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27. Finn
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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Resisting the Beta 28. Naomi
I’m grateful my lookout spot is focused on the packhouse because right now that’s the only place my eyes are drawn to. I saw Finn and Sawyer talking before, Tucker taking his leave across the huge market square. Now Finn is inside talking with Cillian. My women are placed across the outskirts of the town, the furthest perimeters are under safe surveillance. He’s going to tell him about Zena. The vision he was given. Finn is going to know I didn’t tell him everything. What will he think of me keeping such a secret? Shit. Would it have really been so hard to just explain? I knock my head against the wooden rafter and beg Impes to change the record. During the war, I spent months cooped up in this small roof space. I look up to the night sky and wonder all over again just what was going through Leona’s mind those few days we spent together at Rising Star. The quiet of the night allows me to think too much. That was one of the reasons it was so hard during the war. Too much sit
Resisting the Beta 29. Finn
Lyon looked at me like I was insane. “Now? Right now we need to go to the stores?” “I want to get out of Cragstone before sunrise.” Lyon raised his eyebrow, his face showing off a dozen different wrinkles. In fairness, I do sound like a lunatic asking to raid his weapons store. “Come on then lad,” as together we set off running. The main weapons and explosives store is outside the town centre for obvious reasons. As a younger man, he had once sported dark, shaggy locks like Zeke. Now they had silvered, only his olive skin and dark eyes remaining from his wilder days under Cillians' father. His lumber mill and land held dozens of pack-supporting buildings, including the weapons store. “How much are you wanting to blow up, and how?” “The human borders landmines. I want them to disturb the earth enough that all a load of landmines go off. Even if it just clears a slim path wide enough for me to cross.” "Bloody hell." Lyon opens up two huge metal barn doors and wanders inside
Resisting the Beta 30. Naomi
We fought quickly, hand to hand. Insanity gave his strength an extra level of venom. Riley’s punches sent me flying into bookcases. I threw a vase in his face, anything I could grab my hands on. A lantern behind the curtain smashed into my thigh after Riley threw me off his back. The still-burning fuel immediately lit up the heavy dark green drapes The heat and smoke were building, but there was no way either of us could leave now. He needs me dead to claim his story. I need him dead for my vengeance. “Poor Rami," he grins. "I wonder if he's scared?" “He’s not here,” I snap back. Riley smirked and tilted his head, blood now pouring freely into his blonde twists. “Do you think I saw you walk in here and didn't get myself some insurance first?” "You fucking monster where is he!” /Finn, Finn please I need you!/ but Impes was busy working on fixing my bleeding thigh to enable many more efforts at communication. “Don’t worry, I’ll save him after you’re dead. I am the hero,
Resisting the Beta 31. Finn
After endless crying, hugging, and celebrating, other matters eventually came to the fore. Like Alpha Cillian’s smouldering packhouse bordering on collapse. That in a few hours, the Alpha’s of both Rising Star and White Forest were arriving. That we are to go to war with the humans, killing King Lanfear. Easton and Rhett are still murdered. The goddess tree did not save them. Rami has a wolf, Naomi and I are marked. Plus, waiting for me back at Lyon’s workshop is a trailer full of explosives and a scheme to sneak over the human side solo. “Take a few days. Seriously, it’s an order. I will tell you when I need you. Stay home. Recover,” Cillian urged before planting a kiss on Naomi’s cheek and ruffling Rami’s blonde head. His own clothes are littered with black scorchmarks, his face grimy with soot. “Sawyer, Tucker, Dash, Diane, Jane, Bianca!” he shouts, firing out commands and instructions. Water, find spare beds, clothes, and medical attention, and send scouts ahead to cat
Resisting the Beta 32. Naomi
Finn quickly wrapped his other arm around me. Resembling the finale of a dance, he dramatically lunged us both downwards to place the basket down on the stone floor. /Very fancy/ I link, his lips curving up so sweetly as I continued to kiss him. Refusing to break away, he links back, his tongue gently finding mine, my hands fisted in his ashy brown curls. /I have more moves than just fighting, you know Kharkov/ and whatever he is thinking of now just made every nerve in my body tighten with excitement. I gasp as my skin heats and goose pimples, nipples harden and pussy clenches to. Immediately hungry for his body to be even closer to mine. Yet he’s holding me light as a feather, draped almost parallel to the ground, his forearm cradling the length of my spine. A cry of “MAMA!” breaks the spell. We both look to the empty doorway and then back again. Finn kisses me quickly on the lips before effortlessly lifting me back up to standing, picnic basket already in his free hand. I c
Resisting the Beta 33. Finn
We leave tomorrow morning. Sawyer and his band of men are placed all over the border, making sure there are no last-minute surprises. For everyone else, lectures have been attended, and explosives checked. Naomi and I have balanced taking care of Rami whilst the other conducts training, spars, or checks ammunition levels. Rami isn’t kept away from knowledge. In fact, he can’t get enough of copying the kicks and punches during Naomi’s training sessions. He’s watched me fight the men, both shifted and human, the growls and crunching impacts fascinating him as I pin every opponent to the ground. It's foolish, but I've never had someone truly in my corner before when fighting. Of course, my parents loved me, but they didn't approve of the illegal bouts. Zena was flitting about, causing her own brand of madness. To hear Rami’s little whoops or even catch a smile from Naomi makes me try harder than I ever have before. Which is bad news for the new recruits, but they have to learn
Resisting the Beta 34. Naomi
Warily, I put one foot on the plate and swung the other leg over. Finn’s eyes don’t miss a thing. He sees the shine between my legs. I don’t care if I’m needy for my mate. My nerves hang on a string, waiting for him to pull the next trick from his sleeve. Driving over, it felt pretty nice, holding onto Finn and allowing the vibrations to rumble through my core. Now I’m back on the bike and already making the black leather saddle slicker. Seated, legs spread, I’m forced to wait as Finn stares at me. “You have any idea how stunning you look. I pictured it enough times, but the real thing…I think I’m going to have to drive you home naked. Ban all clothes from this thing.” I’ll never get used to how broad and powerful he is. The scars left from the fire have removed some of his boyish perfection. I’ve already told him it makes me love him all the more. He’s not perfect, almost, but not quite. Not now his shoulder shows a still-pink line around six inches long. His calf and thigh ha
Resisting the Beta 35. Finn
I would have headed back before dawn and maybe caught a couple of hours' sleep, but there was no convincing Naomi. Just when I thought every wall had already come down, I found one more adorable little stumbling block of shyness. My stunning, warrior queen. Adamo almpst turned savage when she called me her king. It’s exactly what I want to be to her. But there just weren’t enough hours in the evening to treasure her how she deserves. So deviously sexy with that red hair yet reduced to the sweetest little blush with the right question. We had to hightail it back on the quad, barely beating the sunrise in order to get showered and changed. Her lips are a little puffy, her back a little scratched up, my shoulders and chest embarassingly roughed up. But as I quickly helped her fasten on some shoulder padding and torso guards; armour designed to fall away should she need to shift, we were quiet. Silently together, yet mentally miles apart, Naomi sat checking the tension of her bo
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Resisting the Beta Epilogue Four
Naomi (Continued) “I meant to ask you something,” Finn murmurs sleepily as we watch yet another shooting star go by. “Did it bother you that we never had a ceremony?” “No…no it just never felt the right time, then we had been together so long it almost didn’t matter?” “It’s a shame. Your sisters had all promised to walk together.” “We did it for Matilda. If things had gone differently, we would have walked for Eleanor and Rhett, but it all broke apart. I'm just glad we all found happiness, even if it wasn't in the same town square.” “Did Sia give you an address for Eleanor?” “Yes but I left it alone in the end. She knows where we are. She’s made a choice a long time ago,” I whisper sadly, clutching my King’s hand tightly. I know every wrinkle and line in his muscular frame. I could make his replica out of clay in every pose. The feel of his body is a memory I constantly revisit. “I found my memory box the other day when we were packing,” I add. “I didn’t know you had o
Resisting the Beta Epilogue Three
Naomi It’s been fifty years since we took over as Alpha and Luna this full moon. Fifty years. Time has the cruellest ability to just vanish from underneath your feet. I swear I was a feisty, opinionated, quad-bike obsessed woman in her twenties just the other day. Now, creeping upon me like a riptide, I'm a content, slow-moving little fossil. I’m his girl, his Queen. He is my King. Now and forever. The quad-bike-revving beast of a man who only ever cares for us. I love the fact I’m still his girl even as time eats away at our vitality. My hair is no longer fiery red. I’ve conceded to grey. He insists it only makes my brown eyes all the prettier. I’d blush, except I love every word he says. I still find any opportunity to stand above him and bring my face to his, marvelling at the lack of wrinkles on his relaxed, still-boyish features. We’re currently down on the very south of the Shadowlands coast, in Finn’s old family home, left to him by his parents. I wonder if all o
Resisting the Beta Epilogue Two
*** SEVEN MONTHS LATER*** PHOEBE It is strange when the life you thought you always wanted lands in your lap. Except they don’t feed your soul. I lecture students on human and shifter history. An expert in my bitterly-learned field. The contrasting versions of events. The dangers of automatically believing the only side of the story you have access to. The fact history is always told from the side of the winner. I stride the corridors, my wedding band and bumblebee pendant permanently part of me. But it’s not enough. Jane and Wren are so incredibly kind. The hours I've spent talking through Huli and those momths with them have been cathartic. Even so, they know Rising Star isn’t what I want. Not without Sawyer. Of course, it would have been ungrateful to protest at Alpha Finn’s decision. Two people voted for me to die. Including my own sister. Alpha Finn saved me whilst yanking Sawyer away. It’s been seven months, yet every night, I lie awake. I think of the same mom
Resisting the Beta Epilogue One
*** 7 MONTHS LATER *** ALPHA FINN “Alpha!” That fake-serious, minx of a voice forces me to pause. Not ideal when halfway across the Jackson’s roof, retrieving Rami’s misplaced arrow. Again. Considering he is meant to be an archery prodigy, he seems to fire it up into that thatched cottage’s eaves with annoying regularity. “This is your fault, Luna!” I shout back, fully aware of her laughing from the packhouse. When she sends a bolt of seriously dirty thoughts across our bond, I almost put my foot into the chimney. Thankfully, Diane is with Beta Tucker again, straightening out his boredom-driven drinking via pure seduction. "IT WAS ME!” Rami adds with glee. Naomi innocently claims the practice targets Rami uses simply must face the Jackson’s cottage. I don’t argue. Not when my girl slinks around in dark bodysuits that leave my hands twitching to wrap around her waist. I have no arguments, only desires. Any argument she has formulating just vanishes away at the soun
Resisting the Beta 45. Phoebe
My mouth drops open, but there is nothing to say. Nikolai doesn’t suffer the same issue. “Now just fuck off a minute-” but Cillian doesn’t even flinch. Zeke and Freya step forward, their eyes wide with surprise. "You haven't discussed this with us?" “Look, my father was never born an Alpha. He rose. He proved himself. Calm in danger, braver than any of his peers. Any Shadowlands Alpha should follow the same route. I haven't. I've made it this far by the skin of my teeth. So I want you all to endorse and support and give your backing to Finn. Alpha Finn Penkov and his Luna, Naomi Kharkov of the Shadowlands.” The only person to make a sound is Rami, who starts clapping wildly and shouting “KING FINN! King Finn and Prince Rami! Haha, I'm in charge!!” He doesn’t seem to realise everyone else is in complete shock. He’s just thrilled his favourite person in the world is getting a promotion. And by default, in his eyes anyway, himself. “Do you accept?” Cillian says, not really givin
Resisting the Beta 44. Phoebe
The truck ride certainly gave me time to think. For one, I am eternally grateful Huli was no longer with me. I don’t miss having a wolf. The agony she would have been putting me through had she still held residence in my consciousness made me instinctively reach for my wrist. The only sign of that former life, one that could be years ago instead of just a few months, is a faint, grey scar on my wrist. It used to be so red and angry. Now, it has settled down to almost nothing. Genevieve picked up on it whilst she came to say goodbye. “I know you’re scared.” “I am. But only because it’s what I deserve.” “Well, if it helps, Nikolai and I are attending this meeting too. Cillian has asked for Rising Star as well.” "Oh." That absolutely does not help in any way. It only means Matilda will have even less influence. It makes me think Cillian is preparing to make an example of me. Genevieve has been kind enough to lend me a cornflower blue and white gown. Its swirling blue remi
Resisting the Beta 43. Sawyer
Nikolai explained, in a much more brutal and dickish way than was necessary, that we only got one night's stay at White Forest Castle. After all, he has sworn to help Alpha Cillian and Zeke, the pair of them bound in a trio of voting and veto. I don't care. We have each other right now. Every day seems to be swinging us to the extremes, and now we are just waiting for the biggest and hopefully final one to go our way. “I think we need to switch our brains off for a while,” Phoebe sighed, our brown dust-covered bodies flopping onto the bed of our small little room. “I can’t keep thinking about next week. It will drive me insane.” “Cillian could just exile us. Or maybe be so taken up in making Heath pay that we are nothing to him. Matilda will have an influence.” “I killed my mother and put him, Naomi and Finn into a trance. I stole a child…” “Not you. Your fucking wolf. You were just the vessel,” I sigh, too weary to go round the grisly roulette wheel. Phoebe rolls herself
Resisting the Beta 42. Phoebe
Clutching his silver goblet, our nameless, very-well rested hostage was almost chirpy, insisting he had a brother in law in the next town he could call on for a ride. But Sawyer shook his head when the time came to abandon him in the dark. “No…no it’s not right to take this. Can you drop us at the border? Keep the truck.” “From here, your nearest pack is Rising Star?” “That works just fine,” Sawyer replied. Walking through the night, keeping away from the towns and villages, Sawyer found us fresh water to drink, before killing and cooking a fish over a small fire. I’m probably endlessly naive, but to me, it was a perfect night. Because finally, there was not a single obstruction to just being with Sawyer. The man who patiently explained how you can catch a fish bare-handed. Explaining why he purposely ignored one section of the river, walking another mile upstream. I said nothing when he stripped to his underwear to stand in the shallows. I whooped and laughed instead when
Resisting the Beta 41. Sawyer
I felt Phoebe’s fear rise at the sight of Cillian. I saw a chance. Our opportunity to finally put things right. I just need him to listen to me instead of immediately heading to decapitation. His wolf's eyes were entirely golden, burning anger at the forefront of his intent. Cillian didn't even attempt diplomacy. No Shadowland envoys to King Heath, not even a personal visit to Bridgend to ask if there was truth in any rumours. He’s ended up straight here, shifted into wolf form, and shredded his way through at least twenty human men. What if this isn't the first prison he's tried? What will be the fallout from the Alpha's desperation? I couldn’t get Matilda’s cell unlocked in time. The heavy collection of black and silver keys was impossible to gauge. With the gag still in her mouth, Matilda wasn’t coming to our aid anytime soon. Plus, I know how it feels to be obliterated by wolfsbane. Sluggish, dopey. She might not even believe this is even real if they’ve really pum
