Page 1 of Monster’s Redemption (Monsters in the Mountains #9)
Blythe
A sob escaped as I pushed my way through the thick brush along the river’s edge. My burning flesh made the water too cold to stand, stealing my breath each time I attempted to cross, but the sounds of pursuit were growing louder behind me.
How could this have happened? I was supposed to be with Ricarie!
My heart clenched at the thought of my intended. We’d planned to be mated since we were young, our families happy with the match. I’d envisioned a life with him as my alpha, and it had all been stolen away in a moment.
“Blythe, you can’t get away. I can smell you, ripe and ready to be claimed. Be a good little omega and come to your alpha.”
My stomach churned, bile creeping up the back of my throat as another sob stole the air I needed to keep going.
A handful of days. A single handful of days, and my life would have been perfect. My heat would have been over, Ricarie and I would have bonded, and Dicean wouldn’t have had any reason to do what he’d done.
Instead, my intended laid where he’d fallen, his blood spilling from his neck in an impossible flood. He’d barely drawn a breath to warn his cousin away as Dicean approached us on our way to the bonding cabin, then I’d seen a flash. He was on the ground before I realized what had happened.
The way Dicean grinned at me, bloody knife fisted at his side, would haunt my dreams for eternity.
“The longer you ignore me and keep running, the rougher this will be for you.”
His voice sounded as if he was right behind me, and I stumbled over a branch in my scramble to move faster. I barely felt the sting of thorns scratching my flesh and catching in my hair.
“You were always meant to be mine, Blythe. Ricarie wasn’t half the alpha I am. You’ll learn that.”
My cheeks were the only part of me not burning, the cool spring breeze chilling my tears as they tracked down my face. My flesh was on fire from the hormones rushing through my bloodstream, and my muscles burned from the strain of trying to keep away from my intended’s murderer. I’d been lost in a haze as Ricarie had led me through the forest to the cabin we were to use during my heat, but the shock of seeing him die had cleared my head enough to focus on one thought.
Stay away from Dicean.
I couldn’t let him claim me. My life would be misery.
Even if he hadn’t killed Ricarie, the other alpha was not the kind I’d want myself tied to. I hadn’t liked him since I’d seen him kick a chicken because it happened to be in the path he was walking, and there were whispers he’d done worse to other animals as well as people. Not enough to be banned from the village, especially since he hadn’t been caught, but enough that all the women and children were wary of him.
I pulled my wandering focus back to what was in front of me. A tree had toppled over into the water, it’s roots still clinging to the shore as if they could drag the giant back upright, but it had clearly been down for long enough that other brambles had grown up around it, creating an impenetrable wall. I didn’t have the time to climb it even if I’d been wearing something more appropriate for the task than a dress, so there was no option but to swerve deeper into the forest.
The shadows beneath the canopy sent a shiver down my spine, the movement of branches and leaves swaying in the breeze ratcheting my heartrate even higher. I’d been a weaver, spending my days indoors by the window, not out traipsing through the trees. Even in my distracted state I was worried about what lurked behind the trunks and under the bushes, but if I stopped, Dicean would catch me.
A growl came from behind me, driving me forward despite the fears. What he would do to me would be far worse than anything an animal would. A wild animal wouldn’t bind me to it forever.
Could you bond with someone who didn’t have a soul? Dicean was surely too evil to have one.
My mind drifted for a moment, the world growing fuzzy as the pressure in my womb increased. The pain made me want to double over, but each time my steps slowed, the voice of the alpha following me would spur me on.
“Enough of this, Blythe, I’m tired of chasing you! Instead of letting you nest, I’m going to rut you in the dirt where I catch you.”
I barely choked off a whimper. Despite the fuzziness trying to steal my focus I could tell he was closer than before. I wasn’t woods-wise and didn’t have the first clue of how to hide my trail, and I knew it was only a matter of time before his strength simply outlasted mine, but I still wouldn’t stop. Every step I took could be the last one I made before being enslaved by the brute intent on claiming me despite the fact that I’d picked another.
Nothing would make me give in and let it happen without a fight.
The sun grew closer to the mountain peak, the shadows beneath the trees growing deeper. If I had been smarter I’d have run towards the village when Dicean killed Ricarie, but I’d been too shocked to do more than put space between myself and the alpha I didn’t want. Instead of running towards a chance of help, I’d run higher up the slope of the mountain that cradled my village at its base, and farther from anyone who might have intervened. With night falling, my freedom grew closer to its end.
A patch of brightness ahead drew me forward, my thoughts reduced to nothing more than to keep moving. The urge to run was stronger even than the desire to nest and hide, but a growing crunch behind me told me it was useless. A clearing wasn’t going to save me any better than the trees towering overhead.
“You should have picked me, and then you would have been fucked on a bed. Instead, we’re going to get a little dirty.”
I couldn’t stop the scream that ripped from my throat, my eyes darting over my shoulder as I stumbled into a weary run. My energy was flagging, my body hurting with how hard I’d pushed it while dealing with the cramps and fever of my heat, but I couldn’t give up.
Dicean’s chuckle followed me, the crunching that had been following me growing into crashing. I saw a bush shake before his bulky form appeared from behind it, the dimming light still bright enough to show his triumphant grin.
“There you are.”
My heart fluttered in my chest, my lungs heaving as I tried to push myself faster, but my body didn’t have much left to give. A cramp seized me as I tried to jump over a log, making me miss my step and sending me tumbling forward, my palms stinging from rocks beneath the leaf litter covering the ground. I tried to scramble up, to keep going, but fingers tangled in my hair and yanked me back before I could get my feet under me again.
“Good omegas don’t run from their alphas. They submit and present like a bitch is supposed to.”
The rough shove on the back of my head sent me face first into the ground, the coppery tang of blood mixing in my mouth with the bitter flavor of old leaves and dirt.
“P—Please, Dicean.”
He rumbled a growl as he kicked my legs apart, a yank on the skirt of my dress keeping me from crawling forward once I’d pushed up onto my hands.
“That’s right. Beg for me.”
I shook my head, tears blinding me to anything more than dark shapes and bright patches of light.
“No. No, please stop!”
I didn’t realize he was on his knees behind me until I felt them forcing mine wider as he took his position. The cool breeze stroked my legs as my dress was flipped up over my back, exposing me. I’d been excited to go to the bonding cabin with Ricarie and hadn’t bothered to wear underthings when he came to collect me from my parent’s home, so there was nothing to stop Dicean from dipping his fingers into my core, making me sob harder. The effect of my heat had my hips tipping to allow better access despite the way my heart ached and my mind screamed no.
His grip disappeared before tangling in my hair again, pulling my head back until my neck and back groaned with the strain.
“Omegas don’t get to say no. I’m your alpha now, and you’ll do as I want.”
He pressed himself against my opening, another cry escaping my lips as I tried to crawl forward despite his tight hold on my hair. My body warred with itself, the instinctive part ready to accept the alpha’s brutality, while the little part of my consciousness left that was me fought to resist as long as possible. It wasn’t even the physical invasion I feared as much as it was the idea of being bonded to him.
The fingers in my hair tightened as his other hand took hold of my hip. Bracing myself, I held my breath and hoped I’d get lucky enough to stop breathing forever.