Page 30 of Pack Obsession

He turns and walks deeper into the woods, leaving me to wonder what I’ve gotten myself into.

While Axel’s darkness calls to me and Nash’s dominance intimidates me, Logan’s broken edges match my own. And there’s nothing more deadly than finding someone who understands your damage.

I hurry into the house, remembering how my brother would have warned me about men like Logan. Men who wear their damage like armor, who turn their pain into weapons. Men who can protect you or destroy you with equal skill.

But Kai isn’t here to warn me. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to these men. They make me feel as safe as my brother once did, even while they threaten to shatter what’s left of my world.

Tomorrow, I’ll do my best to hunt Logan through these woods and show him I’m not a pushover. But today, I’ll try to forget how right it felt to be his prey.

Chapter

Nine

NASH

Midnight crawls past like a dying thing, and I’m still awake, still fighting this fever in my blood. She’s just down the hall. Close enough to reach and take.

We shouldn’t have brought her here. Should have handed her off to someone else who wouldn’t lie awake imagining all the ways to make her scream. But the thought of a strange Alpha’s hands on her has violence rising through me.

Earlier today, I stayed out in the city, tracking Julian like a man obsessed. I wanted to see if he’d check up on her home, and sure enough, the bastard drove past twice, watching, staring. It took everything in me not to slam my car into his and force him to move on. The bastard.

Casey.

Her name tastes like sin on my tongue, like something I shouldn’t want but can’t stop craving. The foster system taught me control—sixteen homes in twelve years will do that to you. I learned to lock down every emotion and every desire until I was nothing but scar tissue and steel.

Then Axel and Logan crashed into my life at that Detroit car show, all of us circling that ‘67 Shelby like sharks scenting blood. We recognized the darkness in each other, the sharp edges thatwouldn’t quite fit in normal society. Three broken Alphas who’d learned to pretend they were anything but. Within six months, we’d built Phoenix Services, giving ourselves a legitimate reason to bare our teeth to the world. The company we run and retrieve anything missing.

I told myself that was enough. That I could ignore the primal call of Omegas, the biological imperative that makes my skin crawl with need. It’s why Nexus keeps them controlled with rules, why underground rings pay fortunes for stolen ones. The whole system pretends it’s about protection, but we all know better. It’s about control. About power. About ownership.

I find myself in the hallway, drawn to her scent like a bullet to its target—sun-ripened peaches and spring rain, a sweetness that makes my mouth water, that makes the Alpha in me want to devour her whole. My cock hardens just from proximity, and I hate myself a little for being this weak.

A scream shatters the silence.

From her room…

I’m through her door before the sound dies, splintering the lock with one savage thrust of my shoulder. The noise of breaking wood feeds something primitive in my chest. No barriers between us now. Nothing to stop me from?—

She thrashes in her sheets, fear twisting her delicate features.

"No, please," she whimpers, trapped in whatever nightmare has its claws in her. "I’ll be good, I promise."

Her white-blonde hair spreads across the pillow like spilled moonlight, and my fingers itch to fist in it, to use it to arch her throat back, and?—

"Shh," I force out, sitting beside her. My hand shakes as I stroke her hair, fighting to keep my touch gentle when everything in me demands to claim. To possess. To mark. "You’re safe now."

That scent of hers is strong again, but it’s so much more than a scent match; it’s the primal hunger that we’re made for one another. Her tenderness, her vulnerability, those sparks in her eyes.

"Julian, don’t—" Her voice breaks. "The chains are too tight. They’re burning?—"

Rage floods me like poison. I imagine teaching Julian exactly what happens to people who dare touch what’s mine. I’d take my time. Make it last. Make him understand the cost of?—

"Please," she whimpers. "Not the knife."

The Alpha in me roars for blood. My free hand clenches so hard, I feel bones crack, but I keep my other hand gentle in her hair.

"No one touches you," I growl, too far gone to keep the possession from my words. "No one hurts you. You’re mine to protect now."

Gradually, her breathing steadies. The nightmare loosens its grip, leaving her soft and vulnerable in ways that make my body ache. Her full lips part on a sigh, and I can’t stop staring at them, imagining all the ways I could put them to use. My attention hones in on the delicate curve of her collarbone where the blanket has slipped down, marked by that small scar that demands I hunt down everyone who’s ever hurt her.

---