The Heat by Heather Killough-Walden

into unconsciousness.
    “Ah. You know about that one too.” Tabitha nodded, pulling her lips in to keep from smiling. “Okay, moving on.” She adjusted on the bed a little and continued. “They’ve got great senses. They can hear and smell and even see better than humans or even wolves can. It’s not a natural thing at all. They can also change any part of their body between human and wolf form whenever they want to. When I was six and Danny was ten, he went as a vampire for Halloween and everyone just thought he had these great make-up artist fangs on. But they were real. He loved it.”
    She paused then and chewed on her cheek. “Of course, sometimes they can’t control all of these changes. There are sicknesses that only hit werewolves; human illnesses don’t affect them. When Danny was sick with a bad fever once, his fangs stayed out the whole time. Our parents kept him home from school, as you can guess.”
    Lily noticed the shadow that crossed her friend’s features at the mention of her parents. They’d been killed when Tabitha was eight. Murdered on a camping trip they’d taken to celebrate their anniversary. No one had ever found the killer.
    Lily reached out and took her friend’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Tabitha looked up. Their eyes met and it seemed to give Tabitha the strength to go on. “Only a few things can kill a werewolf. Like the Highlander, if they lose their head they’re a goner. I think the same thing goes for fire. And werewolves can kill each other; their wounds don’t heal but at a normal pace. That’s why it’s against clan law for a werewolf to attack another of our kind unless in self-defense or in the defense of family.” She glanced down at Lily’s arm. “That includes defending mates.”
    Lily took another shaky breath and let go of Tabitha’s hand. She turned to stare straight ahead for a minute, attempting to smooth everything out in her head. To compartmentalize it and make sense of it all. To her, it sounded a lot like Tabitha had just told her that Daniel Kane was from planet Krypton.
    “Is there anything a werewolf can’t do?” she asked softly.
    “Well, there is one thing.”
    Tabitha’s tone was so soft that Lily couldn’t help but turn to look at her again. “What is it?” Lily asked.
    “They can’t get anyone pregnant – anyone but their chosen mate,” Tabitha told her solemnly. “And until they find that mate, the need to track down that one special person can drive a werewolf mad. That’s the price I was talking about.”
    “And you think that I’m Daniel’s mate?”
    “I don’t think it, Lily. I know it. You dreamed about him – you saw him – changing into his true form. You were born to be mated to an alpha werewolf and I shouldn’t have hidden you from Daniel all of these years. It’s just that…” she trailed off, becoming irritated. “Well, you were fourteen and I could just see my best friend, at fourteen years old, walking around with a belly the size of a whale and I had no one else, Lily. The thought made me sick. So, I…” She sighed. “I told him to stay away from you.” She looked back up at Lily again and her expression was apologetic. “And he did.”
    Lily stared at her friend with wide eyes. All this time, she’d just figured that Daniel wasn’t interested in her. Didn’t want her because she wasn’t easy. Or maybe because she was too plain. Or something . But whatever it was, she’d assumed she just wasn’t Daniel’s type. And then she’d come back to Baton Rouge and suddenly his attitude toward her was worlds different.
    “He’s not staying away now,” she said absently.
    “No,” Tabitha agreed. “He’s not. He’s always wanted you, Lily. I could tell it drove him crazy that he had promised to leave you alone. And when you came back? Well, he probably took one look at you and threw his promise out the window. And then there’s the scent thing-”
    “What scent thing?”
    “Dormants