As I sprint through the forest in the dead of night, the only sound I hear is my heart thumping loud in my head.
I run faster than I've ever run in my life. I run so fast that I start to believe that I've evaded him. That I've gotten away.
And just like before, it's a mistake.
Except unlike last time, this time it's no big gray wolf who brings me down but the man in the flesh, Jackson Stone.
For several seconds, I stare up at him in silence. "How the hell did you have time to take off your jeans and still catch me?"
A faint flicker of amusement flashes across his eyes. "I would've caught you sooner. But since I was expecting you to run into a tree or two on the way, you got further ahead than I thought you would."
We fall into silence, Jackson braced on his elbows over me, naked now, and me still in the shirt he gave me back at the rental. "I don't want this, Jackson. I just want to go home."
He threads his fingers through my hair, and his eyes track the motion. "No, you don't. You just don't want to face what you are."
I go still beneath him. "And what am I?"
His eyes come back to mine. "Omega."
I shake my head. "No. You see, the thing is, I don't really work, so I'd be useless to you. I couldn't stop my old alpha from going crazy, so that's just more evidence that I-"
Jackson kisses me. It's a soft kiss that silences me faster than anything else he could've said or done.
When he lifts his head, I lick my lips as I'm reminded of how isolated we are. There's no one around for miles, just me and Jackson. He's naked and the only thing I'm wearing is a shirt. And at the thought, my arousal stirs.
"You talk about yourself as if you're a defective piece of equipment or a dead battery when you are anything but. Do you know what an omega is, and what they do?"
I narrow my eyes at him. "Look, just 'cause you're older, it doesn't mean you get to speak to me like I know nothing."
He nods. "Yes, I am older, and yes, that means there are some things I know more about than you. Not all things. But some. There are things you know I would give up everything I know and everything I have for."
His words are so sober that it quietens my rising anger. "Like what?"
He goes back to running a hand through my hair as if he can't stop himself. As if he finds the act as soothing as I do. "Like how to make someone laugh. Like how to break through to someone who uses their pain to hold other people back. Like how to love."
"I don't know what you mean," I whisper.
"I mean that you're magic, darlin'."
I shake my head. "No. I'm not. Omegas are magic. They are heart healers and pack healers. I'm just a girl who talks too much, doesn't look where she's going and spends more time thinking about cheese than any normal person should."
Jackson doesn't smile. "An omega sees into a shifter's heart, and they give that person what they need to heal."
"No. You don't understand. My dad said it only works with their pack, not random strangers. I didn't see my pack mate's pain as clearly as-" I stop before I can say anymore, but it's too late, I've already said too much.
"You see mine? Or Riley's?"
I stare up at him.
"As you rightly said, I am older than you, and I spent years-decades-traveling around the states. You're wrong about the abilities being limited to healing their pack mates, or rather, your father was wrong. In that time I came across an omega or two. They did nothing to help all the pain I carried around after Lara rejected me. Not one thing, and that wasn't for lack of trying. Do you know why they couldn't heal my heart?"
I shake my head.
"Because in order to heal, you have to want it. Did your old alpha want to heal?"
I think about Owen and his love turned to obsession with Angel, and I shake my head again. "He would never admit to being wrong. It was always someone else's fault. Never his. There wouldn't have been anything to heal, at least, not in his mind."
"And your pack. Did they want to be healed?"
I think about Talis and her strength, and my frustration at Dayne for telling me he had his own plans to pull Talis out of her fear and her trauma. "Talis healed herself," I admit quietly. "Even though I wanted to help, and I saw her pain, I couldn't touch it."
"You said you cooked breakfast with her. I take it she liked to cook as well?"
I bark out a laugh. "God no. She hated it." I smile. "But she said she liked baking with me. She said it always made her feel calmer." I stare unbelieving up at Jackson. "Are you telling me that-"
"You found your own way to reach her, to help her heal."
"But-"
"Tell me about Savannah."
I frown at him in confusion. "I don't understand."
A smile touches his lips. "Jeremy mentioned some bizarre story about Savannah burying poop in a sandbox. She swore blind that Dayne had dared her to bury his poop, and then when she was caught mid-act, he refused to own up to it. Since Savannah was so insistent, it leads me to believe she was telling the truth."
"Of course, she was telling the truth," I admit. "You've met her. Could you honestly picture her pooping in a sandbox?"
At Jackson's raised eyebrow, I explain, "Savannah's parents died when she was young, and she felt like she didn't belong. I mean, it wasn't anything she ever said, at least not to me, but she always held herself back a little, like she wasn't sure what kind of reaction she'd get if she really joined in."
Understanding flashes in Jackson's eyes before I have to say a word. "Ah."
"So, I convinced Dayne to dare her, and then I surprised her. I refused to believe it was Dayne despite anything she said. As soon as I'd start telling someone, she'd run over to deny it."
Jackson raises his eyebrow. "Which, I guess, stopped her from keeping her distance when she knew you were saying something that wasn't true?"
I nod. "She needed to feel like she was a part of us. We all had stories from childhood about each other. Inside jokes, but she didn't. I didn't want her to feel left out."
"So, you created a story that would tie her to all your childhoods?"
"I guess I did," I murmur.
We fall into silence again, and when Jackson lowers his head to kiss my neck, I suck in a breath as I remember his earlier words, and why we're here.
"So, now that we've talked that out, how about we head back to the rental? I'm sure Riley must be wondering where we are," I say in a rush.
"Riley will be fine. Our reason for being here hasn't changed. You being an omega is irrelevant to me. You being you, isn't."
"Me being me? And just what am I?"
He kisses my throat again, just as softly as before. "My mate is what you are. And it's time I made it official."