A familiar bleat cuts through the night, followed by running hooves. Before either of us can react, a small white missile launches itself at Marcus’s ass, tiny horns lowered in attack.

  Maple.

  Marcus curses as he launches forward, stumbling. “What the fuck—get this thing off me!”

  Maple’s attack gives me the opening I need. I twist in Marcus’s grip, stomping hard on his instep. He howls in pain, his hold loosening just enough for me to wrench myself free.

  “Run, Maple!” I shout, pushing the little goat away from us. “Get help!”

  Miraculously, she seems to understand, bleating loudly before darting through the maze. Marcus recovers quickly.

  “You little bitch,” he snarls, the cultured veneer completely gone now. “You’ll regret that.”

  I crash through the narrow passages of the maze, heart hammering against my ribs. Behind me, I hear Marcus gaining ground, his longer legs eating up the distance between us. I try to take a sharp left and head back towards the farm, away from the forest’s edge, but he tackles me from behind, sending me sprawling. The impact knocks the breath from my lungs as Marcus’s weight pins me to the ground. We’re still behind the maze, behind the tall stalks of corn.

  “Get off me!” I scream, thrashing wildly, but he’s too strong, too heavy.

  “Enough!” he barks, flipping me onto my back and straddling my hips. His face is twisted with rage, all pretense of civility gone. “I’m done playing games with you. You’re mine. Always have been. Emma, I selected you. Researched your bloodline, your family’s financial situation, and your education. I made an investment based on careful analysis, and investments don’t get to walk away.”

  I claw at his face, managing to rake my nails down his cheek before he captures both my wrists in one hand, pinning them above my head. With his free hand, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out something that glints in the moonlight.

  A syringe.

  Terror floods me. “What is that? What are you doing?”

  “Insurance,” he says, his smile returning as he uncaps the needle with his teeth. “A little something to make you more… compliant. No omega walks away from me. Ever.”

  I renew my struggles, bucking and twisting beneath him, but his weight holds me firmly in place. “Help!” I scream, my voice carrying across the empty field. “Somebody help me!”

  “No one’s coming,” Marcus says, pressing the needle against my neck. “By the time your little ‘pack’ figures out you’re gone, we’ll be miles away. And you’ll be begging me to claim you.”

  The needle pierces my skin, a sharp sting followed by spreading warmth as he depresses the plunger. I cry out, more in despair than pain.

  “What did you give me?” I gasp as he withdraws the needle, tossing it aside.

  His smile widens, cruel and satisfied. “Just a little heat inducer. Highly concentrated.” He leans down, his lips brushing my ear. “In about fifteen minutes, you’ll be in full heat. Desperate. Willing to do anything for relief.” His hand strokes my cheek with mock tenderness. “And I’ll be the only alpha around to help you.”

  Horror washes through me as I feel the first flush of unnatural warmth spreading from the injection site. Already, my skin feels too tight, too sensitive, where his body presses against mine.

  He pulls me to my feet, keeping a bruising grip on my arm as he drags me deeper into the forest. My legs feel increasingly unsteady, and my thoughts blur at the edges. The heat is coming on too fast, too strong—.

  “You’ll see,” Marcus continues, his voice taking on an almost dream-like quality. “Once I’ve claimed and bonded you, you’ll forget about those farmers. You’ll be where you belong—by my side, in my bed, carrying my mark.”

  “Please,” I whisper, seeing the car waiting just a little farther down.

  “You’ll be begging for something else soon enough,” Marcus says, his nostrils flaring as he catches the first hints of induced heat in my scent. “You’ll be all over me in minutes, Emma. And then you’ll be mine. Forever.”

  A distant sound reaches me through the growing haze of heat—a familiar bleating, followed by deeper voices calling my name.

  Maple found help.

  My mates are coming.

  But as another wave of heat washes through me, more intense than the last, I wonder with growing despair if they’ll be in time—or if the drug will turn me into exactly what Marcus wants before they can reach me.

  30

  Rowan

  I’ve never seen the farm look better.

  Jack-o’-lanterns everywhere, the haunted hayride had a forty-minute wait time earlier today, and the maze was packed with shrieking teenagers all day. Even with the extra security I insisted on hiring, we’re still turning a solid profit.

  “Preliminary numbers are in,” I tell one of the staff, checking my clipboard. “We’ve broken last year’s attendance record by thirty percent.”

  The young woman grins, adjusting her zombie outfit. “Should I tell the concession stand to start closing?”

  I check my watch—9:45 PM. “Give them fifteen more minutes. Let’s milk every last dollar out of this night.”

  As she walks away, I scan the crowd, looking for a familiar face in a witch’s hat. Emma should be helping Liam close down the petting zoo by now. My chest tightens at the thought of her, our omega, our mate.

  A commotion near the barn catches my attention—screams—not the playful kind from the haunted attractions, but genuine alarm. I break into a run, pushing through costumed visitors.

  “What the hell?”

  The petting zoo gate stands wide open. Chickens scatter across the pathway while rabbits hop between visitors’ feet. Two staff members pursue a pony as it trots toward the pumpkin patch.

  “The animals are loose!” someone shouts unnecessarily.

  Through the chaos, I spot a group of teenagers in skeleton costumes darting between the animal pens, opening gates, and creating havoc. Liam charges after them, his face a semblance of not-so-controlled fury.

  “Get the rabbits first!” he shouts to the staff. “And someone catch Buttercup!”

  I’m about to join the chase when Theo appears beside me, panting, his pirate hat askew.

  “Have you seen Emma?” he asks, eyes wide with alarm.

  “No, I thought she was with Liam at the petting zoo.”

  “She’s not. Liam lost his phone and thought she was with you.”

  A cold weight settles in my stomach. “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “About twenty minutes ago—”

  Theo stops abruptly when a familiar bleating cuts through the chaos. Maple charges toward us, her tiny devil horns askew, bleating more frantically than I’ve ever heard.

  We freeze, exchanging looks of dawning horror.

  “Emma,” I breathe.

  Maple turns and runs back the way she came, stopping to look over her shoulder with an unmistakable command to follow.

  “The maze,” Theo says, already moving.

  We sprint after the goat, shoving past confused visitors. Liam abandons his pursuit of the animals and skeleton-clad teenagers, falling in step beside us without a word.

  Maple leads us through the maze with unerring speed. As we near the back that borders the forest, we see it. A few corn stalks have been chopped down, and an opening leads out of the maze towards the forest.

  We charge forward into the forest. Then I smell it.

  Emma. Her scent has intensified. All-consuming.

  Heat. She’s in heat.

  But mixed with the sharp tang of her fear.

  “She’s being dragged,” Liam growls, pointing to the disturbed earth. “Someone’s taking her.”

  A feral rage rises in me, clouding my vision with red. My alpha instincts howl for blood, violence, and protection of what’s mine. I don’t think—I run, following that sweet scent.

  We burst through the tree line to find a nightmare scene. Emma, struggling weakly against Man’s grip as he drags her toward a waiting car. Around them, more men in skeleton costumes, adults, not teenagers, form a protective circle.

  “Let her go!” I roar, my voice barely recognizable to my own ears.

  The man turns, his perfect face twisting into a sneer. “Too late. She’s already mine.” He inhales deeply, showing appreciation for Emma’s heat scent. “Smell that? She’s ready to be claimed. By a real alpha.”

  “Marcus,” Liam growls beside me, his face transformed by rage.

  I don’t remember consciously deciding to attack. One moment I’m standing at the edge of the clearing, the next I’m charging forward, a snarl tearing from my throat.

  The skeleton-clad men move to intercept us. I plow into the first one without slowing, driving my shoulder into his midsection and sending him flying. Another swings at me—I duck under his fist and deliver an uppercut that snaps his head back.

  Liam and Theo are beside me, equally feral in combat.

  Liam goes through them like they’re made of hay. These men might look imposing in their fitted suits beneath the skeleton costumes, but there’s a difference between city fit and farm fit. Years of hauling feed bags, wrestling stubborn livestock, and working sixteen-hour days have made Liam a force of nature, a raw strength these men can’t match.

  One guard tries tackling him, and Liam picks him up and throws him into another.

  And Emma, my beautiful, fierce omega, even in her state, is fighting back. As Marcus tries to force her into the car, she twists in his grip and drives her knee directly into his groin.

  Marcus doubles over with a high-pitched howl, releasing her. Emma stumbles backward, her movements uncoordinated, her scent growing sweeter and more desperate by the second.

  “Get her!” I shout to Theo, who’s closest. “Get her away from him!”

  Theo darts forward, wrapping a protective arm around Emma’s waist as she sways on her feet. Her eyes are dilated—her skin flushed with heat.

  “He drugged me,” she gasps, her voice slurred. “Heat inducer.”

  A fresh wave of rage crashes through me. I turn back to Marcus, who’s recovered from the pain, and he charges at me.

  The arrogant prick doesn’t stand a chance.

  My fist connects with his jaw—once, twice, three times in rapid succession. His lip splits under my knuckles, blood spattering across his perfect, snobby face.

  “You drugged her,” I snarl, landing another blow to his ribs that makes him wheeze. “You tried to force her.”

  Marcus tries to speak, but I grab him by the throat, lifting him until his feet barely touch the ground.

  “You’re dead,” I growl, squeezing until he chokes. “You understand me? You come near her again, and I will end you.”

  “She’s mine,” he wheezes, his eyes bulging.

  “She chose us,” I snarl, tightening my grip. “She will never be yours.”

  A hand on my shoulder, Liam. “Rowan. Not like this.”

  I want to ignore him, to crush this pathetic excuse for an alpha beneath my hands. But Emma’s whimper cuts through my rage. I release Marcus, shoving him hard against the car.

  “You have five seconds to get off my property,” I tell him, my voice deadly quiet. “Or I finish what I started.”

  Marcus straightens, adjusting his suit with as much dignity as he can. “This isn’t over,” he spits.

  Those still standing, help the injured into cars. “But remember this, Emma, when you’re tired of playing farmer, I’ll be waiting.”

  “Listen carefully,” I growl. “She is ours. Our mate. Our pack. If you ever come near her again, what I did to you tonight will seem like a friendly handshake.”

  Marcus smirks; his arrogance still intact. “She’s in heat. She needs a real alpha.”

  “She has two,” I snarl and take a threatening step forward. “And a beta worth ten of you. But you seem to misunderstand the situation. So let me make it really clear for you. We’ve had security cameras installed throughout the property.” I pull out my phone, showing him the app with multiple camera feeds. “We have everything recorded.”

  His eyes widen slightly, the first sign of genuine fear.

  “How do you think that footage would look to your shareholders?” I continue, my voice deadly calm. “Your precious family name dragged through every news outlet and social media platform. ‘Ashcroft heir caught on video drugging, assaulting omega.’”

  Marcus swallows hard, his arrogance cracking. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Try me,” I growl. “One more threat, one more attempt to contact her, and it goes public.”

  His gaze darts between me and Emma, who’s being supported by Theo and Liam, her body trembling with the forced heat.

  “She’s not worth this much trouble,” he mutters, stumbling back toward his car, struggling to regain his dignity. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

  We watch as the car speeds away, gravel spraying from its tires. Only when it disappears do I turn back to Emma, my heart clenching at the sight of her.

  She’s trembling violently in Theo’s arms, her skin flushed, her pupils so dilated her eyes look black. The scent of her artificial heat is overwhelming now, sweet and desperate and wrong.

  “R-Rowan,” she gasps, reaching for me with shaking hands. “It hurts. Everything hurts.”

  I gather her against my chest, alarmed by the heat radiating from her skin. “We need to get her home. Now.”

  “I’ll tell the staff to shut down and the security to clear everyone out. It’s past ten anyway,” Theo says.

  I lift Emma into my arms. She curls against me, burying her face in my neck and inhaling deeply. A small, needy sound escapes her.

  “Alpha,” she whispers, the word sending a jolt of possessive pleasure through me despite the circumstances. “Need you.”

  “I’ve got you,” I promise, already striding toward the farmhouse. “I’ve got you, and I’m not letting go.”

  31

  Emma

  Fire burns beneath my skin. Every nerve ending screams for relief, for touch, for something to ease the inferno raging through me. I’m vaguely aware of being carried by strong arms cradling me against a solid chest, of Rowan’s deep voice murmuring reassurances that don’t penetrate the haze of need clouding my mind.

  “Almost there, Sweetheart. Just hold on.”

  My body arches involuntarily, seeking contact, friction, anything to soothe the ache building between my thighs. Slick gathers at my pussy, dampening my panties, seeping into my costume, the scent of my forced heat filling the air around us.

  “Alpha,” I whimper, burying my face against Rowan’s neck and inhaling his burnt sugar scent that now seems to be the only thing anchoring me to reality. “It hurts.”

  “I know, little omega. I know.”

  I’m barely aware of doors opening, climbing stairs, and hushed, urgent voices exchanging words I can’t quite grasp. Then, I’m being lowered onto something impossibly soft. I blink, trying to focus through the heat-haze, but the scents of my mates swirl around me and fill my mind.

  The bed beneath me is enormous, piled high with pillows and blankets in various textures—silks, velvets, and fleeces in soft blues, greens, and purples; they must have scent marked every object in this room just for me. The walls are a soothing pastel, and the lighting is dim and intimate.

  “Where am I?” I manage, my voice a rasp. Staying focused right now is a major chore, but knowing I am safe and with my mates helps me stay alert.

  “Your suite,” Rowan answers, pressing a cool cloth to my forehead. “We prepared it just in case.”

  A nest.

  Just in case. My omega keens with pleasure at the thought of my mates preparing a space just for me for this very moment.

  I struggle to sit up, fighting through waves of heat that threaten to drag me under. “How long have I been out?”

  “Not long. Twenty minutes, maybe.” Rowan’s face swims into focus, his expression tight with concern. “The drug Marcus gave you—it’s hitting your system hard.”

  Another wave of heat cramps crash through me, lighting my skin on fire, drawing a whine from my lips that I can’t suppress. Every nerve ending feels raw, exposed, desperate for touch. Slick pools between my thighs, soaking the bedding beneath me.

  “It hurts,” I gasp, clutching at his arm. “Rowan, it hurts so much.”

  His nostrils flare as he catches my scent, and his pupils dilate until his eyes are nearly black. His burnt sugar scent intensifies, taking on smoky notes of desire that make my mouth water. “Emma, we can’t—”

  “No,” I interrupt, gripping his wrist. Despite the drug-induced heat, my mind remains clear. The heat is overwhelming, but it hasn’t stolen my ability to think and choose. “I’m lucid, Rowan. I know what I want.”

  He studies my face, doubt evident in his expression. “Emma, you’re not in your right headspace. The drug—”

  “I’ve wanted this for weeks,” I tell him, reaching for his hand and guiding it between my thighs, under my panties where I’m soaked and swollen with need. “Wanted you, all of you with me for my heat—to claim me, to bond me… Tonight just… accelerated the timeline.”

  His breath catches as his fingers make contact with my slick-soaked skin. “Fuck, Emma.”

  The door opens, and Liam and Theo enter. Seeing them sends another pulse of need through me, but it’s not just biological. It’s emotional, too—a recognition of my chosen mates.

  My fated mates.

  “The visitors and staff are gone,” Liam says, his voice rough. His nostrils flaring as he catches my scent, his smoky bourbon aroma sharpens with desire, filling the room and making me purr with satisfaction.

  “How is she?” Theo asks, his voice gentle as he approaches the bed.

  “Burning up,” Rowan answers, his eyes never leaving my face. “But she says she’s lucid.”

  “I am,” I insist, peeling up my shirt, reaching for Theo’s hand as well, guiding it to my breast where my nipple pebbles instantly against his palm. “I know what I’m saying. I know what I want—what I need—right now.”

 

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