Page 35 of Omega's Triplets

Jamie exhaled sharply. “Shit.”

“Do you think it was the Death Fangs?”

“If it was, we’ll find out soon enough,” Jamie said. “They’re not going to leave us alone if they know we had her. Someone will be along to start trouble with us, to punish us for daring to defy the Death Fangs.”

Harley knew it was true. “Do you think we should get the kids out of here?” he asked.

“And take them where?”

“You could take them right now,” Harley said. “If the Death Fangs have been stalking us, they might not know there are three of us. Mark and I could make them believe it was just the two of us, and you and the kids could go hole up in a hotel until the coast was clear.”

Jamie shook his head. “None of them know how to ride,” he said. “I can only bring one person as a passenger. I can’t get all three of them away. Not without going back and forth, and that’ll make us easy to follow.”

Harley knew his brother was right. “What do we do?”

Jamie started to answer but froze. A rustling sound was coming from the woods.

Then Maddy emerged. Dazed and stumbling slightly, she crossed the yard toward the house.

The brothers ran to meet her. Harley caught her by one arm and steadied her. “Maddy! Are you all right? What happened?”

She squinted up into his eyes. “Harley?”

“And Jamie,” Jamie supplied. Harley appreciated his brother’s practical nature. He had clearly recognized that Maddy had difficulty telling them apart and was doing his best to facilitate the situation.

“So that means...,” Maddy trailed off.

“That means what?” Harley asked.

“That means it was Mark I met in the woods,” she said vaguely.

Jamie frowned. “Mark knew where you were? We were all looking for you. Amy’s been really upset.”

“Oh.” That seemed to shake Maddy from her stupor. “I should go apologize. I didn’t mean to upset her.” She slipped free of their grasp and headed for the house.

Harley turned to Jamie and raised his eyebrows. “What do you suppose that’s all about?”

“I have a guess,” Jamie said, and Harley was surprised by the dark anger in his voice. “But I really fucking hope I’m wrong.”

***

MARK HUDDLED IN THEshade of one of the tallest pines, gasping and alarmed.

What had just happened back there?

He had always intended to mate with Maddy, eventually, of course. He hadn’t been sure how that was going to happen, how they were going to get to that point from where they were now. He knew she was afraid of him, and he didn’t blame her. But he had planned to work on that, to reassure her, to bring her around. One day, he had been sure, they would be lovers.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

He hadn’t planned to take her like that when he’d approached her. He had planned to scold her for leaving the house unattended, for putting herself in danger when they were all doing their best to protect her. He had thought to put a bit of a scare in her and take her back.

But when she’d fallen into his arms, something had changed.

Mark couldn’t understand it. He’d never felt out of control like that before. It had been all he could do to ask her if she wanted to stop, and he was thankful that she hadn’t, because he wasn’t sure if he could have managed to grant the request or not.

Could I have stopped if she’d wanted me to?he asked himself now.Why was it like that? Why was my need for her so much stronger than my ability to make my own decisions?

A shudder went through him. He knew what it reminded him of. It was just like the feeling of needing to bite back at people who tried to push him around. It was the same feeling he’d had whenever he’d tried to hold down a job, whenever a boss had given him an order. It was something deep and primal, something that came from the very core of him.

---