admit.

The road ahead blurred in and out of focus, my eyes stinging with sweat, my mind slipping like it was caught in a fog. I cursed under my breath again and again, but it didn’t help. My chest tightened, my throat felt dry, and I knew something was wrong with me. Terribly wrong.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I never thought it would come so soon. The flood I had dreaded, the one thing I had always pushed to the back of my mind, was here. My heat cycle.

I had left Witch Mother’s house only hours ago. Her words were still echoing inside my head, but now they felt distant compared to the storm clawing through me.

After leaving her home, I had gone with the trio—Sara, Rael, and Aswin—to meet the witches we had rescued that day. Yes, it was true; the trio had also rescued witches that day. They had not come empty-handed, and I knew this thing was definitely setting a fire under those mutts.

And for the first time in so long, I had felt like something good had actually been done. I had smiled at their faces. They were pale and tired but alive. I had even let myself breathe a little easier, thinking maybe, just maybe, there was still hope left.

But the moment I stepped out of the house, the hope started slipping. The heat hit me like a wave, sudden and merciless, and now it was drowning me whole.

I could taste blood on my lip where I had bitten it, trying to ground myself, but even that did not clear the fog.

My hands trembled, my thighs pressed together without meaning to, and shame washed over me harder than the sweat running down my face. This was not supposed to happen.

The more I thought about it, the worse it became. I could feel my body betraying me, aching for something I refused to name. The car felt smaller and smaller, like the walls were closing in, and I wanted to scream.

I tried to focus on the road, on the lights passing by, and on the sound of the engine humming steady and low, but all I could hear was my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. Fast, unsteady, desperate.

"Why now..." I whispered, my voice breaking, barely a sound in the heavy air. "Why me..."

"Why? Why was I going through this again?" The heat cycle was supposed to be common, yes, after reaching adulthood, and especially after finding your mate.

That was what I had always been told—that when you found them, when the bond pulled you together, the heat cycle would come stronger and more often, almost demanding that you mark each other, demanding that you give in to each other.

And even though we had not marked yet, even though that bond was still hanging between us like an unsealed wound, this was already the third time in a year. Twice before it had broken me down, and now it was here again, ripping through me like a storm that refused to pass.

My chest rose and fell too quickly, and my body trembled with the heat rolling under my skin. I bit down on my lip until it hurt, but no pain could push away the restless ache spreading through me. I was frustrated, more than frustrated—I was angry at myself, angry at my own body for betraying me like this.

This was not supposed to happen to me. I was a witch. Witches did not go into heat cycles. That curse belonged to werewolves, not to us.

But suddenly a strange thought struck me. What if... what if I wasn’t only a witch? What if part of me carried the blood of a wolf? I didn’t know what my mother had truly been. She never told me, but I doubted she was a witch.

And I didn’t even know the origin of my father’s blood. All I had was the power in me, the proof that at least one of them had been witch-born. But what if the other hadn’t been? What if the other had been a werewolf?

The thought made my stomach twist, but at the same time, it explained everything. If I did carry even a trace of wolf blood, then this heat cycle, this unbearable heat, made sense.

I let out another curse and pressed the accelerator harder, the car surging forward down the empty road. My heart was racing, my palms slick with sweat. I knew one thing—I couldn’t go back home.

Not like this. Not when Sara was there, not when the others could easily find me. I had lied to them already, telling them I had something to do, taking the car alone. If they saw me like this, if they smelled this on me, it would be over.

Because a female in a heat cycle was dangerous. More dangerous than anything else. The scent alone would pull males in, twisting them with desire until they lost themselves, until they could not stop.

Werewolves would be the worst, but even other races would feel the heat cycle—less strong maybe, but still enough. And I could not let that happen. I could not let them see me like this, weak and burning, like prey calling out for a predator.

No, I needed to be alone. I needed to hide until this storm passed.

The answer came to me suddenly, like a light breaking through fog. Kieran’s house.

It was perfect. He was not even in the country, having gone away for his business, and he had so many houses that no one would think to look for me there. Not even him—he barely ever went there.

That one in particular, far away, hidden, surrounded by nothing but emptiness—that would keep me safe.

I turned the wheel sharply, heading onto the road that would take me there. My body still trembled, my breath still came rough, but at least I had a destination now. At least I had a plan.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the house came into view, standing like a shadow in the distance. Relief washed through me, like I had been holding my breath for hours.

I pulled the car into the drive, cut the engine, and for a moment I just sat there, my body trembling with exhaustion and fire at the same time. Then I pushed the door open, the night air hitting me cool and sharp, and I staggered toward the house.

I scanned my finger on the lock. The door opened without a sound.