AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My mind swam as my heartbeat grew ever more rapid. Everything faded in a peaceful haze. There was an almost sexual pleasure to what was happening.
Something massive slammed into the vampire, sending it crashing into the ground beside me. As soon as my flesh was free of its teeth, my own mind fully returned. Shivering with disgust, I scrambled to my feet, ready to rip its damn arms off.
Unfortunately, I was too late for revenge. A dark one-eyed wolf, Crew, already had the thing pinned down, his sharp white teeth puncturing the beast’s skin below the jaw. With a quick, vicious jerk of his head, Crew tore the vampire’s head free of its body, ending the thing in a second. The body began to shrivel almost immediately.
Standing on shaky legs, I leaned over and spat on the darkening corpse. “Prick.”
Crew shifted to his human form and adjusted his eyepatch before gesturing to my neck. “Are you good?”
I touched the spot below my ear. The bite wound had already closed, my healing erasing the punctures. “I’m fine, yeah. I don’t think he had me for long.”
Crew nodded and glanced around, surveying the area before addressing me again. “Okay. This is what we do: you and I head back to Haven. Eli and Kira will know to find us there.”
My brow furrowed in irritation. “Are you trying to order me around? I’m not going anywhere other than after Kira.”
“Listen, I’m not having this fight right now. We need to—”
“No!” I snarled, pointing at the ground and the tracks. “Simon has Kira. I’m sure of it. There’s a fucking spent tranquilizer dart with her blood on it. We’re going after her.”
Crew shook his head before I’d even finished. “That’s not how things work here. We’ve all survived this long on this stupid island because everyone listens to what I say. I know this place better than anyone. There are lives at stake, people who rely on me. I say we head back to Haven and regroup.”
A growl vibrated in my throat as I took an aggressive step toward the man. “Are you trying to tell me you’ll stop me if I try? Because I’dloveto see you try.”
Crew’s one good eye went steely cold, and he pressed his chest against mine. “Maybe I will stop you. You may be a Tranquility operative, but I’ve lived in this fucking place for two years, day and night. I’ve seen shit—dealt with shit—you can’t even comprehend.” He grinned savagely. “Even more than TOs have seen.”
It took all my willpower not to shove him back. “I’ve seen what this island has. I’ve survived just fine. And I’m going to survive while I look for Kira.”
Crew gave me a sarcastic smile. “Yeah, really tough life you had on the show. Go out into the woods for an hour or two, then head back into the mansion. Nice hot food, massage therapists, healers, showers, a warm bed. Such astruggleyou had.”
“Fuck you—”
“Can you two boys put your dicks back in your pants? I’m not in the mood to watch that kind of sword fight.”
Crew and I spun to find Eli trudging out of the jungle toward us. Seeing her and not another monster, we both relaxed, but I was still spoiling for a fight. The seconds ticked away like a banging drum in my head. Every moment I didn’t go after Kira was another moment that Simon could do something awful to her.
Eli placed a calming hand on our chests, gently pushing us away from each other. “We will help you get Kira back,” she said to me. “But rushing into Simon’s lair with no plan and no backup is suicide. We have to think rationally, or it will go bad for everyone. Worst-case scenario? Simon kills her and cuts his losses. Best case? We underestimate him and we all get captured, too.”
An irritated wince creased my face. She was right, of course. I knew better than to go off half-cocked. It was the kind of thing that would get you killed on the job. Hell, it was the same thing I’d always chastised Kira for at work.
Still, it made me crazy to not search for her. Everything in me—my mind, my inner wolf, my instincts—told me to rush after her.
Crew, visibly calmer, nodded in agreement. “I promise we’ll help Kira. The last thing I want is Simon messing around with anyone else. I’m not going to cut her loose to fend for herself, but we have to make a plan before attacking Simon. We’ve tried to find intel, but even after all this time, we know too little. We don’t know if he has staff or security in his bunker, what kinds of weapons or magic he has, nothing.
“For all we know, Simon has access to the show broadcast. He may very well know that you and Kira are an item,” Crew added to me. “He could try and use you to hurt each other. Unlikely, but possible. A good, strong plan is the only way.”
What they said made sense. I knew it, understood it, and on a deep level, agreed with it, but my wolf wasn’t having it. When I glanced over my shoulder toward the volcano, he snarled and growled in my mind, demanding I run after her. The urge and desire was so strong that I was ready to argue with Crew and Eli again, but a cacophony of howls from deep in the forest stopped me.
“Shit,” Crew said, looking in the direction of the noise. “The ferals.”
Eli stepped forward, gazing into the jungle. “I think there’s lots of them, too. We have to run. They’re headed this way.” She turned and looked at me, giving me an assuring nod. “Wehaveto. The three of us can’t take on a dozen feral shifters alone. You know that, Wyatt.”
My fists clenched at my sides, shaking with impotent rage. “Fuck,” I hissed. “Fine. Let’s go, but,” I leveled a finger at Crew, “we come back for her assoonas possible. Got it?”
Another set of howls ripped through the trees, closer than before. Crew and Eli both nodded, Crew putting his hand out for me to shake. “I swear. You have my word.”
Gritting my teeth, I clutched his hand and shook once. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Eli and Crew took the lead, as they knew the island better, but all three of us moved with haste as the sounds of the feral pack grew closer. Soon, I could even hear the faint sounds of breaking twigs and tearing leaves as the group headed our way.
