Ice Melts When It's Hot

Hello my beautiful readers!

I really hope y'all enjoy this chapter! I'm a little nervous about it for some reason.

Just a quick explanation for a few key elements:

Going feral: It's basically a stress response that happens to alpha's when they feel their omega is or has been in extreme danger but it's fairly dangerous for a werewolf to go through and should be avoided if possible. The human mind gets completely disconnected from the body and everything they do depends on pure instinct from their wolf side. If left in this state for long enough the wet wolf in question can slowly start to lose the ability to function normally in a human body.

Pining sickness: also a stress but for omega's when their alpha leaves unexpectedly for a significant amount of time. It affects the body by shutting down the omega's ability to care for themselves along with the experience of violent shaking spells and/or tremors, starting in the hands. It also affects the omega's mental health and can even make an omega suicidal if they decide they've been abandoned.

Note: this is not the same as what Benny was dealing with in "The Only Exception". It is similar but his issue was tied to his preheat and heat while being separated from his alpha.

*Character Note: to those who have not read True Nature or those that need a refresher. Fae, the Lotus Pack Prince, has a disability to where he can't control his scent. What it smells like or how strong it is and he cannot smell himself. He also can't smell other werewolves scents unless he's extremely close and touching them.

Also, I've been listening to "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone on repeat while writing this entire chapter. Top tier stuff. Give it a listen if haven't heard it yet.

Much love, xx

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Willow's Pov:

"Selene, goddess above all Luna's, Mother to all lycan's, safe keeper of the moon, Alpha and omega in one form, my guiding light, please look down upon me with mercy and comfort me with the sense of your presence. I ask, in your name, that you bestow upon me any peace that you think I deserve. I ask that you thwart any weapon that stands in my alpha's way and I ask that his justice prevails. I'm deeply apologetic for not appreciating the alpha you chose for me but I've seen the error of my ways and I beg of you to protect him and his mind! And I ask... please.. could you make it so that Max doesn't hate me for what I did? I didn't mean to fuck things up so bad. I beg of you to not take away the life I've been blessed with. In this, as in all matters, what you will, so it be."

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Maxwell's Pov:

"His fingers... went inside me... and... he made me cum."

My omega's broken, horrified words replayed themselves over and over in my head, spurring me on to run faster than I ever had before. I could feel my wolf fighting for control over our mind but I managed to shut him down. For a moment he nearly had me, forcing me to shift on the spot, in my own home no less, and putting my mate at risk for injury by doing so. Thank the moon goddess for Sophie!

The realization of what could have happened sobered me enough so that I could resist completely giving into my rage. If I didn't resist, I'd completely lose myself to vengeance and I'd risk losing my own humanity right along with it. Innocent people could get hurt. Going feral was often seen as a death sentence among alpha's and it was looked down upon as a direct sign of a lack of self control. Even though, technically, going feral was the stress response of an alpha feeling that their mate either was or had been put under extreme duress. No alpha wanted to be branded as so weak that they lost their mind over an omega. A strong leader would never give into the temptation, unless they had absolutely nothing left to lose. However, I had plenty to lose. I couldn't leave Willow without me! I had to keep control and I used my omega's safety as my anchor.

You should lose yourself! My wolf insisted. Our omega has been assaulted! Frank ruined his first heat! He raped a virgin! That beta will pay, whether you reign me in or not!

"His fingers... went inside me... and... he made me cum."

My wolf forced the words to the forefront of my consciousness. I snarled viciously in response to the haunting echos, warning anyone in my vicinity to get back as I closed in on the location of the Lotus Penitentiary. A unit of guards stood outside and though they looked ready to take me on, I was not to be detoured. I ripped through their first line of defense as if I were fighting one wolf and not ten. I held back from actually killing any of them, since they hadn't touched my mate, but it was difficult to control the rage that threatened to consume me.

My wolf made another attempt to take back control but he was ignored. I was too focused on getting through the prison door. All at once the entire unit stopped their defense and stood down, some even bowing in respect. I didn't question it. The only thing that mattered was that they were no longer blocking my way.

I quickly ran forward, only a little surprised when the door in front of me opened from the inside. As I stepped over the threshold I heard a loud beeping sound before every gate down the long hallway, that blocked my path, began to open before me. I ran through the the prisons winding path as fast as I could until I was right outside the door of a solitary cell. Another loud beep sounded and then all the gates shut behind me before the door in front of me slowly opened.

I shifted to my human form, ignoring the way my wolf screamed at me to give him back control of my body. He wanted to take care of Frank for me but I couldn't allow that. I couldn't let my wolf turn me into nothing but a vessel, I had to keep my head. I slowly walked inside the cell and was immediately assaulted by the scent of vanilla, santal and cinnamon. I momentarily lost the ability to think while a low growl rumbled through my chest. I recognized that scent. It possessed the same notes as that of my mate! I slowly stalked over to my prey, following the trail of smoke to the offending source. A stick of incense burned on a small table, near a rather luxurious looking velvet couch where Frank lay sleeping. He seemed to be completely unaware of the fact that I was in his space and I momentarily paused to consider if his cell was soundproof. Although it really wouldn't matter in the end. I didn't care who heard him scream.

I noticed how the beta's throat was collared to a lightweight but strong metal chain which was bolted to the floor. Then I observed how it had enough leeway for the prisoner to walk around comfortably and frowned. I quickly took in the rest of the cell, growling softly over how plush and opulent it was, especially for a prisoner. After everything Frank had done, seeing how comfortable his prison cell was infuriated me. I knew it was all done for the good of the Lotus Prince but all I could think about was how he had violated my own mate, especially with Willow's pseudo scent so close to me. I began to shake with fury so I walked over to the table with the incense, picked up the half empty glass of water that sat next to it and tossed the liquid across Frank's treacherous face.

"I'll make your prince suffer for that o-" the beta sputtered as he jumped up in anger.

Frank stopped speaking mid sentence, his eyes growing wide with relief when he realized who had woken him up, and then the traitor smiled up at me.

"Max! You're here! This is great! You didn't have to wake me up like that though! Finally come to your senses eh? I told you that omega was full of lies! Did he confess? I bet he confessed. Useless little slut. You sure took your sweet time trying to get me out though. Hey, how long have I been stuck in-wait a minute, why are you naked? Did you... run here?"

The beta's excited chatter began to die down as he fully took in my appearance and I knew he wouldn't miss the change in eye color. It was a dead giveaway to how close to the edge I was. In fact, I knew, that he knew, that the fact that I was talking to him meant I barely maintained control of my wolf. He was in danger, his wolf could feel it. Hell, I'm sure he could smell it. I smirked as the miserable scent of his fear began to stink up the cell. The familiar scent of weak, pitiful, useless excuse of a beta. A scent I used to make excuses for.

"Y-you are here to get me out.. aren't you?" He hissed in terror, sounding frightened out of his mind for the first time since I showed up. "I mean, if you wanted to kill me I'd already be dead," he murmured halfway to himself.

"I'm here because I want to hear the truth from you, in your own words, and you're going to tell me what I want to know." I stated as I looked into the beta's cold eyes.

"What truth? Max, we've already been through this! I don't know what-"

"Do not lie, to me! Not after everything we've been through together!" I snarled. "I've always protected you! I protected you from your father, from Owen, from the pack! I even protected you from your own responsibility as one of my advisors! I gave you a title but for what?!" Then I kicked over the table that held the incense, unable to bare the scent any longer.

"How dare you!" I bellowed, interrupting whatever useless thing he started to say. "How dare you even think of touching my mate! And then to continue to insult me by keeping his clothes as a trophy! And then surrounding yourself with his scent IN PRISON?! Have you no shame? I loved you like a brother and you do this to me?! To your Luna?

You've completely degraded your position as my third in command! You're meant to protect me, your pack and my mate but you took advantage of him! I trusted you!! How could you! When did you turn into such a disgrace?! I should have banished you with your brother. I thought I could save you but I was wrong and to think omegas were the ones forced to pay for my mistake! Mark my words Frank, you are never leaving this cell. I don't understand what went wrong with you but you're beyond help."

Frank's facade dropped almost instantly. "So, the little bitch managed to remember," he sighed with a look of grim acceptance. "I will admit, I didn't plan on that."

"That's all you can say? How could you? You're supposed to be my family!" I snarled, struggling to maintain control over myself more than ever, though I wanted nothing more than to tear the beta limb from limb.

"How could you?!" He retorted angrily, shocking me. "You've always had everything handed to you! Everyone took to you better than they ever did with king Alistar but at least your father took care of his friends! I can't believe that you're his youngest pup and practically a bastard and yet you're the fucking king!" He spat with disdain. "You're so fucking soft! You can have whatever you want, whenever you want! You've always been able to have whatever you want! Don't you understand how to use that power Max?"

You can take whomever you want but you never spared a thought to giving me my own mate! No, you were too distracted by the scores of beta's and omega's who begged for your cock while most avoided me like the plague, unless they could be bought! Who have you ever had to buy?! You could have had your pick of mates plus a harem! It's your own fault you ever got hurt by Jenny when you always knew that every omega in our pack would slick up for you if you asked, despite the fact that you had a mating contract with the sexiest omega I have ever seen! Don't you see how everything I did is your fault?! Can't you fucking see it?!

You knew what Owen's reputation did to me and even then you didn't give me a mate! I put in a formal request and you blew me off! You were always too distracted with your own shit to give a fuck about me! You forced me to be alone! If you cared, you would have figured out about Owen and you would have found Fae a long time ago! Of course I took an omega for my own when I finally accepted that Willow belonged to you too!

My whole life has been ruined by alpha's and rogue's! You didn't have to take the one omega I might have had a shot with! You never even wanted that bitchy little ice princess! You always went on about how having a mate would be such a bore. You flat out rejected him at The Fire Pit! You knew I wanted a mate and you practically threw Willow away right in front of me! You laughed in the face of fate!

You never deserved him! I've wanted Willow for years! I've been there for him when you were out fucking around! I even took care of him the night YOU broke his heart. I deserved his first heat and if his healer hadn't held it off I would have taken him sooner, by force if I had to! Before you ever got the chance!"

"He's only been of age for four months!" I practically screamed as I grabbed the chain and yanked back so hard that Frank was dragged forward by his neck until he was standing right before me, then I forced him to his knees. "You deserve nothing!" I growled before spitting in his face. "You don't even deserve to breath the same air as him! I don't give a fuck about your excuses! Your obsession with my mate is sick and using another omega to practice your twisted desires on is just as disgusting! You never had the right to lay a hand of either of them! How dare you hurt my real family!"

I kicked my knee into his stomach, forcing the beta to the ground as he struggled to catch his breath. "What hand did you rape Willow with!?" I shrieked, barely holding onto my sanity. Then I kicked the beta in the head. "Answer me!" I snarled with another kick to his slumped body. Frank resisted once more but that didn't last long and soon enough he held up his left hand in surrender. "Place it before me!" I ordered, my voice forcing him into obedience.

I stepped down so hard on his wrist that he let out a blood curdling scream. I shot him a satisfied smirk, for we both knew I'd just shattered all the bones. I withdrew my claws before bending down so that I could handle the limp appendage. I trailed a sharp nail down the back of his hand, along one of the more prominent veins, causing the skin to split beneath my touch. The cut was merely superficial, for now.

"What finger did you start with?" I asked, noticing how my tone made the beta shiver. Frank slowly lifted his middle finger and his eyes met mine in a challenging glare.

"Don't be fooled Max. He liked it. He came so much from this finger. I didn't even have to use my cock! You should've seen the little slut. He needed me!"

I sliced through his finger with a single claw, severing it from the rest of the beta's hand.

Frank screamed in agony before shouting, "And his slick tasted just as sweet as I always dreamed it would," in a final act of defiance.

"I want to play a little game. How does that sound Frank? I know how much you like games." I replied in response to his repulsive goading, remembering how often he asked Fae if he wanted to play a game. My consciousness flickered for a moment and all at once I could no longer feel my body.

"W-what?" He gasped pathetically.

"Oh, the rules?" I continued without registering a word of it. "Well, I'm going to unchain you and you're going to run until I catch and subdue you. Then you're going to tell me how you got involved with Fae from the beginning, as well as the names and packs of everyone that ever touched him. If I feel like you're holding back, you'll lose another body part. Starting here," I pointed to his eye "And ending here, though I suppose you'll lose it either way," I explained with a swift kick to his groin as my vision went red. "Don't worry," I nearly whispered as I leaned in close to his ear, "I'll keep you alive until I'm done with you. You'll feel everything."

"M-max?" Frank grunted in agony.

"Max isn't here right now," I heard myself explain before breaking the chain that kept Frank in place. "I suggest you run," I encouraged, smiling at the trail of blood that leaked from Frank's severed finger as he scrambled to do as he was told. Then I shifted and everything went dark.

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Sometime later, I blinked back into consciousness. It took me a while to get my bearings as I felt physically and mentally drained. I slowly looked around the room in utter confusion. The last thing I remembered was Willow confessing what my former friend had done to him and then.. nothing. Nothing but darkness. I winced as the smell of blood overwhelmed me and I finally registered the carnage that surrounded me. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened, even if the finer details escaped me. Blood painted the walls of a rather luxurious prison cell and my breath caught in my throat as I began to recognize several different severed body parts that littered the space.

I cringed when I felt something wet, soft and slimy inside of my left palm. I slowly looked down and quickly released the remains of a werewolf heart that had long stopped beating. I shook myself out of my stupor as I stood to my feet. The reality of what I had done had finally catching up with me. So. Frank was dead. I was covered in his blood but it was all was over. I'd somehow gone feral and made it through to the other side. Good. I began to walk out of the cell. I wanted to get home to my mate. I needed him. I needed him to know he was safe. I needed him to know he was mine! Nobody would ever hurt him again! I would never let anyone else close enough to try. I'd lock him up if I had to.

Despite my lack of memory, the Lotus Prison was easy to get out of and the whole of the guards seemed anxious to be rid of me. Few would even look at me and somehow I knew, they'd seen everything. I could smell fear on the youngest of them and I knew I probably looked dangerous to the rival pack. I didn't feel dangerous. Honestly, I didn't feel much of anything except for the need to be with Willow. I trudged past the last guard, pausing to recite a random list of names, their packs and rank before making my way back home. Every few minutes I could sense my awareness flickering between my human side and my wolf side. Both sides continued to battle for control but my humanity seemed to be intact so far and I was grateful.

Going feral over Willow's revelation was risky business and I knew how possible it would be for me to lose touch with my human side. Given the mess I'd left Frank's body in, I was surprised that I was able to function well enough to go home already and I thanked the moon goddess for my good fortune. As I crossed the territory line into Shadow Pack my wolf's attention was grabbed by the sound of an alpha using a whip to punish his omega. The omega's high pitched squeals of pain called out to me and I knew I had to intervene. I forced myself to walk faster when I heard the omega cry out for help and my pace turned into an all out run when I caught sight of the omega's pretty face.

Willow?!?!

I ignored the fact that something didn't smell right, too overcome with anger to think about what I was doing. I charged the alpha that dared to lay his hand on my mate! Without my knowledge or control I shifted once more and with a fierce snarl, I clamped my jaw down on the offending alpha's leg, dragging him away from the weeping omega. I couldn't control my wolf's actions at all and I watched as he tore into the alpha, ripping skin from bone using only my teeth while I held him in place with my paws.

"Stop! Please! Your majesty, stop!" The omega begged.

For a moment I did stop. That voice wasn't my Willow's!! What had the omega done with him! Where was my mate?! I turned towards the voice and the vision of beauty, that had looked like my omega from a distance, turned out to be none other than Willow's mother. She looked at me with a horrified expression and I glanced down at my paws. The man beneath them was barely breathing. It took me a moment to recognize who he was, due to the damage I'd caused, but once I did, something in my mind snapped and everything went dark again.