Page 98 of A Nest of Maple & Mist

She turned in my arms, reaching up to rake her dull little claws across my cheek. It didn’t have the reaction she had hoped for. The triumphant glare in her eyes faded as I smirked, relishing the brand she granted me.

Unruly, possessive flames ignited in my gut.

I caught her wrists in one hand, forcing them over her head as I maneuvered her body onto the damp forest floor. The fallen maple leaves haloed her in a symphony of gold and red, making her look like an autumn angel.

An angel I planned to corrupt until she was a sinful demoness riding my cock. I used my weight to hold her still, staring into her desperate, feral eyes.

“Wet for me, baby girl? Beg me, Omega.”

My face hovered inches from hers. Her blown-out pupils swallowed those eyes that usually swirled like chocolate. My knuckles traced the hinge of her jaw with a tenderness that mocked our situation.

She snarled, growling like the tiny lioness Ty accused her of being.

I laughed. “I want to know how much of a mess you’ve made of those leggings while you were running from me.”

My face burrowed into the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet nectar. I intended to tease her, to drive her crazy, but the moment my nostrils flared against her skin, the world stopped spinning.

Mia’s scent shifted.

The maple perfume changed. It was thick and cloying and decadent—a tantalizing song that liberated my barely leashed alpha from his cage.

We both must have realized it at the same time.

The fight drained from her. Her previously defiant figure went limp under me. A broken whine escaped her lips.

“Alpha. It hurts,” she whispered, her fingers tugging on the collar of my T-shirt.

The hammering in my chest settled into an unwavering thud. My rut still loomed in the shadows, but it gave way to my alpha. My omega needed me. My pack needed me, needed their Apex.

“I know it hurts, baby girl,” I murmured, my voice lowering into a rumble as a purr started beneath my sternum. I released her wrists and cupped her face, my thumbs brushing away a stray tear. “It’s your heat. Don’t worry. I’m here. Your pack is going to take care of you. You’re safe.”

I slipped my arms beneath her knees and her back, lifting her into my arms as if she weighed nothing at all. I tucked her head under my chin, scent marking any part of her I could reach.

“Let me take you to your nest.”

She clung to me, nuzzling my throat. A sudden wave of tension seized her muscles.

“Pack,” she whispered, squirming. “Need them. All of you. Alpha. Other alpha. Beta.”

The purr in my chest intensified, and she went lax in my arms.

“Shhh. That’s my good girl.”

I continued to rock her, stepping over a blue sap line as I made the trek back toward the house.

“Don’t worry, Little Omega. I promise you’ll have your whole pack for your heat.”

THIRTY-SEVEN

TY

Mia’s delectable ass bounced in her leggings as she vanished into the thicket, looking like an adorable wood nymph. She entranced me. Drool dusted the corner of my mouth as I watched her go.

Hushed voices murmured from behind me, snapping me out of my trance. I had forgotten. Mia wasn’t the only one our alphas wanted to chase. My body lurched, preparing to sprint in the opposite direction as Mia, hoping to draw both of them away from her.

Nails scratched the back of my head, and I hissed. Someone yanked me into a wall of muscle and sin. Shane smelled like apples dipped in hot caramel, his pheromones thicker than usual.

“Not you, Mate,” Shane chuckled, his grip on my hair blurring the line between pain and pleasure. “You don’t need nearly as much of a head start as our omega.”