Mika glanced around the hall to make sure we were still alone. “Because, Wyatt, the reason I rejected her is that she cheated on me. Fucked another guy, and I caught them. In the act. Butt-ass naked. He had her bent over, screwing her brains out, and…she was fucking loving it, man. Made me want to be sick.”My heart hurt for the dude, but that still didn’t explain why he’d been sent here. “Bro, that still means she’s a cheating bitch of a reject. You have no reason to–”“It was my father,” Mika growled, tears in his eyes. “It was my father who was fucking her. He’d been fucking her since we first met. Nearly a year. Happy now? He got pissed that I rejected her because he wanted to keep banging her. His own daughter-in-law.”A heavy stone formed in my stomach. I knew how fucked-up the upper packs could be. All that power and money did weird things to people, as my own history with my old pack showed. But this? This was a whole new level of fucked-up.“Holy shit, Mika. What the hell?”M
The vampire gestured in different directions as he spoke. “Each of you will be dropped off at a different starting point across the island. It will be your task to race back to the mansion and safety. You must outrace not only your fellow competitors but the feral shifters that have been set loose.” Von again lowered his eyeglasses and scanned the crowd with glee. “Did anyone notice your suits from last night were missing this morning?”We all looked around at each other. It appeared none of us had really checked on the clothes. We’d been too concerned with what we should wear today to think about what to do with the tuxedos we’d worn for the premiere.Von laughed. “We gave them to the ferals. They have all your scents now. That should make things much more interesting. Along with the ferals, you’ll need to be on the lookout for some of my more unfortunate brethren. Some vampires can’t handle the doldrums of immortality and go mad. Usually, the Tranquility Council dispatches these poo
A flash of magic shattered my vision into a kaleidoscope of light. The stone patio was no longer under my feet. Instead, I was standing on a thick blanket of rotten palm fronds, matted ferns, and moss. I was deep in the jungle, the canopy so thick that the light was more like dusk than morning.It only took an instant for me to catch my bearings before I started sprinting. The magical drone hummed behind me, pursuing me. The giant leaves of the jungle flashed past and slapped at my face and arms as I hurtled through the forest. All along the path I’d chosen, I could hear noises through the underbrush. Rattling, hissing, ominous growls. None of them were close enough to be dangerous. The smells were playing havoc with my mind. When the sheer number of scents hit my nostrils, I was shocked and appalled that they’d managed to get so many dangerous creatures on one island.The air grew cold at the approach of a ghost, causing me to veer sharply to the north. The skin-crawling sensation of
Remembering that we’d all been given a silver knife as our only weapon, I pulled it from the thigh sheath and rushed forward. The feral saw me coming and released Leif’s foot to lunge toward me. The madness was evident in its eyes. I leaped at it, tackling the beast to the forest floor. It snapped its jaws at me, sending saliva strings slapping into my face. A paw lashed down and cut through my leggings, leaving four bloody gashes across my quadricep. The pain didn’t hurt so much as it pissed me off.Slamming my knife into its side, I felt the blade slide through the skin and flesh like a knife through butter. There was a pop as it cracked through a rib and then a burst of bloody, foamed air when it pierced the lung.The beast yowled and twisted from my grasp to run back into the jungle. I lost my knife, but I’d managed to get the thing away from Leif and myself. Crawling over to him, I found he was in bad shape. He’d passed out from either blood loss or shock. His body was riddled wi
“Thank you for helping me get Leif back here, Wyatt. I don’t know how I could have done it without you.” I tried to make my voice as gracious and sweet as I could. The fact that it was true—I would never have saved Leif without Wyatt—stuck in my craw, but there wasn’t much to be done.Wyatt knelt in front of me and checked the wound on my leg as the cameras took in his every move. His body language and facial expression told me he was desperate to give me one of his legendary ass-chewings. He tended to give me those after I did something particularly dangerous. But he blessedly had to keep his mouth shut due to the cameras.Instead, he whispered, “I’m glad you made it back.”He sounded totally genuine, which surprised me. All I could do was nod at him. “Yeah. You too.”“Looks like you’re already healing up,” Wyatt said, running his fingers along my thigh, trailing over the thin fabric of my torn leggings.I glanced around. We were still alone.“Were we the first ones back?”Von smiled
I turned toward the men. Nathaniel pulled his wallet out and slid a crisp hundred-dollar bill into Omar’s hand. They’d placed bets on who would die first? I clenched my jaw.Tate watched the exchange and laughed, then shook his head. “Woulda been nice to win some money, but I’m just happy I got back looking less messed up than most of you. Speaking of, does anyone know how the hell Kira got back that fast? A little surprising since she obviously can’t keep her mind on task. Like, how dumb was it to go back for Leif? She could have gotten herself killed.”I clamped my mouth shut and curled my hands into fists instead of telling Tate exactly what I thought of his assessment of Kira.Surprisingly, Abel, who usually seemed so quiet and reserved, spoke up. “Yeah, Tate. It would be surprising to you. If Kira ran by and saw a piece of shit like you lying there, she’d leave your ass.”Omar snickered. “Please, what are you doing, Abel? Trying to look like Prince Charming?”“Yeah, get over your
Instead of being taken aback, Von’s smile only widened. “Well, this is exciting, isn’t it? Nathaniel, you are allowed a physical fight to take his advantage or reward for yourself. As our long-time viewers know, this is called an Alpha Brawl. Very sexy and usually bloody, but…” He held up a warning finger. “Competitors are not allowed to kill one another in the Brawl. That’s the only rule, really. Nathaniel, is this something you would like to pursue?”Nathaniel glared at me. “Hell, yes, I do.”He obviously wasn’t used to not coming in first place. It was like he took personal offense that I’d gotten back before he did. This fucker had been laughing about Ryan’s death and happily handing over the winnings to Omar.Gritting my teeth, I held Nathaniel’s gaze. “I accept,” I growled.Nathaniel stared me down. He was trying to intimidate me and was probably used to getting other guys—even alphas—to bow to his intensity. All I did was stare right back.“Fantastic,” Von said. “Before we get
“No weapons,” Von said. “All you have are your human and wolf forms and whatever fighting skills you bring to the brawl. Remember, killing is expressly forbidden and can be punished with expulsion from the island. That means you need to fight hard, but not too hard. Proceed,” Von said, slicing his hand through the air.The vampire backed up quickly to join the others. Nathaniel raised his fists into a fighting stance and walked toward me.“You screwed up now, motherfucker,” Nathaniel said. “Shoulda just given me the date. Shit, how is she gonna enjoy herself with a cunt like you?”“Nathaniel, do you ever shut up?” I asked, walking forward to meet him.He didn’t respond other than jabbing a fist at my nose. I turned my head aside at the last second. I was a little surprised by how fast he was. My face stayed passive as we circled each other. I’d already read him to the bone. The best way to fight a guy like this was to frustrate him. Once there, he’d make mistakes and give me openings.