Monsters find, p.1
Monster's Find, page 1
Monster's Find
Monsters in the Mountains Book 1
Leann Ryans
Copyright © 2022 Leann Ryans
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Cover design by: Get Covers
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Thanks
Monster’s Obsession
Chapter One
Sasha
I was alone in the darkness of the massive cave system.
Or I thought I was.
The small noises that reached me could be explained away. A rat scurrying down the tunnel beyond. The wind whipping through the myriad of openings in the caves, pushing along leaves and debris.
I’d chosen what I thought was the most secure cave to create my nest. It wasn’t the deepest, I hadn’t been able to reach an end to the system, but it was off a side tunnel where I thought I wouldn’t be found, and there was a trickle of water running down one wall.
Not that it seemed as though there was anyone nearby to find me. I knew my home village wasn’t the only one in these mountains, but I hadn’t seen a single person since the night I’d run away.
My father’s death had left me with no protection. On the cusp of my first heat, the alphas were fighting over me before my father’s body had even cooled.
And there was no way I was letting myself be claimed by the ones who seemed likely to win the fight.
Murderous slobs.
Little better than filthy animals.
Even the monsters claimed to live in these mountains would be a better choice than any of them.
But that left me going into heat alone, in a barren cave, lost somewhere on a mountainside as far from my village as my feet could take me before I was unable to move on.
Stumbling across the cave had seemed to be a blessing, and finding the system beyond the shallow hollow had been more than I could have hoped for. Despite not encountering anyone during my trek, I didn’t want to be exposed while I was vulnerable. The cave system should keep my scent from spreading on the wind and drawing in any alpha close enough to be affected by my pheromones.
I tossed restlessly on my meager pile of rushes. The cramps were already ripping at my middle by the time I found my hiding place, so there hadn’t been much time for me to prepare my nest. The armful of sweet grass I hadn’t been able to resist as I made my way through the woods wasn’t enough to cushion the hard stone below me. Even adding my cloak overtop it didn’t make the unforgiving surface any more pleasant.
A whine escaped as I thought of my bed.
The piles of pillows and blankets I’d hoarded over the years in preparation.
The bedding provided by the alpha my father chose for me would have been added to the piles, making a plush, comfortable nest, but he hadn’t found anyone in our village worthy of an omega bride. He’d planned to take us to a new village with better prospects, but when the others found out, they’d killed him to keep me.
But I ran. And I’d keep running if I had to.
Tears built, spilling over and running down my grubby cheeks, but my mind couldn’t focus on grief with lava burning through my veins. My middle tightened, lungs locking as another wave of pain spread from my core.
Being an omega was a curse riddled with pain and fear as we lived a life biology didn’t allow us to control.
Fresh slick smeared my thighs as I shifted, but I was beyond caring about my sorry state. I’d been stumbling through the forest for too many days to count. My dress was torn, the soles of my soft boots almost worn through, and dirt caked every inch of skin that had been exposed. I’d managed to keep myself fed since I was familiar with the plants of the forest and spring was a time of plenty, but I was no woodsman.
A soft sob broke free as the cramp passed, my eyes straining in a vain effort to find a distraction from the path my thoughts were taking. But eyes opened or closed, there was no difference in what I could see.
Perhaps that was why the small sounds I could hear kept catching my attention. There was nothing else for me to focus on besides the growing need.
The sound of a scuff pulled my head to the left. I’d turned around too many times to know which direction I faced or where the tunnel entrance was, but instincts said the sound came from beyond my little cave.
Ears straining to catch more sounds, I held my breath as I waited. My heart was racing, fissions of fear streaking through me as I tried to hear past the pounding in my chest.
Had I been found?
Was someone coming to take me away?
I’d done my best to cover my tracks as I left the village. I’d stuck to the hard path we used when gathering until I reached the stream, then waded upstream until my feet were so numb I was stumbling every other step. Even when I left the water, I was careful to climb out over a fall of rocks so I wouldn’t leave any footprints or broken branches to show my trail.
I’d camped without a fire every night since I couldn’t light one, eating the food I’d stuffed in the one bag I’d brought with me in addition to whatever I scrounged as I walked. I’d huddled beneath my cloak, night after night, and was further from my village than anyone I knew had ever gone, yet visions of the alphas from home bursting into the cave filled my head, turning my stomach.
I ground my teeth around a snarl. I wouldn’t let them have me. They weren’t worthy.
My core clenched again and the snarl gave way to a gasp of pain. Pinching my lips together, I trembled through the building pressure until another gush of fluid escaped between my legs.
The fabric beneath me was soaked, the sweet smell of slick overpowering the aroma released by the grass. I went limp when the cramp passed, leaving me panting as I tried to prepare for the next. From what I had heard, the pain would continue until my heat was over, or I was knotted by an alpha. Without their potent seed to soothe the burning demand of my womb and the pressure of their knot to numb the nerves, it was going to be a rough few days until my cycle passed.
Then I’d have to figure out what I was going to do since I couldn’t continue to wander alone.
My head lolled and my breathing eased as I let my mind drift again. I was already weak from days of non-stop travel coupled with the loss of fluid, but I didn’t think I could even craw to the corner where the tiny trickle of wetness teased my senses. I had a little water left in my waterskin, but I had to be careful of draining it too soon. If I didn’t leave myself enough, I wouldn’t have the strength to leave the cave once my heat had passed.
Another scrape sounded beyond my little bubble, but I was too tired to lift my head and look for the source. It was all in vain anyway when I was enveloped in darkness. I couldn’t see the hand at the end of my arm, much less look for something creeping closer.
Turning in an attempt to get comfortable, another whine slipped through my control, the soft sound seeming loud as it echoed around me. I had no idea what else was living in the cave system I’d found. I could only hope whatever it was would be scared by the scent of a human and stay away. I had little chance of taking on a predator when I was rested and focused, and it wouldn’t be long before I was in no state to even think about defending myself.
As I fell deeper into the daze of my encroaching estrous, the sounds outside my tiny cave became more frequent. The steady scraping had a rhythmic pattern, one I knew I should recognize, but my brain refused to focus on anything outside the demands of my own body.
The heat building beneath my skin.
The irritation of the restrictive dress twisting around me with each change of position.
The building demand of my womb.
The pulsing throb of need between my thighs.
Rolling over again, the abrasive brush of my homespun dress across my tightened nipples became too much. I rose to my knees, tugging it off with a growl, and tossing it somewhere beyond the bounds of my nest. It didn’t matter that I’d struggle to find it once my cycle passed, only that the offensive material was beyond my reach.
Cool air brushed across sensitive flesh, bringing a sigh to my lips as I let myself sit back on my heels as I panted. There was a new scent on the breeze that played through my cave, something musky and rich and mouthwatering, but I didn’t know where it came from. It teased my senses, prickling the hairs along the back of my neck, and bringing a fresh surge of slick from my core.
I couldn’t resist the need for release any longer.
My hand slipped between my thighs even as embarrassment filled my cheeks. I knew it was natural for omegas to desire sex during their cycle, but I’d never touched myself before, and the thought of filling myself with my own fingers seemed somehow naughtier than submitting to a male.
My fingertips slipped through the fluids coating my folds, seeking something to ease the ache. A gasp ripped from my lips as they passed over a small bump at the top of my slit, sensations spiking through my middle and making me freeze.
A new throb began in the little bundle I’d found, demanding I touch it again. I moved to my back as
I didn’t realize I was crying out loud until a sudden rumble froze the sounds in my throat. My body went on alert, stilling as my ears strained to find the source of whatever had startled me.
The scent I’d noticed earlier had grown stronger, coating my tongue in the heady aroma that made me think of nothing more than male, but I still couldn’t see.
“Don’t let me interrupt you, little omega. I was enjoying the show.”
The gruff voice echoed through the darkness, ripping a gasp from me as I scrambled to my belly and backed away from the sound. My entire body throbbed with denied need as I crouched and tried desperately to see the source. A small part of my brain recognized I was in danger, but my body’s responds was to release more slick to coat my thighs.
Like that would save me.
The next cramp threatened to tear my body in half, pulling my focus back to myself as the muscles in my middle rippling and forcing me into a ball of misery at the edge of my pitiful nest. Whoever had spoken wasn’t a voice I recognized, and I was beyond the point of being able to run.
“Please…”
It was the only word I could force past trembling lips, and even I didn’t know what I was asking for. Part of me demanded I send the male away, while another part wanted me to present and beg him for relief. The deepness of the voice and the scent surrounding me left no question the speaker was an alpha, and it didn’t matter that he was a stranger.
I needed.
“Please what, little one? Are you in distress?”
A whimper was my only response. With the pheromones of the male taking effect in my brain, the cramps became non-stop, one rolling in on the heels of the last, leaving me breathless and crying into the thin grass covering the stone. My core clenched over and over, demanding to be filled with thick alpha cock.
The same scraping sound I’d heard before came closer, stopping at the edge of the little depression I’d claimed for my nest. A low growl left my throat before I could stop it, but it was met with a chuckle from the hulking male I sensed just outside my temporary bed.
“Temper, temper! I’m only offering to give you what you want.”
There was a strange accent to the words the male spoke, but they were clear enough to understand. Despite the delicious scent rolling off him and the demands of my body, it was instinct to protect my nest, even as pitiful as it was, until the alpha proved himself.
There still wasn’t any light in the cave, but the male’s presence was enough for my eyes to lock on to where I assumed he stood. A sense of motion caused me to flinch further away, but there were no more scraping footsteps, and nothing touched me.
He waited.
Another harsh cramp broke my focus again, the desire between my thighs growing more desperate with each breath filled with the male’s musk. My hand slipped to my core without conscious thought, two fingers dipping into my entrance to ease the pain, but only succeeding in making me more miserable.
It wasn’t enough. I needed more.
I couldn’t last through days of this. It was torture. I was going to die in misery.
I pushed another finger into my opening, ignoring the alpha’s presence as I thrust in and out with desperation. The wet sounds would have embarrassed me at any other time, but they barely registered as my world narrowed to the tension coiled through my belly. Something had to give, and I was scared it would be me, giving in to the male lurking so close.
A soft moan escaped my throat as my knuckles stretched my entrance, but it still wasn’t enough. My fingers were too short. Too thin.
“Poor omega. I have what your body craves, if only you’d let me into your nest.”
I snarled towards the male, turning my back to where the voice originated. It came from lower than it had before, and I could picture him crouching on the edge of my nest, watching as I tried to ease the ache.
Waiting for the inevitable.
His scent was divine. There was a saltiness to it now that spoke of virility. That called to the animal part of me and told me this was a male in his prime.
A male worth submitting to.
I panted as my fingers worked, wrist starting to ache. Free hand braced against the stone edge of my wallow, I rode my thrusting digits, but it couldn’t provide the stretch or the friction my nature demanded. Even adding my little finger to the other three did nothing.
I needed a knot.
Time had no meaning in the desperate daze I’d fallen into. It could have been hours, or days, or mere breaths that passed in my search for relief before I finally collapsed with a sob, my hand stilling. I’d almost forgotten about the male perched at the side of my nest until he spoke again.
“Give in, little one. Let me soothe your pain.”
“I will submit to no man.”
My hiss was weak, mocking as it echoed back to me even as a chuckle rumbled overtop it.
“Well, I am no man.”
Chapter Two
Mel’ar
It was divine agony watching the little omega and waiting for her to give in to the inevitable. She’d already lasted longer than I’d expected, but there was no way she was going to make it through her cycle without what I offered.
It was pure luck she’d ended up in the set of caves I claimed as my own and not in one of the many others in the area claimed by my clansmen. If I hadn’t scented her at the entrance and followed her trail, I still could have lost the opportunity to claim her as my own.
And I would claim her.
The little omega was mine, she just didn’t know it yet. I’d paced outside the cave she’d chosen to nest in until I was sure she was too far gone to run before moving inside and announcing my presence.
I chuckled again at the gasp that escaped her at my words. There was no way she hadn’t heard the stories.
The tales of monsters living in the mountains.
Hunting the woods.
Killing the villagers who strayed too far.
They were exaggerated, of course.
Not the monster part. That was true enough. By human standards, my kind were certainly monstrous, with fur, claws, fangs, and horns, but we rarely killed villagers unless they gave us reason to.
“Wh—What do you mean?”
Her voice was a breathy gasp, her fingers leaving her core at my announcement as a hint of fear crept back into the sweet scent of her. Her eyes searched the area around me, too weak to see through the darkness as I could.
“You know what am, omega. You knew the moment I stepped into the cave. Your body warned you even before, yet your instincts made you stay, because you know I can ease the pain.”
I shifted from the crouch I’d held since approaching her nest, moving to kneel right on the edge of the depression she’d filled with grass. It was a pathetic nest, but it was likely the best she’d been able to do in her circumstances. It was clear she came from one of the human villages and didn’t have the knowledge to be on her own in the wild, but my curiosity about how she got here could wait.
She whimpered, one hand clutching her belly as the other moved back between her thighs. The honeyed scent of slick drenched the cave, drowning me in the pheromones of a breedable female.
It didn’t matter if she wasn’t like me. Alphas and omegas belonged together.
My cock leaked more fluid in response to her soft cries, the tangy scent mingling with hers and trying to entice the human closer even as it was meant to warn away other males, but we wouldn’t be found here. I watched her nostrils flare, her eyes locking on me despite her inability to see. My scent called to her the way hers called to me, despite our difference in species.
She didn’t need sight to know where relief waited. It was better for her this way. It would be easier to accept me if she couldn’t see how different I was.
My toes flexed, claws scraping the stone beneath me and causing her breathing to stutter.
“Monster!”
