Page 54 of Nightmare Island

Ghost is grinning at me, buried deep, purring, pumping into me.

“This is how it’s meant to feel,” he tells me as though he’s having a conversation with himself. “Like we are one, like I can’t bear to take a breath if you’re not with me. This… fuck, this…” He unleashes a thunderous growl, then he kisses my neck, a rumble in his chest vibrating against me.

“Do you feel the connection?”

My stomach trembles, I’m sweating, and fuck, I sense my body changing, every inch of me burning up.

“Yes. What’s happening?”

Every time he growls, my chest arches to be closer to him, and the vibrations all over me are centered around my core.

“You’re starting to go into your heat, sweetheart, and I’m going to fuck you for as long as you need, knot you, breed you, show you what it’s like to bond with a real Alpha.”

The hackles on my neck rise, as his words terrify me. “Wait, what?”

“Has no one explained going into heat, little flame?”

“Of course I know what it is, but I’m not…” Suddenly, I remember the strange feelings in my body recently, my reaction around Ghost, the burning up. “No, it’s too early. I’m not…”

He kisses my brow. “You’re ready. I promise you.” There’s no harshness in his expression, just this handsome Alpha ready for my heat, more than me. All Omegas experience heat—a time when their bodies prepare to match with their Alpha, preparing for babies.

Panic curls through me because my life is chaos, and it’s as if I’m watching my future unfold in front of me from a distance.

My womb suddenly cramps, then tightens, as I stare up at Ghost.

“No, you’re wrong. That’s just your knot.”

He huffs with a grin. “If you say so.” Suddenly, he peels back his lips over his teeth, sharper than normal; he’s taken on part of his wolf teeth.

I’m not a fan of where this is going, yet that masculine scent of sex is strong, smothering me. Another tug of fire deep in my gut.

A sign of an Omega following her true Alpha’s command—I know this, yet I fight it, meeting his gaze with steel in mine.

“There’s only one way you’re going to accept the change coming,” he purrs, running his tongue over his top teeth, his canines gleaming dangerously sharp in the dim light.

“Ghost, don’t think about it.” My voice wavers.

“You’re already mine, but now we need to seal it to lessen the pain of your oncoming heat.”

“It doesn’t have to happen now.” My pulse hammers, and sweat trickles down the back of my neck. “Maybe next week? Your schedule must be packed with other Alpha things to do!”

“I made you a promise that I will protect you, so you need to trust me now.”

I want to scream, to tear that self-assured smile off his face. The urge builds inside me like a storm about to break… until he leans in and his lips find my neck. The fight drains from me because I know he’s right, but I fucking hate it. Am I ready to be locked to him for life?

A moan escapes before I can stop it, my body betraying me as my nipples harden and my heart races. The call of the Alpha is too strong to deny, and here I am, clinging to him, completely betraying myself.

His teeth graze my skin. “I don’t want to do it against your will, but you must see that this is needed?”

“I fucking hate this! And yet I’m going to say yes, as it seems I don’t have a better choice,” I relent, loathing that he’s correct. Having seen it firsthand back in Denmark when girls went into heat. They experienced excruciating pain, where nothing truly sated them like their fated mate—fucking her, knotting her until her cycle of heat eased, and marking her as his.

When his fangs finally pierce my flesh, the pain is sharp and clean. I cry out, my fingers digging into his shoulders.

An addictive sensation flows through my veins like liquid, each heartbeat spreading the feeling through me until I’m convinced I’m floating. My eyes are shut, fluttering, my body shaking.

Ghost’s scent surrounds me, and I crave him savagely. The bond snaps into place like a lock finding its key, and I shudder at the force that binds me to him. I cling to him and take deep inhales of his scent, unable to get enough.

My fear is still there, though, simmering beneath the surface, but it’s joined by something I’ve never felt before—an overwhelming new emotion of being truly wanted, truly chosen by someone.

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