Page 70 of Prey for Me

“Shut the fuck up! That sanctimonious bullshit didn’t save us back then and it won’t save us now,” I shout, starling Grace who whimpers in her fitful sleep. I reach over and stroke her hair, and she grows silent.

“You’re right. But all that anger won’t save me either. Not now. I can feel it. It’s like the cliff but worse because my mother’s dead,” he says.

Coldness fills me and numbs me from the shock of his words. Because deep down inside, I know he’s right. There’s no one and nothing that can save him on this cursed island.

“I wanted to see her,” he whispers, voice breaking. “Just once, I wanted to hold her.”

“Her?” I ask.

He looks up at me, and the dam breaks, tears in his hooded eyes, “Our daughter. In my dreams, she was so beautiful. She had Grace’s eyes, and your face full of freckles, my skin, and curly black hair. But especially your shit eating grin.”

Nakoa starts hacking, and I rub his back through the pain,

“Don’t let her die because I was weak,” he begs, tone feverish.

“You’re not weak–” he cuts me off.

“Just because I lost,” he doesn’t stop, delirium overtaking him.

“We’re getting off this island. We are. Together. Just hang on,:

“Bury me facing north, towards my home… Please, Leo,” he closes his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Wounded.

Be merciful.

Poisoned.

Be merciful.

Infected.

Be merciful.

Leader.

Be merciful.

Best friend.

Be merciful.

Brother.

“Be merciful, Leo. Kill me,” Nakoa begs.

“No,” I whisper, unsheathing my blade and holding it towards the fire until it’s hot like a brand. “You should know by now I’m a bastard through and through. Now clench your fucking teeth alpha, and live.”

If I can’t cut the diseased flesh out, at least I’ll seal the bleeding wound. I press it to his abdomen, and Nakoa makes a sound I’ve never heard him make before—he whimpers like a baby. Intense dread pricks at my skin like a thousand needles, and water… tears pool in my eyes. I’m crying through it, and Grace starts to wake up again. But I can’t comfort her, letting her soothe herself through the sounds of Nakoa’s agony, as she covers her ears and pretends it’s all just a dream.

I’m sobbing when Raphael gets back, who drops all the kindling and the fruit he’s forged. He slumps in front of Nakoa, who has fainted in my arms. He hugs me, pressing his forehead to mine. And then he curls up beside Grace, still awake, waiting, watching for another attack.

And I do too, ready to tear any motherfucking wolf who dares to harm my pack again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

LEO

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