The alpha gave a bark of laughter that was forceful enough to send a trio of blackbirds flying from their perch on a branch high above him.
"Do you really think a fucking beta would be able to do this to me?" he demanded. "They'd have to kill me first. I'd really like to see them try."
Hope swallowed down the knot that was forming in her throat. "Then who did this to you?"
"I did."
He'd chained himself up?
"But…why?"
The alpha cocked his head, the muscles and tendons in his neck standing out. "Unchain me, and I'll tell you."
Oh, hell no.
Hope had seen that predatory look before. It was the expression he'd worn when she'd nearly collided with him while running for her life. The same dangerous focus shone in those dark eyes then. The desire to control, to use his strength to crush. Maybe even to kill.
But this time, the alpha was the powerless one. Hope might be smaller and weaker, but she was free. He was tied up like a wild animal. She might still be tired and sore from her injuries, but she was far from helpless.
So, why the hell was she still sticking around and talking to this terrifying creature?
The alpha must have sensed what she was thinking because a mocking smile twisted his lips. He slowly shook his head. "It won't work," he said. "You can't leave."
The hell she couldn't.
Hope turned on her heel and ran as fast as her bare feet could carry her—which admittedly wasn't very fast. At least there was a dirt path leading away from the cabin that was mostly free of rocks and twigs.
She probably should have taken the time to grab shoes, but panicked minds weren't great at planning. And right now, Hope's most pressing concern was getting as far away from the huge, terrifying alpha as possible.
So why the hell was she suddenly slowing down?
Hope barely made it around the corner of the one-room house before her legs started to feel heavy. As though lead weights had been strapped to her ankles, she struggled to pick up her feet. She only made it a few more strides before she stopped cold.
She wasn't tired—well, not exhausted, anyway. Her lungs, her heart, her muscles were all fine. But something inside her flat out refused to move. No matter how hard she tried, Hope couldn't take another step.
Even more frightening was the overwhelming urge she felt to go back. The irresistible need to return to the warmth of the bed she'd woken up in, the security of the simple cabin…the strength of the alpha.
Gritting her teeth, Hope tried with all her might for one more step…just one more. But her traitorous body refused to budge.
An anguished sob tore from her throat.
"I told you," the deep voice mocked her from around the bend.
Fuck him.
Hope spun around, not caring about the tears that were coursing down her cheeks. Given that she was ankle-deep in dirt and dressed in a torn-up castoff dress, she was far past dignity.
Hope walked back in view of the alpha, making sure to stay back from the limits of his chain.
"What the hell is happening to me?"
A smug expression settled in the alpha's coal-black eyes. "You're an omega. My omega."
"No!" The denial burst from Hope's mouth before she had a chance to fully consider his words. "That's ridiculous. It—It's impossible."
The alpha shook his head slowly…almost sadly.
"I wish that were true," he said. "For both our sakes. But your nature started to change the second I picked you up."
Hope took a step back, desperate to escape the terrible thing he was telling her. It couldn't be true. It couldn't.
But how the hell would she know? She'd obviously been unconscious for days. Someone had been looking after her all the time, tending her wounds and making sure she lived. It couldn't have been the alpha—not if he had been locked up the whole time.
Hope was grasping at straws. He had to be lying to her. Trying to convince her she was an omega so that she would…what, volunteer to have sex with him?
But no. If all he wanted was sex, he could have forced her by now. But instead, he'd…
"Why are you out here chained by the neck to a tree?"
"Because you started to go into heat," he said, starting to pace again. "And I was told that if I mated with you while you were still recovering, you wouldn't survive."
Hope blinked. What? It was too crazy to believe.
Not that having sex with him would kill her. That wouldn't surprise her at all.
But the idea that this alpha would be so overwhelmed with lust for her that he'd had to restrain himself to keep from literally fucking her death…
It couldn't possibly be true.
But even now, the alpha was tearing at the chain as if trying to break it, his muscles bulging, the massive tree behind him groaning under the strain.
Hope backed up a few more steps onto the cabin's simple wooden porch and pressed her back against the door.
"You can't run from the truth," the alpha taunted her. He lifted his chin and stared openly at her body. "I can smell the slick starting to run down your thighs. I know you can feel it."
Hope shook her head…but it was true. The wet heat that had trickled between her legs just minutes before was now flowing like a goddamn river. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from his broad chest and defined abdominal muscles.
"Give me the key, and I can scratch that itch inside you," the alpha wheedled, his voice seductively low. "I can give you everything you're craving."
The key. Hope glanced down at her clenched fist. Slowly, she opened her palm. The metal caught the light, glinting in the sun.
Maybe…she should give it to him. After all, he'd saved her life, right? And those cravings he was talking about kept growing stronger with every word he said. And…
No!
What the hell had she been thinking?
Hope snapped her
