Page 97 of A Nest of Maple & Mist

I leaned against a massive maple. My muscles seized and my legs gave out. I slid down the jagged bark until I collapsed on the damp earth.

Everything itched. My skin, my hair, my teeth.

Could teeth itch?

I closed my eyes, listening to the silence.

Crunch.

A single leaf.

Huff. Huff.

Hot, ragged breath blew over my nape.

I didn’t even have time to open my eyes.

Two massive, iron-strong arms exploded from the shadows of the tree. They snared my waist with bruising force, hauling me backward and off my feet in one violent motion.

My spine slammed against a solid chest—broad and radiating pure Apex energy.

A scream tore from me—half terror, half deliverance—as my vision narrowed on the callused hands that held my fate.

“Caught you, Omega. You’re mine now. You belong to me.”

THIRTY-SIX

JASON

Mine. Mine. Mine.

“I own you, Omega.”

A growl came from somewhere deep in my chest, a recess I had almost forgotten existed. I hauled her thrashing form into my arms. Nails slashed at my forearms, feet kicked, and the sweet scent of her heady arousal tasted like sugared submission.

My cock jumped, the hard length about to burst from my jeans. My fingers fisted in the loose hair at her nape—her braid barely visible anymore. She continued to fight, unbothered by the pain I knew had to be searing across her scalp.

“Let me go!” she hissed.

I pinned her back against my chest, my other arm a steel bar across her waist.

Her maple scent was so thick it smelled like pure heaven. It fueled my possession. My control was fraying. I was on the edge of a rut, something I craved to give into.

I languidly dragged my tongue over her gland. My alpha snarled, wanting to sink our teeth in and mark our omega. Her ass ground against my dick. I nipped her scent gland, grinning at the faint, blooming bruise on her delicate flesh.

Despite how desperate her omega was, she refused to go quietly. My Mia was a fighter, a temptress. Sin and salvation hidden under freckles and curls. She squirmed in my grip, her elbows digging into my ribs, her boots kicking uselessly at my shins.

I grunted as she landed a blow. Her meager victory didn’t last long.

“Stay still, Omega. Or I’ll knot your ass instead of your cunt.”

She perfumed.

Shit. She liked that.

“Fuck off.”

“You’re a bad liar. Your scent tells me everything I need to know. You can’t hide, baby girl.”