Page 16 of A Nest of Maple & Mist

Jason’s expression relaxed at the sight of the broad figure moving toward us. He shook off the chill from outside, dusting off the few flurries clinging to his jacket.

My heart jumped into my throat, and I nearly choked on it.

The fork slipped from my fingers, clattering loudly against the ceramic plate.

He was taller than I remembered, broader. A rugged handsomeness lined his sharp features. He’d cut his hair shorter, his pale skin tanned from working in the sun.

Shane Hemlock.

My high school sweetheart. The boy who promised me forever in the backseat of his shiny Audi. The boy who broke my heart two weeks before the car accident that took my parents.

He froze, his hand clinging to a wooden beam. Those dark eyes—the same ones I cried myself to sleep over for months—locked on mine.

I sucked in a sharp breath, and then it hit me.

His scent.

Ripe apples and salted caramel.

It clung to my skin, my tongue, drowning me in the headiness of it until I whined, making both alphas growl and Ty straighten.

My ex-boyfriend was their packmate.

And my scent match.

A slow, pained, and hauntingly familiar smile spread across his lips.

“Hi, love.”

SIX

SHANE

Waves of maple cream and vanilla coated my tongue. Before I could savor it, it changed, charring at the edges. I swallowed a lump that felt like shards of granite scraping my throat.

It had been lodged there since Jason told me Mia was staying here. That she smelled like ours. That some bastards stole everything from her, destroying her childhood home.

I hadn’t forced my presence on her, carefully avoiding her by working late. Long after the sun had set, I’d driven into town, running errands and keeping busy until I was certain she’d be asleep.

Unfortunately, I’d lost track of time today and wandered home earlier than I intended. Now, I stared at the most beautiful woman to ever grace this earth. She glared daggers at me, but that did nothing to assuage how intoxicating she was.

She was fucking ours.

Jason was right.

Stray pine needles poked at my neck, trapped under the collar of my flannel. Sap stuck to my hands, itching under the thin sheen of sweat now coating my palms. I’d spent the last eight hours culling dead trees and moving the chopped wood.

Still, I’d take the physical strain over the mental loop that had been playing on repeat for the last few days.

I’d nearly lost my footing when Jason told Ty and me. My nails gripped Ty’s upper arm, desperate for something to hold on to.

Mia Birch.

The only girl I ever loved lay cuddled in the omega suite we thought might remain forever empty.

I’d always known. Even at the age of seventeen, I knew. Neither of us had presented then. Based on genetics, my family assumed I’d present as an alpha on my eighteenth birthday, and Mia never thought she’d be more than a beta.

I didn’t care. Beta, omega, alpha… none of it mattered.