Page 46 of Omega's Triplets

And for about twenty yards into the trees, he was right. It was no problem at all. Everything was fine.

Then, he caught her scent.

He thought about turning back, but he was already tracking, already moving toward her.Could you do this, Jamie?he thought.Could you pick up a scent like this, in human form, and follow it with no effort at all? Could you find her in the woods the way I can?He didn’t think so.

She was sitting on the ground, her back to a tree. “You were shouting,” she said.

“I told you not to leave the house.”

“I was afraid. The Death Fangs...when they yelled, it meant...”

His voice softened, just a little. “Did they hurt you?”

“Sometimes. Not badly. Other girls had it worse than I did. And I knew you and Harley and Jamie wouldn’t do anything,” she added. “It just reminded me. I just wanted to get out of the house.”

He nodded and sank to his knees beside her.

This time, he didn’t even try to resist. What was the point? He wouldn’t be able to do it, he knew, and besides, he needed something to help drive the fight out of his mind. He took her in his arms and pulled her down to the ground.

There in the dirt, they removed each other’s clothes. As he stripped away her shirt, he saw a bite mark on her neck.Harley. Harley had marked her, claimed her as his own. Well, two could play that game. He kissed his way along her neck, then bit down as he entered her.

She cried out, thrusting against him. He grabbed her hips and fucked her hard, licking away the droplets of blood that had risen to the surface of her skin. Her arms went around his neck and she clung on, obviously wanting more.

He interlaced his fingers through hers and spread her arms wide, pushing down so hard that her hands made little impressions in the hard dirt. Her eyes were closed, her face sheened with sweat, her breasts heaving. She lifted her hips to meet him—

The world came apart. She seemed very far away, yet he could hear her crying out in pleasure—

And then, he was back, the woods were back, and he lay gasping in her arms.

After a few moments like that, he rolled away onto his back, keeping one of her hands locked in his. He gazed up through the leaves at the darkening sky above them. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly.

“I’m great.”

“The fight you heard...,” he hesitated, “that wasn’t about you. You know that, right?”

Peripherally, he saw her shoulders rise and fall.

“It wasn’t. It’s been building for a while. Since before we met you.”

“Since the auction.”

He turned to look at her.

“I talk to all three of you,” she pointed out. “I care about all three of you. I’m getting all three sides of the story.”

Even Jamie’s?He couldn’t bring himself to ask. He didn’t doubt that Maddy liked Jamie. Even now, Mark could admit that Jamie was perfectly likeable when he wasn’t being completely smug.

“We’ll work it out,” he said instead. “The pack comes first. Everyone knows that. The pack comes before any of this other bullshit. And the pack can’t survive if its alphas are fighting.”

“I guess that’s the drawback to having your authority vested in three different people,” Maddy said.

“Guess so. It’s never been a problem before.”

“Until I came.”

“Stop. I told you, it isn’t your fault.”

She nodded. He wasn’t sure she believed him.

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