Page 15 of Nightmare Island

“You asshole!” she yells through the wood. “You can’t do this!”

I laugh, the sound echoing down the hallway, knowing she won’t find a way out the window as it has bars on it. Can never be too safe.

“Welcome to Nightmare Island, sweetheart. You might want to get used to disappointment.”

Her muffled curses follow me as I make my way down the long hall. We’re on the third floor of the old mansion the fae built long ago, and with each step down to the next level, I find my mind caught on her. Who is she? Where did she come from? And most importantly, what the fuck is she capable of?

I can’t get her scent out of my head

I enter my office, blinking against the sunlight pouring through the windows. The room is bright—the opposite of the storm that was silenced the moment our newcomer passed out.

The furniture is worn and old, like everything else on this island, but it serves its purpose. We’re lucky we found and restored them, or we’d be living like fucking animals in the woods.

Axel and Knut, my second-in-command and head of guards, respectively, look up as I enter. Axel’s leaning against the desk, his massive arms crossed over his chest. The scars on his face twist as he raises an eyebrow at me. Knut’s pacing by the window, restless as always. His dark skin gleams in the sunlight, and his eyes are sharp as he turns to me.

“So,” Axel rumbles. “Who’s the girl? New Omega on the island?”

“Not quite.” I shake my head, dropping into the chair behind my desk. “She’s not talking, but I’ll get her to open up. For now, she doesn’t leave the mansion. Watch her if she does manage to get out. I get the impression a locked door won’t keep her contained for long.”

“Understood.” Knut nods, his hand unconsciously moving to the knife at his hip. “But, Ghost, there’s something else. We’ve spotted Sten’s men on the north perimeter, near our foraging woods.”

I growl under my breath. “Did you catch the fuckers?”

They both shake their heads. Damn it.

“Not even in the traps?”

No response. My gut tightens as I refuse to share our provisions with those fuckers unless they pledge loyalty to me.

“Double the guards,” I order, knowing Sten will be on our doorstep to take the girl the moment he heals from his lighting strike because that bastard doesn’t stay dead. He’ll come to claim that she’s his.

Axel shifts, his face serious. “And tomorrow night? The Blood Moon Hunt… is the new girl attending?”

I lean back in my chair, considering. The Blood Moon Hunt is a celebration, giving everyone something to look forward to. It’s a time when we let our wolves run free, hunting and howling under the red moon, tracking and killing anything they find.

“She won’t be ready,” I decide aloud. “Keep her in the mansion.”

Knut and Axel exchange a look. I can practically hear the unasked questions hanging in the air.

“Something you want to say?” I challenge.

Knut clears his throat. “It’s just… she must be special if you’re keeping her under wraps like this. Is she?—”

I stand abruptly, cutting him off.

“She’s a wild card. And in our game, wild cards can either win you the pot or blow up in your face. Until I know which one she is, we play this close to the chest. Understood?”

They both nod yet stare at me, waiting for me to open up. I trust them with my life. Since the battle with Sten five years ago, they’ve been loyally by my side, so I give them a short rendition of what just happened out in the field—about the storm, her potential ability.

Eyes bulging, they gape at me before speaking.

“She could change everything for us on the island. Take out Sten’s pack, maybe help us find a way off this fucking island, once we work out how to get these fucking marks off our arms,” Axel states my exact thoughts. He’s always been canny like that.

“Or we sell her to the right buyer,” Knut comments. “Someone as powerful as her would easily be in demand and buy us freedom from our marks.”

My teeth grind at his suggestion, wanting to shove him through a wall for suggesting it. Except I school myself because she means nothing to me–except I chuckle internally at me trying to delude myself. I already feel my growing obsession overher, unable to stop picturing her beauty. I’m not sure I can give her away.

As the pair turn to leave, a thought strikes me.

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