Page 13 of Mating Mia
Kane studies Liam for a long moment, his alpha instincts warring with the unexpected complication. But then Finn joins us, shifted back to human form, his expression grim but resolved.
“The rest of the guards are down,” he reports. “But more will be coming. We need to move.”
Kane nods sharply.
“Get him down,” he orders, and Finn and Jace move immediately to obey, breaking the lock on Liam’s cell with combined strength before entering to deal with his chains.
“I appreciate this,” Liam croaks.
Behind us, I hear the rattle of chains giving way, the collective grunt of effort as Finn and Jace support Liam’s weakened body between them. My heart suddenly soars when I realize that we’re all getting out of here.
Together.
four
. . .
Mia
“Drink,” says Kane, handing me a cold water as I writhe on the couch in heat and in pain. We had driven miles away from where my father and I were being held. We were now in the middle of a forest in a large cabin. “You need to stay hydrated. Did they give you anything to drink in that horrible place?”
“No,” I whimper as slick pools between my thighs. I press the cold glass of water Kane hands me against my forehead, desperate to feel the chill against my fevered skin. I’m only wearing a bedsheet around my naked body since Orion’s guards destroyed my clothes.
I gulp down the water greedily, some of it spilling down my chin and onto my chest. The cool droplets offer momentary relief against my feverish skin before they warm and disappear. Kane watches me with hungry eyes, nostrils flaring as he breathes in my scent—honey-sweet but intensified a hundredfold by the heat.
“You smell fucking incredible,” he growls, reaching for the sheet that’s slipping off my shoulder. He adjusts it, his fingers brushing against my collarbone, and even that brief contactmakes me gasp. “But we need to knot you carefully. For the safety of you and the pup.”
The door to the cabin opens, and Finn enters, carrying my father’s limp form in his arms. The sight momentarily cuts through the haze of my heat. Liam’s body looks so frail, so broken, his skin a patchwork of old and new scars that tell the story of decades of torture.
His eyes are closed, his breathing shallow.
“Is he…?” I can’t finish the question, fear choking the words in my throat.
“He’s alive,” Finn assures me, his expression grim. “Barely. I’m taking him to the back room. Jace found some medical supplies in the cabin’s storage. We’ll do what we can.”
I nod, relief flooding through me despite the persistent throb of need between my legs. As Finn carries my father down the short hallway to one of the bedrooms, I try to focus on anything other than the heat coursing through my body.
But it’s impossible. My skin feels too tight, my breasts ache, and the emptiness between my thighs is a gnawing, desperate void that demands to be filled. Slick gushes from me, soaking through the sheet beneath me on the couch.
Kane returns from the kitchen with another glass of water and a clean sheet. “You’re drenched,” he says, his voice thick with desire. “You need some air.”
He peels the damp sheet away from my body, and the cool air hits my naked flesh, making me shiver despite the fever burning through me. Kane’s eyes darken as he takes in my naked form—my swollen breasts, the curve of my belly where his pup grows, the glistening evidence of my arousal coating my inner thighs.
“Come,” he says, holding out the fresh sheet. “Let’s get you to the bedroom where I can take care of you properly.”
He nods toward the hallway, to the door opposite where Finn took my father. The thought of being intimate with Kane whilemy father lies wounded just across the hall makes me shudder. It feels wrong, disrespectful somehow, even though the rational part of my brain knows my father would understand.
Heat is a biological imperative for omegas, not a choice.
Still, I shake my head, clutching the new sheet around me. “I can’t… not with him right there. That’s my actual dad over there.”
Kane’s jaw tightens, but he nods, understanding if not entirely pleased. “We need to help you through this, Mia. The heat won’t pass on its own, not with how intensely it’s hit you.”
“I’ll take her for a walk,” Jace says, appearing from the kitchen with a bag slung over his shoulder. His hair is damp from a recent shower, and he’s dressed in clean clothes—jeans and a t-shirt that clings to his muscular frame. “Get her away from the cabin for a while.”
“Yes,” I say quickly, perhaps too eagerly, as relief floods through me. “Please.”
Kane growls low in his throat, clearly not thrilled at the idea of Jace taking me away, but he doesn’t object. He knows as well as I do that my heat needs to be addressed, and if I can’t bring myself to do it here, then options are limited.
