Page 8 of Mating Mia (The Alphas’ Perfect Prey #2)

five

. . .

Mia

A n hour later, Jace is carrying me back to the cabin.

I press my face against Jace’s neck, inhaling his rain-scent, trying to focus on anything but the growing ache between my thighs. The sheet wrapped around my naked body feels damp with sweat and slick, and I know the others will smell my returning need the moment we step through the door.

The cabin comes into view through the trees, a rustic sanctuary in the wilderness with smoke curling from the chimney. Someone has probably lit a fire. The thought of warmth is comforting, but I know it will only exacerbate the fever.

“I wonder if my dad woke up,” I say out loud.

“I’m so sorry about your dad, Mia,” says Jace as he pushes the cabin door open, carrying me inside. “Let’s hope he’s doing better.”

The interior is warm and smells of pine from the burning logs in the fireplace.

Kane sits in an armchair facing the door, his posture rigid, his eyes instantly locking on us as we enter.

His nostrils flare, and I know he’s inhaling my scent- the evidence of Jace’s claim on me along with the renewed honeyed sweetness of my returning heat.

A low growl rises from his chest, possessive and jealous.

“How is she?” he asks Jace, though his eyes never leave my face.

“Better,” Jace answers, carefully setting me down on the couch. “For now. But it’s starting again.”

Kane’s jaw tightens, a muscle ticking beneath his skin. “I can smell that,” he says, the words clipped and sharp. “I can smell him all over you, little omega.”

Heat rises to my cheeks, which has nothing to do with my condition. Kane’s jealousy is palpable, filling the room like a physical presence. I clutch the sheet tighter around me, suddenly feeling exposed despite being covered.

“I needed help,” I say quietly, not quite meeting his eyes. “You know I did.”

“And I was right here,” Kane replies, his voice deceptively soft but edged with steel. “Ready to give you exactly what you needed.”

“I told you, I couldn’t… not with my father right there,” I explain, frustration coloring my tone.

Kane stands abruptly, his tall frame imposing as he approaches the couch.

“So instead, you let Jace take you into the woods. Let him knot you where I couldn’t see or hear you moan in pleasure from your heat.

” He crouches down, bringing his face level with mine, his scent washing over me and making my insides clench with need.

“Did you enjoy it, little omega? Sneaking away with my packmate?”

“It wasn’t like that,” I protest, though my body betrays me, responding to his dominance with a fresh gush of slick. “I was in pain. I needed relief.”

“I could have given you relief,” Kane says, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, the touch gentle despite the possessiveness in his tone.

I lean into his touch despite myself, craving the connection.

“I know,” I whisper. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. That wasn’t my intention.”

Kane’s thumb strokes across my lower lip, his eyes darkening as he watches my reaction.

“Next time,” he says, the words a clear command rather than a suggestion, “you come to me first. No matter what. Understood?”

I should be annoyed at his high-handedness, should argue that I have the right to choose which of my mates helps me through my heat. But my omega instincts respond to his dominance, to the clear assertion of his place in our pack hierarchy.

“Yes, Alpha,” I murmur, the title slipping out of my mouth.

A satisfied rumble emanates from Kane’s chest at my submission. He leans forward, pressing a brief, claiming kiss to my lips before standing again.

“Get some rest, my love,” he says. “I need to check on the perimeter, make sure we weren’t followed.”

He leaves, the front door closing behind him with a bit more force than necessary. Jace sighs from where he’s moved to the kitchen doorway.

“Don’t mind him,” he says with a small smile. “He was worried sick about you when you were taken. Then to see you come back with my scent all over you... His alpha pride is bruised, that’s all.”

“I should talk to him later,” I say. “And explain better on why I absolutely refuse to get intimate here.”

“Give him time to cool off first,” Jace advises. “In the meantime, how about some food? You must be starving.”

As if on cue, my stomach growls loudly, reminding me that I haven’t eaten a proper meal since the restaurant dinner that seems like a lifetime ago.

“Food would be amazing,” I admit. Suddenly, Finn emerges from the hallway that leads to the bedrooms, his expression solemn.

“Your father is sleeping,” he informs me, coming to sit on the edge of the couch. “Kane and I managed to clean and bandage the worst of his wounds. He’s severely malnourished and dehydrated. But with proper care, he should recover.”

Relief floods through me, so intense it momentarily drowns out the building heat in my veins.

“Thank you,” I say, reaching for his hand and squeezing it gratefully. “For everything. For helping save him. For taking care of him now.”

“He’s your blood,” he says simply, kissing me on the lips, as if that explains everything. And in a way, it does. To werewolves, to pack, blood ties are sacred.

The day passes by slowly in a haze.

I manage to eat the simple meal Jace prepares, which consists of canned soup and crackers found in the cabin’s pantry, and even keep it down, which feels like a victory since I don’t have the slightest appetite during my heat.

I check on my father constantly. I had sat beside his bed for an hour, watching the shallow rise and fall of his chest, studying the face that somehow seemed familiar despite never having seen it before.

But as evening approaches, the heat intensifies again, becoming impossible to ignore.

My skin feels too tight, my breasts ache, and the emptiness between my thighs becomes a gnawing, insistent void. I catch Kane watching me throughout the day, his dark eyes tracking my every movement, nostrils flaring whenever a powerful wave of need washes through me.

The tension between us builds with each passing hour, a rubber band stretching to its limit, ready to snap. When I finally excuse myself to get a glass of water, I’m not surprised when I hear his heavy footsteps following me to the kitchen.

I’m standing at the sink, glass in hand, when he enters, closing the door behind him with a quiet click that somehow sounds like finality. I don’t turn around, but I feel him approaching, feel the heat of his body as he stops just inches behind me.

“You’re in pain again,” he says, his voice a low rumble that sends shivers down my spine. It’s not a question.

“Yes,” I admit, setting the glass down with hands that tremble slightly. “It’s building back up.”

Kane’s hands land on my hips, large and warm through the thin sheet I’m still wrapped in.

“I can help with that,” he murmurs, his mouth close to my ear. “If you’ll let me.”

My breath catches as one of his hands slides around to my stomach, resting possessively over the barely-there swell where our child grows. “But my father?—”

“Is unconscious in a room with the door closed,” Kane interrupts, his fingers splaying wide across my belly. “And Finn and Jace are outside, securing the perimeter. We’re alone, little omega. No excuses this time.”

I should resist, should insist on moving to a bedroom at least, but my body betrays me, pressing back against him, seeking his warmth, his strength, his claim.

“Kane,” I breathe, the fire in my veins growing hotter.

He growls, satisfied, his hands moving to the knot holding my sheet in place.

“I’ve been watching you all day,” he says, tugging the fabric loose. “Smelling your heat. Smelling Jace on you. Do you know what that does to an alpha?”

The sheet falls away, pooling at my feet, leaving me naked and vulnerable in the kitchen. Kane’s hands immediately return to my body, one sliding up to cup my breast, the other dipping between my thighs to find me already wet and swollen with need.

“So ready,” he murmurs approvingly, his fingers gliding through my folds from behind me. “Always so ready for me.”

I gasp as he finds my clit, rubbing me gently, but it makes my knees weak.

“Oh god.”

Kane’s mouth descends onto my neck. His teeth graze the mark he left there months ago—the claim that made me his.

“Bend over,” he whispers softly but with the alpha command injected into his voice. “Hands on the counter.”

I obey without hesitation, bending at the waist, my palms flat on the cool countertop. The position leaves me completely exposed to him, my ass raised, my sex glistening and ready. I hear the rustle of clothing as Kane unbuckles his belt, then the distinctive sound of a zipper being lowered.

“Mine,” he growls, one hand gripping my hip while the other guides his cock to my entrance. “Say it, Mia. Tell me who you belong to.”

“You,” I gasp as the head of his cock nudges against me. “I belong to you, Kane.”

He pushes forward in one mighty thrust, filling me, stretching me around his thick cock. I cry out, the sound echoing in the small kitchen, my fingers curling against the countertop as pleasure radiates to my belly from where we’re joined.

“That’s right,” Kane says, his voice strained with the effort of holding still inside me.

“You’re mine. My omega. My mate. The mother of my pup.

” His hands grip my hips tightly, holding me in place as he begins to move, each thrust deliberate and deep.

“And I’m going to remind you exactly why you should have come to me first.”

He begins to thrust deeper and faster. I bite my lip to hold back from moaning out loud in case anyone hears me.

The counter edge digs into my hipbones, but the discomfort is nothing compared to the pleasure building with each powerful thrust. Kane’s hands are everywhere—gripping my hips, tangling in my hair, reaching around to pinch my nipples or circle my clit.

“Feels so good,” I whimper, my eyes rolling back.