Page 37 of Venom Island

I scramble the rest of the way down toward the water, suddenly needing to cool down. Because my veins are on fire. And my wolf… my wolf wants to let go. To force me back into human form.

No, no, no,I repeat as I sprint into the lagoon. The chill does little to dispel the heat overwhelming my nerve endings.

It’s like an inferno is eating through my very being.

I roll around, trying to calm the roaring flames. But they’re all consuming.

And the growls…

Gods, the growls…

I whine, my wolf disappearing as my human form forces its way out.

A scream rips through my throat, the pain of the shift leaving me helpless and useless in the water.

What’s happening to me?

“Move!” Enrique snarls, his mouth suddenly at my ear as his hands grab my hips.

I try to obey him. But I… I can’t. It’s too much. The howls. Thegrowls.

I… I…

A vibration overtakes me as something warm cradles my head.Enrique…

He’s purring.

He’s here.

He’s alive.

But the world is spinning. Moving too fast. And I’m still too hot. Too… too overwhelmed.

The purr intensifies, Enrique’s arms resembling muscular bands around my torso.

Or I… I think those are his arms.

Before I can truly determine the source of the bands, they’re gone. And the purring disappears, too.

“I’ll be back for you,” I hear him say.

I open my mouth to reply, but aboomrattles through every inch of my body, making it impossible to speak.

The world goes completely dark.

Then glitters of moonlight peek at me through the ceiling.

Where am I?I marvel, twisting as much as my stomach will allow. It turns out not to be much because a spasm rings through me, causing me to curl into a ball once more.Owwwww.

Tears form in my eyes, watering my vision.

Water, I think, clinging to that word.There’s water… beneath me.

I… I seem to be on some sort of slippery rock. My hand trails along it, the cool texture a welcome reprieve against my hot fingertips. Some of the flames seem to be dying off, my chest no longer burning with unspeakable heat.

I sigh, my eyes falling closed as I draw indiscernible objects against the rock.

Time passes.