Page 63 of Prey for Me

I’m shivering, but most certainly not from the cold draft blowing through the steel box we locked ourselves in.

“Why are you so unsettled right now, sweet omega?” he asks as he pins my hair behind my ears.

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Kainoa”

“Right,” I sigh.

What the hell was I expecting? It’s not like a crooked nose is uncommon.

“We found it!”

“Didn’t I order you not to touch shit!” Raphael bellows as the seemingly ancient system boots up.

And what we see flash across the screen forces me to fall back into Nakoa’s arm, the collective gasp in the room removing what little air was left.

“Welcome to Foxcroft Laboratory for the Advancement of Omega Research,” the computer says robotically as it boots up.

I’m too stunned to speak and as I turn to my pack, I see that Raphael is on the verge of mental collapse. Madame Blu a dataset. The locations Serge rattled off locations of kidnapped alphas. I tremble, then toss the distorted picture of the faceless pregnant omega lined up like cattle awaiting slaughter Blue Fox a codename for the bloodblooded alphas using this island as their hunting ground.

The climax to this madness should drive me over the edge. But all I can feel is a soul-crushing, mind-numbing, existential thread.

I was always supposed to end up here. If that’s the case, is this my fate?

A light flicks on as I pass through the threshold. I turn and read the screen and freeze

“Grace?” Nakoa ask, using my real name as I force a smile. “Is everything okay?”

“No, but it will be,” I lie, avoiding what he’s actually asking me.

I can pretend, but nothing will ever be the same. No more running. No more hiding. It’s time for prey like me to become crueler than the predators that roam this place. Besides, I think, as we emerge from the pits of hell side by side, there’s already so many secrets between us, Nakoa, Leo, Raphael, and I.

What’s one more?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

GRACE

“Go!Go!Go!”Nakoashouts like the building’s about the explode as we race out of the lair in the direction of the cove where Grace’s ship sank, on the border of North and South, where the border itself has broken down.

We can’t run back to civilization fast enough. As soon as we make it down the imposing walkway that leads to the Lighthouse, we don’t rest from sunup through sunset. Every time Nakoa tries to get me to sleep, I see a vision of that monstrous thing and find the power to keep walking.

“Let’s make camp. Packs Bravo, Charlie, and Delta have already made contact with the weapon’s stash and are coordinating the response to start repairs on the ship. There’s been no sighting of wolves in over a month. More than likely, they’re prepared for us. Rushing the fence weaponless and exhausted won’t save anyone, Grace.”

Our meal of canned beans and peaches taste like shit. But the fact that we’re all eating it together feels like a blessing amidst the curse still lingering over this island.

But I can’t keep much of it down. Leo even attempts to feed me, like a baby, but I turn him away. I made up an excuse about what I saw that unsettled my stomach. And it works for a while, until I turn to the crude wine we recovered in the warehouse.

“You don’t want some wine? You’ve been whining about it for weeks,” Raphi says, incredulous.

I shake my head.

“I want to watch the stars. Show me the constellations. Show me the world beyond this island.”

We look up at the stars, tracing, constellations and symbols. I’ve never heard of it before until my face aches from smiling, and my arms are heavy from lifting them high all day and night.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this type of peace before. At least not this type of piece before my mother was murdered before just thinking a sentence like that would throw me into a week. Long tailspin filled was drinking and drugging the pain away, but ever since I accepted my pack in my alpha, I felt more secure.

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