Mary and the Bear

Chapter Eight

Always a light sleeper, Hugh heard ringing and woke. A glance to his left assured him that Mary Elizabeth would not be getting up to answer the phone. He doubted she even heard it. She lay sprawled on her stomach with her arm pillowing her head. The other arm dangled off of the edge of the bed and still, the phone continued to ring. She must not have voicemail or it would have picked up by now.

He considered letting it ring until whoever was on the phone gave up. He didn't for two reasons. Mary Elizabeth needed her sleep. She'd had a rough night with everything that happened, and he didn't want her being disturbed. Also, she only knew a few people here in town. Judging by the way the phone continued to ring, whoever was on the other line must be family. Reluctantly, he lumbered into the front room to answer it.

"Hello?” He answered around a yawn, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Sorry, wrong number.” The male caller disconnected before Hugh could speak. With a shrug, he hung up and turned to go back to bed. He hadn't had nearly enough sleep. He didn't make it two steps before the phone rang again.

He sighed and answered. “Hello."

There was a pause, and then a confused, male voice said, “There must be some mistake. I'm trying to reach Mary Elizabeth Brown."

"This is her residence. She's asleep right not. If you tell me who's calling, I'll give her the message."

"Who the hell is this? If she's sleep, then what are you doing there? Why are you answering her phone?” The confusion left the caller's voice and his tone became arrogant and demanding.

"I'm the man who answered the phone. What's it to you?” Hugh operated on a “need to know” basis. As far as he was concerned, this person did not need to know who he was or what his objective was for being there.

"This is Charles Remington, III and Mary Elizabeth is my fiancée. I have a right to know what you're doing in her apartment, answering her phone at eight-thirty in the morning while she's still asleep."

Hugh's stance became battle ready and his hand clenched the phone. “Well, Mr. Charles Remington the Third, she may have been your fiancée but she belongs to me now. I'll tell her you called."

"Now listen here. WHO ARE YOU? I demand an answer!"

"I'm the man who spent the night fucking your fiancée,” Hugh said calmly, and disconnected the call. As an afterthought, he pulled the plug from the wall. Wouldn't want Mr. Charles Remington the Third calling back, at least not before he got some answers.

So that was Charles. Seemed he and his mate needed to have a little talk. Clarify a few matters. He walked back into the room and stood there contemplating her. She lay there completely oblivious to the turmoil swirling about her. If there truly was a fiancé in the picture, this was going to require a minute adjustment to his strategy. His objective was still the same, but he needed to change in his methodology. His timetable just got upped. He'd planned to be subtle in his maneuverings, but now that approach was out the window. He was going to have to be more direct, more in charge. The image of a human steamroller came to mind. His mate wouldn't know what hit her.

Shannon met with Alex at his office at nine the next morning as scheduled. She was nervous but excited. Maybe now she would get some answers. Knowing was always better than not knowing, in her opinion. If she knew what was happening, she could take action. This not knowing what was wrong with her was slowly but surely killing her.

"Tell me what's going on with you. I want to know everything. Don't leave anything out. I want to know if you're eating, how much you're eating, if you're sleeping at night and how frequently you wake up. Tell me about any pain or discomfort you're having and where it's located. Be totally open and honest. No symptom is too small or too strange. Anything and everything you tell me will help narrow down possibilities of what's going on in your body."

She told him everything. Her restlessness, and feelings of being watched. She mentioned the tingling in her legs and periods of extreme heat. She spoke of being thirsty all the time and strange dreams that she could never fully remember. Dreams that left her wet and wanting but never completely fulfilled.

"What about the attack? Have you remembered anything else from that night?"

"You think this is somehow related to the Hunt?” The thought crossed her mind, but she didn't see how it could be related.

"Anything is possible. I'm trying to cover all my bases. So? Did you remember anything else? Without access to your previous medical history, I have no way of knowing whether something that night is responsible for what you're experiencing."

"I remember the fights, and then the rest is a blank until I woke up in Carol's house.” No one would tell her who found her and brought her to them. They said it would better if she remembered on her own.

"Alright. Now I want you to go into the exam room and undress. There's a paper gown on the examination table for you to change into. Once you're ready, I'll come in and do a full exam and withdraw blood for testing."

When he finished examining her, he threw his gloves into the trashcan and helped Shannon to sit up. “Get dressed and go into my office. I want to run some tests and then I'll be in to speak with you."

Shannon dressed and then went into his office to wait. Flipping mindlessly through all of the health and fitness magazines displayed, her mind went through scenario after scenario of what the diagnosis would be.

Alex breezed into the office. Settling into his chair, he placed her chart on the desk before him. “Have you ever heard of a condition called Polycythemia?"

"No. What is it? Is this ‘whatever you called it’ what's wrong with me?” Shannon was irritated to discover that she was vaguely alarmed and she didn't even know what it was yet. Getting a grip, she waited impatiently for him to answer.

"PV is a blood disorder in which the body produces too many red blood cells, thickening the blood. It's extremely rare and it explains some of the symptoms you're experiencing."

"Are you sure? I mean, if it's so rare, how would I have it?” This is not what she was expecting. Of course, she didn't really know what to expect. Shape-shifters were rarely sick. It had to do with their rapid healing abilities.

"No, I'm not one hundred percent sure. I would need to run more test. Your red blood count is higher than normal, which caused your blood to thicken. I noticed it when I drew blood. In conjunction with your other symptoms and after a little research into the matter, this is the diagnosis I settled on.

"So this is PV is what's causing my problems?"

"Not entirely. This is only a part of it. It would explain the tingling in your legs, itchy skin and possibly your lack of sleep. It wouldn't normally be a major issue, not in its milder stages like what you have, but there are complications. Something has thrown your body into a second heat. You're not mistaken. You're going into heat and that's going to create a problem."

"You think?” she asked sarcastically. Once a year was bad enough. Twice in one year was mind-boggling. Males had no idea what a female went through when her body went into heat.

"There's more. Do you take birth control of any kind?” He sounded downright grim. She didn't know where this was headed, but she didn't have a good feeling about it.

Many she-wolves took birth control to control the heat. It helped the female not to mount any penis that presented itself at the peak of their heat. That's when a female was most vulnerable. The instinct to mate and reproduce could literally have her acting like a bitch in heat, accepting any and all comers.

"Yes, I'm on the pill.” She named the brand.

"You have to come off of them."

Her mouth dropped open and she bit back the urge to rail at him. Did he understand what he was asking her to do?

"Alex, you know I can't do that, especially not now.” If she did, she might as well lay down in the street naked and hang a sign around her neck that said, “Fuck me.” It would be the same thing.

"Shannon, I'm sorry, but you really don't have any alternatives. I hate to sound melodramatic but it really is a choice between your virtue and your life. With the extra blood your body is producing, the Pill dramatically increases your chances of forming a blood clot, which I don't have to tell you are deadly. That's not a risk I'm willing to take. You need to come off of the Pill and any other natural substances you're taking to control the heat. All of them have the same threat potential."

Shannon had never gone through the heat without some type of buffer. She didn't know how. Only mated females did it without taking anything. Wouldn't Rory get a kick out of this? “Alex, if I can't control this thing, I could end up mated to any wolf that was cunning enough to get to me, whether I want to be or not."

"I know the risk, Shannon, but would you prefer losing your life? This is serious business. I don't want your choices taken away from you any more than you do. Look, here's the problem. The increased blood production thickens the blood in your veins, increasing the potential of blood clots forming in your body. Because of the hormones in your birth control pills, they also dramatically increase the blood's likelihood of clotting. The hormones produced by your body which is throwing you into another heat, also increase your risk factor. I can't control the blood production because there is no treatment or cure. All we can do is monitor it and take measures as needed. I can't stop the heat because I don't know what's causing it. The only factor in this equation that is in our control is the birth control. Anything that we can do to decrease the potential for blood clotting needs to be done."

Shannon didn't want to give up her pills, but she could see that she had no choice. Still trying to gain some control over her circumstances, she tried to find another way out. “Is there anything you can do about the pack? Make the unmated males leave me alone or something?"

He looked at her sorrowfully and shook his head. “Under normal circumstances I could try, but your season is scheduled to hit its peak right during the week of the full moon—a blue moon."

She stared at him in horror as the implications of what he was saying set in. A blue moon was a second full moon falling within the same month. It only happened about once every two years. Weaker shifters had little to no control over their beast during a regular full moon. Blue moons were worse because they triggered a sexual frenzy. Unmated males secretly referred to the week of the blue moon as the “FuckFest.” The urge to mate became all-consuming and everyone was effected, even the alphas. There were always more pregnancies after a blue moon phase. Oh, shit! Her heat was hitting its peak during a blue moon. There wasn't a worse time for this to happen.

"It will be alright, Shannon. We'll figure something out, okay? I promise. In the meantime, let me give you something to help you sleep at night.” He reached into his coat pocket and handed her some pills.

"Thanks, Alex. I appreciate your help. At least now I know what's going on. Do me a favor. Don't say anything to anyone about this, please?"

"I couldn't. It would violate doctor-patient confidentiality. Try not to worry. The last thing you need right now is stress. Relax, at least now you know you're not going crazy.” He tried smiling at her, but it wasn't much of a smile.

"I think I would have preferred going crazy. I'd probably handle it better. I'll see you later, Alex. Thanks for the sleeping pills."

She got up and left, leaving a very worried alpha behind.

Shannon sat in the truck, trying to get herself together. Think, Shannon, think. This was no time to panic. She was an intelligent woman. There had to be something she could do.

Okay, let's look at this logically. What was that serendipity prayer? Something about not worrying about the things she can't change. To focus on changing what she could. All right, what about this messed up situation did she have the power to change?

She couldn't do anything about what was going on with her blood. Ditto, the heat. The PV whatever took away whatever control she might have had over that. Okay, get over it already and move on. If she didn't want to fall on the first exposed penis she saw, then she was going to have to make it difficult for the penises to get to her.

Leaving was out of the question. Shape-shifters were everywhere and the last thing she wanted to do was be surprised by some out of area wolf-shifter. Right now the advantage was on the side of the male. Once her heat was at its peak, all a male had to do was show up and she would do the rest. What she needed was a way to keep the males from getting to her. She might not be able to control them but she just might be able to limit or prevent them access to her body.

Realizing she was on to something, she let that thought play out in her mind. If she could make it difficult enough to get to her, she might just make it out of this heat unmated and in one piece. What she need was somewhere secure where she could lock herself in and everyone else out. She needed a panic room, ‘cause Lord knew she was going to be in a panic when the blue moon rose.

That's it. That's what she'd do. She'd create a safe room in her house. She was sure Alex wouldn't mind. He'd probably help if she told him what she was about to do. She backed out of the parking lot and drove to the home. She needed to find a room suitable for her purpose. She was so grateful that she'd spent time helping Rory with his construction business. Every bit of knowledge she'd gained was going to come in handy now.