With a burst of speed, I began to follow her sloppy trail, her fear-tinged scent and footsteps easy to follow.
But I didn’t want her afraid; I wanted her excited. I wanted her aroused.
I wantedher.
The sound of twigs breaking had me heading to the left, along a widening stream. About one hundred yards up, I saw her, crossing along a natural path of rocks to get to the other side.
Mine.
A deep growl resonated in my chest, and she looked up, her face paling. She’d dispensed with the glamour, and I relished the unfiltered look of this beautiful omega in the wild. Her curly hair blew in the breeze, carrying her scent directly to me.
She moved faster, trying to keep her balance as she leapt between the stones.
I crossed the stream in a single bound, making it to her just as she landed on the other side.
I had her in my grasp, tumbling to the ground with a tackle. Twisting my body so she would land on top of me, I quickly turned us around once we landed, my body caging her in.
Finally, she was real. Flesh and blood, sweat and heat and perfume. Every cell in my body was a maelstrom of need, of desire. Of a calling so primal, merely calling it an instinct felt like an insult.
This was a culmination of my entire existence.
“Mine,” I snarled, digging my nose into her neck. The stupid turtleneck was in the way. I needed her skin on mine, warm and smooth.
Her hair fell around her head like a halo on the ground, and I looked up to find her eyes closed, her expression wincing as she whimpered.
The sound went straight to my dick, and I ground against her, my hands moving towards the hem of her sweater to rip it off. I couldn’t stand the thought of anything coming between us, but then her hands landed on mine.
“Stop… please…” she whispered.
I tilted my head in confusion.Stop?
Didn’t she want this, too? Wasn’t the same need for my cock to be buried inside her running through her veins?
Wait… whydidI think she’d want this, too? What had even planted that idea in my mind to begin with?
My teeth and nails shrank back and dulled, all my movements ceasing. I finally saw her clearly, the terror and pain written in her expression. The tears staining her cheeks.
“Oh, shit.” I backed up in horror, sitting on my heels as I surveyed my bounty, leaves sticking in her mussed hair as she began to sit up. The bounty I’d almost…
What the hell was wrong with me?
“I’m so sorry… I… I’m in a rut. And I know that’s not an excuse, and it’s no one’s responsibility but my own. I just… the suppressants don’t work against your scent for some reason. I was out of my mind.”
She nodded slowly, drawing her knees to her chest. “It’s okay,” she said, her voice shaking. “I’m used to it.”
The words were like a bullet to my heart.Usedto it? Who was attacking her like this so often that she wasusedto it?
Oh, right.
“Victor sent you, then?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve been hired to bring you to him, and I’m afraid there’s no getting out of it. I’ve made a deal.”
She didn’t look at me, and I was almost glad. The thought of meeting her sad, defeated eyes filled me with immense shame. I didn’t think I could handle it.
She took in a shuddering breath, her somber surrender immediately curing me of my Ravaric-damned rut. The thrill of finally having her in my grasp was gone. I’d built her up in my mind to be a willing player in our game of cat and mouse, but I should have known I wasn’t going to find a sexy, consenting participant once I’d caught her.
I’d never thought of myself as a monster before, but this case was bringing out a side of me I didn’t like, forcing me to face some hard truths about the nature of my work I’d happily ignored as long as the numbers in my bank account went up.
