TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 57

Fifty-Seven

Lisa

My pre-heat began with a strange pulling sensation in my abdomen.

I was at the nursery helping a child sound out words from her reading book when the feeling started, as if something inside me had shifted. I pressed a hand to my stomach and tried to ignore it.

Probably cramps. Except my period had ended a week ago.

The pulling sensation deepened into a heavy pressure that spread through my body.

“Miss Lisa?” the child asked, watching me carefully. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, sweetie. Keep reading.”

I turned the page for her and forced a smile, but the discomfort kept growing.

Something was wrong.

By the time Dorothy called everyone for lunch, heat burned through my skin and every sound in the room scraped against my nerves. I excused myself and hurried to the bathroom, splashing cold water across my face.

This wasn’t pregnancy. I knew the early symptoms well enough.

This felt different.

Something primal was waking inside me.

I pulled out my phone and searched: strange pulling sensation abdomen female werewolf.

The results made my stomach drop.

Pre-heat symptoms.

No.

No, no, no.

I scrolled through the articles with shaking hands.

Pre-heat typically lasts two days before active heat begins. Symptoms include gradual scent sweetening, increased appetite, nesting urges, mood swings, reduced sleep, and elevated body temperature.

Active heat lasts five to seven days in unmated wolves and brings fever, severe cramps, continuous slick production, impaired rational thinking, and an overwhelming need for sexual release.

I was going into heat.

For the first time in my life.

Most werewolves experienced their first heat when they found their mate.

My panic grew with every paragraph I read.

Heat suppressants are available but reduce symptoms only thirty to forty percent. Side effects include nausea, headaches, hormonal imbalance, and temporary infertility.

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Temporary infertility.

The irony stung. I was trying to get pregnant, yet the only medication that might make this bearable could also stop conception.

But what choice did I have?

I could not go through a full heat in Cameron’s house with his mate just down the hall.

I found a pack pharmacy offering herbal suppressants and ordered a same-day delivery. After that returned to the nursery and tried to behave normally.

By the next morning it was clear the suppressants were useless.

I had doubled the recommended dose and forced down the bitter tea until my stomach turned. The symptoms kept growing stronger.

My scent had changed. I could smell it myself, sweeter and heavier. My appetite had exploded. I finished an entire loaf of bread for breakfast and still felt hungry.

The nesting urges were worse.

I spent hours reorganizing my room. Furniture shifted. Blankets and pillows piled onto the bed until it resembled a nest. I stripped the sheets and replaced them with softer ones.

All the while my body temperature climbed and sweat soaked through my clothes.

Fear sat heavy in my chest.

I called my mother.

She answered on the third ring. “Lisa? Is everything alright?”

“Mom, I…” My voice broke. “I think I’m going into heat.”

Silence followed.

Then she spoke softly. “Oh, honey.”

I pressed my hand against my abdomen where the pulling sensation had become constant. “What do I do? How long does it last?”

“For unmated wolves, active heat usually lasts five to seven days,” she explained. “There are also two days of pre- heat before that.”

A week.

An entire week of this growing worse.

“The symptoms will intensify,” my mother continued. “Your scent will strengthen. When the active phase begins, your rational thinking becomes weaker. Your body will want…”

“Sex,” I said quietly.

“Yes. You’ll need someone to help you through it. An Alpha would help the most. Their pheromones and presence can ease the symptoms. Is Cameron-”

“No.”

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The word came out fast.

“I can’t tell him.”

I couldn’t explain the situation to her. Suggesting Cameron help me through heat would cross every boundary in this house.

“Lisa, you can’t go through this alone,” my mother insisted. “The fever can become dangerous. You need someone.”

“I’ll figure something out,” I said. “I have to go.”

I ended the call before she could continue.

That afternoon I told Franklin.

He had come to check on me after Dorothy called to say I had missed the usual ride back from the nursery.

“I’m fine,” I said, sitting in the middle of the pillow nest, sweating through another shirt and struggling to focus

Franklin took one look at me and swore under his breath.

“You’re in heat.”

“Pre-heat,” I corrected.

“Cameron is out of the territory,” Franklin said. “Pack business in the east. He won’t be back for two days.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We need to get you help.”

“I can’t ask Cameron,” I said. “He has a mate. Even if he didn’t, he’s not mine. It wouldn’t be right.”

“I’m not talking about Cameron.”

Franklin pulled out his phone.

“There are professionals who handle situations like this. Heat workers. They help unmated wolves through the cycle.”

I blinked. “Heat workers?”

“Licensed service providers,” he said. “Mostly women helping other women. They use toys, manual stimulation, whatever works. It’s discreet.”

The idea made my stomach twist.

But what other choice did I have?

“Okay,” I said quietly. “Call one.”

Franklin made the call.

That night the active heat hit.

The fever surged without warning. One moment I felt warm. The next my body burned from the inside out. Sweat soaked my clothes as I tore them off and collapsed into the pile of pillows.

The slick started immediately.

My body flooded with it, preparing itself for what it demanded.

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For an Alpha. For a knot.

For someone to fill the hollow ache between my legs.

I grabbed a pillow and pressed it between my thighs, grinding against it in desperation.

It didn’t help.

Nothing helped.

Through the haze I heard a knock and the door opening.

“Oh, honey.”

The voice was familiar.

I forced my eyes open.

Cora stood in the doorway with a small bag over her shoulder. Her face carried concern but also calm professionalism.

“Cora?” I whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help you,” she said gently, setting her bag down.

Understanding came slowly.

“You’re a heat worker.”

“I am,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “We’ll get you through this.”

Relief washed over me. Someone knew what to do.

“Let’s start by cooling you down.”

She pulled out supplies and pressed a cold cloth against my forehead and neck. The relief barely touched the burning inside me. After a while she helped me into a cool bath.

The fever dropped slightly.

The moment I stepped out, it returned.

The ache between my legs became unbearable.

“I need…” I struggled to finish the sentence.

“I know,” she said softly.

She guided me back to the bed and pulled a wand vibrator from her bag.

“Is this alright?”

I nodded.

She placed the wand between my legs and turned it on.

The vibration hit the right spot immediately. My body convulsed as release tore through me.

Relief lasted only minutes.

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The ache returned stronger. 1

“Again,” I gasped.

Cora helped again. The cycle repeated several times until my body grew too overstimulated to respond.

“It’s not working,” I cried. “Why isn’t it working?”

“Because your body wants a knot,” Cora said gently.

“But he’s not here.”

“I know. Let me try something else.”

She used her fingers instead, careful and patient. The stimulation eased the pressure enough that exhaustion eventually dragged me into sleep.

I woke later in a haze.

Cora sat beside the bed, wiping my forehead with a cool cloth.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Like I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying,” she said. “Heat just feels that way.”

I looked at her. “Why are you really doing this job?”

“This is my other work,” she said calmly. “The one that pays the bills.”

She explained that she was an Omega raising a six-year-old daughter alone. In Lycan society that left her few options.

“So I do what I must,” she said.

We sat quietly for a moment.

“Thank you for helping me,” I said.

“Of course.”

The next morning the heat reached its peak.

The fever climbed higher. Cramps twisted through my body. Slick soaked through the towels and sheets again and again.

Thinking became difficult.

All I could focus on was the need to be filled.

Voices drifted through the fog.

The door opening.

Nadia and Franklin arguing quietly.

“Lock the door,” Nadia said. “No one can see her like this.”

The lock clicked.

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Cora continued trying to help me, but nothing worked.

“Cameron,” I whispered. “I need Cameron.”

“He’s not here,” Cora said.

I grabbed her wrist weakly. “You don’t understand. I need him.”

Not just any Alpha.

Cameron.

His scent. His touch.

Only his.

“Please call him,” I begged.

Cora looked toward Franklin.

“She’s asking for the Alpha.”

Franklin hesitated. “He’s three hours away.”

“I don’t care,” I said through tears. “Please.”

Franklin pulled out his phone.

And I prayed Cameron would come, before the heat consumed me.

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