Page 10 of Outback Mate
I squint, forcing my vision to focus, and the Alpha’s dark features sharpen in contrast to the waning sun.
“Are you alright?” he asks in a deep rumbling voice, emphasised by a flash of lightning in the dark clouds looming behind him.
The Alpha moves to crouch beside me, and I stiffen.
I’m bewildered, trying to remember where I am and how I got here.
He extends a large hand and I pull back sharply. A hiss in pain slips from my cracked lips as my head throbs at the sudden movement.
I don’t know who this Alpha is, and I’m in a very vulnerable state. If he has ill intentions, I’m powerless to stop him.
“I’m fine!” I insist. “I was just… taking a break!”
He makes a disbelieving sound at the back of his throat that shoots straight to my belly.
“Is that what you sheilas are calling a heat stroke and a concussion now? Taking a break?”
I make a stupid sound of confusion. “Eh?”
My tongue feels heavy and dry. My brain is too muddled to figure out his words. It feels like I’ve gone ten rounds with a boxing kangaroo and then hung out on the Hills Hoist clothesline to dry.
He frowns, pursing his lips in a grim assessment. He has a thick brown beard that softens his stern features. My fingers twitch with the desire to touch it, run my fingers through it.
“Majestic beard,” I distantly hear myself whisper.
If he hears me, he doesn’t react.
“Are you injured anywhere other than your head?”
I wiggle my limbs, but they feel heavy, and I’m not sure if I succeed or not.
“I hit my head,” I slur.
He makes a disapproving huffing sound, and my inner Omega squeaks unhappily.
“Yes, I can see that.”
“And my neck and shoulder hurts.”
“Probably whiplash.”
“And you’re handsome.”
That gets a reaction. His eyebrow twitches and I grin in triumph… and then wince when it pulls at my wound.
“Alright, we need to get you somewhere cool.”
The Alpha hooks one hand around my waist, the other sliding under my knees and lifting me with ease.
My body flushes with heat that has nothing to do with the sun and everything to do with this Alpha’s body pressed so close to mine.
I turn my head, sniffing deeply, burrowing my face into his chest. I faintly recall that it’s not proper social etiquette to press your nose and inhale strangers. At the moment, I don’t really care.
The Alpha’s eyes meet mine with a burning intensity and flared nostrils, and I think he’s going to kiss me, but before I can blink, he looks away.
“Where are we…?” My tongue feels too large for my mouth and I find myself too exhausted to finish my sentence.
“Going?” he finishes for me as he strides towards a four-wheel-drive ute parked on the road. “Bodella.”
