EMMA
The snow beneath my boots crunched in uneven rhythm, but I didn’t care. Every step away from Damien, from his reach, from the suffocating threat, felt like a small victory—even though my lungs burned and my legs threatened to buckle. I thought I was alone. That the forest had swallowed me, that I was hidden by shadows and silence. But then it hit me—a scent so sharp, so distinct, that my stomach tightened and my heart stuttered.
Pine. Earth. And something metallic underneath.
I froze.
I knew that smell.
Not just any man carried it. Not even a familiar perfume or cologne. No, this was different. Sharp. Alive. Dominant. Dangerous. And somehow… intimately familiar.
My pulse quickened. I wanted to run, but my body betrayed me, rooting me in place. Every instinct screamed that I wasn
