“What happened?” I ask immediately.
I don’t bother with pleasantries. The words are out of my mouth before I can soften them. Something’s wrong. I feel it in my bones.
He exhales hard and scrubs a hand over his face. “Norah’s not okay.”
Panic claws up my chest.
“What do you mean, not okay?” I snap, my voice sharper than I intend. “What the fuck is going on?”
He hesitates. And that hesitation tells me everything before he even opens his mouth again.
“I think she might…” He swallows. “I think she’s in heat.”
The world tilts.
My knees wobble, the floor suddenly too far away. I have to brace myself against the counter to stay upright.
My migraine spikes viciously, white-hot pain slicing through my skull, but it barely registers compared to the surge of something else.
Fear. Memory. Instinct.
“In heat,” I repeat, my voice low and hoarse. “Now.”
Jude nods once. “It came on fast. We didn’t catch it early. She’s shivering. She’s incoherent. I don’t fucking know what to do.”
“How far?” I ask.
His jaw flexes. “It just happened. I called the hospital, but Simon wasn’t in. I talked to a nurse. Becky? No, Becca. She said we need to get her temperature.”
I close my eyes briefly.
I’ve been here before.
Not often. Not lightly. But enough to know exactly how dangerous this can become if mishandled.
I open my eyes and look at him again. Really look.
He’s vibrating with tension, shoulders rigid, breathing shallow. This is not a man who is panicking. This is a man holding panic back by force, and that restraint feels fragile.
“I’ve helped her through this,” I say quietly. “Before. More than once.”
His eyes flick up to mine. “I know.”
“I can help her now,” I say. “I have to.”
There’s no hesitation in him. No territorial bullshit. No ego.
“Come with me,” he says. “We’re going to Miss Thea’s.”
I don’t even think.
I dump the painkillers onto the counter, then start grabbing everything that might be useful. Electrolyte packets. Cooling strips. A thermometer. Anything even remotely related to temperature regulation.
The cashier barely blinks as she rings it all up, clearly uninterested in whatever emergency is unfolding.
Outside, the cold air hits my face and helps a little. It cuts through the pressure in my head just enough to clear my thoughts.
We drive fast.
