by Emma Knox
For a while, I thought it was simply food, and I wondered if I had simply gone too long without eating a solid meal. No. This was a delicious scent, but this wasn't food. Nothing so overt.
Sweat. Pheromones. Gunpowder.
I had to find it. If I turned back now I would never be able to forgive myself and would be full of desperate longing that would threaten to consume me and swallow me whole.
Running at my full speed, minutes passed as I drew nearer, picking up more hints of a scent. A man. An Omega. I could almost vividly see him in my mind through scent alone.
My imagination liked what it saw, and it liked what it saw a whole lot. I was salivating at the idea of picturing a gorgeous male as my eyes bolted left and right.
More. I didn't care if my lungs were starting to give out, and that I hadn't run this amount of time, this amount of distance since I was a pup.
Heat. More details revealed themselves as I drew closer. I must have gone a dozen miles, or even more.
It was an Omega in heat and I could recognize the smell anywhere.
Making matters worse, my allure to it was no longer just curiosity. The scent of an Omega in heat was redirecting the blood flow from where I needed it to my damned cock, feeling it tighten and become annoyingly rigid at the thought of what I was pursuing.
I usually didn't get aroused by an Omega so easily. It took more than an alluring scent to drive me batty, and this Omega was doing it from what felt like a thousand miles away.
I was no longer thinking with my mind. No, my fucking shaft was doing that for me and pulsing rock hard to cloud all my other senses.
Fate didn't work like this, did it? It seemed so blatant, grabbing me by the snout and dragging me across the forest, but damn if it didn't feel like that was exactly what fate was doing.
Closer, closer, my drive was consumed wholly by anything and everything.
When my eyes finally settled on the distance, the human part of me knew it to be as true as the shifter part of me.
This was what fate had meant for me. Any doubt that I had completely evaporated.
What a beautiful creature fate had chosen. Right now he was lying in wait, a rifle pointed outward.
It let me appreciate what he was. The sparkle of his blue eyes, his sandy blond hair, and how badly I wanted to feel it under my fingers.
He had a soft, content smile on top of it all.
I was no stranger to flings. Lust flared up even when fate took its sweet time pushing you toward a mate. I never had any trouble approaching an Omega, laying on my charms, throwing out some pheromones, and getting them into my bed.
Yet here, almost suddenly and terribly, I was anxious as all hell. What if I had thought wrong? What if this one didn't find me as alluring as the others?
I couldn't afford to mess this one up. This was important, this was vital.
Shifting back, I was glad I didn't have to travel nude like some shifters had to. I didn't usually have anxiety about all this, but this Omega was doing things to me and I hadn't even spoken to them.
Gathering my thoughts, I felt like a drunkard pretending to be sober, my drug being this Omega's scent. Some deep, steady breaths, I put together that this Omega was hunting.
Yes, he was holding a gun in a forest. It took me some time to figure that obvious thing out. The power of this Omega's scent was seriously potent.
Another deep breath, and I started to approach. I treaded the forest carefully, making sure to ease in carefully with my strides to not put him on edge. "How do you do, fellow hunter."
I cringed at my words, realizing how poor they were right after I spoke them. They didn’t encapsulate the snare of attraction I felt for him, or the depth of my soul that yearned to reach out and touch him. Sadly, for now, I kept my hands to myself.
The Omega didn't respond in the same way, and instead was surprised I had sneaked up on them, gasping, and fumbling the rifle out of their hands.
"Oh damn," they exclaimed. "I was about to take a shot on that moose." His voice was shaky with volts of nervousness charging through it.
"A moose?" I darted my vision upward, and saw a buck run off suddenly, surprised by the clattering of the Omega's rifle. "Oh, damn, I didn't mean to run your prey off,” I stated apologetically, and I genuinely meant it.
"No, no," he said, scrambling up. "I let myself get too jumpy. He didn't run off until I dropped the rifle."
He finally turned and his gaze met my own for the very first time. Immediately, his face softened and reddened from seeing me as if he’s blushing with both attraction and coyness.
"Oh, well there. Where'd you come from, Alpha?" He spoke in a tone that wasn't accusatory as much as it was just curious about my nature. "I thought I was alone for quite some ways."
I let in a breath, hating that the freezing air hurt my lungs, still trying to catch my breath from my marathon run. "I was just in the neighborhood, and saw a fellow hunter out here so I figured I'd stop by and say hello."
"The neighborhood? Fellow hunter?" The Omega looked him up and down, suddenly questioning Rhett’s approach.
Chapter 2
Beau
A hunter without a gun wasn't that unusual. A fair bit of shifters preferred to track prey in a more feral manner, using what they were born with to take them down.
No, what was unusual was two things that I sniffed out immediately.
One, he was in a business suit. Even a wolf who was out in the forest looking for game would dress more practically than that, especially under the harsh grip of these frigid temperatures.
Two? Fuck, he is handsome. He towered over me, had shaggy dark hair hanging down to his shoulders, and a captivating gaze that I just couldn't peel my eyes from and made me tremble with unmistakable desire…from the inside out.
"Don't see many suntanned business people out here in the Alaskan wilderness," I said, crossing my arms while making sure to plant a rousing suspicious looking expression on my face. "Especially ones that are hunters."
"Hey, maybe I like trying to catch my dinner with a bit of class." He straightened his tie as our eyes narrowed in on each other. "There's no law saying you have to wear a puffy orange vest when trying to score some venison."
So, he was amusing too, a guy who just had to be funny. I wasn’t sure if that made me even more turned on by him or made me want to punch him in the gut.
"It does wonders in keeping you warm. Which is more than I can say for your outfit. It looks fancy, but terrible for the winter."
I eyed him up and down and I could tell he was enjoying it.
"Italian cut, yes. Also very thin, so yes, you're right, I'm not dressed very properly for the weather."
I raised an eyebrow his way, checking him out more and more, liking what I saw. He was rugged, yes. Charming? Absolutely. There were a few waves of chemistry meshing between us. It was pulling at something inside me that was instinctual, something that felt like it would be there even if I weren't coping with my heat. As an Omega, I learned how to manage my heat.
My usual tactic was a solitary hunting trip where there was nothing to tempt me for hundreds of miles and I could focus on nothing but the meat without a care in the world.
This didn't account for the Alphas coming my way and being too damned handsome to ignore. No, that kind of situation had fate written all over it. Not to mention, I was too curious to just keep passing by, minding my own business.
"I was wondering," he continued, his pitch sweet yet soothing. "If you might have some place warm for me to go? So I don't begin to freeze extremities off?"
The Alpha spoke with a smile, and that disarmed me more. He was handsome and charming, and that was a damned deadly combination to deal with. Part of me was so skeptical that I thought for a moment he might be attempting to lure me into a trap. He was ridiculously cute though.
The Omega nature inside me was calling out to beg him to take me right here in the middle of the snow, even though my brain knew that was a terrible id
ea on so many fronts it wasn't funny. I cleared my throat and gestured off into the distant horizon and snowcapped trees.
"Well I own a cabin nearby." It was a solid investment for when I needed to leave the city for some fresh air and peaceful serenity.
An effort on my behalf that was proving to be a lost cause right now as I stood here conversing with this handsome Alpha stranger who had crossed my path.
"Shall I go and fetch you something for the night then?"
I looked him up and down. "Wolf shifter, huh?"
"Just a lucky guess?" His eyes lit up with mischief.
"Cats don't tend to deal too well with the cold and if you're this remote I'm doubting you came out here on two legs in a three piece suit."
He laughed, an eruption of a sound that tickled my ear drums and had me begging for more. He extended his arm and offered his hand. "Rhett Frost. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Beau Wilson." I took his hand and then raised an eyebrow with alarm because I recognized his name. "Frost? You're with the Frost pack?"
The Alpha nodded, but the sour face he made at the acknowledgement wasn’t lost on me. "Yes. A technicality maybe, but I'm of that family." He raised an eyebrow. "Worried there might be a Zimma or Akia around to give you trouble?"
I laughed. "No, no, not that. I was just warned about an ongoing conflict in the area. I'm a city boy, so I took it as some sort of gang warfare and didn't expect one of the packs to approach me looking like he was dressed to sell me a timeshare." I chuckled at my own joke.
Rhett looked at his suit, feigning resentment. "A timeshare? Does this look that cheap to you?"
"I have no idea. There's not a lot of suits in Anchorage in general, so I was just going with the few I did see here and there. Most of our business people dress practically instead of trying to impress someone." It was a slight dig, but I hoped he didn’t take too much offense to it.
Rhett shook his head in protest. "I don't dress like this to impress people as much as to start on an even playing field. Corporate culture is something I'll never understand. While this suit is pretty bad up here, it's not much better in Tampa."
"Tampa?" I had to repeat the city, because I was surprised to hear him mention it because it was so far away from this remote wilderness.
He nodded. "In Florida."
"I know where Tampa is. I guess that explains your handsome tan then." Did I accidentally just call him handsome? Damn. I cringe internally and instinctively look down at the snow, feeling slightly crestfallen.
To my relief, he doesn’t bait me for a teasing session. "Nice to see someone appreciates it. Think it gives you a look of vitality." He looked me up and down in return. "Not to say you aren't beautiful in the way you are already, but a tan would make a great thing even better."
Shit, is he flirting with me? Blushing, I turned away. "Um... uh... so. About getting out of the cold?"
"Oh, right. I was so enraptured by your looks that I forgot I was losing the feeling in my fingers."
He is flirting, and I think I am going to crave more if he doesn’t stop it soon. I tried to keep my breathing even and my head level.
"That's not good. Come along. Don't worry about the buck, there's always tomorrow and I mostly just do it for something to do up here. I have plenty of food in storage."
I continued along, urging him to follow. He did, and I rushed along toward my cabin. I told myself it was less that he was a handsome devil and I was about to throw my naked body at him and more of that it was just basic decency not to let a stranger freeze to death out in the open. I couldn’t allow that menacing idea to hang on my conscious, now could I?
Waving him in, I shut and locked the door behind us, embracing the warmth of the room as it hit us as if we were entering a spa. "Would you like something warm to drink? I have tea, cocoa, or coffee if you wish." I walked over to the fridge and opened the door, staring in the contents absentmindedly while the soft yellow glow from within illuminated a little glow over my skin.
I glanced back at the handsome hunk who had his hands shoved in his pockets and was scoping out the cabin.
"Um... tea would be fine," he said, nodding, his eyes still locked on me.
The way he was looking at me suggested that maybe I had made a terrible mistake, like I was the prey and I had invited my predator right into my sanctum unknowingly at first.
My pulse quickened at the idea of being pulled apart by the flesh by this hunter. Shit. What have I done? I swallowed hard and tried to play it cool as I gathered a mug for the tea along with a bag and water.
I just may well have thrown myself into a trap, and at this point I was fighting myself not to just jump into the predator's jaws.
Preparing the tea, I got it boiling as I watched Rhett take a seat in the living room. My eyes focused on him. I wasn’t about to let him out of my sight for even one split second.
God, why did I go and bring a luscious Alpha closer? Managing my heat was bad enough without the temptation that stood right in front of me, making my heat beat like a drumline.
Chapter 3
Rhett
Everything was lining up in a way that told me he was the one, the one I was meant to soul bond with. Fate had chosen, and really, I should have been happy with fate choosing so well. There was no way of explaining how I’d gone for a random run and then sniffed him out in the middle of the snow laden forest.
Watching as Beau put his rifle back into a storage case though, carefully managing the weapon reminded me there was one glaring issue.
A shifter inevitably prefers to hunt with their tooth and claw. It wasn't just a point of pride. It was more efficient, and there was no fear of buckshot getting into your dinner.
Guns were a tool of those who didn't have those teeth and claws. The fact that Beau was using one led me to believe one thing about him.
He was an Omega, but he wasn't a shifter. His scent reinforced this, letting me know he wasn't avoiding it out of principle or injury. No scent of wolf, no scent of feline, no scent of anything but sweet, intoxicating Omega.
A plain human Omega. That's all he was. Nothing more. Was this going to be a problem for me? Or a factor to lure me in even further into the abyss of undeniable, heart pounding, gut wrenching desire and attraction.
It didn't dent my fascination with him, my need to have him, it just screwed with my head.
Alpha Frost would not approve, but this idea made a smile spread across my lips. I was never one to succumb to the balance of conformity anyway.
On the other hand, as rebellious as I was, I was still his pup. I wanted his approval. I wanted to make him proud no matter how much it made me detest myself.
There was one thing I was certain that Alpha Frost wouldn't budge on. He wouldn't want a Frost bonding with what he viewed as inferior, and inferior to him was relying on a firearm. Inferior to him wasn't able to hold your own with the things you were born with or to use the talents sprung from nature to enforce specifically for yourself.
If you weren't a shifter, Alpha Frost barely considered you a person. A human to Alpha Frost was the equivalent of a bug that roamed the earth, something so far beneath him that it was viably squashable.
My soul cried out to Beau though with enough passion and ignited chemistry it could light up the night sky with the flare of bold and sparkling fireworks. The bond was forming, and I realized there was absolutely nothing I could do about it because the rest snowballed with fate and fate alone. The course of the universe was on target as sparks flew into the bonding process. The heart wants want the heart wants and doesn't care what some stodgy old wolf desires for pureblooded pups. This human Omega was a delicacy I never knew I even wanted until I laid lustful, uninhibited eyes on him.
The need for this Omega was what was keeping me warm, making me do stupid things like running this far out, miles away from home. The hunger was never quenched, insatiable no matter where in the world I roamed.
Willpower alone was the only thing stoppin
g me from jumping on him and taking him suddenly. I imagined ripping his clothes off, to expose his bare chest, to rake my nails across his skin and make him cry out with passion filled desire.
That willpower was constantly waning, and being tested. Here we were with the prime example of hunky man meat staring right at me. My eyes instinctively darted to the bulge in his pants, something I craved to grab and fill my mouth with, his hard cock throbbing on my tongue.
He brought out a mug of tea, obviously trying to make a display of it despite this cabin not having anything that resembled an actual teacup. "Hope straight is okay. I didn't really stock up on things like cream and sugar before coming up here."
If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a slight jitter to his voice, a tremble of sorts. Not to mention that he was appealing to my sense of directness and functionality. It was one thing to be allured by pheromones, it was another to be taken by someone mentally as well.
"Thank you," I said, taking the tea, and making sure to give him a gallant smile before throwing it down the hatch. It really did hit the chilly insides of me quite well, spreading the warmth through my body.
The heat inside me though wasn't of a temperate nature though, and there was only one way to regulate it. I needed to feel him inside me, and the burning need was threatening to explode like hot lava down an active volcano.
I watched as he moved with uncertainty. His face was beet red, and I was learning that had nothing to do with the temperature. What was going through his mind?
He was an Omega in heat, and I was an Alpha who was showing no shortage of signs of being interested. Could he feel my desire, could he sense my heart pounding for him?
We had sparsely said any words since we came outside from the cold, and yet that was speaking volumes about what we both wanted. We didn’t need words where we were headed, toward blissful magic.
