8. After the Fire
After the Fire
EMERALD
I ’m startled awake to silence with blurred vision. Wh… what? Where am I?
Confused, my breaths come out heavy as wind breezes over my semi-cool, clammy, and naked skin.
I lay there, staring at the tree, feeling out of it, listening to the silence…
the eerie beat of my heart as it wraps around my ears and makes my heartbeat sound louder than it should.
My body feels… off. Sore. Weighted. Wet. Hot…
It’s too fucking hot. Still!
I blink slowly, and the world comes into focus. Faint sunlight bleeds through leaves overhead, the earthy scent of moss and sweat, the distant rustle of trees swaying in a breeze I couldn’t feel, but I feel him .
WAIT?!
He’s inside of me.
Still knotted.
I try to move, but a low brutal growl escapes the massive wolf-like beast behind me with its dick still lodged and burning deep in my core, locking me in place. I can’t move without feeling it… without feeling him.
My heart jolts in my chest as I search for the events that led to this, when the gentle rustling of the massive tree before us catches my attention. I notice a huge burn mark charred and in its trunk, but what’s even more shocking is that there is a green, blood-like sap pouring from it.
Murdoch.
Fire… burning… biting… licking… begging! By the Source, what have I done?! Everything comes rushing back. The Hunt. The fight. The surrender. The marking. Please tell me I didn’t!
My hand flies to the nape of my neck and I hiss at the raw, tender area where there is clearly a bite mark burned into my flesh. Marked. My stomach turns. I didn’t! I couldn’t! I wouldn’t !
“No,” I choke on my whisper, barely able to get the word out past the lump in my throat. “No, no, no…”
I was marked! How the fuck could I let this happen?!
The reality crashes against me like a wave of ice that leaves me hyperventilating.
What have I done?! Am I going to die?! I betrayed my oath to myself after I left that damn breeding camp… I swore on my mother’s grave I would never… that I would never fucking let an Alpha claim, mark or bind me!
I bite my bottom lip hard, shame washing over me, remembering how I begged to be taken…
how I pleaded for the beast to rut me like the animal it is!
I bite harder to keep the tears from spilling, so hard I taste blood.
My limbs feel heavy, my muscles ache, my body betrays me even now, as I lay curled around him like I’m meant to be here.
I knew better! I fucking knew better, and I still allowed it to dictate my life. Even now I recall the sick, disturbing pleasure that coursed through my body as he fucked me. I didn’t want it… but my body desired him, and my heat made it easy to give in. And that’s what makes me want toscream.
“Stupid,” I mutter, eyes burning. “Stupid, weak little Omega. Emerald, how could you? ”
I clench my jaw, tears slipping down my cheeks. I hadn’t just let him in. I welcomed him. I begged, cried for him, let him knot me and bury his scent into my skin like a fucking idiot.
Yet, here I am. Lying in a pile of leaves that smell of sex, sweat… filled, locked and branded.
I turn my head slowly, and there he is… Murdoch the beast, sleeping peacefully, his massive frame still pressed close, chest rising and falling slowly, calmly, contentedly. His wolfish arm rests over my torso, caging me in place, and no matter how I wiggle, I cannot move. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Panic spikes in my chest as I rummage around in my brain to figure out what is there to do next. However, I scrap trying to make a plan because the ache in my body is too fucking intense. I doubt it’ll carry me anywhere.
I try to calm my breathing, but how can I when the soreness between my legs, the sticky heat on my thighs, the dull throb of my neck where he’d bitten me, marked me, is a fucking reminder of how I fumbled my winning ticket to freedom?
My hands tremble as I press them to the bruises blooming across my hips, each one shaped like his grip. Like ownership.
Ughhhh !
His body is curled around mine, massive and warm, one arm draped across my torso as if I were something he cherishes .
But I’m not fooled. Rage swells in my chest, hot and raw, swallowing any confusion and shame, and fist my hand, drawing blood, spilling it into the dirt.
I use it to make clay until I make a small mushy spiky pike, and then I whisper a call to the earth.
The ground beneath us quivers, responding to the fury in my blood. Roots stir beneath the surface, my power stretching down into the earth,coiling, hardening my creation, leaving me with a needle-sharp spike in my hand.
I move slowly, carefully, quieting my breathing to make sure I don’t wake him then I turn fast, aiming straight for his chest, wanting to drive this son of a bitch straight into his heart .
He doesn’t even flinch… his eyes open lazily, red and glowing, not with surprise, but withamusement. He smirks devilishly, chuckling bored before smacking the spike away effortlessly and spinning me onto my stomach, pinning my hand to my back with a fiery rope. Shit!
“Really?” Murdoch rumbles, voice hoarse and low. “Yu t’ought I’d sleep t’rough t’at?”
Before I can react, a paw presses against my throat.
“Let go of me!” I shout, pissed and kicking wildly .
“Yu say that, but this pussy is grippin’ me knot so tight, I’m unable tu,” he growls.
“You disgusting fucking pig!” I sneer.
“Yu might be ontu sumet’in’… I am quite gluttonous,” he chuckles before licking my mark, making me shudder. His growl vibrates through me, setting my body on fire at his pure Alpha dominance, leaving me trying to fight him off me. I know it’s useless, but no matter what, I won’t give up.
“The moment you let me up, I’m going to kill you and break this mark,” I seethe, and he huffs.
“Oh, yu want to fight?” he snarls, dragging my wrists above my head. “After yu begged me so prettily fer it?”
“I didn’t beg!” I lie, teeth bared. “That was my heat ! That wasn’t me! ”
“Oh yeah? Let’s see yu not beg again,” he laughs maniacally, his knot swelling again, body pressing into mine like a wave too heavy to resist .
“Ughhhnnnnn!” I cry out, pussy thumping as a flood of heat wash over through me.
“Exactly, litt’l Omega. Yu can lie with that sexy litt’l mouth o’ yers,” he growls, fangs grazing my neck.
“But yer body tells me otherwise. Look how yer already whinin’ fer me,” he teases, and I buck, furious, but his weight holds me down.
By the Source, he’s strong! I lash out with my power again, earth cracking, wind swirling, but he growls, licking my mark, thrusting deeper into me, knot still fat and bulging inside me, causing my eyes to roll to the back of my head, making me fizzle under his touch.
“UHNNNN FUUUUCCCKKKK!” I gasp, choking, and my hips arch against my will.
“YEEAAAAHHHHHH FECKKK YEAH THIS IS THE FIGHTIN’ I WANT TU DO!” he groans darkly, lips against my ear.
“N-no…” I whimper, but my walls clench around him hungry… no, ravenous for his big ass dick, but I hate it… I… ugnnnn I hate it!
“By the Source, this is the best Omega pussy I’ve fecked!” he breathes, fucking me hard, fast, and rough. “Me Omega’s pussy so gud… me Omega’s scent… FECK YES!”
I want to scream. To kill him! But all I can do is bounce my ass against the onslaught of thrusts he has coming my way because even though I hate it, the delicious feeling in my belly is something even a warrior like me can’t fight.
“Ahhhh! No more, pleasseeee!” I cry out, delirious from the pleasure, losing my mind even though I’m trying to hold it together.
“Present your mark to yer Alpha, litt’l Omega!” he demands and I curl my lip, willing myself to use a bit of my power to cut the fire rope with wind and cover my neck.
“FUCK YOU!”
“WIT’ PLEASURE!” he smirks, slamming into me, causing me to rock forward out of breath as he pounds roughly into me, smacking noises echoing in the grove.
His deep, deliberate strokes are meant tobreakme…
to remind me I’m already his. Meant to blur the line between anger and desire until all that remains issubmission.
I hate him because no matter how many times I swear at him… no matter how much I fight, I see now this mark outweighs my will to fight.
“Ohhhh fuckkk ugggnnnn! Source, pleeeaaseeeee!” I cry out, scratching my mark, pussy gushing and gripping him as I whimper.
“Feck yes, this pussy always knows who’s dick tu gush fer an’ mold tu, even if the litt’l Omega it’s attached tu doesn’t,” he snarls, drilling into me once more, knocking all air out of me. When his knot begins to swell again, locking me in place, I don’t stop him. I only cry out.
Not from pain.
Not from his words
But because Igave in.
And my body is still whispering… please, don’t stop.
But I will never in my life tell him. So I lay there, panting for God knows how long until I come down from the high he took me on and his knot goes down, spilling the last bit of his seed into me, and I thank The Source I don’t break again.
When his dick slips from my depths, I stay still, not moving, secretly creating another spike as he gets up. Just as I go to strike, my mouth drops open when I see his bones crack, limbs twist, and the beast fold inward… only to rise again, as a man….
No… not quite .
A tall… very large… very savage man! His skin is dark and scarred, his chest broad and smeared with dirt and blood with glowing red tattoos.
Wild black hair tangled with leaves, fangs still gleaming beneath human lips.
By The Source! I cross myself as he cuts his red eyes over to me before he comes over and crouches down in front of me, naked and godlike, his burning gaze never once leaving my face.
And I’m ashamed… but my face goes hot as I try to avert my eyes at the thing lying on the dirt like a fucking elephant tr unk! Thicker than a canteen and by The Source… it… how could something be that long and thick… and fit inside people?!
“Hand it ’ere, lass,” he growls, holding out his hand, but I set my jaw firm.
“I don’t know what you’re talk—” He reaches over, making my pussy gush out his cum from tightening when I smell his pheromones as he snatches the spike from me.
As he grabs it, I use my left hand to go for this mother fucker’s jugular, but he bats both of my weapons away.
Just as I knew he would. I just needed a moment to run.
Noodle legs, sore pussy and ass be damned, I just want to get away, but feel heat on my back, limping I run as fast as my sprained leg will take me into the forest and look out the corner of my eye to see a fire whip.
In no time, this mother fucker lassos and catches me by the leg, making me lose my balance.
“Ugh! LET ME FUCKING GO! LET ME GO!” I shout, but he drags me, whistling nonchalantly as I kick and scream, clawing at the dirt without a fucking care in the world until he drags me to a tree far from the mother tree.
To my disgust, he binds my hands and grabs me up off my stomach, forcing me to sit down before he binds me tight to the tree.
“Stay! ”
“I HATE YOU!”
“Aye? An’ I’m supposed tu care?” he smirks and I spit at his feet, but he throws his head back laughing.
“Now, now wee litt’l Omega, if yu want tu spit on sumt’in’, I’ve got sumt’in’ else fer yu,” he snarls and I grit my teeth pissed, but I don’t say anything. I just turn my head muttering. “I t’ought so,” he snorts, walking away and I grit my teeth, silently vowing to kill him one day.