Karizma: Reborn

Lukas walked along the outskirts of his pack’s border with Ryleigh. She had woven her fingers through his and clutched to his skin as they walked. Seeing her battle such internal turmoil not only made him feel powerless, but he also felt her emotions. I marked her the night that I brought her back, and now I feel everything that she feels. Feeling her fuck Kristopher had been one thing, but feeling her numbness and agony was so much worse. He felt crippled, unable to help his mate. But my touch helps her. He squeezed her hand lightly at the thought. He knew that touch would help, but he had been fighting against doing so. He would live in his world of isolation and pain if it gave Ryleigh the freedom that she needed, but he did not realize that she was drowning in that world with him. They needed to touch each other, for a moment of peace and clarity in the chaos that filled the world around them.

Ryleigh squeezed his hand in return and Lukas exhaled. She did not know what a mate was, but everything that she had described to him was her wolf’s yearning for a mate; from her lack of attraction to Kristopher, to her wolf being in agony whenever Lukas was not with her. I have to tell her.. I am trying to protect her, but this is just hurting her more, and I cannot be the source of her pain. I need to be the source of her happiness. He attempted to remove his hand from hers, but she pulled lightly. Lukas looked at her curiously.

“Why did you need to see me?” Ryleigh asked softly.

“What?”

“Before my breakdown, you said you found me with Bailey because you needed to see me. Is everything okay?”

“We need to talk,” Lukas sighed and rubbed his free hand over his face. Ryleigh squeezed his hand suddenly out of concern, and he smiled lightly. “It’s nothing bad, love. Just something you need to be made aware of.”

“What is it?”

“We talked briefly about the heat cycle before you died. Do you remember?”

“I do,” Ryleigh nodded slowly. “Not one of your strongest selling points about turning me.”

Lukas chuckled softly. “Perhaps not, but I needed to tell you more about it before turning you.”

“Why are you telling me now?”

“In about one week, maybe two, it will begin. And it’s not just you or me; it will be the entire pack. For seven days, the wolves within us force control for breeding. We are still in our human forms and can communicate, but the hormones of our wolves will rule our bodies. Not to mention, the wolves within become very demanding of our human counterparts to act.”

“I remember that you said that the cycle is very hard to fight.”

“It is,” Lukas nodded. “Harder than any other fight you’ve had to experience, even with Naomi. That was a physical affliction upon your body by an enemy. It is vastly different when it is a physical affliction of ecstasy upon your body by your own doing. Well, by your wolf’s doing, and trying to fight your wolf will cause physical pain. There is something else with the heat cycle,” Lukas added as he sighed. “Conception is only possible during the heat cycle. Female Lycans only ovulate during those seven days; that, coupled with the raging surge of hormones during their ovulation, all of the male Lycans are prompted to find a female and breed.”

“The heat cycle is for survival,” Ryleigh said softly.

“Basically, yes,” Lukas nodded. “Most Lycans in relationships do not have to worry about their partners, because their scents imprint over their partners. Male Lycans during the heat cycle will not dare challenge a female that has been promised to another male, but females that are not spoken for…” Lukas’ voice trailed off. Ryleigh may be spoken for with Kristopher, but he was not a Lycan, and he was not here. Any unmated male in the vicinity will track down Ryleigh the second that she goes into heat, and the thought made Lukas’ blood boil. Other than himself, no one knew that she was the Alpha’s mate; if any other male attempted to mate with her, he would tear them apart without hesitation. No male Lycan would willingly attempt to mate with the Alpha’s promised mate, but Lukas would still kill Lycans for their own ignorance, and the thought did not seem to bother his wolf. He could not allow another Lycan to touch her. He knew that he needed to tell his pack about her, but he needed to tell her about her first.

“I would be free game,” Ryleigh finished his thought for him.

“I wouldn’t let that happen to you,” Lukas whispered as he squeezed her hand. “Staying with me is the safest option for you. I meant that. No other male will come near you with my scent near you, and any male that may try would be torn apart.”

“I could stay with Kristopher. I had planned on him being here during that.”

“Please believe me when I say that is a horrible idea, my love,” Lukas said. Ryleigh opened her mouth to argue, but Lukas continued. “He is not a Lycan, let alone a male Lycan desperate to fuck and breed. Your vampire is very strong, but he is no match for a blue-balled Lycan. I promise you that.”

“And you are?”

“I am their Alpha,” Lukas smirked. “Whatever male Lycan even thinks he has a chance of challenging me to get to you will be in pieces before he can blink.”

“What about…you with me during this? If this is as bad as you say it is, what if…?” Ryleigh bit her lip as she trailed off.

“Because I am the Alpha, I am stronger, in all ways that you can think of. The heat cycle will hit me harder than any other Lycan, but because I am the Alpha, I can also fight it. It would not be my first time fighting it. You will not have to worry about me.”

“You’ve been fighting it for years, haven’t you?” Ryleigh asked suddenly, her brows furrowed with curiosity.

“What makes you say that?” Lukas asked.

Ryleigh closed the distance between them, and Lukas’ breath hitched. Her grip tightened on his hand, but he doubted that she realized that she had done it. Her eyes were trained on his, a swirl of gold and emerald, as if her and her wolf could not agree on who should take control at the moment. “You do not have a child,” Ryleigh said. “You said that breeding can only occur during the heat cycle, yet you do not breed.”

“I cannot,” Lukas whispered. “Because I am Alpha, I cannot partake in breeding like everyone else.”

“Why?”

“Because I am Alpha,” Lukas repeated bitterly. “For me to breed guarantees my child to become the future Alpha of this pack, which in turn makes the mother my Luna, my queen, so to speak. I cannot just breed with the first female that catches my attention. It must be the right female.”

Lukas inhaled as Ryleigh stepped even closer to him. He instinctively slipped his arm around her waist as her chest pressed against his. The swirl of gold and emerald brightened, and Lukas’ own wolf growled in response. He could sense her curiosity, her pleasure in knowing that he had not bred yet; even if she did not understand what that emotion was, he knew exactly why her wolf was fighting for control. Her wolf was relieved, her wolf was proud, and her wolf desperately wanted to break his cycle of celibacy. “You never found one,” Ryleigh whispered.

“No,” Lukas whispered back. He bit his tongue to prevent his wolf from responding that he had never found one until now. Now, all he wanted to do was breed with his mate. He yearned to succumb to all seven days of the heat cycle, to mate with her until they collapsed, and to see her belly swell with the success of his seed.

Lukas squeezed Ryleigh’s hand so hard that he was sure he would have broken it, had she been human. His arm tightened around her waist, and her gold eyes flared. Fuck. Her wolf surfaced. Lukas swallowed deeply and forced his own wolf away. His skin began to sting with the fight that he was wolf was inflicting. His wolf wanted out, to meet hers, but he needed to give her the choice; she needed to understand what this was between them first. “Why?” Ryleigh whispered hoarsely. She was not questioning why he had never found a female; Lukas knew by the response of her body to his and the emotions that he felt within her that she was questioning him, that she was questioning why she felt like this with him. He inhaled sharply. “Because, Ryleigh—”

A loud crack of thunder pierced the sky and Lukas’ eyes shot upwards instantly. The sky was clear and sunny, not even so much of a cloud in sight. His wolf growled as his eyes scanned the border of his pack. Something is wrong. He gasped suddenly as Ryleigh’s magic seared his skin. His eyes shot back to hers and found her emerald ones bright. “What is it, love?” he asked. “What happened?” Her magic was burning the skin from his fingers, but her grip tightened on his hand.

“It’s…”

“Baby, what is it?” He urged. His wolf was restless; he could not see the threat, but he could sense it, and Ryleigh knew exactly what it was. His canines began to descend but she shook her head at him.

“It’s not a threat,” she whispered. “It’s Bailey.” She squeezed Lukas’ hand again. “She’s awake.”