Page 38 of Prey for Me

Those exercises were useful but mind numbing.

He shakes his head no urgently, and Raphael comes up and hoists me out of the water. For a moment, we stand there, chest to chest, my naked body. His eyes burn, clinging to me.

“Take a hike with Leo.”

Leo wears a fake smile, his freckles darker, and more numerous than the first day we met. He’s tanning too, and I’m sure I am as well. Thanks to my mother, at least I don’t burn in the sun if I’m careful. But I don’t know how much longer I can pretend to be a jungle princess before I start boiling bright red like a lobster.

“Yes, a walk to take in the views.”

More like shield me from important information they don’t want me to hear. But I take the bait. I have a headache and don’t want to deal with any of this. Besides, it gives me a chance to map out more of the island than I’ve had access to. So, we set out for our little ad

Leo walks so close beside me that I feel like I can hear the rhythm of his heart. It’s strangely comforting, as we slowly ascend the cliff parallel to the cave.

Three against one? I like those odds. So I give him a chance to prove himself a liar willing to ride and die for me.

Did they use me as bait?I wonder, but shake that idea away in an instant.

Leo is fighting for his life. Why would he put himself in such danger to save me if I was the target. I should run. Let him die. Good riddance. I’d pretend I couldn’t do anything to help him. It’s believable. One less prison gaurd holding me back.

At least, I tell myself all that as I lunge for a knife and run towards the wolf sneaking up behind his back.

I hope I don’t regret this.

See what I see?

It’s beautiful.

One of my alphas guides me from the dark depths of the forest into the light.

I shudder, then gasp in awe as the glorious sun rises over the smoldering ruins of my old life.

“Do you like it, princess?” he whispers, fiery red hair fluttering in the wind—the bloody knife in his hand glints in the sunlight.

“Yes, I do,” I say, then pause, as my would-be killer gurgles, clutching his neck on the ground.

I look up at my alpha with a serene smile. “I love it. Thank you. I always wanted to see the sunrise on the island.”

I never wanted to crash-land on an island full of escaped alpha prisoners. Certainly not as an omega in heat. Least of all, find out my fated mates are possessive psychopaths.

But just like this feral paradise, my pack fills me with a strange peace, even when they use lethal force to protect me…

I hope they feel the same urge to help me save my sister someday soon.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

GRACE

Iresistlookingatthebody as we make out way back to the waterfall cliffs of base camp, the other wolf dragged against his will and still knocked unconscious. I try to gaslight myself into thinking that he deserved it, and whatever happens to the wolf still alive will be worth risking it all to save Leo. I mean, he was trying to do unspeakable things to me.

But I’m also being held captive by alphas, not unlike the butchered white fox hiding under the palms.

“That’s not the way home?” I say, again slipping up, calling that place home.

“We aren’t going to camp, we’re going to town,” Leo says, and for once, his usually jovial tone leaves no room for argument. I nod, still shaking, the blood on my black dress wavering as I fight back tears and bile.

I’ve seen worse, so why is this shaking me up so bad?

We take much longer than usual to get there, because we’re dragging dead weight and I’m not nearly as fast. By the time the sun is a flat, orange-red disc in the sky, we can barely see theskyline. But again, Leo doesn’t take the path I think he will. He takes the smooth path fate lead me away from the first night I was fully awake on the island.

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