Fever (The Omegaborn Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  Fever

  By

  Sara Fields

  Copyright © 2019 by Stormy Night Publications and Sara Fields

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC.

  www.StormyNightPublications.com

  Fields, Sara

  Fever

  Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson

  Images by Shutterstock/Kuznechik, Shutterstock/TrifonenkoIvan, Shutterstock/costas anton dumitrescu, and Shutterstock/leolintang

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Epilogue

  More Stormy Night Books by Sara Fields

  Sara Fields Links

  Chapter One

  Ethan

  This entire fucking meeting was chaos.

  Actually, technically it hadn’t even begun yet, but already there were too many alphas in one small contained space for any of us to be even remotely comfortable. It seemed like every pack from the wilds had a representative and that didn’t even count all the random alphas that had been banished from the city that were here too.

  Too much testosterone. Even I knew that.

  The wildlands were overwhelmed with alphas now. It wasn’t just here in this oversized hut. This meeting had been called to deal with this particular problem specifically. A few weeks ago, thousands of alphas had been forced out of the city, the result of some sort of suppressant gone wrong. I didn’t know much about what happened within the walls, but I could guess that it hadn’t been good. The city’s airborne drug system was supposed to keep alpha instincts completely suppressed. Whatever had caused such a massive number of alphas to awaken at the same time must have been bad.

  It had been some time since I’d been within the city walls, but I imagined the powers that be weren’t particularly happy about it.

  Absentmindedly, I wondered about the omegas. If there were that many alphas, it was likely a similar number of omegas had either gone into heat or had awakened themselves. It was a worrisome thought.

  An alpha growled to my right and I sighed, watching as another clenched his fists by his sides, ready to strike at any moment. Since the massive influx of alphas, it had been like this. Alphas now fought against other alphas in the wilds for claim to lands, territory, and resources and it had resulted in the slaughter of many. It had to be contained. These new men didn’t know the rules of the wilds. Most important, they didn’t know that claimed omegas were forbidden to them.

  Should this carry on unchecked, it would become anarchy.

  Our lands couldn’t have that. Thus far, peace was tenuous at best between packs, but now all of that was threatened. Alphas killed other alphas. Packs blamed other packs and it devolved from there. If this wasn’t handled, and soon, the wilds would descend into civil war. No one wanted that. I especially didn’t want that.

  War would destroy our world. It would take our freedom and worst of all, it would hurt the ones we cared for most. Our women, our children. I’d seen how men behaved when they thought no one was watching. They became reckless. They took what they wanted, when they wanted, and they didn’t care if they destroyed those weaker than them in the process.

  A foul memory tore at my thoughts.

  I rolled my lip, remembering that poor omega’s face. Her screams as that disgusting excuse for a guard tore at her clothes, knocked her to the ground, and forced his knot inside her even though she wasn’t prepared for it.

  I shook my head, forcing the rancid memory far from my thoughts. No, I didn’t want to think about that time. I didn’t want to think about the moment that had changed my entire life. I didn’t regret it for a second.

  “Order!” a man named Wolfe yelled loudly. He was another alpha from the wilds. He was the leader of the Thalos pack. His brother Ivan sat beside him, along with a man from the city who I recognized, Alix. If I remember correctly, he’d been one of the scientists who had worked at Genwell. Between them sat a tiny little omega. Her hair was dark brown and descended down her back. I’d heard them say her name once. They’d called her Raven. Upon closer inspection, I recognized her too. She’d been one of the youngest scientists at Genwell, rather famous for her research on the airborne suppressant system.

  Raven lifted her icy blue eyes, staring at another group sitting on the other side of the room. I turned my head lazily, catching sight of another omega woman, this one with flowing bright red hair. Another scientist from the city I recognized. Triss.

  Interesting. Two omegas from the city.

  Triss wouldn’t look at Raven. She kept her eyes on the ground, the look on her face one of abject shame and boundless regret.

  Hmmm...

  Surrounding Triss were another three alphas. Two men from the wilds. I think their names were Garret and Lothgar, but I wasn’t really sure. Their packs were quite a fair distance from here and I wasn’t even sure if Garret was part of one. He had the air of a loner, someone who didn’t particularly like being part of a pack. The last member of the group was a man who startled me. It was Ravick, the once extremely powerful leader of the city’s defense. He had even higher clearance levels than I had and here he was, out in the wilds, a full-fledged alpha.

  Leaning forward, I studied the omegas’ necks. Each of them had three scars indicating that they had been claimed by three separate alphas.

  Well, that was rare. One omega with multiple alphas. These things didn’t happen every day, but I suppose we weren’t dealing with normal times anymore. The longer I sat there, the more I came to realize that something big was going to take place. Something that would change the future of our entire world.

  Ravick stood up. He rolled his shoulders back and lifted his chin confidently. Triss leaned against his leg, running her fingers up and down his calf.

  Lucky fucking bastard. What I wouldn’t give for an omega of my own.

  He cleared his throat. He gave off the aura of a confident man who was used to leading and speaking before a large group of people. I’d always liked the manner in which he led—cool, calm, and in a way that demanded respect. He’d once commanded me when we served in the city together, but that had been some time ago.

  “Alphas of the wilds, we gather here today to come up with a solution to our problem. The only way we can do that is if we focus and put aside our petty arguments and disputes for the time being. So please, sit down and let’s call this meeting to order,” Ravick began.

  “Hear hear,” I responded in kind, a bit more loudly than the others.

  His eyes turned toward me and I saw a spark of recognition there. He was a big reason I had been banished myself and not put to death for what I had done. With a single nod, he acknowledged me, and I bowed my head slightly in deference. I was grateful for his assistance during my criminal trial and I wouldn’t make an enemy of him now.

  All around me, men grunted their displeasure but ultimately everyone sat down in the massive straw-covered auditorium. Circular benches lined the walls, allowing
us all to stare at one another for the largest Central Gathering to date. There were at least a hundred of us gathered here today.

  A gradual hush fell over the room and Ravick moved toward the center.

  “Through the banishment of Tharia’s alphas, the city leaders have initiated a massive alpha/omega imbalance, the largest we’ve ever seen out here in the wilds. Many of these new alphas were soldiers like I was, and they don’t know how to manage their new alpha instincts, nor do they know the rules that have been decreed from past meetings of the Central Gathering. With this many new alphas here in the wilds and no subsequent increase in the number of omegas, unsurprisingly, peace between the packs has devolved,” he continued.

  He was right.

  “From my position in the city, it was part of my job to monitor the happenings of the wilds, at least remotely. In my experience, I’ve never seen this much instability in my life. Alphas are fighting against alphas and many of those fights have resulted in death. Some of those fights have killed an already claimed alpha, leaving his omega to suffer the loss of the one she was bonded to for life. These city alphas have forced pair bonds on these shattered omegas and have no idea how to care for such a broken mate,” he said, and I snarled at the news that it was far worse than I had thought.

  I would never stand for the abuse of an omega.

  “We must do something to correct such a massive imbalance,” he continued.

  “What would you have us do?” I asked and he turned back toward me.

  “Thanks to an omega that escaped from the city,” he started.

  “Her name was Ellie,” Triss interrupted and Ravick turned his head toward her, his look only slightly scolding. Instead of reprimanding her, he softly stroked the top of her head with his fingers.

  “Yes. An omega named Ellie had given us critical information about the happenings in the city since many of us were banished from its walls. An anti-suppressant awakened the once dormant alphas and omegas. The city decided to keep the omegas within the dome and banish the alphas, fixing their own problem by forcing it on us. All the omegas are being kept in the omega sanctuary, which has been significantly expanded to hold them all,” Ravick continued, his eyes turning to mine. I growled softly, deep in my throat.

  He’d know what I was thinking. The two of us had a history and it wasn’t particularly pretty, at least it wasn’t for me.

  I’d once been an elite soldier under his command. I held many top-secret security clearances until that one fateful day where I’d thrown everything away to rescue an omega. I’d been on a mission to garner information about a smuggling ring that was based on the outskirts of the omega sanctuary when I’d come across one of the guards forcing himself on one of the omegas who lived there. I’d lost it. I’d torn him off of her and beaten him to a pulp. I’d killed him in order to rescue her. Once the guard was no longer a threat, I’d carried her to the hospital myself and ensured that she’d receive the best care. She’d survived thanks to me.

  My actions had not gone unnoticed. The next day, I’d been relieved from my duties and court-martialed for murder. Ravick had played a role in the trial and through his recommendation, I had been banished from the city walls instead of being put to death.

  The omega sanctuary was a sad place, one of abject poverty, unhappiness, and constant abuse. I highly doubted it had changed from when I’d last seen it myself.

  “Thousands of omegas are imprisoned within the city. All of them. With an increased population of women kept in the sanctuary, conditions have worsened considerably. Stories of abuse and poor conditions run rampant,” Ravick said, as he stared into my eyes. He knew this would anger me and he was right, I was furious.

  Omegas were meant to be mates to an alpha, meant to be cherished, adored, and subdued by their bonded men. They were strong, feisty little things that sometimes needed a strong hand, but ultimately, they were a gift of nature. To us alphas.

  “The city has taken what is rightfully ours,” Ravick continued and the men sitting beside me roared in anger. Triss lifted her head, her angry green eyes catching mine briefly and a small glimmer of a smile raised on her lips.

  “We must take back our omegas, but that would mean entering into a battle against a technologically superior army who’s highly trained and prepared for something like this. Take it from me, the city is afraid of what’s on the outside and to be honest, they should be,” Ravick said next.

  The alphas surrounding me chuckled knowingly.

  “If we’re going to succeed against the vastness of the Tharia beta army, we’re not going to be able to do it alone. We’re going to have to have help from the inside. We’re going to have to enlist the help of the omegas,” he explained.

  The Central Gathering of alphas was silent. All around me, men sat at the edges of their seats, waiting for what Ravick would say next.

  He’d always had that effect on people.

  “But that’s not all. We’re going to need someone on the inside,” Ravick said next.

  The room remained silent and then a solitary man stood up. I recognized him as an alpha from the wilds. His name was Viktor. He was sort of a rule breaker, unafraid of getting his hands dirty in order to achieve whatever he wanted done. It was whispered that he was involved with some sort of smuggling ring that extended into the city. I suspected it had something to do with the omegas too.

  “I know a man in the city. He’s a beta by the name of Damiyen. He’s been my friend for many years and has always disliked the government of Tharia, especially when it related to the treatment of the omegas within the sanctuary. He’s always hated its existence and specifically, the abuse the omegas withstand within their confinement there. He knows a lot of people that would be especially willing to help oust the current regime in charge,” Viktor suggested. His jaw ticked. Clearly, he was bothered by the existence of the omega prison too.

  Ravick nodded, his expression darkening as if he was deep in thought.

  “Would we be able to arrange a meeting with this beta friend of yours?” he asked Viktor. The lone alpha shook his head.

  “He won’t meet with you. He’s involved in a few questionable enterprises and is very careful about who he seeks an audience with,” Viktor replied, his own tone a bit evasive.

  Yeah. I bet he was just as involved with those questionable enterprises too.

  Ravick was quiet for some time and the rest of the men remained silent as they waited for what was next to come.

  “We must prepare ourselves out here beyond the walls for what is to be the biggest battle any of us have ever seen. All of us must gather every man at our disposal, from the very farthest reaches of the wilds. Use any and all allies that you can scrape up. We must take back what is ours. We must free the omegas and take them back,” Ravick said, his voice growing stronger and much bolder now.

  The alphas of the gathering roared in approval.

  “But at the same time, I need a small convoy of men to break into the city and begin to prepare the omegas for that battle. They’ll need weapons, training, and guidance on how to best work with our forces to ensure our victory,” Ravick explained. “It would need to be a small group, no larger than three to ensure complete secrecy and stealth.”

  Viktor cleared his throat.

  “I’ll volunteer. I’ll make contact with Damiyen and between the two of us, we’ll ensure a healthy supply of weapons for those on the inside,” he offered.

  “Good. Then I’ll need two more,” Ravick replied, his gaze searching the room.

  I stood up.

  “I offer my sword for the protection of the omegas,” I declared firmly, and a small grin turned up the corner of Ravick’s mouth. There was no doubt in my mind that he had expected I would volunteer. He’d know that I would want to ensure the safety and well-being of the omegas. It was just a part of who I was.

  “Very good. We have Ethan and Viktor. Who else will stand with them to help lead the omegas into battle?” Ravick asked.

/>   The alpha sitting next to me sighed heavily and then stood. I knew little about him other than his name, Alaric, and the fact that he never, ever backed down from a fight, which explained the number of scars all over his face and arms.

  “Things aren’t too exciting here outside the walls for me, so I volunteer,” he replied, and then an excited expression crossed over his features. I snorted. An adventure seeker then, probably agreeing to come along just for the thrill of it.

  “Good. Ellie and her alpha Ehsan will accompany you into the city. She’ll be your inside girl who will get you an audience with the omega leader, Nikki. Once you’re in there, she’ll function as our informational liaison, funneling key intel to our forces here on the outside,” Ravick added.

  I nodded curtly.

  “When will you have us leave on our journey?” I asked briskly, eager to begin preparations as soon as possible.

  “Tonight. The sooner we breach the city walls, the better. We’re counting on you three,” he answered.

  “I will protect the omegas with my life. In addition, I offer my knowledge of the city to our mission,” I replied.

  “I give you my ax,” Viktor said proudly, hefting a rather heavy-looking two-handed battle ax over his shoulder.

  “You’ve got all of my various weapons then too, I guess,” Alaric offered, his expression one of calm complacency. It was obvious he was now bored and wanted to get moving already.

  “The three of you are crucial to the fate of us all,” Ravick responded proudly, his tone strong and true.

  The crowd of men exploded into shouts and applause. The sound was deafening, but it set the blood rushing through my veins on fire with anticipation. Once, I had been a trained soldier, an elite among the masses, and my heart pounded in excitement to have the opportunity to partake in such an important mission for the first time in years. Not only would I have the opportunity to free all of the omegas who were forced to live within the confines of the sanctuary, but maybe, just maybe I would be able to claim one of my very own.

  Perhaps I’d be lucky enough for one to claim me.