Once I stepped out of the room I was greeted by three lycan guards. One posted on either side of the door and one straight across the hall from the door. Along with the guards I quickly realized I had no idea where I was or how to get to wherever I was going. Where was I going? I didn’t know the first thing about this side of the palace to even try to find Cain or Tobias. Abby came bouncing out of the room behind me, “How do I get to Uncle Anthony’s from here?” She hopped ahead of me, “It’s this way.” We didn’t get far before I was feeling overheated and had to stop. I leaned against the stone of the hallway wall. It was cold and felt so nice, “Lily? Are you sure you’re okay enough to be out of bed?” I opened my eyes to see her leaning so she could make eye contact with me while I had the side of my face pressed against the wall and smiled at her, “I feel fine…just a little hot that’s all.” I felt hotter in other parts of my body but she didn’t need to know that, “Besides, Uncle Anthony said I’d collapsed from stress. That was nearly two days ago according to you. I wasn’t sick…just needed a system reboot.” I giggled before finally peeling my face from the wall, “Alright let’s keep going.”

We pressed on with a couple more cool down stops before we got to Uncle Anthony’s. When we got there Abby had to knock on the door. When the door opened it was our uncle who poked his head out, “Abby,” His eyes moved to me, “Lily!?!” He opened the door and let us in. His eyes moved about me as we went inside, “Lily…are you feeling okay?” Do I look that shitty? I nodded as I made my way over to one of the decorative mirrors in their living room, “Yeah, I feel fine, just a little hot that’s all.” In the mirror I found my reflection to be very rosy. As if I’d just run a mile in the cold. Maybe I did have a fever? But I didn’t feel sick and whenever I’ve had a fever in the past my body and skin hurt.

The sound of a shattering glass caused me to turn away from the mirror. Aunt Lynelle stood in the doorway to the kitchen with a shocked look on her face and a glass of water she must have been carrying shattered at her feet, “Are you okay Aunt Lynelle?” She shook herself out of her shock,”I-I’m fine honey. Are you feeling okay?” At this point I was getting tired of hearing the question. I rolled my eyes, “Yes!” She stepped over the glass and came over to me, “Anthony, you never saw this with me and honestly we shouldn’t be seeing this with Lily this soon either.” I looked at her confused, “Watch your step Anthony but please go get some ice for Lily. We need to get her cooled down.” Uncle Anthony nodded and headed for the kitchen but stopped before the glass, “Should we call for the Alpha and Beta.” Lynelle quickly shook her head, “Not until we have her cooled down.” She then gestured to the couch, “Sit down hun.” I did as she asked but protested, “I feel fine, really. I’m just a little hot.”

A couple minutes later Uncle Anthony returned with a couple bags of ice and handed them to Aunt Lynelle, “You don’t feel sick Lily? You look feverish. Let me-” Lynelle interrupted him, “She’s not sick.” She knelt down in front of me and handed me one of the bags of ice, “Hug this to help cool you down.” She then pulled me forward a bit and placed the other bag behind my back. It felt so good yet somehow disappointing, “She’s…I don’t mean to make any of you uncomfortable here…but Lily is going into heat.” I couldn’t help but laugh, “Haha very funny Aunt Lynelle.” She shook her head, “I’m not joking. If lycan mates don’t-” She flailed her hand, gesturing awkwardly up and down me, “-mate…the female will go into an uncontrollable heat.” She pointed to Uncle Anthony, “You’ve never seen this because usually the mate bond isn’t resisted long enough.” She ran a hand through her hair, “This doesn’t usually happen for a few weeks though.” She shook her head, “It's only been a couple of days.” My uncle looked at me and I hugged the bag of ice tighter against myself, “Could the process have been increased because she’s human?” Abby finally spoke up from the corner, “And the fact that she has two mates?” Our aunt and uncle both looked at her surprised. Aunt Lynelle nodded, “Actually, you both might be right about that.” My uncle was quiet for a couple minutes, “And you don’t think we should be calling the Alpha and Beta here?” Aunt Lynelle shook her head, “Unless you want them to take her right here in your living room.”  Oh my god! I wanted so badly to bury my face in the couch pillow and die. But I was now clinging onto the bag of ice as if my life depended on it, “They are good and upstanding gentlemen but they can only manage so much self control. We need to get her stable before we tell them anything and they’re not allowed even down the hall near our front door until then.” I was honestly getting scared with everything Aunt Lynelle was saying.

Aunt Lynelle knelt back down in front of me and patted my knee reassuringly, “It’s still early so we can at least keep your heat calm for now.” She gave my knee a squeeze, “It won’t be long though before we can’t anymore and I have no idea how long that will be with all the exceptions to this situation.” She bit her lip, seeming reluctant to say what she was about to tell me, “With that in mind we need to get things under way for your ceremony.” My brows knit together and I shook my head, “But I don’t want to.” I looked to Abby then back to Lynelle, “That was the whole reason I had come here. I’d heard there was discussion of having the ceremony and I was honestly angry to hear that my life was being planned by others.” She gave me a sympathetic look, “I understand Lily. You’ve always been very independent and had everything planned out for yourself. But life doesn’t consider our personal plans when it decides to throw something our way.” She stood up, “I cannot speak for the two lycans you are mated to but I can tell you both as their subordinate and as a fellow lycan. They need you. This whole pack needs you.” I shook my head as my vision started to blur with the threat of tears, “They and the pack have been doing just fine without me and I doubt they will benefit from me. I have nothing to offer.” 

Lynelle disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a towel and broom and started working on cleaning up the mess from earlier, “Lily, Alpha Tobias and Beta Cain will die without you. If a lycan finds their mate and does not bond to them or the mate dies prematurely…that lycan will die without their mate but only after losing their mind.” She stopped and looked up from the pile of broken glass she was working on, “That was already happening to Beta Cain. You are his second chance at survival.” She went back to the glass, “For these reasons lycans are VERY possessive over their mate. It's honestly an incredible feat that the Alpha and Beta have given you as much space as they have.” I shifted the now mostly melted bag of ice, “Well…nothing like telling me ‘there’s no pressure’, Aunt Lynelle.”

My eyes shifted to my uncle, “You’ve been awfully quiet.” He shook his head, “I’ve never known any of this. Er-Well…I know about the possessive part.” He glanced over at Lynelle, “She practically hauled me over her shoulder bringing me here the moment we met.” He couldn’t help but smile a little bit despite the situation and it kind of made me feel better too. I smiled a little with him, “I would have loved to have seen that.” Aunt Lynelle chuckled as she returned from putting the broom and towel away, “That can be arranged.” I shook my head, “No, it's okay.” The room fell quiet for a bit.   

I shifted my bag of ice…well, now cold water, “So…I don’t really have a choice in any of this do I?” Aunt Lynelle tilted her as she shrugged, “Technically you do but if you choose not to follow your instincts and theirs you will physically suffer for it and so will they.” They would suffer. It wasn’t the first time she’s mentioned it but this time it caused a pang in my heart. Aunt Lynelle lit up, “You can choose your dress…there is a certain design requirement, it needs to be strapless, but beyond that the dress as a whole is yours to choose.” That was an odd requirement but I’ve seen some really pretty strapless dresses so it wouldn’t be much of a loss. 

That was when I remembered something, “But…Abby and I have not been allowed to know all that happens in lycan mating ceremonies. Obviously now I need to know.” Aunt Lynelle’s eyes moved to Abby who was still sitting quietly in the corner, “W-well…Abby can see and spend time with you up until you go into the ceremony hall. From there-” Aunt Lynelle suddenly jumped and then looked towards the front door. Then I felt something, it was intense but I couldn’t place it…an emotion? But it wasn’t, “Anthony,” She pointed to Abby and she moved to stand in front of me while my uncle moved to stand in front of Abby.