Born to be Broken

Chapter 1

By the time she’d found his home, Claire could little more than crawl. Scratching at the portal, fingers numb, she slumped to the floor. When the door cracked and squinting eyes showed in the dark, had she the capacity, Claire would have laughed. Never had a man looked more shocked.

She was filthy; stringy hair wet from snow and sweat, limbs badly scraped from her fall. About her throat, a bruise tellingly shaped in a handprint circled like a sad necklace. That was nothing compared to the state of her feet when he tried to help her stand. Torn and bleeding, more skin had been worn away than was sound. Corday hoisted her from the ground, her freezing body flush to his, and locked the door.

“Claire!” He vigorously rubbed his hands up and down the trembling woman’s back. “I have you.”

It’s a good thing he did; once the door locked her eyes rolled back in her skull, Claire unconscious. Corday rushed her to his shower, cranked on the heat, and stood with her under the spray. Her lips were blue, and no wonder considering that temperatures on this level of the Dome had grown near freezing. The Beta stripped off her ruined dress and washed every rivulet of blood from his friend, finding more bruises, more wounds, more reasons to hate Shepherd.

The gauze at her shoulder he’d left for last, grateful at least something had been tended to. But as it grew saturated, he grew worried by what was hinted at under the bandage. Peeling it back, Corday cursed to see what the beast had done to her. Shepherd’s claiming marks, the tissue red and distorted—even after what looked like weeks of healing, her shoulder was a fucking mess.

The monster had mutilated her.

The water turned as cold as Corday’s blood. He pulled her out, dried her the best he could, and tucked Claire into the warmth of his bed. There she lay, naked and badly damaged, a little color coming back to her hollowed cheeks. One at a time, he uncovered limbs, tending scraps, bandaging wounds, doing his best to preserve her modesty. That didn’t mean he didn’t see them, the telling bruises mottling her inner thighs.

She looked almost as bad as the Omegas the resistance had rescued…

It frightened him. Not one of those women was thriving. Even safe, they deteriorated—hardly spoke, hardly ate. More of them had died, and though the Enforcers could not pinpoint the cause, Brigadier Dane was certain with all that they’d suffered—the children and mates that had been taken from them—they had simply lost the will to live.

Claire had to be different.

Left arm, right arm, both elbows sluggishly bled. Salve and bandages were the best Corday could offer. But there was nothing he could do for her throat; the mottled yellow-brown bruises were not fresh. The Omega’s injuries grew far more complicated with her legs—both kneecaps were grotesque; one gash deep enough to require stitches. He did his best with butterfly sutures, closing the gap of torn flesh, lining up the skin so that it might stand a chance of mending. Her joints would swell—that was unavoidable—and he hesitated to ice them as she was already shivering and still cold to the touch.

“You’re gonna be okay, Claire,” he promised. “You’re safe with me.”

Claire opened bloodshot eyes; she looked at the Beta whose face she could read like a book. He was scared for her. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“Shhh.” He leaned down, smiling to see her awake. Stroking the wet, tangled hair from her face, he said, “Rest your throat.”

She complied, and Corday worked quickly to finish, disinfecting every abrasion on her outer thighs, knees, and shins. Her feet were a different matter. There was little he could do, and she would hardly be able to walk in the days to come. He picked out the detritus, noting how she didn’t move or twitch even when a fresh wave of blood followed a large chunk of glass once it was pulled free. He wrapped her feet tight, and said a prayer to all three Gods that the open wounds would not fester.

Once it looked like she was asleep, he rose.

Claire’s hand shot out, her bruised fingers clawing into his sleeve. “Don’t go!”

“You need medicine,” Corday soothed, weaving his fingers with hers.

Claire held tighter, disjointed and afraid. “Don’t leave me alone.”

Brushing a pile of bandage wrappers to the floor, Corday did as she wished. He slipped under the covers beside her, offering body heat and a safe place to rest. Claire let him hold her, laying her head on his shoulder, still.

Ashamed to ask, beyond pathetic, she whispered, “Will you purr for me?”

Such a thing was an act of intimacy between lovers and family, but there was no hesitation in the Beta. Corday pulled in a deep breath and started the rumbling vibration at once. The sound was a little off—the act being something he was unaccustomed to—and though it lacked the richness of an Alpha purr, it was infinitely comforting in that moment.

“That’s nice.” Exhausted, Claire sighed. “Please don’t stop.”

Corday thumbed a spilling tear from her cheek. “I won’t, Claire.”

In the voice of a broken thing, Claire began to feel more than endless choking malaise; she felt disgust… for herself. “I hate that name.”

* * *

Huddled close to her friend, like children whispering secrets, Claire woke. Though her body ached, she was warm, surrounded in a scent of safety, and grateful for the boyish smile Corday offered once she’d pried her sticky lashes apart.

Cautious and gentle, he smoothed her tangled hair. “You look much better.”

They were so close she could see the night’s stubble on his cheek, smell his breath.

He seemed so real.

Sucking her split lower lip into her mouth, Claire felt the sting. Tasting the scab left when that woman, Svana, had struck her for refusing to spread, made the nightmare real again. It was as if Svana were in the room with her, as if the Alpha’s hands remained wrapped around her throat.

Claire struggled to breathe.

Corday broke through her growing terror. “You’re okay, Claire. I’ll keep you safe.”

It wasn’t a dream, it was real. Claire grew to understand that the more Corday spoke, the more he touched her, the more she felt the sun on her face.

How had she even come to be there?

She was separated from Shepherd, in a great deal of physical discomfort, naked, and Corday had taken her in, despite the fact that she had drugged him—lied to him.

She had to remind herself out loud; she had to make herself remember. “I jumped off the back terrace of the Citadel… crashed into snow.”

“And you ran here,” Corday finished for her.

She had, before air had even returned to her lungs she’d scampered up and fled. “I ran as fast as I could… right to your door.” Voice breaking, trembling something fierce, Claire sobbed, “I’m sorry, Corday.”

Seeing her panic, he tried to calm her. “There is nothing to be sorry for.”

“I drugged you,” she whispered. “I lied. And now he’ll find you. He’ll hurt you.”

“He won’t.” Corday grew earnest and severe. “You can trust me. There is no need for you to lie to me again. I can’t help you if you lie.”

“If I had taken you to the Omegas, he would have killed you, just as he killed Lilian and the others.” Claire looked to the pillowcase lightly crusted with her blood. “He punished me… I’m pregnant.”

Corday already knew. He’d smelled it almost the instant Claire had been in his arms. There was only one way such a thing could have come to pass. Shepherd had forced another heat cycle.

There was very little he could say, little he could do, but one thing Corday could offer her. He looked her dead in the eye and asked, “Do you want to remain that way?”

What a question… Claire had to think, recognized she had been clinging to the Beta to the point where it must have made his shoulder ache. Easing her hold, she measured the little bit of human that she still was, and knew she had not wanted a baby yet. More so, she had foolishly allowed herself to develop an attachment to the monster who had filled her womb, a monster who was using her like a broodmare—a beast whose lover had tried to kill her.

Claire pressed her hand to the tiny life growing inside her. She could rid herself of the issue; abortion was a common practice, probably accessible even now. She could have Shepherd carved out of her.

After a shuddering breath she admitted her horrific truth, “I don’t feel anything, you know. Inside… I feel nothing at all.”

He gave her space, offering a lopsided smile. “I know it might seem like the world has ended for you, Claire, but you are free now. You’re a survivor.”

She could not help but sadly smile at a man who would never understand. “Survivor? What kind of future do you see for me? I was pair-bonded to a monster to be his toy, drugged into an unnatural heat cycle, impregnated against my will so I would grow devoted, and then forced to listen to the Alpha who was supposed to be my mate fuck his lover—a very scary Alpha female who wrapped her hands around my throat, who shoved her fingers inside me right in front of him.”

He couldn’t stop a grimace. “Shhh. This can be made right.”

“It’s okay for us both to admit there isn’t going to be a happy ending for me.” Claire sat up, holding the sheet to her chest, empty. “I have no future, but I can still fight for them.”

Brushing back her hair, wanting to pull her nearer, Corday restrained the desire to embrace the sad-eyed woman. “If you step outside that door and try to take on Shepherd, you won’t win.”

“I won’t win… but I am going to act out.” A goal, something to cling to, hardened her voice. Claire sneered. “I’m going to do everything I can to make noise. And if they catch me, I’ll make sure they kill me.”

“Please listen to me,” Corday grew urgent, afraid to scare her off should he say the wrong thing. “Let’s talk this through. The best thing you can do right now is grow stronger. “

“I intend to.” She nodded, knowing he misunderstood. “Shepherd once told me there is no good in the people of Thólos. He was wrong. This occupation has stripped away our pretenses; it has made us naked to our nature. Don’t you see? Integrity, kindness—it exists here…” Claire closed her eyes, nestled nearer once again. “You, Corday, are a good man.”

He didn’t hesitate to pull her flush. “And you’re a good woman.”

Resting her cheek on his shoulder, she sighed. She might have been a good woman once, but the truth was, she was not a person anymore. She was a shadow.

“I want you to know that while you were gone, we uncovered the distributors of the counterfeit heat-suppressants. Omegas were rescued. They are recovering and protected. The drugs were destroyed; every last man paid for his crimes.”

There was a flutter in Claire’s chest, a moment of feeling she tore to pieces before it might infect her. “Thank you, Corday.”

“You are a part of that, you know?” Boyish eagerness, a desire to see Claire pleased, infected his grin. “Your determination—you fought for them. They have you to thank for their freedom.”

“I didn’t do anything but get raped and cry about it.”

“You’re wrong.” Corday took her cheek, made her meet his eye. “You stood up to the biggest monster of them all. You have escaped him twice now. You are strong, Claire.”

But she wasn’t. “No… you don’t understand. The pair-bond, the pregnancy… I started to care for him, to need him.” Saying it out loud made her mouth taste of vomit. “I was weak.”

Corday knew none of that was her fault. “Given the circumstances, what happened was only natural.”

“I don’t know what it was… but it was. I stopped seeing a monster and wanted the attention of the man. And once he’d persuaded my affection, he made it the world’s sickest joke. I should be grateful, I guess. Listening to him with her… it ripped the pair-bond out. He can’t control me now.”

The total lack of emotion in Claire’s voice disturbed Corday. Whatever Shepherd had done had damaged the Omega, and a part of him wondered if every expression she was making was only because she was supposed to remember things like breathing and blinking.

Oblivious to the apprehension in her friend, Claire continued. “I get it now. This breach was not about gaining power. We’re his puppets, falling rabid at the snap of his fingers. We dance on his stage. Shepherd, his Followers, they’re punishing us all for…” she scoffed under her breath, “for blind ignorance. For allowing what was done to them.”

“You are free of him, of his lies, and his evil, Claire. Remember that.”

“The Dome is cracked. It’s snowing outside. Not frost, real snow. We are not free of him, not when we let that happen. We let this all happen.”

“We can take back Thólos.”

Claire’s breath hitched. “Not so long as he is alive.”

* * *

“Your Omega escaped through a broken drainage gate. Blood on the scene shows the direction in which she fled and that her bearing was not affected by broken legs. The trail was lost when she slid below mid-level and moved out over accumulating sludge.”

“How much blood?” Shepherd demanded, skimming the report in his hand for anything relevant.

“Considering the distance she fell, minimal. Internal bleeding may be an issue.”

His unforgiving gunmetal glare caught the light. Impatient, Shepherd growled, “She has not eaten in almost a week. She will not have been able to manage a great distance malnourished, shoeless, and bleeding.”

“Was she suffering from morning sickness?”

Shepherd turned toward his desk, his attention going back to the report. “Hunger strike.”

Jules, unsurprised by such a statement, remained blank. “When she is returned, what are your expectations of Miss O’Donnell?”

Exceedingly irate, Shepherd hissed, “For her to resume her duty as my mate.”

Only psychological damage would lead a pregnant, pair-bonded Omega to hunger strike and jump off a building in madness. Jules grew blunt. “And if that’s not possible? Whom do you intend to serve as surrogate Alpha to see to her until she delivers your heir?”

Muscles straining, Shepherd warned, “You presume much, Jules. She will be returned and her behavior corrected.”

Jules was second-in-command for a good reason—he was shrewd and willing to act. Employing candor, he stated, “Without physical contact the Omega will willingly accept, she may miscarry.”

Shepherd was not to be gainsaid by man or woman. His final order was issued. “You are dismissed.”

Grasping that the situation was beyond his original assessment, Jules saluted and removed himself from the room.

Shepherd took to his desk, alone. Memorizing the reports flashing on his COMscreen, every so often he habitually glanced behind him, expecting to see Claire pacing. But she was not there. She was gone… He knew in his bones that his mate had sought out the noble man who had offered help. The Beta would take her in, tend her, comfort her, touch her. The very idea another might hold her… act as a surrogate… infuriated him.

Gnashing his teeth, Shepherd swore. The Beta would die screaming.

Had Shepherd not purred, growled, stroked, followed every instinct to rouse her back from her stupor? He’d even tried to explain. Him! The Alpha, the strongest who was never questioned, had tried to reason with an Omega. But she had not even blinked.

She’d slipped so far out of his grasp.

It was her vocation to stay, to be devoted, to love him, to obey. Had he not seen to her needs? Had he not given her nice dresses and the best food? Had he not spent hours simply petting the girl until she was completely content? What was one unpleasant situation compared to that?

Had he not saved her life in more ways than one?

Impregnating her ensured her survival, justified her maintenance to his followers. No one could question the safekeeping of his baby. More importantly, it gave her purpose and distraction. Shepherd could not tell her in so many words—she was not one of them, remained far too determined in her ideal of goodness to comprehend the greatness of his calling. Furthermore, the reasoning behind his actions was unnecessary for her to know. Shepherd knew if Claire realized the true nature of what was coming, she would only fret more. She would cry for her pathetic citizens instead of giving all her attention to him. Direct treachery was best: it kept him in control of her fate. But she was willful, so damn obstinate with her foolish romantic notions.

Shepherd’s fist crashed against the table. He roared, upended the entire thing until papers flew and his COMscreen cracked against the cold floor.

In the Omegaverse, characters fall into one of three unique dynamics—Alpha, Beta, or Omega (A/B/O)—which shape their physiology, mating instincts, and even their personality traits. In Addison Cain’s version of Omegaverse:

• Alphas are dominant and instinct-driven, often larger in stature and naturally assertive, sometimes to the point of aggression. Their unique traits include:
  • A mating growl that compels their Omega partner to produce slick, a natural lubricant that prepares Omega’s for penetration. The scent of slick is like ambrosia to an Alpha.
  • A deep, comforting purr that forces Omegas to calm when agitated.
  • The ability to form a lifelong pair-bond with an unmated Omega—with or without explicit consent.
  • Upon reaching the point of ejaculation, Alpha’s males form a knot at the base of their member—a primal, animalistic act—locking their partner to them with the express purpose of sealing semen inside to increase odds of fertilization and/or compliance. This knot forces their partner to climax and assures they cannot escape.
• Betas are typical humans, free from the overwhelming instincts that define Alphas and Omegas.
• Omegas are Alpha’s counterparts—rare, deeply emotional, and due to their biology, irresistibly alluring to mates. When aroused, females produce copious slick to ease the entry of a large Alpha organ. Omegas enter heat cycles (estrous) every few months, and have an insatiable need to mate until it is over. This makes them vulnerable to those seeking to take advantage. Due to unfair social hierarchy, Omegas have little choice in their life partners, as the strongest Alpha claims what they want. Once pair-bonded, they are tied to their Alpha for life.
• Pair-bonded Alphas and Omegas cannot be separated for long periods of time without serious mental and physical decline. Omegas become physically addicted to their Alphas, and will desire them regardless of their willingness to be claimed.

These are not exhaustive rules for Omegaverse as a whole. Each author lends their own unique perspective and world-building to the genre.

Omegaverse is rooted in the concept of instincts and dominance, but it remains grounded in a world where the characters' humanity is key. Characters in Omegaverse do not shift form. In fiction, shifters occupy their own niche genre and often exclude A/B/O dynamics (knots, slick, etc) altogether. Omegaverse is to shifters what vampires are to zombies—they share similar traits but are not the same.

Whether you're new to Omegaverse or a longtime fan, Addison Cain’s take on the genre is as addictive as it is emotionally charged. Prepare for gripping narratives, unforgettable characters, and a dark romance unlike any you’ve experienced before!

☑️ Once you complete your purchase, BookFunnel will send your e-book download link right away—no waiting!

📧 Follow the link to download your books and easily send them to your favorite e-reader.

🔍 Can’t find your download link? Make sure to check you junk folder just in case. Still can’t find it? No worries! You can access all your books here: https://bookfunnel.com/help/

☺️ Dive into your new read and get lost in the story.