22. Finn

22

Finn

I’d spent the entire day walking the streets of the fortress, checking in on my people. There was always something to do, some new piece of business that needed my attention, and no matter how many years passed, I still struggled to be the alpha my people needed. But it was different with Elisabed in my life. She renewed my dedication to protecting the ones who depended on me. My mind kept drifting back to her—the one person who had been impossible to ignore since the moment she’d crossed my path.

Elisabed.

She was everywhere—in the corner of my vision, in the back of my mind, like a spell I couldn’t shake off. I’d never been one for attachment, for that kind of weakness. I never let myself get close to anyone, least of all a little omega who had barely begun to understand the game we played. But with her, it was different. The way she looked at me, the way she defied me, it was driving me insane.

She wasn’t like the others. She didn’t just want to be swept up into the world of our pack and didn’t fall into place like the rest of the omegas. No, she fought it, just like I fought my own need for her. And that made her all the more alluring, all the more irresistible.

I gritted my teeth and tried to push the thoughts aside. My wolf was howling for her, demanding I claim her, and I was doing everything I could to ignore it and keep some semblance of control. But it was getting harder and harder every time she looked at me with those wide, defiant eyes. My need to bend her to my will grew stronger every time she stood her ground.

I grunted to myself, irritated at how much she had gotten under my skin. I never thought an omega—any omega—could make me feel this way. I was supposed to be the carefree one who kept everyone at arm’s length. I was supposed to be a mask, a facade for the others to see. But lately? I could barely stand the thought of not being around her, of not feeling her presence close by. Every time she was near, I wanted to touch her, to feel her body against mine, to hear the way she’d gasp when I pushed her to the edge.

But I resisted. I had to. This was more than just a physical need. It was about control. It was about power. And if I let myself fall too deeply, I knew I’d be lost.

I needed to get out of my own head for a bit. Grabbing some food seemed like a good place to start. I made my way to the kitchens, hands running through my hair in frustration. A snack. Something to eat. That was it.

But as I turned the corner, I saw her.

There she was, standing in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water, her back to me. The moment I saw her, my entire body tensed. It was like fate had led me straight to her, like my wolf was guiding me to her presence, demanding that I give in to the urge to claim her. She was right in front of me as if she’d been waiting for me.

I couldn’t stop myself. I walked toward her, every step a pull, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Elisabed,” I said, and she stiffened as she turned around. She looked sad and...different—vulnerable, in a way. And that made my wolf restless, the protective instincts rising within me.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered.

My eyes couldn’t help but roam over her body, taking in the soft curves and the way her skin seemed to glow in the dim light of the kitchen. I swallowed hard. “Are you okay?”

Her lips thinned, but she didn’t say anything. She just stood there with a little frown on her face, her nose red.

“What happened?” I asked, stepping closer, my voice lower and harder now. “Did someone do something to you?”

She hesitated, the air thick with tension, and for a second, I thought she would deny it. Instead, she just looked at me with sadness in her eyes, and before I could blink, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me.

I froze.

She hugged me, not tentatively or weakly, but as if she needed it.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close and burying my face in her hair. My heart pounded, and I couldn’t think straight. The wolf inside me was clawing at the surface, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was losing my mind.

I pulled back just enough to look at her face, my hands on her shoulders, lifting her chin to meet my gaze. “Who did this?” I repeated, voice rough with a kind of possessive anger I hadn’t known I was capable of.

She looked at me with such vulnerability that it took my breath away. Then, that vulnerability shifted, turning into a desperate need. But for what?

“Tell me about your pack,” she asked, no, she demanded. The topic caught me off guard, immediately raising my shields as memories of the childhood that was ripped away from me came to mind.

“We’re talking about you right now, little omega, or did you forget?” I tried to tease, but Elisabed was having none of it. She didn’t fall for my slight insult or let it affect her. Her eyes shown with unshed tears as she pushed.

“No, Finn. Tell me about your pack, your life before all this, just… anything,” her voice flipped between determined to dejected, like this was her last hope before she lost it. I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to fight whoever had put her in this mood. But as I looked at her, small and trembling, but still standing tall, I realized it wasn’t up for me to decide what she needed.

“My pack comes from the Driftend lands,” I began, shocked at how the words spilled out when I hadn’t shared details of my own life in years. Elisabed’s plump lips opened in a gasp. I expected that, but it still made me rub my neck to release my nerves. Everyone knew Driftend only had a few isolated packs in the area, and their reputations were that of feral and wild wolves. “My pack was small but close. My family was…”

I drifted off, unable to continue as I thought of my parents, always laughing at my antics when they should have been scolding. I remembered my mother’s bright eyes and my father’s small but always present grin. Before I could get lost in the past, Elisabed reached out and wrapped her delicate fingers around my hand.

Her touch grounded me, and I continued with a strength I had never felt when recounting the story.

“My family loved each other. The simple life was nice, but staying isolated put us at a disadvantage. When a rival pack wanted to take our omegas and our pack alpha refused, they attacked. We won, technically, but they killed our alpha and most of the leaders. No one made it out alive without the scars to show for it.”

I knew what would happen. She would take in my scars and I would see nothing but pity. I wanted to crack a joke, tease her, or sneer, but when I opened my mouth, I was stopped by the resolute expression in her eyes.

She wasn’t scanning my face and body and she wasn’t looking down at me.

“You had to step in as the new alpha,” she said, her voice still wet from her own emotions.

“Yes,” I answered, nothing left to do but give her the ugly truth. I wasn’t the alpha because I was the best leader or I fought for it. I was the alpha because there had been no other choice. “I didn’t want it. I just… did what I had to. I’m not exactly the strong alpha you were hoping for.”

I tried to sound like I was joking, tried to lighten the mood with the offhand comment, but Elisabed didn’t let me get away with it. She stared at me, unwavering and squeezed my hand once.

“The most powerful leaders are the ones who didn’t want the power in the first place. Trust me, I’ve seen enough weak alphas to know you aren’t one of them.”

To see her, so obviously distraught, eyes red-rimmed and filled with unshed tears, stand up to me and face my insecurities head-on, it made me crazy. Her mix of sincerity and sharp wisdom, it was maddening. I couldn’t deflect or argue. I couldn’t push her away.

Without thinking, I scooped her into my arms, feeling the weight of her body against mine, and I carried her toward my room.

When we entered, I set her down gently on the bed. My hands moved instinctively, starting to draw a warm bath for her. Something about my story had calmed her, but she still had a slight tremble to her body. She needed to relax, to calm down, and the water would help. I even added bath salts—I wasn’t sure why; I just knew it would help. I did everything I could to make it right, even when everything about me—about us—was so wrong.

When the bath was ready, I gently helped her out of her clothes like I had all the time in the world.

“I’ll wait outside,” I muttered, turning my back to give her some privacy.

She just chuckled, the sound surprising me, full of a teasing lilt. “Did you add bath salts?”

I turned back to her, raising an eyebrow in worry. “Was that wrong?”

Her eyes danced with something that caught me off guard. “No,” she said. “Thank you.”

I didn’t answer; I just smirked and left the room.

The sound of the water splashing echoed through the room as I stood there, my heart thumping erratically. The way she’d looked at me as I’d helped her out of her clothes—those soft, trusting eyes, the curve of her body just under the surface of the water—had driven me to distraction.

The room was quiet when the door creaked open. My muscles tightened instinctively, and my wolf was immediately alert. But I wasn’t prepared for the vision of her standing in the doorway, wrapped in nothing but a little towel.

She looked like she was crafted by the gods, her wet skin glistening under the dim light and her hair still damp, hanging down her back in soft waves. The small towel clung to her, outlining the curves of her body in all the right ways—the swell of her breasts, the curve of her waist, the delicate line of her legs that I could barely keep my hands from reaching for.

For a moment, neither of us moved. She stood there, looking at me with those big, knowing eyes, and I couldn’t think straight. Every muscle in my body was on fire, the need for her slamming into me with a force that felt like it could swallow me whole.

“Finn,” she said, her voice low and teasing. “You didn’t leave me any clothes.”

The way she said it, with that playful smirk and the sadness gone from her eyes, hit me like a punch to the gut. It was both an invitation and a challenge—a subtle dare that made my wolf growl in the back of my mind. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at her, stuck between desire and control.

“Did I not?” I managed to rasp out, my voice rough, not trusting myself to speak more clearly. “Guess I didn’t think you'd need them.”

Her eyes sparkled, and she let the towel fall slowly and deliberately, the fabric slipping from her shoulders and pooling at her feet. The sight of her naked before me sent a surge of heat through my body, and I took a step forward without thinking.

She stood there, completely exposed, the cool air of the room kissing her skin, but it only made her seem even more enticing. Her body, flawless and tempting, was mine for the taking. She was waiting for me to move, to do something. But even as my instincts screamed at me to claim her, to take her the way I’d been wanting to since I first saw her, something in me held back.

Her eyes never left mine, and there was something in the way she stood—confident, bold, knowing exactly the effect she had on me—that made the wolf inside me snap.

I couldn’t wait anymore.

In one smooth motion, I was in front of her. The towel was long forgotten, lying on the floor. My hands moved to her waist, pulling her closer, and without hesitation, my lips crashed down on hers. She gasped against me, but I didn’t give her the chance to pull away. My mouth claimed hers, and she kissed me back just as greedily.

She was mine—every inch of her.

“Are you really going to tease me like this?” she whispered breathlessly, and I pulled her closer.

My hands roamed down her back, gripping her hips and pulling her closer still, the undeniable need to have her consuming every thought I had. My lips trailed down to her neck, kissing the delicate skin there, and I could hear the tiny hitch in her breath and feel the way her pulse quickened.

When she slid her hands into my hair, tugging me back to meet her gaze, it felt like the world shifted. There was a moment of clarity in the chaos of desire, and in that instant, I realized just how much I wanted her—needed her.

And she knew it.

“You’re not going to wait anymore, are you?” she asked with a slow, predatory smile that made my heart race.

“No,” I said, my voice rough. I couldn’t lie to her. Not now. “Not anymore.”

Her breath quickened again, and before I knew it, her lips were on mine again, and all I could think about was her—how she fit against me perfectly, how she smelled, how she tasted. I wanted to lose myself in her, to drown in her.

But she was already pulling away, her fingers teasing the waistband of my pants, and the hunger in her eyes only made everything worse.

I stepped back, my breathing shallow. “You’re sure about this?”

She didn’t hesitate, didn’t second guess it. “I’m sure.”

In that instant, I wasn’t Finn, the playful alpha anymore. I wasn’t the man who kept everyone at arm’s length.

I was hers.

And she was mine.

I wasted no time. Gripping her waist, I lifted her easily, my lips crashing into hers once more as I walked us to the bed. We tumbled onto it together, my hands already exploring every inch of her, every curve and every line. I couldn’t get enough.

She was everything I wanted, everything I needed, and I was going to make sure she knew it.

Her hands were everywhere, too, pulling at my shirt, tugging it off me as though she couldn’t get it off fast enough. My body ached for her, and when she kissed me again, her lips softer than before, her hands trailing down my chest to unbutton my pants, all I could think about was the fact that we were finally here.

Just us. Together.

Finally.