Page 53 of Carnage Island

But Tieran’s snarl comes out above the rest, his body moving with a power that makes my knees weak.

He knows I’m here. Because those words were for me, not the other wolves.

You can’t say I didn’t warn you.

He did.

He told me not to run.

That he would not be happy when he caught me.

And for some sick and twisted reason, that sends a shiver of excitement down my spine.

I tried to throw him off my path by moving through the stream to distort my scent. I even rolled in some mud. But he found me far faster than I ever could have anticipated.

A fact that pleases my wolf to no end. She’s practically doing flips inside me, telling me to fall from this tree and lay prone on the ground for him to take us. She’s not worried about him at all, even with the furious sounds coming from the fight below.

Two of the wolves are already unconscious, their throats ripped out from Tieran’s teeth.

It’s a gory sight, one that should make me queasy.

Yet my legs clench with unhinderedneed.

I’m on fire despite my frozen skin. Every part of me burns for him.

No, not just him.

Them.

Because I can hear Volt and Caius, too, their howls piercing my senses and calling to my inner wolf. Sheknowsthem. I don’t understand how, and I’m beyond questioning why.

My instincts are leading me now, just as they have from the moment I turned.

I’m embracing my animal and allowing her needs to become my own.

No more suppression. No more fighting the urge to shift or to run or to indulge in my more savage inclinations.

My pack took all this from me.

And I’m taking it all back now.

I cling to the branch as Tieran roars. One of the wolves has a hold of his scruff, his black eyes mad with a hint of unhinged savagery.

My heart stutters.

It’s another Alpha.

No, they’reallAlphas.

And they’re fighting to claim me.

It’s an inherent understanding of the process that I don’t fully understand. My wolf is the one who grasps the scene more than me. She’s the one who wanted to test Tieran, Volt, and Caius. She’s the one hoping they’llwin.

Seeing the mad wolf on Tieran’s back has me—the woman—hoping Tieran wins, too.

Because I don’t want to be anywhere near that crazed animal.

Tieran flips him off and goes right for his neck, ripping it out in a show of violence that seems appropriate here onCarnage Island.