Page 17 of Mating Mia
A low growl rises from his chest, possessive and jealous.
“How is she?” he asks Jace, though his eyes never leave my face.
“Better,” Jace answers, carefully setting me down on the couch. “For now. But it’s starting again.”
Kane’s jaw tightens, a muscle ticking beneath his skin. “I can smell that,” he says, the words clipped and sharp. “I can smell him all over you, little omega.”
Heat rises to my cheeks, which has nothing to do with my condition. Kane’s jealousy is palpable, filling the room like a physical presence. I clutch the sheet tighter around me, suddenly feeling exposed despite being covered.
“I needed help,” I say quietly, not quite meeting his eyes. “You know I did.”
“And I was right here,” Kane replies, his voice deceptively soft but edged with steel. “Ready to give you exactly what you needed.”
“I told you, I couldn’t… not with my father right there,” I explain, frustration coloring my tone.
Kane stands abruptly, his tall frame imposing as he approaches the couch. “So instead, you let Jace take you into the woods. Let him knot you where I couldn’t see or hear you moan in pleasure from your heat.” He crouches down, bringing his face level with mine, his scent washing over me and making my insides clench with need. “Did you enjoy it, little omega? Sneaking away with my packmate?”
“It wasn’t like that,” I protest, though my body betrays me, responding to his dominance with a fresh gush of slick. “I was in pain. I needed relief.”
“I could have given you relief,” Kane says, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, the touch gentle despite the possessiveness in his tone.
I lean into his touch despite myself, craving the connection.
“I know,” I whisper. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. That wasn’t my intention.”
Kane’s thumb strokes across my lower lip, his eyes darkening as he watches my reaction.
“Next time,” he says, the words a clear command rather than a suggestion, “you come to me first. No matter what. Understood?”
I should be annoyed at his high-handedness, should argue that I have the right to choose which of my mates helps me through my heat. But my omega instincts respond to his dominance, to the clear assertion of his place in our pack hierarchy.
“Yes, Alpha,” I murmur, the title slipping out of my mouth.
A satisfied rumble emanates from Kane’s chest at my submission. He leans forward, pressing a brief, claiming kiss to my lips before standing again.
“Get some rest, my love,” he says. “I need to check on the perimeter, make sure we weren’t followed.”
He leaves, the front door closing behind him with a bit more force than necessary. Jace sighs from where he’s moved to the kitchen doorway.
“Don’t mind him,” he says with a small smile. “He was worried sick about you when you were taken. Then to see you come back with my scent all over you... His alpha pride is bruised, that’s all.”
“I should talk to him later,” I say. “And explain better on why I absolutely refuse to get intimate here.”
“Give him time to cool off first,” Jace advises. “In the meantime, how about some food? You must be starving.”
As if on cue, my stomach growls loudly, reminding me that I haven’t eaten a proper meal since the restaurant dinner that seems like a lifetime ago.
“Food would be amazing,” I admit. Suddenly, Finn emerges from the hallway that leads to the bedrooms, his expression solemn.
“Your father is sleeping,” he informs me, coming to sit on the edge of the couch. “Kane and I managed to clean and bandage the worst of his wounds. He’s severely malnourished and dehydrated. But with proper care, he should recover.”
Relief floods through me, so intense it momentarily drowns out the building heat in my veins.
“Thank you,” I say, reaching for his hand and squeezing it gratefully. “For everything. For helping save him. For taking care of him now.”
“He’s your blood,” he says simply, kissing me on the lips, as if that explains everything. And in a way, it does. To werewolves, to pack, blood ties are sacred.
The day passes by slowly in a haze.
