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Heatwave
Kade
Ididn’twaitfor Dakota to get settled into the armchair that he favored, just blurting out what I wanted. “I want you to take me to Heatwave tonight.”
Dakota gaped at me for a second before recovering. “Heatwave tonight? Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Never been more sure. I need to do this, and soon, or I might never be able to have kids.”
“But —“
“If you don’t take me, I’ll go on my own,” I warned him.
His mouth snapped shut, and he mulled something over before deciding. “Okay, let’s go then.”
That brought me up short. “Now?”
“There are checks and stuff they have to do first, so we best get moving or all the best alphas will be gone and you’ll be stuck with me,” he teased.
I stood up so quickly I almost overbalanced and Dakota put a hand out to catch me laughing as he did so. “I think I’m offended at how quickly you moved there.” When I thought about it, it was rude. Dakota had been nothing but nice to me over the last week and we’d turned a corner after the run. Now that I knew he was supposed to be in my life, I’d stopped fighting him.
“Kota...I’m sorry.”
“Nah, I get it. Even my bear is telling me to back off. I also had a chat with Janet. She didn’t tell me it all, but you’re family, Kade. You’re safe with me. If no one else can take you through it who you feel safe with, the offer is there. Nothing more, though. I can safely say that neither of us wants that.”
“You’ll take one for the team, huh?” It was my turn to tease him back. “So I’m a chore to check off the list, then?” I winked.
“Something like that. Come on, brat, let’s go.”
“I need to freshen up a sec. Hold on.” I dashed to the bathroom and washed my face, brushed my teeth and tried to tame my wild curls. Giving up, since I needed a haircut, I decided to change my clothes. Aside from the visit to The Spell Shop and to the Dakota’s pack compound, I hadn’t felt safe enough to leave the house while I’d been healing. This was a big deal. I entered my bedroom to change my outfit.
Glancing at my new clothes, I shrugged. I looked okay. A week of large calorie filled meals and healthy snacks had me packing on the weight again, so I filled out my tight jeans and my crop top showed off a toned stomach. My shifter metabolism was still slow, my wolf silent, but I looked better than I had.
Coming out of the bathroom, I nearly collided with Dakota, who had also changed his shirt to something more fitted. It showed off his wide shoulders and tapered waist.
We took separate cars to Heatwave, the heat club situated deep in Sweetwater, knowing that if one or both of us hooked up, then we’d need to have a way to get home. The journey gave me too much time to think about what I was facing. Truth be told, I’d asked very few questions about the process and regretted that. Was magic used to start a heat? Would I be allowed to use the magic? How would an alpha be chosen for me?
Music poured from the club as an intimidating doorman opened the door to admit us. “Welcome to Heatwave,” he said to me and, “Hey, man!” with a grin to Dakota.
I left Dakota to do the job of signing us in. He’d insisted on paying the cover charge and starting out my paperwork, saying it would take him less time to do. “Clubs like this are so strict with safety and are perfectly legal, even though they are selling sex, fill it out wrongly and you aren’t getting in.” Mostly, I tuned him out and explored my surroundings. We were in a holding room of sorts. The rest of the club was down a level, the dance floor in the middle of the massive room. Strobe lights lit the place and bodies moved and writhed together as they followed the beat of the music. From where I stood, I could see rooms off the primary space and a lot of staff monitoring the goings-on. Every so often someone would lead another, or others, into one of those rooms and a light would turn on above it.
My palms were sweaty with nerves, and my wolf was still silent. Going from that constant presence to what I had now left me feeling hollow. I knew it was temporary, but that felt like a poor assurance. All the doctors that I’d spoken to insisted that my wolf would be fine. It was still healing from the damage I’d inflicted on us both. I miss you, I sent to my wolf in the hopes it could hear me where it slept.
“Kade, we can head down,” Dakota said, as he approached. He had a green wrist band in his hand that he held out for me and I noticed he wore a red one on his right wrist.
Taking the band, I put it on and looked at him for guidance. “We’ll go down and you can pick out a couple of betas. Any of them that are wearing yellow bands are open.”
“Pick out betas?” What the hell had I gotten into?
“Yeah,” he looked worried suddenly. “What did you think would happen? You can’t use magic, so you have to simulate a new mating. That means a lot of sex. That’s what the betas are there for.”
What the fuck?“I’ve to pick out betas to have sex with?” I could hear the incredulity in my tone. My voice rose in volume, and Dakota flinched.
“You could just pick an alpha, but it takes longer. You might have to spend a day or two together before you even go into heat,” he explained, carefully looking around to check that no-one else was listening. Shifter hearing meant they probably could hear us if they were trying to, but the music probably muffled most of it.
I took a deep breath to calm myself. Really, hooking up with a couple of betas would be preferable to being with an alpha anyway, so I didn’t know why I was clutching at non-existent pearls over the idea of two at once. I guess it was the idea of using them to go into heat and then finding an alpha to finish it. The doctor had been insistent that I use an alpha, or find a mate, I guess, than use sex toys or magic to get me through it. Something about the fluids and pheromones.
“Right, sorry. Freak out over. Let’s do this,” I finally said, and followed Dakota into the belly of the club.
