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He turned just as I slashed, my claws catching in matted fur and sinking into muscle. If it had been later in the year and the old bear any healthier, his layer of fat would have saved him. With his body skinny after a long winter and then being forced from his territory, my claws did their job. His leg gave out beneath him.
Before he could get up, I launched myself onto his back. Wrapping one arm around his thick neck, I wrenched his head to the side as my other hand drew the knife strapped to my thigh. My claws weren’t enough to dispatch the great beast with the speed he deserved, but my blade could end his suffering.
Plunging downward behind his collarbone, the tip pierced his heart, and he collapsed.
“Rest now, brother. Your journey has ended. You fought well.”
I murmured the words of the warrior’s death as his body went limp. I pitied the old bear, but such was our way of life.
I withdrew my blade from his body, wiping it on his pelt before returning it to the sheath at my thigh. Sliding from hisback, movement drew my gaze over his prone form to the omega still trying to become one with the tree. Blood pumping from the fight, instincts on edge, I could guess what her fidgeting meant, and tried to warn her.
“Don’t run.”
Her golden skin blanched, eyes going wider as her lips parted. Chest heaving, the fabric of her dress strained to hold her curves. The sight made my mouth water.
I knew it was coming. She couldn’t help it, and neither could I. I saw the moment the instinct kicked in, a feral grin pulling back my lips as the little omega sprang into motion.
Pushing off the tree, she ran, feet pounding the earth. I rolled my neck and straightened, loosening muscles that’d gone tight during my fight with the bear.
She had no chance.
I knew it.
She could feel it.
But she had to run anyway, and I had to chase.
And when I caught her…
Her scent promised things I’d never hoped for. I’d spent enough winters alone. Now, the gods had lead me to a ripe omega.
She would be mine.
Chapter 3
Nala
I gasped, rough bark biting into my shoulder as I careened off a trunk I couldn’t avoid. Running through the forest was foolish, but what choice did I have, confronted with a monster?
My lungs strained, throat and sides burning. I couldn’t tell if the growling I heard was real or imagined, but I kept my eyes focused ahead. I hoped to make it back to the cabin, even when it felt impossible.
What good would it do me? I’d just watched the monster kill abear. The wooden door of the cellar could offer no protection.
A shiver wracked my body as slick slid down my leg. I stumbled, crashing shoulder-first into another tree with a yelp. The rumble behind me was definitely real, deepening as I righted myself and continued to run.
I’d stumbled on the bear by accident, looking up at the birds flitting over my head instead of where I was going. I’d all but walked into him before his huff of irritation drew my attention, and I screamed before I could stop myself.
The noise irritated him further, and he reared up as I backpedaled. I knew I couldn’t outrun him and shouldn’t try, but climbing a tree was for the young and limber, not a widow leaning toward the chubby side.
I’d braced for pain, convincing myself I was okay with my life ending there, when the monster appeared.
The monster. Almost as large as the bear, he towered over me. Horns sprouting from his head added extra inches. Wherethe bear’s fur was a shaggy brown snarled with leaves and twigs, his was a rich charcoal with lighter grey on his muzzle, thinning to bare dark skin on his abdomen.
Despite the danger, it was impossible not to focus on his nakedness. Maybe it was my brain’s response to preparing for death, or perhaps I could blame it on my heat, but I couldn’t help staring between his legs.
A cramp brought forth a gush of slick just as the monster turned to look at me, chestnut gaze locking on mine. My gasp had flooded my lungs with the unmistakable scent of pine, campfires, andalpha.
Light shone between the trees ahead of me, hope surging even as a cramp drove the air from my chest. I hadn’t run from the bear, but something drove me to run from the monster.
