Adrenaline sang in my veins, and I headed back to where I’d left Esme standing in the trees. From there, her scent would be a beacon to me. I knew my Omega wouldn’t make it easy, but there was nowhere she could hide. She was mine.

A possessive growl built in my chest, and I forced it to quiet. My thoughts needed to empty. This wasn’t the time for self-examination or anger about what she’d gone through. This was only about the two of us.

I let my Alpha rise, the strength of that side of me suddenly making my stride longer and my steps quieter. Long buried instincts showed themselves, and my senses sharpened. The woods no longer seemed as dark, lit by the sliver of the moon in the sky.

A cool breeze shivered between the trees, all the leaves rustling like a cascade of rain. The faint hoot of an owl overhead, and creaking of too-heavy branches.

There.

A trace of lilacs touched my nose, every sense focusing on the tiny trace of scent. I was close to where I’d left her. The mouthwatering flavor of her grew stronger. The tea under the flowers was bitter with anticipation, nerves, and the barest hint of fear.

I loved the sharpness of it, knowing my little Omega wasn’t afraid of me. She knew exactly what was going to happen and had every way to stop it if she wished. And that gave us both the freedom for anything.

The place where I’d left her was soaked with her scent. She’d stood here, waiting to get her bearings or for the car to disappear. Something. The pause was long enough to create a ghost of her, like a flare for my nose.

She’d headed straight away from the drop point, and the scent was fleeting in the wind, and because she’d obeyed. She was running.

I couldn’t control the hardening of my cock. She’d obeyed my order to run, and that alone was enough to make my body respond. The kind of trust it took for her to do this?

My baby was going to have the time of her life.

I followed the snatches of lilacs and brewed-too-long tea like they were shreds of fabric that had ripped off her clothes and left a trail. They wove back and forth—Esme’s attempt to mislead me.

All the way to the fence she wouldn’t be able to climb and back into the woods. At one point she led me in a circle, and I laughed, not caring if she heard.

Clever little Omega.

But the bursts of scent were growing stronger as she slowed down, unable to run forever. Rushing water was a low sound humming under everything now, blocking out the smaller sounds of the woods. I didn’t have to be as quiet, but neither did she.