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“You should not have been out in the forest alone. They never should have left an omega alone to begin with. It’s not safe in the forest, and if you’d been hurt, there wouldn’t have been anyone to look for you. It was irresponsible.”
I watched her features tighten as she lifted her chin to glare at me.
“I wasn’t lost. I’m not so helpless that I cannot take a walk unescorted. No matter where I went, I could have found the river and followed it back to town, butyoucarried me off to the mountains!”
Her voice rose, tight with tension. I knew my comment was a bit callous, but I couldn’t believe no one cared enough to see to her safety. No alpha I knew would have left a female alone or allowed to wander unescorted, especially an omega, and one as beautiful as Ivy. The world was a dangerous place, and I wasn’t only referring to alphas and monsters.
Not wanting to push her more when she was clearly upset, I turned my attention back to the rabbits, keeping my thoughts to myself. Pulling the spits from the fire, I passed one to Ivy before using my claws to pluck her vegetables from the center of the meat. It was almost scorching, but after mimicking the way she blew on the food, I was able to nibble the edge of it. After cooking in the liquified fat inside the rabbit, it was actually delicious, and I popped the whole thing in my mouth before eating the meat.
We sat in silence, Ivy taking dainty bites as I tried to think of a way to erase the friction of our last exchange. When I came up with nothing before she’d finished her meal, I sighed as I stared into the flames. For a moment, I’d thought she was trying to see if I was interested in her, but then I’d opened my mouth and ruined it.
“I’m going to sleep.”
When I turned my head to look at her, Ivy already had her back to me. Without the storm, the night was warmer than the previous had been, and she hadn’t bothered to cover herself.
Her curves called to me, the pale flesh of her calves taunting me and making my hands itch with the need to reach out and touch them. I could imagine lying down behind her, her back fitted to my front as my arms caged her against me. My body would dwarf hers, but I knew she was resilient enough to handle me.
Swallowing hard, I peeled my eyes away.
“I bid you sweet dreams, little omega,” I whispered, sure that mine would be anything but sweet and innocent.
Chapter Twelve
Ivy
Once again, I dreamed of being followed through the trees by an alpha, only this time, he wasn’t dressed in furs.
He was covered in it, with horns spreading from the sides of his head, one of them broken off.
Green eyes pierced me, pinning me in place as De’drik closed the distance between us. Murmuring something I didn’t hear, his mouth dropped to my neck as I bared it to him in submission, and his tongue rasped over the place where my pulse thumped wildly.
He wrapped his arms around me, tangling his fingers in my hair to hold me in place, and his erection dug into my belly. It felt like it was moving, but my focus was pulled away from that as teeth scraped my shoulder.
“You’re mine. My little, human mate.”
I awoke with my face pressed into the furs, my nipples hard points beneath my dress. I clenched my thighs together, a whine escaping before I could stop it. Sucking in a deep breath, the smell of violets and fresh rain filled my lungs, reminding me whose bedding I laid on.
Raising my head, I glanced behind me to see De’drik’s large frame lying along the other side of the fire. Wulf was curled beside him, twitching in his sleep.
The sky to the east was beginning to brighten with the approaching dawn, and I decided there was no reason to try going back to sleep. I needed to clear my head of the lingering desire before I did something foolish.
Like climbing atop the monster’s naked body and seeing if his cock moved like I’d imagined.
Standing quietly, I walked away from the smoldering fire, climbing up the hill we’d come down the evening before. Dew soaked into the hem of my dress, but I ignored it, staring up through an opening in the canopy toward the mountains. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I was starting to recognize the shape of them, so we couldn’t be too far from Barcole. Aunt Mary and my cousins would be leaving Perlynn soon, and I had to be home before they returned, but I should have another day before their arrival.
I remained on the crest of the hill, thinking, as the sun rose and gilded the peaks. It was hard not to wonder if I was making the wrong choice.
“I don’t know what to do. How do I choose between misery and the unknown?”
Nothing but the rustling of trees in the wind answered. Were the gods even listening?
Sighing, I let my head fall as I closed my eyes.
“I don’t know anything about him or if he’d even want me. I have to go back.”
“Go back where?”
The deep voice made me whirl around, heart thundering in my ears. For such a large creature, De’drik moved with an eerie silence, and I hadn’t realized he’d come up the hill behind me.
