Page 105 of Knot Your Fated M.U.S.E.

The aroma that fills my lungs defies description —pine needles warmed by summer sun, old leather well-maintained, something crisp and clean like mountain air after rain.Underneath lies a darker note, something that speaks of power carefully controlled, of strength held in perfect check.

A small sound escapes me —something between a whimper and a moan— before I can stop it. The noise seems to trigger something primal in him. A low growl rumbles through his chest where it presses against my back, the sound carrying such pure alpha dominance that every part of me lights up in response.

He leans closer, bringing his face mere inches from mine.

The heat of his breath fans across my skin, carrying that incredible scent directly to my core. No one has ever affected melike this; six years of experiments and trials supposedly stripped away my omega responses to alpha pheromones.

But this man…this alpha…somehow bypasses all their careful programming. His presence awakens things I thought long dead and ignites responses I believed impossible. Every cell in my body suddenly remembers what it means to be an omega.

To be wanted.

To be claimed.

The shadows remain silent, but something else rises in their place - instincts I never knew I possessed, desires I didn't know I could feel. My pulse races not with fear now, but with an anticipation that borders on desperation.

His proximity makes it impossible to think clearly. All I can process is the gentle strength of his hold, the intoxicating blend of his scent, and the way my body seems to recognize something my mind can't quite grasp.

It feels like standing on the edge of a precipice — not the desperate ledge I'd been poised on moments before, but something infinitely more promising. Something that speaks not of endings, but of beginnings I never dared imagine possible.

The mere idea of a potential future…the grasping hope that I’m not damaged goods like the world within these confined walls has defined me as.

I’m not a broken Omega.

I still function…

The world narrows to this moment, to the space between his growl and my next breath, to the electricity that crackles in the minuscule distance between our lips.

Every sense heightens to painful clarity, making me acutely aware of each point of contact between us.

His arm around my throat.

His chest against my back.

His breath mixing with mine.

And through it all, that scent - that impossible, incredible scent that makes me feel more alive than the years I’ve spent in captivity.

The sense of shattering inside me breaks free of years of conditioning, and I find myself leaning up toward his lips.

The initial contact is barely there — a whisper of touch that sends electricity racing through every nerve ending. That slight brush is all it takes to shatter his control.

A groan rumbles through his chest, deep and primal, before his mouth claims mine completely.

The kiss ignites something I never knew existed within me.

My body hums with a mixture of relief and awakening passion, even though our lips barely move against each other. We're testing boundaries, exploring this unexpected connection with careful deliberation.

Both of us seem aware of our surroundings — the blaring alarms, the constant threat of death lurking around every corner, the dead guards scattered across the floor like macabre witnesses to this moment.

Yet despite every reason to pull away, to remember the danger we're in, we remain locked in this first tentative kiss.

A first kiss with someone that isn’t trying to hurt me…

Doing everything to ruin me…

Then there’s a shift in him.

His restraint crumbles as he claims my mouth with desperate intensity, the roughness of the kiss making me melt further against his solid frame. Another growl vibrates between us as he deepens the kiss with obvious expertise, while I fumble to respond.

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