The insane ware sounded as though he’d like nothing better than to run me to ground like some defenseless prey. In fact, I could hear him behind me now, his laughter carrying on the wind.
But I wasn’t playing a game. I was running for my life. Because of my newfound strength, I was strong and fast. Within minutes, I was able to run all the way back to the ravine.
Damn it! My venom fogged brain had forgotten all about the impossible impediment, but I was sure Kane hadn’t. In fact, I was sure he was just letting me tire myself out by running back to it. His earlier laughter only assured me of his devious intent.
My heart thudded in my chest. I was never going to make it. I couldn’t jump that great distance and we both knew it. My “escape” attempt had just been a game for him. A source of entertainment. And once he caught me, he’d make me pay for my insolence.
Well, I was about to wipe that smile off of the demented shifter’s face. I wasn’t waiting around for him to find me. I was going for it. I was going to jump.
Gauging the distance and what I needed to do, I backed up, got a running start, and lunged high into the air. For the second time tonight, I experienced the sheer weightlessness of flying, and a sense of awe and wonder came over me.
The moment my feet landed on terra firma, I let out a whoop of joy. I’d done it! I’d fucking done it! I’d cleared the ravine and was safely on the other side.
Lifting my head, I caught a faint hint of something wonderful. Someone.
Ace!
His scent was so close it felt as though I could reach out and touch him. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever scented, and immediately my fear abated. I was safe because he was near.
I heard, then felt, a whoosh of movement behind me. Before I could even process what was happening, Kane was beside me, enveloping my quivering body in his steely embrace.
“You can’t run from me, silly omega,” he purred, as the smell of his blood fouled my nostrils and smeared disgustingly against my skin. “That was very unexpected what you just did, bad girl. Jumping that distance as a newly turned wolf was very naughty of you, but that’s why I need you as my mate. You’re strong. A survivor, like me. Together, our children will be unstoppable. Our pack will have power no one else has ever dreamed of before.”
Kicking him like a mule, I began to thrash against his loathsome hold. “Get off of me! I’ll never mate with you. I despise you, Kane! Do you hear me! I despise you! You fucking monster!”
His embrace coiled like a python around my chest, clamping my back to his front. “You’ll change your tune after I give you my knot, Cat. Soon, you’ll be begging me for it in every one of your tight, needy holes!”
That’s when he appeared. “Ace!” I screamed, as my mate’s haunting grey gaze emerged from the darkness and collided with mine.
“Kane!” My mate bellowed. “How many times do I have to say it? This fight is between us! Leave Cat out of this!”
“I don’t think I will,” Kane countered, licking the bite wounds he’d so recently given me, sending Ace into a snarling fit of rage.“She tastes like pure sex and victory, Night Stalker. My favorite flavor.”
Ace growled and bared his teeth. “You foul motherfucker! How dare you bite her. She’s a mated ware. What you’ve done is a violation of our very nature. Even a mongrel like you must know that!”
Holding me in front of him as a shield against Ace’s wrath Kane flashed a garish smile. “You’re nature, not mine. I’m not weak like you, Ace. I don’t let anything hold me back from what I want; I simply take it. A claimed omega is no exception.”
“There’s no way you’re leaving this place with her,” Ace yelled into the wind. “I won’t let you. My pack won’t let you. Cat has made her choice. She revealed herself tome. In the end, it’s always an omega’s choice.”
I realized then that Ace was right. It had always been my choice who I ended up with. Since the first time we met, I’d been drawn inexorably to the dark, beautiful biker. I’dknownhe was mine, made for me. I’d felt the blazing connection between us like a tangible thing, an unbreakable tether anchoring one to the other. Kane couldn’t change that. Ace was my rock, my heart. My soul mate.
Snarling, the Alpha beside me banded his arms around me even tighter and I struggled to breathe.
“She’s mine. I’ve marked her! She has my venom flowing through her veins now, not yours, Night Stalker!” He argued like a child over a toy he’d stolen and wanted to keep.
“Then fight me for her. Prove yourself worthy of the omega, Kane,” Ace taunted. “If you think you are ware enough to kill me, I welcome you to try.”
I could practically hear the gears in Kane’s head turning as he considered his options. He and I both knew Ace would prevail if the two men fought, but the devious shifter was the sort to cheat to swing those odds in his own favor. Right now, he was angling for a way to do that so that he could kill Ace and walk away with his omega “prize”.
“As soon as I turn my back, Mad Dog will be at my throat,” Kane argued, inching backward ever so slightly.
“He will honor whatever pact we make,” Ace stoically returned. “Whoever survives is worthy of the omega. Do you agree, Cat?”
All eyes were on me now. I could feel Ace inside my mind then. He was urging me to trust him. To trust in the pack to keep me safe, no matter what.
My voice trembled as I tightly bobbed my head up and down. “Yes, I agree. I will willingly be the mate of whoever survives this fight.” Which I knew, deep down, could only be Ace. The only real alpha between the pair of them.
Kane struggled with the terms but finally seemed to accept them when he lowered his head and whispered into my ear, “Til death do us part,” before startling me by biting my neck and delivering a shot of venom so strong I momentarily blanked out.
