Page 69 of A Nest of Maple & Mist

The weight of his lips on mine was familiar. My tongue tangled with his. While the taste of him was reminiscent of the many kisses we had shared, it was also new.

Gone were the clumsy, fumbling movements of two teenagers. Shane took control, and my omega sighed, going lax in our alpha’s hold. I enjoyed it. Enjoyed letting him take the lead. His tongue tangled with mine, pulling a quiet moan from a forgotten part of me.

He growled, swallowing the sound. The tips of his teeth nipped along my lips. He pulled away, and I wanted to whine. Before I could, he dragged his cheek along mine, marking me.

Blown pupils stared back at me, Shane’s chest heaving as his forehead fell to mine.

“Will you let me court you, Mia?” The gravelly sound did horrible things to my already ruined panties. “Not just me. Will you let our pack court you? Properly? Officially?”

“Yes,” I whispered, my fingers wrapping around his neck. “Yes, Alpha.”

I didn’t wait for him to respond. I pulled him back in, my mouth finding his.

For the first time in a long time, I could breathe.

TWENTY-SIX

TY

My eyes fluttered, lulled by the rhythmic crackling sound in the hearth. Jason’s heart beat like a steady drum under my ear as my fingers glided over his torso.

I groaned as Jason combed his thick fingers through my hair. The massage relaxed my limbs. I wiggled, shifting my head from his chest into his lap. That elicited a raspy growl from my alpha, and I smirked.

My entire body ached. More so than usual. I tried to lift my arms and failed, the limbs as heavy as lead. You’d think I’d spent the last twelve hours moving crates of liquid gold.

The backs of Jason’s knuckles grazed the day-old scruff along my jaw.

“Don’t fall asleep on me now. You’ll dream of maple syrup if you do.”

“Ugh. No. It’s the candies. Do you have any idea how many boxes of maple leaf candies we hauled into town today?”

“I have some idea. I vaguely remember being there too, handsome.”

I rolled my eyes, and even though I couldn’t see it, I swore Jason arched a brow at me. I squirmed, but his iron bar of a forearm held me in place.

“Relax, Ty.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Good boy.” Those words made me go lax, and Jason continued stroking my hair. “Besides,” he whispered, making the hairs on my nape stand on end, “I enjoyed watching you. You looked so sexy. Sweat shimmering on your tanned skin. Your T-shirt stretched across your chest. It made me think about you stretched around something else.”

My cheeks burned, and I buried my face in his thigh. I’d never been shy about sex, but I was just tired enough for Jason’s alpha timbre to unravel me.

A comfortable silence followed as neither of us tried to move. An orange glow from the embers crawled up the walls. It was peaceful. Still, I couldn’t shake the hollow ache near my heart, wishing for the rest of our pack to be here with us.

“Think Shane’s going to come home for dinner?” I asked, closing my eyes as Jason’s thumb traced the line of my jaw. “Or is he going to keep playing martyr at Mia’s house until he finally collapses.”

Jason’s shoulders sagged with a weary sigh. He cradled my cheek, dwarfing my face as he turned my gaze toward him.

“He’s not trying to be a martyr, Ty. It’s more than that for him. This is his courting gift to his omega. It’s important. Granted, I wish he’d let us help him. Or anyone. I offered to send a couple of guys from the mill, but he refused.”

“Stubborn alphas. The whole lot of you.”

“Watch it,” Jason uttered, the warning making my dick hard. “You know Shane. He needs to stay busy. And until Mia allows his alpha in, I think it’s the only thing that’s keeping him from losing it.”

Despite how I teased him, my heart ached for my alpha. For both of them. Shane continued to struggle with how to handle things with Mia. When he was holding onto some big secret, it was like a shield. Now he was exposed. At the mercy of some pretty, pint-sized creature who held his heart in her hand.

Jason had always been the heart of our pack. We depended on him. Even Shane, who tried to act otherwise. It felt good to help Jason with Northeast Property Management, to support him.