Chapter 26
“W here are we going?”
“Not far,” I signed back to her. We were pretty sure Morgan’s heat had fully broken, and she was starting to climb the walls, being inside so long. I had her curled up in a sled, gliding along behind me. The walk was maybe five minutes tops, and when I’d offered to take her out, she’d jumped at the opportunity.
My legs were as close to jelly as they’d ever been, but it also felt good to put them to work in a different way. The snow had calmed down for the moment and fresh powder covered the forest floor, the sun blazing down like a spotlight between the branches above us.
Morgan sighed happily, trailing her mittened fingertips in the snow. “I feel bad that you have to pull me.”
I shrugged, unsure if she was looking at me or not. Her weight was easy to bear in the sled and deer had already come through, breaking up some of the trail. I pulled her to a stop in front of the fort I had built up. It was helpful for the times I couldn’t sprint off into the night when the lodge was full of people but I still needed to feel secluded.
“Where are we?” Morgan asked, examining the dome shape mostly buried in snow.
I pulled off my mittens to sign, “Bear cave.”
“Like the animal or like you?”
I tapped my chest and Morgan nodded in understanding. I pulled off the door I had constructed out of sticks and took a few minutes to sweep out some of the snow that had accumulated inside before playfully pulling her off the sled and sliding her across the snow in her snowsuit. She giggled and sat up inside, breath puffing out in clouds.
“This is so cute. You built it?”
I nodded.
She climbed right onto my lap when I sat down, my purr kicking into gear as my arms wrapped around her. Her own purr rumbled in response.
“I’m not very good at being snowed in.”
“Me either,” I whispered.
She pulled in a deep breath, every inch of her melting in my embrace. “It smells so good out here. I’m really glad my brain didn’t decide to ruin the outdoors for me because of what happened.”
I nuzzled her cheek, keeping careful watch on her temperature just in case.
Morgan shifted, pulling my mouth down to hers for a slow, tender brush that made my instincts sing. I was never going to get tired of the fact that she felt safe with me. She sighed, the tenderness giving way to fierceness with each passing moment.
“Is it too cold to fuck in here?”
The question shot tension through me. I could only shrug, unsure how long she would be comfortable in the winter air.
I unzipped my coat and laid it down over the cold ground. Morgan took it for the opportunity it was and wriggled out of her snow suit. She was only wearing panties and a tank top beneath it since it was barely a few degrees below freezing. I shucked down to my base layers and pulled her back onto my lap, mouth devouring her eagerly.
Her skin was warm against my touch.
Shit.
Maybe her heat wasn’t as over as we’d thought. She clung to me with every limb, mouth voracious, and hips rocking steadily against me. Even if her heat wasn’t finished, it had to be close to the end. She’d had a few hours of reprieve already that we had taken advantage of to feed her and get her washed up.
Morgan whipped off her tank top and pawed impatiently at the long-sleeved tee I wore. I stripped out of that too, shivering at the cool touch of the air. My omega plastered herself against me, purring so hard her entire body vibrated in my hands.
“Bear,” she whined. “Please.”
I laid her out on my jacket and peeled off her panties, tucking them in one of the inside pockets so they wouldn’t be frozen if she had to put them back on. Her slick was nectar on my tongue and I groaned against her heated skin, desperate to consume every drop, while she sang a needy symphony for the forest.
She clutched my hair, lifting her hips to meet every stroke of my tongue. My jacket was going to smell like heaven. When her bucking grew too unruly, I pinned her down by the thighs so I could continue my feast. With her movements hobbled, her volume grew. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the others could hear her from the lodge.
My name melted into moaning, my perfect omega so riled up she couldn’t finish one word before her body overrode her brain. She spilled over my tongue with a scream that primed every alpha instinct I possessed. I climbed over her panting form to reclaim her mouth, her lips practically feral against mine. Before giving her what she craved, I tasted all the way down her throat and sucked at each pink tip, cradling her breasts in my hands while she squirmed.
When she transitioned to begging whimpers, I gave in, shoving my pants down and lining myself up. I didn’t even have time to be gentle when her ankles locked around me and dragged me deep. The snug, slick heat of her snapped half the threads of my control in that one movement.
I fucked into her with a ferocity I didn’t quite understand, digging my fingers into the dirt for an anchor. Morgan’s every desperate noise flowed over my ears, and my hips developed a mind of their own. They drove into her, spurred on by those delicious sounds, each one imploring me to claim her deeper. Who was I to deny her that?
I rode her hard, reality fading in and out. All I knew was that I needed her to keep making those sounds and I needed to keep burying my cock in her cunt until she had been satisfied.
The world melted away. There was only Morgan and the sensation of her writhing beneath me. I fucked in, my knot swelling, pushing against the grip of her pussy and sending pleasure sailing through every cell in my body until I was so overwhelmed by it I could hardly breathe.
Her teeth sank into me again, the remaining threads of my control snapping, instinct crashing over me like a tsunami. I bit back, claiming the top of her shoulder so the crescent of my teeth aligned with her clavicle. Maple and copper filled my mouth, Morgan bursting like a firework in my chest.
* * *
I surfaced with a groan, looking down at Morgan, blissfully sleeping beneath me. She glowed like embers in my chest, the warmth of her repairing the broken pieces inside me, smoothing the sharpness of my insecurities and wrapping me up in the soft contentment of my omega.
Holy shit.
My omega.
No one had been out here to stop me from biting her. I hadn’t been strong enough to resist a third time.
It took me a few moments to gather my wits. I checked her over, finding her skin cool to the touch, but not dangerously so. My knot was still buried deep in her.
Fuck.
I needed to get her home safe.
It took some wrangling, but I managed to pull my pants back up enough that they would stay on, and I wiggled into my coat with Morgan still inside it. I clutched her awkwardly to my chest. I could come back for the bits left behind, but her comfort and safety were the priority right now.
Morgan snuggled against me as I walked, her purr rumbling away. Her contentment in my arms was like a blanket smothering down my anxiety. She was happy. That was the important part, even if I wasn’t convinced she knew what had happened yet.
The lodge came into view. Kit was watching us from the windows and came sprinting down. “You were gone for so long we almost came after you.”
I winced and turned away when he tried to collect Morgan from me.
He raised a questioning eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
Instead of answering, I inclined my head toward the lodge. Morgan woke as we ascended the stairs into the living room. She blinked up at me, gray eyes confused.
I sat on the couch and she stared down at our joining the bodies. “Did you knot me outside and carry me all the way back?”
I nodded and tugged the coat off both of us, letting it fall to the floor, exposing her skin to the others, including the bite mark I had left on her.
“Bear, are you fucking serious?” Kit hissed.
“Is that a…” Mav trailed off.
“Sure fucking looks like it,” said Ryder.
“What are we talking about?” Morgan asked.
“He bit you.” Kit glared at me, but I was more concerned about Morgan’s response.
She traced her fingers over the mark, shivering before reaching out to touch the most recent one she had given me. She dropped her hand to her chest, pressing against her ribs. “Is that what that is? I thought it was a weird omega thing I wasn’t familiar with.”
I waited for her to be upset, but at the moment not even a flicker of it was present in the bond. Curiosity was the strongest thing coming through from her.
She curled up against me, sleep claiming her before panic could. Morgan needed to recover from her heat and get back to a proper headspace so she could process all of this.
The others looked at me incredulously.
“I didn’t mean to,” I whispered. “I thought her heat was over.”
Kit sighed, moving to stand at one of the windows so he could stare out into the middle distance. “She was supposed to have a choice in this, Bear.”
I didn’t reply, mostly hoping that the fact she had tried to bond me twice before this meant her logical side would catch up to her instinctual one quickly when she was in a fit state to understand everything that had happened.
My instincts were satisfied that we had claimed her, made sure Morgan was ours forever, but I knew it wasn’t that simple. She was stubborn and she wanted to leave. I had no idea if a bond would be enough to dissuade her of that. I couldn’t, wouldn’t leave her. It might be hell on earth to follow her to town, but I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let her go without me.
“What do we do?” Ryder asked.
“Fuck if I know,” Maverick replied.
That was a succinct summation of the situation. A bond was permanent, so there was nothing we could do. Our omega would stay, or she wouldn’t. I had to hope we had endeared ourselves enough to her that she would want to stay with us.
With me .