"Why would you allow that? Couldn't we hurt the other?" a stocky Silver asked that was named Hannah.
"We will stop you, like we always do—" Jola began and then paused, looking to the ground before looking back up with a smile. "We will figure that one out; don't worry."
Rem’s pulse only quickened, like she was standing at the edge of a cliff and being told the parachute on her back wassurelyto work, and not to worry about it.
"If we, well, you know, are intimate with someone, can we get pregnant? Since we'll be shifters?" a quiet one asked that was very skinny. Rem thought her name was Alice.
A few of the girls snickered, and that made Rem smile. Even Josie chuckled.
Jola raised a brow. "Not yet. You have to have your first heat."
Everything so far was something Rem could manage, if with the right male. But a heat? A bloody mess of hormones? Her face began to contort with disgust. She wasn't the only one as the others gasped, a few saying ‘that's nasty’and ‘oh, come on’.
"I refuse to have sex on my period. Not happening," Josie fought, frowning when Shia threw her an odd glare. “What? She said a heat. When our dog had a heat, it was basically her period.”
Jola laughed. "We don't, dear. We only bleed after a heat if there is no pregnancy, or giving birth."
"Okay, but seriously," one named Morgan added, waving her small hand. "What in the hell is that about?”
"We aren'tdogs, first of all. And we call our heatvärme. It means heat—literal heat. Our bodies don't bleed during ovulation, but they get really warm, and your hormones are very high. I was just calling it a heat because I thought you'd understand it better. Clearly, that's the wrong choice of words."
"So, what happens during ourvärme?"
Jola laced her fingers together as she placed them in front of her. "We ovulate twice a year for a week. Our värme is the only time you can get pregnant. This will not occur until you have transformed for the first time, so intimacy is safe if you choose to engage in it. When you are invärme, the maleswillcome for you, especially as Silvers. If you have a mate by then, then your mate will absolutely seek you out. And you will seek him. Human females are very similar, in that they desire men during their ovulation. For our kind, it is more pronounced. Other malesmaytry to come for you, even if you have a mate, but many have been killed fighting to get to a female during hervärmeand didn’t want him… So, probably not a serious matter, with your powers. Then again, with you being Silvers, I am learning that anything is possible,” she said with exasperation.
"You people need a good hard lesson about self-control," Josie said.
"It's true that we are very primal,” Jola defended. “But you must understand, bastard younglings very rarely occur, and that helps keep a balance within the pack. Again, females who don't want a male advancing on her have been known to do some serious damage, if not mauling him to death. And invärme, if you are unmated, each pack has a place for you to go that is far away and guarded heavily by mated males. It only lasts for a week, so it’s nothing too inconvenient, and if you want to go through your cycle with your mate but avoid pregnancy, we have herbs for that as well. It's not like we don't have plans or rules for it. If your mate is an Alpha, then you just stay in your home or den while his mated Betas guard you. No one will ever try to force themselves on a Luna. Besides, if he did, I'd like to see his condition afterward," Jola said with a sly grin. “And not just from you, but from the Alpha.”
"So why don't we just go to avärmearea right now? It seems built for a situation like this," Rem proposed.
Jola raised her brows in surprise. "We actually considered that. But we don't want to move you too far from us and our resources, in case something happens to you… Those areas are rather remote, you see. Again, I'd like to stress that if you were fully shifters, this wouldn't be an issue. It's just because you’re fleshy and delicate as a human, at least right now. We are not used to that.”
Jola scanned the crowd of females as they all mumbled to each other. Rem couldn't help but picture Ronan doing everything he could to get to her or living in his ‘den’ while his men guarded her, keeping her there just for him. A devious smile slowly spread across her face as she stared at the shiny marble floor—the floor ofMarcus’shome.
Her smile faded; she wished she wasn't there.
I wish Ronan would come. I don't like being near Marcus.She looked up at Loral.I don't like any of us being near him.
"Do we have to get approval for who we choose as our mate?" a Silver asked through the murmurs.
"We prefer Betas and Alphas. But whoever you select will become stronger than us, so it doesn't truly matter. We'd prefer youlikewho you choose, more than anything."
"Ohreally?" Katarina interjected with a roll of her eyes.
Jola nodded. "It's not going to inspire loyalty and happiness if you’re with a mate that you hate.”
"You choose the oddest things to care about," Mavis said, and a few chuckled.
"It's your kind that is dead set on war, dear. So, we are only reacting accordingly," Jola quipped, her gaze locking on Mavis.
"Mhmm. Sure," Mavis said, crossing her arms.
"Look, I am sorry to all of you for going through such difficult times. This is why I volunteered to handle you. I can't change anything, but you should at least have access to someone that can help you understand things better."
No one said anything.
"So, say if," Josie began with an impudent grin. "Sorry, this is a tangent. But say if I want the Alpha ofWarden," she said, and Rem shot her gaze in that direction. "Rem is the Silver that comes from his lands, so I assume some competition will ensue. She and I just have to fight for him in the end?"
