Mom had warned me about this as a child. It was a way to ensure children, to make the mating process faster. Shortly after marking your mate, the female wolf would go into heat. It always varied, sometimes happening a month after being marked. A she-wolf's heat was short, typically only occurring once a year. Mom had told me how brutal it was, how it felt like your body had been doused in gasoline and lit on fire. Once I was older, she told me what would happen during my heat. That other males would take notice, that some might even fight over the she-wolf.