The Omega the Alpha Couldn't Kill

MATE.

Fin Shadowclaw heard the word but he already knew. Her scent had been driving him mad for two days in Ashbane. But he hadn't been able to find her.

And now, his fated mate was on a platform with her half-brother's hands on her.

Every muscle in his body locked. His wolf clawed at the edges of his mind, pushing to be let out.

"Riven. I'm your sister."

Her voice carried through the hall. Clear. Steady. The kind of statement that should put a stop to whatever madness this was.

Riven's hand found the back of her neck and he spoke against her skin.

"Half. Nova."

Two words. Bored. Like she'd reminded him the wine was dry.

Fin felt his Gamma stiffen next to him.

Jax: Did he just say "half" like that makes it better?

Fin: It does not.

"It doesn't matter," she pressed, louder now, addressing the room. "We share a father. It's wrong. By every law—"

"Laws are written by Alphas." His fingers curled tighter on her hip. "And I am the only Alpha in this room."

Fin's teeth ground together. Riven wasn't the only Alpha in the room. He either was stupid and forgot or was purposely using her as a power ploy. Neither sat right.

She gave a pleading look to the Ashbane generals. To the elders. To Riven's mother. To his sister. None of them seemed at all alarmed by this.

Fin memorized every face that didn't flinch.

"Tonight," Riven said to the room, "In front of our honored guests. I take what our father's weakness denied. The last of the Moonveil bloodline is Ashbane now."

Riven swept her hair to one side, exposing the curve of her neck. "She wears the same dress that her dead mother wore for my father no less."

She glared at him. "Go to hell. I'll hold the door."

Jax: Marry me. If you survive this that is.

Riven's hand slid lower over the dress. His fingers traced between her thighs through the fabric with a patient, deliberate pressure.

"There," he said. Not to her. To the room. "That wasn't so hard."

Fin's entire body shook, and his vision narrowed to a point. His wolf was no longer asking. He was demanding.

He glanced over at Velora, who was watching with an amused expression. As if her son's fingers between his sister's legs were normal. A fun family affair.

"The body knows what the mind resists," an elder intoned. "A bond already forming without a marking."

Jax: I will kill him with my bare hands.

Fin: Hold. We move now, she pays for it.

Jax: He's a sick bastard.

Fin: I said hold.

But Fin wholeheartedly agreed. Every second of restraint was costing him something he would never get back.

Riven leaned forward, his mouth brushing hers. His hand slid back between her thighs — skin this time, pushing the dress up more. He groaned into her mouth.

"You said I'm your brother," he said. "Then why are you this wet for me, little sister? Father took what he wanted. So do I."

Fin stopped breathing. No. Fuck diplomacy.

Just as he took a step forward, the girl sunk her teeth into Riven's lower lip, and tore a chunk of skin away. Her boot met his balls next with no apologies.

It was clear she'd been surviving long before tonight.

Riven wrenched backward with a strangled howl, hand flying to his face, hunched over.

Her hand shot sideways and closed around a silver candelabra from the edge of the platform. Silver. She was touching literal silver and her skin was burning and she didn't flinch.

Jax: This pack is fucked.

Fin: What gave it away. The mating ritual or incest?

Jax: The elder narrating is what did it for me.

The girl swung it across his face with both hands. The silver connected with his cheekbone and dragged to his jaw. His scream filled the hall.

The candelabra clattered to the stone. Blood ran down Riven's jaw and dripped onto the black silk.

For a moment, the room was frozen.

Jax: Give me the word.

Fin: No.

She stood on the platform, chest heaving. Then she ran, moving in a blur out the double doors into the corridor.

Jax: And she moves at Alpha speed. A woman.

Riven's hand came away from his face, and he looked at the blood. A scar was already forming on his cheekbone.

"AFTER HER!"

Fin extended his leg tripping the first guard. He schooled his expression to one of confusion.

Jax: Smooth.

"Silver chains. Let her hang," Riven roared, chasing her behind his guards.

Fin didn't move for a moment, calculating. Every outcome he could see in the next ten seconds ended in blood or chains, and he needed a third option. But there wasn't one.

It didn't matter. There was no universe where he'd let that girl hang. He'd killed men for less than what he just watched, and he'd do it again before sunrise.

His Gamma was already moving, following the guards out.

Riven's mother spoke nearby. "Alpha Shadowclaw, forgive the disruption. She's not right in the head. May I offer you a drink? You look like you could use one."

Fin moved past Velora as if she hadn't spoken and followed his Gamma.

To his surprise, they were all moving outside. Further than expected.

"GO AHEAD," Riven roared. "I'LL GIVE YOU A HEAD START. FATHER USED TO DO THE SAME THING WITH HER."

Jax: Just when I thought he couldn't be more repulsive. It's almost impressive.

"YOU WILL BE MATING ME. DEAD OR ALIVE."

Jax: I stand corrected. That tops it.

Riven turned to one of his guards. "Change of plans. Find her. If she fights back, rip her throat out."

✦✦✦

Branches tore at the dress, tearing at her thigh as she ran, but she didn't slow.

No wolf. Just her two legs and a head start that was shrinking by the second. Her lungs burned.

Behind her, paws thrummed in pursuit.

A howl split the air. Close. Too close. She cut left through a gap in the trees and prayed the river was where she remembered it.

She had thirty seconds before Riven caught her. He was the only other person with Alpha speed.

She ran towards the river bank. It would mask her scent. Her only chance.

She jumped off the ledge and dropped into the water. Her boots hit it first, then the rest followed. The water swallowed her whole. Every muscle seized. Her teeth locked together so hard her jaw ached.

It was silent under the water. She heard muffled voices above. But she'd already decided that drowning would be preferable over Riven. If she died, it'd be on her own terms at least.

When she surfaced, she kept only her nose and eyes above the waterline. The wolves were on the bank. Pacing. Sniffing. Confused.

Her hiding spot was so obvious it was laughable they didn't check. She went back under for as long as she could, and when she poked her head up they were gone.

She pulled herself out of the river and started running again, turning around a rock face at full speed.

Then she hit something solid. Before she could scream, a hand covered her mouth. Another locked around her waist. She thrashed once. His grip didn't give. His scent hit her next. Pine and rain and something warm, and her body stopped fighting before her mind did. That bothered her.

He pulled her into a narrow opening in the rock she would have run right past, the darkness closing around them like a fist.

Cave walls pressed in on both sides. He held her against his chest, her back to him, one hand still over her mouth.

She couldn't see his face. But she could feel his heartbeat and the warmth of his chest through her soaked dress.

Her body was shaking from the cold and convulsed against him. He dropped his hand from her mouth and wrapped both arms around her instead.

Safe. The word arrived uninvited and wouldn't leave.

Voices outside. Two guards. Arguing about which direction she went. Fin's jaw locked.

He pulled her face into his chest, to help muffle it. She let him.

The trembling wasn't just cold anymore. Adrenaline was leaving her body and taking everything with it.

More voices came from outside. It was not a matter of if, but WHEN. They would be found, and they both knew it.

She swallowed. "If they find you helping me, Riven will kill you. Whatever you think you're doing, it's not worth dying for."