Page 24 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter (Moonbound Mates #3)

JAVI

T he sea churns around our boat as we make our way out on the sea, toward an artificial reef where the biggest fish like to hang out.

Gideon stands at the prow while Abel pilots the vessel, a couple other men lounging around and looking out on the blue water.

It’s my first time on the water since I got stuck on the Rig, and it feels natural to get my sea legs back under me.

It’s the only part of this whole situation that feels even a little bit natural.

I didn’t want to leave Peaches, but Gideon and Abel weren’t going to take no for an answer. I know they could kill me out here and leave me to die—and I’m sure Abel would love to try it if it was just the two of us—but I have a feeling Gideon has bigger plans for me.

Like Peaches said, he’s trying to get me on his side, willing to offer me anything.

I wonder what he’s going to offer me today.

“Why not just fish off the edge of the Rig?” I ask, crossing my arms and going to stand next to Gideon. “I thought they liked spending time around the supports underneath.”

“No fish around the Rig these days,” Gideon says. “We caught everything below and they’ve learned to steer clear since. Back in the day, though, we used to pull up full nets—snapper, redfish, the occasional shark. Good eatin’.”

I frown. Doesn’t seem right; there aren’t enough people on the Rig to overfish the whole area. And we’re a way’s out now, the citadel tower just barely visible on the horizon.

“Abel caught a bigass red snapper last time we went out,” Gideon says. “They love it over here.”

“What’s down there?” I ask.

“Old Mer base from before the Convergence,” Abel calls out from behind us. “They left rations down there...and we like to leave a little bait too.”

All the others laugh.

That can’t mean anything good.

I can’t see the Rig anymore, but my bond to Peaches is as strong as it was when I was onboard, tethering me to her. I feel her love pulling me back, and it sets me at ease that she doesn’t seem to be in distress—which I would definitely sense now that we’re fully bonded.

I wander back around the edge of the boat, scanning the horizon.

Abel stands right behind me, saying nothing.

He’s clearly been in a bad mood since we met up this morning, and I think I know why—because I’ve actually won, and claimed the girl he still thought he would be able to snag.

I’m surprised when he says something to me, his voice grating.

“Did she cry?” he says. “Please tell me she cried.”

I glare at him over my shoulder. “That’s none of your business.”

“The princess is everyone’s business,” he says. “We could all hear you breeding her last night.”

I stiffen. I’m not sure what they want from me—if they want her punished, they’ll be disappointed, because she was obviously experiencing nothing but pleasure last night. I cross my arms and turn to face him, leaning against the side of the boat.

“Why do you say it’s everyone’s business?” I ask. “She’s mine.”

“She might be yours, but she’s royalty around here,” he says. “Carry on the family line and all that. If it were up to me, I would just have everyone breed her until she’s used up?—”

I snarl and raise my fist, but Gideon is suddenly between us, snapping his arm out to block my strike. I glare into his eyes, ready to tear into Abel.

I think about ways to kill them both.

“Cut the shit, Abel, or you’ll be in a world of hurt,” Gideon warns. “Javier is one of us now. It’s time you started acting like it.”

“Just talk between men,” Abel says with a sneer.

“Enough,” Gideon deadpans. “And look up there—it seems we’ve arrived.”

I look toward the prow to find a rusty buoy up ahead, swaying on the waves. I can’t see any other trace of a settlement or anything else, but I can scent something strange here—a smell faintly of corpses, like chum in the water.

“Let’s get the fishing nets set up,” Gideon says. “A hand, Javier?”

I’m grateful for the reprieve from conversation with Abel, and it’s nice to do something that comes naturally. Boyd and I have fished so many times over the years that it’s old hat at this point, and I throw myself into the process of grabbing the nets to sling them over the side.

We set up fishing rods too, slotting them into stands on the side of the boat.

Now comes the hard part…tolerating these people while we wait for something to bite.

Abel opens up a cooler of beers and passes them around, trying to force one on me with a smirk.

I put my hands up and push it away before strolling over to the edge of the boat and looking in.

I can see fish swimming below, and the vague shape of a building on the sand.

This must be the Mer base they were talking about, long abandoned since the Heavenly Host took possession of this part of the planet.

“Javier, come take a look at this,” Gideon says from the other side.

I walk over, something making me deeply uneasy.

When I look down, I realize this is the best view of the base in all it’s alien glory.

The waves drift softly, and I start to make out the shape of a group of buildings about two hundred feet down.

The water is crystal clear, spherical bubbles and twirling towers across the sand.

I squint when I see something closer—a fish, maybe, ghostly white and drifting.

I almost stumble back when I realize what it is.

A person.

Someone with a face I recognize.

I stop myself from reacting, keeping my eyes trained on the water—and on Lila, the beta Boyd and I took out of the mess hall before he left.

Her body moves slowly in the waves, decomposing and chewed up by fish, her hands bound behind her back and her ankles tied to a rope that goes down into the blue depths.

“See?” Abel chuckles from me. “What better bait than a beta?”

“What the fuck?” I curse, glaring at Gideon.

Gideon clicks his tongue. “Sweet Lila tried to stowaway on your friend Boyd’s boat. We caught her on her way out of the barracks.”

My mind races as I think about Boyd—and I start to wonder if he actually got away. If Boyd was captured, if he’s down there too, then Peaches and I have no one coming for us.

We’re alone out here.

“And Boyd?” I ask. “Did you…”

“Didn’t catch him, but we made sure his boat went down,” Gideon says. “Y’see, you two came in with bad intentions for my pack—and I can’t allow that, can I?”

“Why did you…?” I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”

I don’t want to finish my sentence—that I don’t get why I’m still alive.

“This is what happens when our people don’t follow the rules—they go to the deep,” he says.

I realize with horror that she isn’t the only one. There are other corpses tethered to the sea floor with stones and ropes, dropped in like garbage. Most are just skeletons now, featureless and falling apart.

I wonder if Peaches’ mother is down there.

“Why did you bring me out here?” I demand.

My senses are in overdrive, waiting for someone to stab me in the back.

It would be easy enough; they’ve brought me to their killing grounds and I’m outnumbered four to one.

And if they killed Boyd and Lila, there’s nothing stopping them from doing the same to me.

“You know the terms carrot and stick, Javier?” he asks.

I grit my teeth. “Of course I do.”

“Good,” Gideon says. “Because here’s the thing—I wanted you to see where we’re sending dear Esther if you don’t get your act together and start treating her like an alpha should.”

I should kill him right now—toss him and Abel into the ocean, and slaughter the other two while I’m at it. I’m confident I could take them, but I can’t risk dying and leaving Peaches alone in that prison.

Already, my relationship with her is interfering with my ability to do what needs to be done.

“I’ve collared her,” I say. “I punished her, bit her, bred her. What the hell else do you want me to do?”

“Stop pampering her,” Gideon says. “Don’t give her an inch.

She’s a sweet thing, I know—I used to spoil the shit out of her when she was a little girl.

But if you don’t make sure she knows who’s in charge, she’ll turn around and stab you in the back the minute you give her the chance.

And if she makes a single move like the last time she left…

well, I’ll have no choice but to send her straight to hell with her mother. ”

I don’t know what to do.

I can’t threaten him, can’t kill him, can’t so much as talk back.

They can hear us in the citadel; they know when we’re fucking, when we’re arguing, when I’m making her scream with pleasure.

As far as I know, they’re always watching, maybe navigating through secret halls and doorways in that house of horrors.

“I’m gonna need you to be specific,” I grunt.

“Keep her collared,” Gideon says. “Keep her docile. Don’t let her speak because, well…we don’t want her getting any ideas in her head, do we?”

“What do you want from me?” I ask quietly.

Gideon snorts.

“Now, now, don’t go lookin’ at me like I’m the devil himself. I really just want one thing,” he says. “Give me a grandbaby, and I’ll make sure you want for nothing.”

He’s using me just as much as he’s using Peaches.

“Yes, sir,” I say.

The tension breaks, though it keeps coiling like a snake in the pit of my stomach. Gideon pats my shoulder with a congenial grin.

“Good talk,” he says. “Now let’s enjoy some fishing, son!”

I swallow hard.

It’s going to be a long day. And if I don’t play this right…it might be her last.