Page 39 of Stray Omega

CHAPTER 15: EMBLA

When Embla woke up, it was the middle of the night, and the campfire had burnt down to cinders and coals. She was not chilly, however. Not in the least. She was surrounded on all sides by three sleeping alpha males, and their naked bodies radiated heat like hot stones on a summer’s day. Their heavy, masculine scent covered her like a blanket, and the cave echoed with the sounds of their snoring and the incessant crash of the waterfall. It was a soothing white-noise that almost lulled the omega back to sleep, but she caught herself just before the darkness enfolded her again.

She was not leashed.

And if she was going to take advantage of that fact, now was the time.

Very carefully, so as not to disturb the alphas, Embla raised her head and peered over the dark wall of naked muscle that encircled her. She looked around the open space of the grotto. Even though the fire had all but gone out, the cavern was not completely dark. Outside, the moon had risen, and its silvery light now filtered through the waterfall like a rippled pane of glass.

It was an enchanting sight, and Embla felt a strong sense of safety. But this place was not her home. She had to escape now, while she had a chance.

Moving slowly and silently, Embla got up and stepped over a sleeping alpha—it was Orwen.

Her heart was pounding with anxiety. What if the alphas woke up and caught her sneaking away? They would surely punish her. But she would just tell them that she was going outside to relieve herself.

She stepped her other foot over Orwen’s body, and now she was outside of the nest formed by the three alphas.

Embla hesitated a moment, looking down on the sleeping giants, their features barely discernible in the dim moonlight.

She hardly knew these men. Just last night, she had been caught sneaking into the campsite, and now here she was sneaking away. She had only been with them for one day, but so much had happened in that time.

They had fed her, but they had also tied her up like a prisoner. They had bathed her, but they had also punished her in the most humiliating of ways.

And then there were the other things they had done together.

The three alphas had quelled her heat, penetrating her above and below with their unyielding cocks. Even now, those impressive members were rigid with masculine arousal. The sight of those hard organs limned in the soft moonlight stirred shameful feelings down below Embla’s belly, and she felt herself growing wet again.

She needed to get out of here before her scent roused the alphas.

Or before she changed her mind…

Embla padded down the length of the grotto, her footfalls masked beneath the rush of falling water. She was a small, silent shadow drifting through the subterranean space.

Embla paused at the bank of the pool, remembering the luscious sensations of her bath, and she briefly considered pilfering the soap that Ark had used but immediately thought better of it. The alphas had fed her, they had tended to her heat—she wasn’t going to steal from them now.

At one side of the waterfall, there was a narrow ledge that skirted the edge of the pool and led outside. That was the way the alphas had brought her into this place, and she had also seen Orwen and Leros slip out that way when they went fishing.

That was her way out.

Embla crept along that narrow path. The mist from the waterfall was cool on her skin. A second later, she was outside. The sound shifted. The splash of the waterfall was still there, of course, but without the dreamy reverberating quality that it had inside the grotto. The air outside was cool, and the big round moon lit the landscape in a pale light.

This was it. She was free.

Embla felt a twinge of regret, but she ignored it. Leaving was the right thing to do. She would never see the alphas again, but would always remember them and what they had done. If she stayed, she would get attached to them, and that would only lead to pain. Eventually she would lose them, just as she had lost her parents. Just as she had lost her best friend.

She took one step toward the beckoning fields and the dark forest beyond but immediately froze.

Someone was watching her.

With a pulse of adrenaline, Embla turned her eyes toward the rocky slope beside the entrance to the grotto. Three silent pairs of eyes glared at her, reflective in the moonlight.

The dogs. Of course.

A wave of relief washed over Embla. The three canines simply looked at her, but they made no noise except for a faint whine from Smoke, the gray one.

Embla felt guilty. She had nearly run off without saying goodbye.

She moved closer, crouched, and scratched her fingers in the thick warm fur around Smoke’s neck. The dog wagged his bushy tail and lolled his big tongue.

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