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  “What?”

  “Why were you so afraid out there?”

  “What do you mean? You know why. I thought the Savage Rangers had come and taken you while I was asleep.”

  “I know,” she said. “But if that was what had happened, that would mean they’d obviously decided to leave you alive. I know you want to turn me in so you can collect the reward money, but you seemed...I don’t know. More upset than that.”

  Emmett was quiet for a long moment. He looked as though he was wrestling with the idea of saying something. Hazel didn’t speak, hoping that he’d vocalize whatever was on his mind.

  The truth was that she had liked the idea of Emmett worrying about her. And not just because that meant he cared whether she lived or died—although it was certainly good to think that he cared about that. But there was more to it than just survival.

  Somewhere in the middle of fleeing on foot all evening and on the bike all night, sometime during the process of running from the Savage Rangers, Hazel had realized that she was attracted to Emmett.

  Not that anything could come of that. She belonged to the Coywolves, and she would be mated to a Coywolf. She knew that. If there was a question of them not wanting her with the brand on her arm, she would definitely be ruined for them if she slept with another man.

  But a girl could dream.

  And after all her long years growing up with the Coywolves, knowing she was fated to belong to one of them and feeling absolutely nothing, it felt wonderful to feel something for a man. To know that she was capable of these feelings. To know that they really did exist, and that she would get to have them just once before her fate was sealed.

  Hazel Lang had a crush.

  And, as unlikely as it was, she wanted to believe that he felt something for her too.

  Chapter Eight

  EMMETT

  Being in the motel room with Hazel was beginning to make Emmett itch.

  When he told her he was going outside for a smoke, she looked at him as though he was crazy. “You just flipped out because I went outside,” she reminded him. “Now, you’re going out?”

  “No one is hunting for me,” he told her. “The Savage Rangers haven’t even seen me. They might walk right by me and not even know I’m with you, for all we know.”

  “Or they might not,” she shot back. “They’re tracking my scent. You’re saying you don’t think it’s on you after that motorcycle ride?”

  “Go to bed,” he said. “You got your food. Now, I want you to get some sleep.”

  “What about you, though?”

  “One cigarette. Then I’ll come to bed too.”

  He could tell she didn’t like it, but she nodded.

  He wasn’t a regular smoker, but sometimes, stress could provoke irregular behavior, a fact Emmett knew all too well. Out on the balcony, he lit one up and leaned on his elbows, staring out over the empty parking lot.

  Why had he panicked so intensely when he’d thought he had lost her?

  It wasn’t about the fifteen thousand, that was for sure. He wanted that money, and it would be no end of useful to his pack, but it wasn’t worth losing his cool the way he had. When he’d thought the Savage Rangers had gotten her again, it had felt like the end of the world. Why?

  He didn’t know, but it scared him.

  She’s just a job, he told himself firmly. If all goes to plan, I’ll be handing her over in a day or two, and then I won’t have to worry about whatever that feeling was anymore. But as he thought this, his stomach swooped sickeningly, and an even more unwelcome realization broke over him. He was dreading the day he had to return her to her family. He wasn’t ready to give her up.

  Crazy. You’re crazy.

  Maybe he was. As alpha of the Hell’s Wolves, he had always made it clear to his pack that they were a brotherhood. There was no room for women, no room for love and the possibility of offspring. That was more trouble than anyone needed on the road.

  He finished his cigarette, went back inside, and laid down on his bed. Hazel had fallen asleep. He’d thought she would. It had been a mistake to try to make her sleep without eating first. He should have known she’d be too hungry to relax after several days of being held captive, after that fever she’d been running when he’d first picked her up. Of course, her body needed to refuel. Now that she had, he thought, she’d probably sleep like the dead.

  She lay on her side, curled up slightly as if she had something to protect. The shirt they’d given her was too big, and it had slipped off one of her narrow shoulders, exposing pale, clear skin. She looked so soft—

  Emmett rolled away. What was he thinking? She was a job, not a one-night stand he’d met in a bar. He couldn’t go succumbing to the charms of an omega, of all things! Her family would never take her back if he did that. He’d be out the fifteen thousand dollars she was worth to them, and she would be out a home.

  And yet, he couldn’t deny the sudden urge to go over to where she lay, to lay down beside her and draw her into his arms. He couldn’t deny the need to have her close.

  He had heard the gossip about omegas, that they were irresistible, that they possessed charms fit to break down any mortal shifter man. He had heard barflies chatter about how they had once met omegas who seemed to shine as brightly as the sun. Some shifters spoke of them as if they were magical creatures, as if all sense and reason disappeared from a man when he laid eyes on an omega. These stories had always made Emmett laugh. They weren’t true. He knew better. Hell, he’d seen his share of omegas in the process of finding missing family members and returning them to their packs. Omegas tended to go missing a lot. But he had never felt anything like this.

  He wanted her.

  When Emmett, or any of his pack, wanted a woman, they went to a bar. It was never difficult to find some pretty girl eager for a one-night stand. But this was different. He didn’t want a woman. He wanted her. He knew, without knowing how he knew, that no one else would satisfy the craving currently dominating his mind.

  Could it somehow be the fact that she was an omega? He’d been around them before, it was true, and felt nothing. But maybe there was something special about this omega. Maybe there was something different about her.

  Whatever it was, he was willing to bet that was why the Savage Rangers had wanted her too, and why the Coywolves were paying such a premium to get her back.

  With a sigh of frustration, he rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He needed to get his head back in the game here. He was separated from his pack, and God only knew whether they were still alive. He was on the run from one of the most vicious wolf packs he’d ever encountered. And he was fighting for the kind of money his pack had never had. If they got this payout, he knew, it would change all their lives forever.

  He couldn’t afford to be distracted by a pretty girl.

  Punching his pillow into a new shape, he rolled over and closed his eyes, determined to forget all about Hazel for a few hours.

  HE AWOKE TO THE SOUND of the shower running. Leaning over to check the clock beside the bed, he saw that he’d slept for about six hours. Shit. That was longer than he’d meant to sleep. If the Savage Rangers had caught their scent, he had given them plenty of time to catch up to them. They would have to get moving again, and quickly.

  Provided they weren’t already cornered.

  He squatted low and slipped out onto the balcony, pressing his back to the stucco wall. Slowly, cautiously, he rose up on his toes and peered over, looking for any sign of the Rangers.

  Nothing. The parking lot was still empty except for his bike. The gravel hadn’t even been touched.

  He let out a sigh of relief and stepped back into the motel room in time to hear the shower turn off. A moment later, Hazel came out of the bathroom with one towel wrapped around her head and another around her body.

  The view left absolutely nothing to the imagination. He could see every curve of her. The towel stopped at the very top of her long thighs, leaving miles of
leg on display. He remembered, suddenly, having those thighs wrapped around him as they’d fled on the motorcycle yesterday. It occurred to him suddenly that they would be in the very same position shortly.

  He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. The Rangers hadn’t caught up with them yet, and that was a lucky break. He’d be damned if he was going to squander it standing around staring at Hazel. “Get dressed,” he said shortly.

  She raised her eyebrows at his tone but said nothing and reached for her clothes. Emmett studied the carpet until he heard the bathroom door close and knew she was once more on the other side of it.

  God. What was he going to do with her?

  She was out a moment later. “You promised breakfast,” she reminded him.

  He had. And even though he was eager to get back on the road, he was hungry too. Better they get something to eat now, before the need to do so became urgent. “All right,” he said, “but it’s going to have to be someplace fast. We have to get moving.”

  A look of cautious trepidation came over her face. “They haven’t caught us, have they?” she asked.

  And dammit all to hell if that expression wasn’t every bit as attractive as her body. He felt a physical compulsion to go to her, to take her in his arms and protect her. To keep her safe. He’d heard people talk about this feeling, a drive to protect their omegas in the face of danger.

  But she’s not my omega, he reminded himself fiercely. She’s just a job.

  “No sign of them,” he said. “But let’s keep it that way.”

  She nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Just stay behind me,” he said. “I don’t think they’re down there, but it’s possible they’ve set some kind of trap. If there’s a fight, I want them to hit me first.”

  “Okay.” She was pale, but her jaw was firm, and he thought she would be able to handle herself.

  “If I’m killed,” he added, “you run.”

  “Is that likely?” She looked scared.

  “No,” he said. “We’re going to be fine. We’re just going to walk down to the bike, get on, and drive away.”

  She nodded.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  As it turned out, the walk down to the parking lot went without a hitch. Emmett had been right to think that there were no Rangers down there. Wherever they were, they hadn’t caught up with him and Hazel yet, which meant that they probably didn’t have their scent.

  They were probably looking in the wrong direction.

  That was an encouraging thought.

  “THIRTEEN DIFFERENT kinds of omelet?” Hazel stared, wide eyed, at her menu. “I didn’t know there were different kinds.”

  “Of course, there are different kinds.” Emmett couldn’t help laughing at that. He spent most of his mornings in diners, and he’d seen just about every omelet humankind could devise. “Omelets are just eggs with anything you want thrown in.”

  “Rita always made them with cheddar cheese,” Hazel said. “When we got them back home.”

  “That’s it?” he asked. “No vegetables?”

  “No.”

  “No meat?”

  She looked scandalized. “We never had meat with breakfast! Meat is a dinner food.”

  “What about bacon?”

  “That’s not good for you.”

  “You’ve never had bacon?” He was floored. “Okay, you’ve got to let me order for you.” He reached across the table and took the menu out of her hands.

  She snatched it back. “I want an omelet. I don’t need you to order for me.”

  He chuckled. “Fair enough, I’m sorry. Will you at least get it with a side of bacon, please? You’ve been missing out.”

  She eyed him dubiously. “Matthew says only savages eat meat before five o’clock.”

  “Savages, huh?” For a guy who couldn’t get out of the house and go rescue his own omega, Matthew sure seemed to have a lot of opinions about how other people should live. “Well, live savagely for once in your life then. You’re not going to regret it, I promise you.”

  The waitress came around, poured them each a cup of coffee, and took out her order pad. “What can I get for you?”

  “Chorizo skillet, please, and a side of bacon.” Emmett handed her his menu.

  “For you, ma’am?” she asked, turning to Hazel.

  Hazel looked at Emmett.

  Emmett raised one eyebrow.

  “The spinach omelet,” she said decisively, and handed over her menu.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Nope. Nothing. That’s it.”

  When the waitress was gone, Emmett burst out laughing. “Wow,” he said. “You really don’t want that bacon, do you?”

  “You’re not my alpha,” she said, smirking at him.

  “If I was your alpha, you’d be eating bacon at every meal. No meat before five o’clock! What a weird rule!”

  “It’s for health,” she said primly.

  “Bacon doesn’t magically become healthy when the sun goes down,” he chortled. “Man, though, that’d be amazing. I would eat entire bacon meals.”

  “You have an obsession.”

  Hazel ignored him and added creamer to her coffee.

  “So,” Emmett said, striving to sound casual. “Matthew.”

  “What about him?”

  “He says you and he aren’t, you know. Mated.”

  “Yeah, we’re not. So?”

  “So, nothing. I’m just interested, I guess, in how it all works. I’ve never had an omega in my pack.” He was lying through his teeth and he knew it. He was interested, all right, but not in a vague sociological way. He wasn’t making a study of pack dynamics. He knew how mating worked. He wanted to know how it was going to work for her.

  And he should not be pursuing that line of questioning. He should not want to know that. Not only was it thoroughly not his business, but he was also allowing himself to fixate on his attraction to her when he should be letting it go. You have an obsession, she’d said. She had no idea.

  She picked up a pack of crunchy breadsticks and opened it. “I’m twenty-three years old,” she said. “That’s prime mating age.”

  “Is it?” He’d never heard that before.

  “Well, that’s what Matthew says.”

  “Okay, but Matthew also says you shouldn’t have meat with breakfast.”

  “Do you want to hear this or not?”

  “Okay, sorry.”

  “So, the pack just celebrated my twenty-third birthday,” she said. “That’s not like a regular birthday. It was an occasion. Almost like a wedding. And in the days following, I was supposed to be mated with somebody.”

  “With who?”

  “Don’t know. Matthew was still making his decision.” She sipped her coffee. “It was the night of my party when I got kidnapped.”

  “Damn.”

  “Yeah. I was still in my ball gown and everything.”

  “You weren’t in a ball gown when we found you.”

  “No, they cut it off when they did the tattoo,” she said.

  “Okay, so if you hadn’t been kidnapped, Matthew would have matched you up with one of your packmates and you would have gotten started making babies?”

  “Yeah. Pretty much.”

  “And what, you’re fine with that? Having your whole life decided for you by your alpha?”

  “Well, what choice did I have?” she asked. “He was the alpha.”

  “I mean, I guess...”

  “You’re an alpha,” she shot. “Don’t tell me you never decide things that affect your packmates.”

  “Not things like that. I wouldn’t tell them who to mate with.”

  “Oh, give me a break.” She bit into a breadstick and pointed the end at him. “I heard you talking to the others back at the tent. Someone wanted to keep me, right? And you told him the pack didn’t keep omegas because you had to be ready to move at all times. If someone wants to be in your pack, they can’t have a
mate at all. Isn’t that true?”

  He was quiet.

  “So, you know. Don’t go acting like my alpha’s a tyrant. He was trying to do the best he could for our pack.”

  He nodded. “That’s fair. And I’m sorry. I don’t know the guy well. I do still think he was wrong about bacon, though.”

  The waitress returned with their food. “Chorizo skillet, spinach omelet, and a side of bacon,” she said, setting everything down. “Enjoy.”

  Hazel stared at her omelet. “This is huge,” she said. “I don’t know if I can even finish this.”

  He laughed. “Eat as much as you want and don’t worry about it.”

  For a few minutes, the two of them ate in companionable silence. Emmett thought over what she’d told him. If she was going back to a situation in which she would be mated against her will, was it really the right thing to take her back to the Coywolves? Maybe he was being too hasty. Maybe she shouldn’t go back to them.

  But no, that was just his attraction to her talking. It was nice to fantasize about a world in which the two of them could run off together, in which they could eat breakfasts at diners across the country and ride down innumerable highways with her arms wrapped pleasingly around his waist. But that was just a fantasy. You couldn’t take an omega on the road. It was a terrible idea, and it would put his entire way of life at risk.

  And besides, she did want to go back. She acknowledged that her pack wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was far from a worst-case scenario. It wasn’t as if the Coywolves were the Rangers. You’re not my alpha, she’d said. She’d chosen and submitted to her alpha. She was part of his pack.

  Then she reached across the table, plucked a slice of bacon from his side plate, broke off the end, and popped it in her mouth.

  He was startled. “Hey!”

  “You were right,” she said, shrugging. “I did regret not ordering my own. And you were right that it’s really good too.” She finished the strip she’d stolen.

  “Well, we’ll order you some of your own,” he said, giving her a mock scowl. “Don’t steal my breakfast.”

  “Okay, okay.” She grinned. “You were right, and Matthew was wrong.”