Page 55 of Nightmare Island

I’m not used to this sensation.

“Mine,” Ghost growls against my neck, his tongue laving the bite mark. The word echoes through our bond, and I can’t tell if I want to laugh or cry.

The world starts to blur at the edges, overwhelming and powerful, and darkness is creeping in. The last thing I feel is Ghost’s arms tightening around me.

As consciousness slips away, one thought follows me into the darkness—I never stood a chance.

Chapter

Thirteen

HEL

Iwake to sunlight pouring into the bedroom, and for a moment, I’m wrapped in a contentment so foreign it takes me a moment to recognize it. Not the shallow kind of happiness I used to fake back home, but when I was younger and my brother, Ragnar, lived at home.

No, this feels… deeper. Real.

Then the wordmatefloats through my mind, and everything rushes back from last night.

My fingers find their way to my neck, to the spot where Ghost’s teeth broke skin. The mark thrums like a heartbeat under my touch. The heat that used to feel like it was strangling me now purrs through my veins like warm honey.

“Well, this is new.” I turn onto my back and find that the other side of the bed is cold, Ghost-less, and I’m annoyed at how disappointed that makes me feel. Judging by the sunlight streaming through the windows, I’ve slept most of the morning.

I roll onto his side of the bed, and his scent surrounds me—pine needles, rain-soaked earth, wolf, and cocoa. His smell is filled with pheromones… of his seed, something so distinctly him it makes my wolf practically dance under my skin. “This isso not fair,” I grumble, even as I bury my face in his pillow. My body feels as if it’s been rewired to respond to him.

My arousal lingers. I snuggle deeper into the blankets, creating a nest of warmth that smells like him, like us, like safety—and isn’t that a joke? Me feeling safe?

Yep, for the first time in too long.

I curl in on myself, desperate to drown myself in his smell, all while slick pools between my thighs at the growing hunger for Ghost that sweeps through me.

My gaze drifts shut, and I might have dozed off again because the next thing I know, my bladder is protesting with a heavy pressure.

“All right, all right.” I untangle myself from my blanket cocoon. The moment I stand, I feel the delicious ache between my thighs that makes me bite my lower lip. Memories of Ghost’s cock deep inside me, his huge knot stretching me… it all floods back, and I’m grinning like an idiot at how incredible it felt—his tongue, the orgasms—sending an excited shiver over me.

Take that, Jarl, you incompetent ass. All those times, he blamed me for his inability to knot, and it turns out, he was just…lacking.

I snicker to myself on the way to the shower, then yelp as cold water hits my skin. “Zeus!” Nothing like arctic water to wake a girl up.

I raid the wardrobe Awa keeps stocked—bless that woman. I pull on riding pants, an oversized white button-down, and a leather corset that makes me feel like a warrior princess.

When I emerge from the bathroom, I spot a platter of muffins near the window. “Hello, beautiful,” I purr, snatching one up. The first bite hits me with an explosion of banana, rum, and coconut that has me moaning. “Mara, you magnificent witch,” I mumble around a mouthful of heaven. I grab a second onebecause I’m starving, and these are amazing. Much like my mate… Fuck, I have a mate now!

Speaking of Ghost…

Where is he?

“Down, girl,” I tell my wolf firmly. “We’re not going to be one of those clingy Omegas who can’t function without their Alpha. Even if he does smell like sex and sin and— Nope, stopping that line of thought right there.” But my heat is definitely coming. I can feel it simmering under my skin, stronger than before but not yet urgent, and already my panties are drenched just from thinking of Ghost.

I head out of the room to a quiet hallway. I’m surprised there are no guards today.

The stone hallway is oddly quiet as I head for the kitchen, and the sunlight pouring through the windows makes everything look deceptively peaceful. I pause at the balcony, drawn by movement near the tree line in the far distance. A figure darts into the woods, too quick for me to identify, and something about the movement makes my instincts heighten.

Footsteps sound behind me, and I twist around to find Eve. She joins me at the railing, her silence heavy, her forehead furrowed, shoulders curled forward. She stares out at the woods, tension radiating off her in waves.

“Everything okay?” I ask, though I shouldn’t care. Yet, the way she’s holding herself, it’s like she’s bracing for impact.

Somehow, I know whatever she’s about to say is going to shatter this brief moment of peace I’ve found.

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