Page 10 of A Very Knotty Halloween (Knotty Holiday #1)

My heart beats fast in my chest as I race through the maze.

I’m glad I wore regular shoes; I can’t imagine doing this in heels or even boots.

Barefoot might work, but the ground is uneven and there are sticks and stuff on the dirt below.

The masked alpha did warn that the maze was basically out in nature, and she was right—the walls might be made of cornstalks, and there might be fake spiderwebs with plastic spiders hanging here and there, but it’s all based off nature.

If there’s a large tree, then the path in the maze has a sudden turn.

I suppose it could be a way to keep markers, to remember where you are and where you’ve been, if you pay attention to things like that.

Me? I’m focusing on doing one thing and one thing only: running. I’m not going to lay down and let the alphas have me easy. If they want me, they’ll have to put in some work to find me. I just hope, pray that I won’t see Cas and he won’t see me.

I don’t know if I’m going to come across other omegas or not. We might’ve been given different paths—or they might just have taken longer to come out of that pitch-black hall before emerging at the same spot I did.

I don’t know how any of this works. This is all new to me, and as much as I hate to admit it, it is kind of exciting. Sabrina was right.

To my surprise, after a while of running, I make it to a large clearing, where there are no trees to speak of, only grass and dirt.

Since there are no trees, it means less shadows, lending to the moonlight shining so brightly it almost feels like it’s day.

The light reveals multiple paths I can choose from, all around me, and I hesitate for way too long, not knowing which one to take.

Obviously, I can’t stay in the clearing. I’m out in the open here. Still, how do people make such quick split-second decisions like this? I hate it.

The nighttime breeze blows past me, swirling around me, and with it comes the scent of alphas nearing.

Not Jack and Damien, and definitely not Cas.

I don’t know what would happen if a different group of alphas find me first, whether they’ll change their minds and decide maybe they want me after all.

Regardless, the scent of unfamiliar alphas in the air pushes me to make a decision.

I choose the path all the way across the field, to the left, and pray I picked the right one.

Yeah, yeah. It’s a maze. As long as it doesn’t lead to a dead-end, there are no wrong choices in a maze. You’re supposed to get lost, to get confused.

I’m not the most athletic girl around. Omegas tend to not be, while alphas seem to be great at every single sport under the sun.

I’m probably not as fast as I should be, and I stumble on things where there is nothing at all for me to trip on.

I wouldn’t say I’m the clumsiest omega around, but I’m definitely not ready to join any sports teams.

It goes like that for a while—although I eventually have to slow to a rushed walk instead of a mad sprint.

My stamina isn’t great, go figure. It feels as though hours have passed, when in reality it’s probably closer to a few minutes.

Crazy how time goes bonkers when you’re in an adrenaline-pumping situation like this.

And then, I kid you not, a certain alpha musk I didn’t want to smell again fills the air, alerting me to his nearness, and instead of hustling away, I freeze up, all the muscles in my body suddenly banding together and deciding not to work.

Burnt vanilla with marshmallows and campfire smoke, crackling wood and the lulling warmth that follows. Freaking Cas.

I try to snap myself out of it, to pull myself back to the present, because there’s no way in hell that my stepbrother would have taken my scarf and gone to hunt me.

No way. I don’t think Jack and Damien would let that happen, after what took place between us at the party.

He has to be nearby, hunting a different omega.

But, no. As the seconds tick by, his scent in the air grows stronger, thicker, and my heart pumps faster for a whole different reason. Instead of running away, I want to follow that scent. I want to run to it, breathe it in so deeply it becomes a part of me. I want to get lost in it.

What the hell is wrong with me? No, no, no. That’s a very bad line of thought. I need to snap myself out of it. I need to get going, otherwise who knows what’ll happen.

Though my body fights me every step of the way, I kick it into high gear again, heading further into the maze.

The alphas must have been let out at a different location; otherwise we’d all be on top of each other by now.

I don’t smell Jack or Damien anywhere; the only alpha musk I can pick out of the air belongs to Cas.

Where are they? Why do I feel like Cas is right on my ass? Something doesn’t feel right.

I follow the maze’s path, and it’s right after a sharp right turn that I run into a wall of cornstalks. They must be reinforced with something, because I don’t burst through them; it’s basically a wall of dried-up stalks that stop me dead in my tracks. Shit.

I don’t have time for this. I turn around, ready to backtrack, but what would you know? Cas really was right on my ass, because right then he rounds the corner with a smug expression on his face. And now that he’s not wearing a mask, I’m subjected to his full alpha-ness.

The sharp cheekbones. The square jaw. The chiseled features that make him look like a Greek statue come to life. He looks both similar to how he looked years ago and worlds different, no longer a fresh-faced alpha kid but a young alpha man.

And, I regret to inform you, he is incredibly hot.

Like, sizzling. Seriously, if you throw water on him, I bet that water turns to steam instantly.

He has the kind of looks that make omegas go crazy, and I am no exception.

The moment I see his face, my breath catches and my heart practically stops.

Everything I am, everything I strive to be, is lost just like that.

He has me in his web, and with his thick alpha musk filling my lungs every time I breathe in, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to surface again.

I want to go to him. I want to tackle him to the ground, straddle him, and make him mine—a thought I definitely shouldn’t be having about my estranged stepbrother. Yet here we are.

Somehow, after a long minute of staring and barely being able to resist my pull toward him, I’m able to ask, “Don’t you have another omega to chase?” Just the thought of him chasing anyone else fills me with a strange type of rage twinged with jealousy.

I don’t want him chasing anyone else tonight. He’s mine.

Crap. Bad Marnie.

Cas is slow in tilting his head, to the point where the expression he sends me reminds me of a dog that’s staring at something he doesn’t quite understand.

Head half-cocked, eyes open but slightly narrowed.

Of course, he’s not cute like a dog; he’s downright sexy in a way he has no right to be.

Twenty feet between us, and he might as well be on top of me.

“I think you’re mistaken,” he speaks, and his low voice—no longer muffled by that mask—is enough to send a delicious shiver down my spine. “If you’re expecting Damien and Jack to come along…”

“How do you—” The words barely leave my mouth when it dawns on me, the possibility I didn’t think about before, and his next words back that possibility up, confirming it as truth.

“Waiting for my pack mates to find you?” Cas reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pink scarf, the one I wore around my neck at the party. “Tsk-tsk. Here I thought you knew you’d be mine first.”

“You’re a pack,” I say, shocked to my core. “Why didn’t they say anything?” Jeez, no wonder it was like they knew who I was—they did. They did, because they knew Cas. God, I’m so stupid.

He runs his fingers along the scarf. “I told them not to. I wanted to watch, observe. You get along pretty well with them, wouldn’t you say?

” There’s an added edge to his voice when he says that, and I don’t bother denying anything.

If they’re really in a pack together, he had to have smelled me on Jack and Damien.

“Who knew you’d be so tempting they wouldn’t be able to keep their hands… or their mouths to themselves?”

My chest suddenly feels tight. “What kind of game are you playing, Cas?” If this is some twisted game to him, to them, if I fell for a lie… I’ll feel even worse. Call me weak, call me pathetic, but I don’t know if I can take it.

He steps forward, only once, but it’s a rather large step, a calculated one to begin to try to close the distance between us. “This isn’t a game. I came here so no other alphas would get their dirty hands on you.”

I laugh. I can’t help it. Since when does he care about being the chivalrous type? He hasn’t spoken to me or seen me since the wedding. “Like you care. When my dad married your mom, you pretty much told me you hated me.”

“Then, it was true. I blamed you for my parents splitting up, but… things are different now.” In the silver moonlight, I can see his jaw grinding.

“Ever since that fucking wedding, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.

You wanted nothing to do with me—understandable, I was an asshole to you—so I kept up with you through your friend, the one you came here with tonight.

She posts everything online, you know, and she has so many followers, she doesn’t vet every single one of them. ”

The more he talks, the more I realize what’s been going on.

He’s not lying. All these years, he’s watched me from afar, and Sabrina must have posted something about Mr. Holiday’s Halloween Hunt.

If he follows her anywhere, he knows we do everything together.

It wasn’t a huge leap to assume I’d be here, too.

Still, what are the odds? Infinitesimally small.

He tugs at the scarf with both hands, then gives me a gleefully twisted smirk as he says, “Damien and Jack are hanging back until I’m done with you.” Another step toward me, and I mimic him by taking a step back, backing up to the dried cornstalk wall behind me.

Crap. I have nowhere to go.

I swallow hard before I ask, “So is this about making sure I don’t hook up with any random alphas, or is it so you and your pack can have me for the night?”

He chuckles then. “Does it matter? I told myself for a while that I’d be the protective big brother I should’ve been all these years, but I think Jack and Damien knew the truth the entire time.

Now that we’re here, now that I’ve found you—there’s only one thing on my mind.

” His blue eyes seem almost silver in the moonlight, glimmering with an unnatural hue, as if his excitement, his hunger, is manifesting itself. “Claiming you.”

Though every part of me sings for joy at hearing that—stupid omega instincts—I can’t fight the urge I have to run, to put more distance between us, somehow. I could never outrun him on an even race, but…

I stick my hand through the cornstalks behind me, feeling for whatever is holding them up. Something is strung around them, some kind of metal fencing. Not chain-link though, and my wandering hand finds a gap behind me.

Is it wide enough that I can squeeze through? I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.

“Sorry to say,” I start, pushing apart the cornstalks behind me as I glare at Cas, “but that won’t be happening.

” The moment I finish speaking, I turn away from him and duck, squeezing my body through the maze’s wall and emerging onto the other side.

It’s too small a gap for him; he’ll have to run around it.

He’s fast. His footsteps are loud on the other side of the wall, and I hear him say, “Like I’m going to let you go that easily.”

My feet back up as I realize the wall is shaking—because the jerk is climbing it.

He’s climbing over the cornstalk wall which is a good eight feet high, and totally cheating in the process.

I mean, I guess I cheated too by slipping through it, but if anyone should be allowed to cheat, it should be me, not him.

I turn around and start to run once I realize what’s happening, but it’s too late. I’m too slow. I lingered there too long. Ten seconds later, I’m caught by two thick, strong arms—and then he brings us to the ground, to the dirt and the leaves below, pinning me there effortlessly with his body.

His nose grazes mine, his breath hot on my face. He still holds the scarf in one hand even though he pins my wrists down. As if I’d struggle. As if struggling would be worth it at this point.

Besides, some sick part of me is enjoying this. I’d be a liar if I claim that I don’t find him attractive, if I say I’m not pulled in by his scent.

Fuck. His scent alone is enough to drive me insane.

“As if you could outrun me,” he murmurs. “Looks like you’re mine now, Marnie.” And he’s right: he has the upper hand here. I’m powerless to stop him. Heck, at this point, I don’t even know if I want to stop him.

Maybe it’s the fiery omega in me, but I whisper, “Are you forgetting something? I can say my safe word and just like that, you’ll be out. You’ll be out and I’ll be free to hook up with any alpha I want—”

“No.” He doesn’t use his dominance, but I can hear the edge in that word.

It’s firm. It oozes confidence. “You won’t say your safe word.

You know how I know? Because there’s no way you smell this goddamn good to me and it’s not the same for you.

Fate introduced us when we were too young, but now?

Now there’s nothing to stop it. Tonight you become mine. ”

Cas lowers his nose to the crook of my neck, and his lips graze over my scent gland, making me squirm. As much as I wish it wasn’t true, I arch my neck and give him a nice, proper display of submission, and he responds by inhaling my scent like he’s an addict and I’m his drug of choice.

Just like that, I know it’s over for me. Whatever resistance I had before fades in the blink of an eye. It might be wrong, but how wrong can it really be when his scent lures me in like a moth to a flame? If I smell as good to him as he does to me, it really was just a matter of time.

“You’re mine now, omega,” he purrs out the word, his chest humming with appreciation, and that combined with the way his muscled body presses down upon me, makes me clench my thighs together in one final act of desperation, to try to stop the inevitable.

But I can’t stop it. I can’t deny the way my body responds to his, and because of that, my panties dampen with slick.

It’s over. It’s so, so over.