Page 6 of Outcast Island

“Go. Away,” I pant through slices of pain that seem like they’ll tear me apart. Sweat breaks out over my brow as I try to breathe through it. When I check my hand, there’s no blood at all.

What’s going on with me?

He glares at me. “Are you actually telling me no? What kind of Omega are you?” He spits on the ground as if I disgust him,yet the way he’s looking at me says he fully intends to take what he wants anyway. “If you’re going to be useless, maybe I should settle for a taste and then let you experience a pack of Vampire Alphas when they go into a frenzy.” His mouth parts as he lets his gaze drop over me. Whatever I was wearing before I crashed, it’s now tattered, torn, and barely intact as it hangs from my small frame. “I’m fast, little one. That’s why I arrived first.” He tilts his head as the growls grow louder, and he sniffs the air. “They’re almost here. It’s time to go.”

He seems to only take one step, but he’s in front of me before I have time to blink.

I’m fast, little one.

The others aren’t here yet, which means his speed is some sort of special ability.

Do I have an ability?I wonder.

If I do, I won’t have enough time to find out before it’s too late.

Because the Vampire Alpha begins to growl again.

Defeat lingers in the back of my mind when each low rumble makes it more and more impossible to move. My stomach is in a giant knot, and I’m panting through strained breaths, each one feeling like a chore.

Victory streaks across his face when he sees my expression.

“You, come here,” a low voice commands from far away. I can barely discern the words because they were distant, maybe even a mile off, but the vampire towering over me stiffens in response. His hearing is just as good as mine.

My eyes widen when he’s gone in the next second.

Did he run off?

His scream echoes through the distant trees, cut off by the sound of a bone snapping.

The stench of blood fogs the air, making my nose wrinkle. Whoever killed the Vampire Alpha is covered in his blood, or too far away, so I can’t scent him.

All I know is he has a power that rivals speed.

Somehow, he just convinced another Vampire Alpha to runtowarddeath.

More scents invade my senses—likely thepackthe dead vampire had mentioned. These give off varying shades of unpleasant things.

Mold.

Rotten seagrass.

An aged swamp.

I realize that each one is a distinct scent of a Vampire Alpha who has come to the escape site. The growls have changed, lessening the pain in my stomach when they turn on each other instead of directing their attention at me.

They’re fighting,I realize. I’ve landed in a place infested with feral vampires hungry enough to turn on their own pack members.

Although, one of them definitely sounded different from the others.

Maybe it’s a pack and one loner.

A snarl rips through the forest, echoed by another snap of bone.

A powerful loner.

One I don’t intend to be around long enough to meet.

My legs are healed enough so that I can stand without falling, and my stomach has paused the abuse of internal blades. I’m about to bolt when a new scent slams into me, followed by the powerful sensation of white-hot rage. My vision blanks as my knees buckle, sending me into a heap on the ground again.

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