Wolf Like Me

Leah POV (Age 17)

Leah had made it her mission over the years to do her best to attend as many of her mate’s cello recitals and performances as possible. Whilst the alpha tried to hide it, Leah could feel her emotions like a rolling tide whenever a performance came around. A tide that would often dissipate and soothe the moment Fatin knew she was in the audience or off to the side of the stage. 

However, there was one performance that her presence was utterly needed for. 

Fatin’s college scout performance. Now, there had been many. In fact, Fatin had scouts from many colleges with their eyes currently on her like a hawk. However, none of them were Juilliard. 

By the time that performance rolled around Fatin was completely losing her shit. She never let Leah over when she was practicing, never practiced over Leah’s, and became extremely tense to the point of snapping when the slightest thing was out of place. 

She would never intend to hurt Leah, but Fatin did. The night before Leah came over with flowers and chocolates, smiling up as Fatin opened the door. 

Instead of a smile and a thank you, Leah was met with a look of irritation. “I thought I told you I can’t do tonight?” 

“You did, I just thought that I’d-”

“Leah, I need one night. I know we’re mates but we can’t be eternally joined at the hip. I need to practice.” 

“Yeah, I just wanted to dro-”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Fatin shut the door, leaving Leah gobsmacked.

Leah left the bag on the doorstep and the flowers sat sadly off to the side with the card that she made for Fatin next to it. There was a photo of Fatin’s first performance that she watched on the front, with two pages of writing inside about things that she loved about Fatin’s playing. 

She felt stupid, embarrassed even, as Rana saw her heading out. 

“Hey Leah, are you not stopping by?” 

Casually she swiped the tear from her cheek, shaking her head. “No, just dropping something off.” 

“Are you okay honey?” 

“I’m fine.” Leah offered a weak smile and got in her car. 

She got a text from Fatin an hour later; one Leah didn’t receive because she turned her phone off and curled up beneath the covers. Hours passed with her chastising herself for being needy. For wanting too much of her mate. She felt embarrassed to be one of the omegas often mocked, ones that couldn’t accept space. 

Then again Leah hadn’t wanted to come in, she had just wanted to drop off the gift and run which was why she was only dressed in her pyjamas. She thought something small would give Fatin a break, would make her smile when she was at her worst. Leah hadn’t thought of it as crossing a line as Fatin would often do the same when she had her tests. 

With a sniffle she buried her face into the pillow, letting her tears stain the material dark once again. 

She hadn’t intended to miss it. 

Regardless of feeling overbearing she still wouldn’t risk missing one. 

However, that morning she skipped school because she felt overly emotional; her heat had hit and the suppressants weren’t helping with the tears, instead her cheeks grew puffy as she sobbed. Leah forgot her phone was off; she felt groggy after taking her suppressants and ended up sleeping for far too long, meaning by the time she awoke again it was already five and Fatin was due on the stage in thirty minutes. 

“Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit.” Reaching for her clothes she pulled them on, just grabbing whatever was on the floor. She snatched her keys from the dish and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time as she rooted through the cupboard for more meds and a bottle of water. 

Though she felt like utter shit, she would not miss it. 

Her car rolled up at the school far too late and Leah ran through the halls. She headed straight to the concert hall where she bolted down the stairs, apologising when half the hall turned to stare at her loud entrance. 

“Sorry,” Leah mumbled, taking a seat as Fatin stared at her from the stage with a soft look and glossy eyes that she couldn’t pinpoint the emotion of. 

After a moment she relaxed as she felt Fatin’s fear ebbing away. The bow began to dance across the neck of the cello. 

Leah hadn’t heard Fatin practicing this piece -she wasn’t allowed to. So when the sounds of Lana Del Rey’s Summertime Sadness began to fill the air, weaving effortlessly into and out of a piece by Ludovico Einaudi that she also loved, she felt her heart tighten. 

Fatin’s eyes remained on her, watching carefully as her fingers trailed up and down the neck. 

Tears soon fell, the lump in Leah’s throat growing as she wiped them away with her sleeve. 

The piece was fairly short, five minutes of soothing melodies that lifted the air around her. Yet because of her heat, Leah was a sobbing wreck by the end of it. Something she tried to hide from the scouts by crying silently into her sleeve. 

As Fatin finished Leah headed out, making a b-line for the bathroom as she washed her puffy face in the sink and popped a painkiller. 

“Leah,” Fatin said, entering the bathroom. She kicked the doorstop under the door, keeping it shut as she walked towards her whilst nervously wringing her hands. “You came.” 

“Of course I came. It’s a huge day for you.” Leah paused, frowning. “You didn’t want me here, did you? I’m sorry. When you said you wanted space, I thought you meant that day not-”

“Leah, baby, shit.” Fatin stepped forward, pulling Leah against her. 

Her tears stained her mate’s satin green performance dress, leaving it sodden as she shook. Fatin’s nose pressed to her at that moment, running along her neck as she froze. “You got your heat again?” 

“Yeah.” She felt woozy with pain that was evident to Fatin who swallowed thickly at the sight of her mate’s exhausted face. 

Her hand reached for Leah’s stomach, resting warmth against the pain that was quickly growing to be horrific.

“Shit. Okay, Mum was picking me up. Do you have your car?” 

“Yes.” 

“Okay, I’ll text her and let her know I’m heading to yours. If I drive do you have any suppressants on you?” 

She nodded weakly as Fatin brushed the hair behind her ear. “Okay, I need to talk to someone really quick. If you take one and wait in the car for me, I’ll be two minutes.” 

“Okay.” 

Leah made her way to the car, swallowing two tablets as the pain emerged again. Whilst it wasn’t as bad as her first heat it was still awful. Because of the age she met Fatin, hers were more intense than most her age. She had more pain and got far clingier and emotional whenever they rolled around. Leah was granted the three weeks a year she got them off school, though she normally only took the first few days off if they were bad enough. 

She gripped her stomach and cried, hearing the passenger door click open. 

“Where are your keys?” 

Leah held them out, nauseous as Fatin started her car and drove them to the Rilke’s house. 

When they got to the house Fatin opened her door, carrying Leah when walking left her hunched over. “Wrap your legs around me cutie.” Over the years Fatin’s alpha status had come with one bonus Leah adored: her strength. She often took to lifting Leah up just to show it off. 

Fatin walked her up the stairs, resting Leah down on the bed. “I’m gonna run you a bath. When did you last eat?”

“Yesterday, lunch.” 

Her fallouts with Fatin normally resulted in Leah having a reduced appetite, something Fatin knew well. She worked her jaw, feeling sadness wash over her as she looked at Leah. 

“I’ll make you something once you’re in the bath. Do you want anything in particular?” 

Leah shrugged, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow which was clearly stained with mascara from the day prior. 

Her mate left to run a bath without another word, lifting Leah to the bathroom once it was run. “I’ll go make you some food.” 

“Thank you.” 

Again, she disappeared; leaving Leah to her thoughts and emotions as she sat in the bath, carding the bubbles through her fingers. 

Eventually, Fatin knocked on the door, averting her eyes after Leah told her to come in. 

“Your food is ready. Do you want it in here or your bedroom?” 

“Bedroom. I need to get out anyway.” 

Fatin turned, giving her some privacy as Leah rose. As she stood pain ripped through her abdomen and she cried out. The fucking joys of heats.

She turned without question, walking over to Leah to help her back down into the bath; aware that this was the first time that they had embraced with one of them unclothed but not caring because Leah was in serious pain and Fatin was worried. 

Grabbing the towel, Fatin held it out, draping it across Leah’s shoulders. “Are you okay if I lift you?” 

“Please.” 

Fatin lifted, again looking away as Leah pulled the towel around to cover herself. She took Leah to her room, placing her on the bed as she toweled her dry and grabbed some pyjamas. 

“Can you bend?” 

“No.” Her stomach felt as if it was twisting in knots any time she bent.

“Okay.” Fatin rubbed her brow and grabbed a pair of underwear. “Want me to…?” 

“Ideally I don’t want to be sat here cold and naked for an hour,” Leah teased, making Fatin relax slightly. 

“Do you need pads or liners?” 

Leah blushed, groaning as the mortification tinged her cheeks. 

“Babe we’ve had enough of these together that neither of us should be embarrassed about this shit.” 

“Liners please; I’m using a cup, but I live in fear of a Carrie moment.”

Fatin laughed, grabbing one from the bathroom.

“Lift your feet a little,” she instructed, pulling on a pair of underwear then grabbing some shorts and tugging them on. 

Fatin did her best not to stare but as they shared emotions Leah could feel a great deal of the protective state Fatin was in, paired with her curiosity as she tugged a shirt over her head. 

“Right, where are your painkillers?” 

“I’ve already had two. I’ll just wait for it to pass; I can have another in an hour.” 

Fatin propped Leah up with pillows gently, then took a seat beside her, resting the bowl on her mate’s legs. “Macaroni.” 

“Thank you.” 

A hand rested on her knee, drawing patterns on her skin. “I’m sorry for yesterday. I was a major cunt and having a performance is no excuse. I didn’t let you speak, and you went out of your way to bring me a really lovely gift that I didn’t even notice until my mother yelled at me.” 

“I’m sorry she yelled at you. I told her I was fine.” 

“My mother can read you just as well as me and she wasn’t wrong to yell at me. I was a total douche and I’m sorry. I loved everything. I text you and I knew I hurt you because even if you’re pissed you say goodnight and-”

“My phone was turned off and I fell asleep. I forgot the suppressants make me drowsy and took two then didn’t wake up until late. I didn’t mean to ignore you.” 

Fatin kissed her cheek, placing her hand under Leah’s shirt to rest on her stomach. For some reason, the gesture always helped slightly with the pain as did Fatin’s proximity. 

“I would have skipped the recital if you called.” 

“No. The scouts came out to see that, you shouldn’t have missed it.” 

“Yeah, but you-”

“You shouldn’t miss things for this.” 

Fatin sighed. “You know your shirt was inside out today.” 

Leah blushed, ducking her head. 

“It was kinda cute. But really, I would have understood if you needed to stay home.” Fatin placed a kiss on her hair, brushing her thumb against her stomach. 

“I’m glad I did, the piece was beautiful.” 

She let out a low laugh. “That’s why I didn’t want you to see it. I wanted to surprise you but then I became this raging monster of worry and kind of ruined the whole thing.” 

“You didn’t ruin it. It was beautiful.” 

“Come on, eat up before I throw the macaroni at you.”