Page 73 of Stray Omega

CHAPTER 27: ARK

Embla’s scent had not been difficult to follow. For the first several miles, she had left a trail smelling of soap and perfume. Somewhere in the meadows, halfway between the ruins and the forest, that smell had started to shift to her natural body odor, which Ark found to be far more arousing. That was where she had started to sweat.

Now Ark and Leros were charging through the depths of the forest, dark trees rushing past on either side, spears of light poking through the leafy canopy overhead. Every now and then they would pause, nostrils flaring as they tested the air to make sure they were on her trail. Then they would sprint onward, their faces set with determination.

They had to get Embla back.

They had to make her safe.

Ark still wasn’t sure why Embla had bolted. He definitely did not trust the story that other young omega, Jora, had told them. He did not trust her one bit.

But there would be time enough later for figuring out that mystery. Right now, the only thing that mattered to Ark was finding his mate.

And based on the intensity of her scent, they were getting close.

When they finally caught up with her, Ark intended to gather the little omega in his arms and tell her how sorry he was. All of this was his fault. He had tried to push her too hard. Tried to make her fit into a place where she didn’t belong. Source, he had been so blind and foolish. He had tried to tame the omega, never realizing that her tameless spirit is what drew him to her in the first place.

All of this was his fault.

If anything had happened to his omega, he would never forgive himself.

But Ark forced all of these dark thoughts out of his mind and barreled forward through the underbrush. He would find her. He had to. He just had to.

And a moment later, he did.

Ahead of him, the trees opened up onto a small, roughly circular clearing. After the shade of the deep forest, the sunlight filling that clearing was dazzling. Ark halted right at the edge of the treeline, giving his eyes a chance to adjust. Half a heartbeat later, Leros came skidding to a stop beside him.

“There she is!” the young alpha shouted.

Ark’s heart throbbed with combination of overwhelming joy and paralyzing fear. Joy because he was glad to have found his omega. Fear because something was wrong.

Embla was lying on the grass in the center of the clearing, her delicate little body curled into the fetal position, and she was not moving.

Was she dead? Unconscious?

Panic surged through Ark’s body, and he was just about to rush forward to check on his omega mate when his nose detected a faint whiff of a peculiar scent.

There were betas nearby.

More than one.

Of course, Ark was not frightened of the betas. The poor, brainless bastards could do him no harm. But it was very odd that they would be out here in the forest. Very odd indeed.

Something was not right about this.

Ark experienced a sudden flash of intuition. He remembered the traps that he and his pack brothers had sometimes set in the woods to catch wolves. They would always bait the trap with a piece of raw meat to draw their quarry in.

That’s what was going on here.

Embla was bait.

All of these thoughts and emotions raced through Ark’s mind in a fraction of a second.

But Leros was too young. He was courageous and loyal, but he lacked caution and experience. He did not recognize the trap for what it was.

“Embla!” the young alpha cried.

“Leros, wait!”

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