The Seven Clans Book 3

Alpha Tamed
An Omegaverse Romance

by M.S. Volny

He found her on the edge.
He saved her from herself.
He tamed her body, and then he tamed her heart.
Trouble stirs over the Southern Peaks. The united clans prepare for war. But Lagar has a different mission.
Finla has been driven to the edge of madness. By Corona's fall and by the world as she knew it disappearing. Her body is his in the instant that they meet. What will it take to win her trust completely?

Chapter One
Finla blinked away tears as the wind whipped her hair around her cheeks. Beneath her, about forty heights, another wave crashed against the rocky shore. She wrestled with the memories keeping her feet firmly planted. Were it not for them, she would have long sailed through the air and been no more.
She closed her eyes and let another wave of emotion sweep through her as visions of her sister’s faces drifted through her mind.
Auden and Caris, gone now, driven to near madness by the pain of heat. Finla wondered if they’d found each other somewhere in the wilderness. She wondered where they were now and if they were still suffering? When her mind drifted to darker fates, she pushed the thoughts away.
When she thought of the other three, knees pressed against their chins, shivering through the night her throat went tight. How they’d begged her not to leave. How they’d clawed at her, yanking the threadbare sack she wore as a dress until they’d ripped it.
More tears rolled down her cheek.
She’d abandoned them. All three of them needed her and she’d left them to wait alone for their destinies. All because she wasn’t strong enough. Because she couldn’t face another hopeless day just living and waiting for something, anything, to get better.
Coward.
The thought made her inch toward the edge, toes already past the edge of the precipice, the rest of her swaying slowly back and forth, daring the wind to make the choice for her. This would be her final act of cowardice.
The shame that would have been heaped on her if the world were still the same. Just imagining it that had driven her to the ocean and the promise of suffering through it no longer.
But even now as she stood staring at the way the water crashed against the rocks she knew even her cowardice would betray her. Because it required one act of bravery. One motion forward. One foot in front of the other to send herself hurtling toward the end. What had she been thinking, believing she might end things this way?
A faint discomfort blossomed in her core. Finla winced and breathed through the feeling. She knew the source of the shadow of pain, even if she couldn’t bring herself to admit it. It was what had driven Auden out, then Caris. Now it was coming for her, too. How long before it gripped her and filled her with the courage to fly to her demise? She feared the idea now but how long until she welcomed it? Until she stepped off the precipice smiling and grateful for everything she’d known in life, but happy to escape the coming misery? How much would living have to hurt to make her brave?
And yet fear shook through her at the thought. What would they be like those last moment? Would she regret it? Would she scream? Or would she accept her fate in silence and alone?
The pain came again. Stronger this time. It tightened her sex enough to make her clutch at her belly and bend forward to try and relieve it. She remember this. Staring as Auden tried to smile to cover up that she was wincing. Watching the horror in her sister’s eyes as Auden’s pain became so great she’d rather spend her nights crawling through the forest than try to sleep.
That was what was coming for her. Why not just end it now and spare herself the misery?
She looked down again. The crags on the shore were jagged, their edges razor sharp. With any luck her neck would break and she would feel nothing. She clenched her teeth together at how a painless death was the most she had to live for now.
Best to get it done with. Best to get it finished. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Her mind lingered on how the salty air tickled her nose. She savoured the feeling of the wet grass beneath her bare feet. How the chilly wind sliced like razors on her skin. All she had left was what she could feel. In a moment even that would be gone.
The purring began.
Finla’s eyes popped open and her ears pricked.
Purring?
Purring?
Though the way her will and courage had been sapped by the misery of this new existence, from somewhere deep within her a bravery blossomed. Maybe just another minute. To find the source of that sound. She turned her head.
Her hands shot out to steady herself as a gust of wind rushed up behind her and tipped her balance forward. Her heart seized as she tried to inch her way back from the edge.
The world had other plans. In what seemed a final act of irony, her balance failed. Time slowed. Her body fell forward, past the point of no return, past where she could spin and at least try to grab the edge with her hands. Past any chance of changing her mind.
A scream tore through her, swallowed by the churning sea below.
She knew from the moment they first touched her that she would never forget those hands. Rough and rugged, sinew and muscle that clamped down on her ankle like a bear trap and pulled her from the jaws of fate. As she rose past the edge, sobbing and barely able to breathe she locked eyes with her saviour and clutched her hands to her chest. A strange act of modesty, covering her bare breasts, considering what had nearly just happened. Tucking his arm beneath her waist, he let her double over then lowered her to the ground. Her core twisted and clenched in the most confusing way. She tucked her knees beneath her chin and drew her arms in close to her sides, trying to keep the world out.
“Finla,” he whispered.
How did he know her name?
She didn’t dare look up. Instead she curled tighter. Maybe he would go away. Saviour. He’d saved her. He’d saved her life. The life she’d meant to throw away.
And yet here she was without a scrap of clothing, curled into a ball and wishing that he would look anywhere but at her and best if he just left. “Finla.” It was a patient tone. Strong and even and commanding. The kind of voice you’d think twice to argue with.
“Finla look at me.”
The kind of voice you couldn’t ignore. Opening one eye she glanced sideways. The pain that had been a shadow loomed. Her sex squeezed and suddenly there was slick between her legs. The way her nipples tightened at her chest made her want to claw them off.
What was this thing?
“Come, Finla. Let’s find shelter and I’ll give you what you need.”
Why was she so drawn to him? She shook her head. Give her what she needed? What she needed was dead and long gone, rotting in the thickening forest. Now what she needed was to be alone.
Again her sex pulsed. This time it came with a fierce, hot pain in her middle that wouldn’t quit. She moaned, rolled over on her side and clutched her stomach, no longer caring that he could see everything.
“Finla.” His voice had dropped a couple of notes and was more insistent at that pitch. “You are cold and you are hungry. And by the smell of you and the noise you’re making you’re very near your heat. I have food, shelter and a fire and an balm for your ache. Don’t make me insist.”