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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

GRACE

T he next two weeks are as normal as it can get on a prison island, and I’m slowly introduced to the inner circle of pack politics and preparations for this so-called war.

And by normal I mean a long sequence of events ripped out of a dystopian novel, minus the zombies.

But I can’t shake the feeling that something shifted between Leo, Nakoa, and especially Raphael ever since Pack Delta discovered and bonded with Nadège.

Unfortunately, I’m starting to fear the shift between us is for the worse.

“Still not a dream,” I say out loud as a notch another mark into the wall of one of our many base camps, caves and abandoned buildings packs take over as semi-permanent shelters.

I’m not tracking the days since my sense of time is completely fried.

No, I track when my heats ebb and flow in each location.

They come like clockwork every week, get strongest by the the fifth day, and disappear by the next.

The symptoms, anyway, only for it all to restrat on the seventh.

It’s madness, and today four, which means by tomorrow, I won’t be able to function without…

“Dick,” I grit out, twirling my ankle and clenching my once puffy fist. It’s free from the splint, but I still can’t go anywhere without one of them trialing me.

That time with Nadège was an anomaly, just like a dream.

Ever since then, I’ve been held on a tight leash, more or less.

I can tag along, listen to war plans, pretend to hunt when I really just rest in the shade, but my pack seems more than okay with me staying trapped in whatever crude castle we lay our head in, and nothing else.

I touch the collar still wrapped around my next and grimace.

If it really does shock me to death, it would be a hell of a way to go.

Looking up to the gray stormclouds far away on the horizon, I sense a rain storm is coming.

It’s not a rainforest, according to one of the books Leo brought back from this mysterious library I’m not allowed to visit, but is sure rains here like it doesn’t.

I decide I should get a good swim in before my jailers come back to lock me away.

The air is fresh and warm with an ever present cool breeze, near our cliffside homes.

This one is no different, located much closer to the shore than most locations we travel to, with access to a secluded waterfall surrounded by overturned army tanks.

I can’t hope to climb up and over them, so the area I can explore, while small, is much large than before to.

I go for a swim in the eclectic blue pool, diving underwater, and rising up behind the waterfall.

I don’t truly mediate, but I do sit crisscorssed and let the roar turn my racing thoughts into white noise.

When that grows tedious, I swim out to the bludd and alay out on the stone naked to soak up the sun.

The conditions are so pristine that I wonder if they’re lying that maybe there are other omegas women here.

Not that it would matter if there are. It’s not like they could help me fend off a pack of alphas. I’m in this alone.

We sleep, we eat together in shockingly compainable silence, fish, and visit Nadege, and more often than I care to admit, we fuck to pass the time. Not in ways that will reinjure healed ankle and hand.

The monotony of our day to day almost deceives me into thinking everything is normal. That and the rugged beauty of this open air prison. I’ve seen more variety of flowers than the nature documentary.

For a while, I buried myself in survival and learning more about these strange men keeping me captive.

As much as I despise them, they’re the only reason I’m still alive and not torn into pieces after…

I can’t even bring myself to think about it, so I sit down with the rest of my stormy emotions and gaze up at the beautiful summer day before me.

Raphael still has a stick up his ass when it comes to me, but even his venomous glare doesn’t pack its usual toxic punch. Leo, as per usual, looks at me like I hung the moon. Or in the case, the sun as the rays create a halo around their heads.

I don’t like it when they get to whispering among themselves, keeping me out of the loop and keeping secrets that most definitely concerned me.

Alone. So alone. And I can’t be alone with my morbid thoughts.

I dry off, peeling off the bikini I acquired from Nadège’s clothing. I can’t bring myself to stop wearing the same threadborn outfit I crashed with. Feels like a lucky charm. Reminds me of home.

“So how do I explain this?” I wonder.

I’ve been stealing their clothes, rearranging pillows.

I’m nesting. I know it’s because I feel vulnerable.

I tried to brooch the subject of pregnancy after finding Nadège, and if this place even had condoms to begin with.

But alas, I think as I look as I look down as the bush that is my vagaina, that fear was quelled last week and is now thankfully over.

At least if my periods stopped I could manage weekly heat cycles.

But no, now my womb wants to join in on fucking me over.

Rpahael did say not to worry about that. I can’t help but remember how sad his eyes were back then.

Focus. I think, even as I rearrange, fluff, and sniff instead of plot against them.

It was awkward enough to ask for a pad, only to be delivered gauze in some contraption resembling underwear. If one of them found my nest in the back of the waterfall, I might just die from the embarrassment.

As I debate reading a book, practicing my aim on some tin cars, or trying not to zap my brain again by messing with the collar, something square and squawking in the corner catches my attention.

“No way,” I think, certain it’s a trap and they have hidden cameras somehow.

But sure enough, it’s a radio. I listen in. Morse code, maybe? I do know the sound for S.O.S. from some video I wasted my time on a lazy weekend afternoon.

“Grace Wilder. Omega.”

“Are they talking about me?”

“She’s displaying signs of a medically induced super he…” I don’t hear the next word as someone snatches my radio out of my shaking palm.

He doesn’t glare, he stares. And it’s then I clock the fact that I’m still naked

Shit. Shit. Shit!

“Fox caught your tail, little white rabbit?” he teases, clawing at his black fox mask. Haven’t you learned by now to sneak around where you don’t belong by now?

His intimidation routine is working, but bullies only win by getting what they want. So I raise my chin and ignore him. I won’t give him the satisfaction. But damn it, if my body does betray me.

I stand, tossing my white rabbit mask to the ground in fury. “My name is Grace Wilder, not bitch, you bastard!”

“I’m the only one allowed to hurt you.”

“It’s scarring nicely,” he muses, and I sneer.

A nostalgic scent

No scent? His laugh is hollow.

My attempt to win him over doesn’t seem to be working, but I press on.

He should force me to kneel. It’ll be better that way.

To be comforted with the terrible knowledge of how turned on I was through my fear.

I don’t want my body to remind me of how my upbringing has ruined me.

Not without a valid reason, an excuse I can cling to and deny, deny, deny the truth.

Inferiority complex

Why are they holding back now? His erection. Digs into my stomach, trembling

“Grace?” Nakoa says. My name. That can’t be a good sign.

“Yes?” I ask, and frown as he silences his radio, heavy black brows knitting together.

“I think you should take a walk.”

“A walk?” I asked incredulously. “Where? Around the cage? I’m all healed doc. No need to test my weight on my ankle.”

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.