Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

HEL

M y life flashes before my eyes as Sten lifts the blade, Axel's blood still dripping from its edge. The metallic scent of it makes my stomach turn, or maybe that's just the fear I'm trying desperately to swallow down. The rough bark of the tree digs into my back, the ropes cutting into my wrists, and all I can think is how stupid I was to end up here.

"Please." The word escapes before I can stop it, small and pathetic. "Don't?—"

My breath hitches in my lungs as a memory crashes over me.

"Please, Jarl, I'm sorry." The marble floor is cold against my cheek, blood pooling in my mouth. "I didn't mean to ? —"

His boot connects with my ribs. "Fucking weak," he spits. "Begging like a dog. Is that what you are? A dog?" Another kick, and I scream, clutching at my middle. "Because dogs need to learn their place."

That was the last time I ever begged. The last time I showed my belly to a predator. If he was going to beat me, then I'd fucking mouth off and tell him what I felt… something that slowly morphed into sarcasm. Jarl loathed it, and why I did it more and more. I guess, in the end, it's also why he decided to trade me in for a new Omega.

Sten's laugh yanks me back to the present, and before I can brace myself, the blade flashes toward me. I scream, expecting death, but instead feel a sharp sting across my arm. Blood wells up from the cut, trickling down my skin, then the sharpness of the pain digs into my arm.

"What the fuck?" I wince.

His hand cracks across my face, the force snapping my head to the side. Stars dance in my vision as he wipes his blade on my shirt, spreading Axel's blood across the fabric. Above us, thunder rolls across the sky like Thor clearing his throat.

Where's Ghost? The thought comes desperately. This morning, his scent had been everywhere, wrapped around me like a security blanket. I'd felt safe, protected, knowing he was close. I sensed it deep within me. Now I don't sense him at all… Does he know I'm gone? Does he sense it too?

"Such a powerful Omega." Sten runs the back of his knuckles across my cheek. "We don't see many with such powers, do we? But none of that matters now because you're mine, and you're going to become my good little slave."

"I'd rather die." I spit at him, satisfaction blooming as it lands on his cheek.

He wipes the spit away slowly. "What I have in store for you is far worse than death, Omega."

A fat raindrop hits my nose, and I glance up at the roiling clouds. More drops follow, pattering against leaves and dirt. Around us, the wolves close in, their muzzles still wet with Axel's blood. My stomach lurches at the memory of them tearing him apart, the sounds of flesh ripping and bones cracking.

"Ghost's coming for you," I state, but the words ring hollow, even to my own ears. How could he find me when I can't even sense him anymore? When I have no damn clue where I am on the island.

"Here's the thing," Sten starts, then pauses like he's savoring what comes next. "How well do you think you know Ghost?"

I stare at him, trying for defiant but probably just looking scared.

"I'm guessing not much, then." He runs a finger down my cheek, and I try to bite it. He jerks back with a laugh. "Did he tell you that he came to the island because he killed his father in cold blood?"

I clench my teeth, remembering Ghost's words about his father's cruelty. "We all have family members we want to murder. Good on him for doing it."

"But did he tell you that afterward, he was on such a savage rampage that he couldn't be stopped?" Sten's voice drops lower. "Murdered his mother and a neighboring whole family before he was taken down? The lunatic has something broken up here." He taps the side of his head. "So, how long before he goes feral on you? Or someone else close? He's a fucking time bomb."

My stomach twists. Ghost's control issues, his anger... I can understand his father, but the others? His mother? I swallow hard, trying to push down the doubt creeping in.

"Yeah, you see it now."

"Last I looked," I manage, "you're here for some horrendous crime too."

"I'm not saying I'm innocent. Fuck, I'm not, and I own who I am. But I don't think Ghost is being honest with you." He shrugs, then studies the wolves around them like he might order them to attack me.

The rain is coming down harder now, plastering my hair to my face. Lightning flickers in the clouds, and the air feels heavy, charged with something more than just electricity. My skin prickles with it, and my wolf stirs restlessly inside me.

"Look," I say. "There are other ways of dealing with differences between us. It doesn't always have to resort to killings and torture. I mean, have you tried therapy? Managing your anger? A good massage?"

Sten laughs, and several wolves nearby make chuffing sounds that I'm certain are their version of laughter. The rain runs down their fur in rivulets, but they stand firm, watching me with hungry eyes.

"Have you forgotten where you are, Omega?" His eyes narrow. "Perhaps you have because I noticed you don't have the prison mark on your arm, so that means you aren't meant to be here. Tell me, were you on that jet that went overhead, smoking up the night I found you? Well, you've just had the worst luck of your day landing on this island, haven't you?"

"You know nothing about me."

"Oh, I know enough to understand that you have powers I need to finally take back the whole island."

I force out a laugh that sounds brittle even to my own ears. "Yeah, good luck with that. My powers come with a fuck you guarantee."

His smile darkens, almost evil in a way that makes my stomach clench and goose bumps race down my arms.

"Enough." He stands silent for a moment, eyes closed, murmuring something under his breath. When they snap open, they're completely white.

I flinch back, and even a few wolves retreat, as if sensing something very wrong with their Alpha.

The rain is sheeting down now, driven sideways by the wind that's picking up strength with every passing second. Lightning splits the sky every few seconds, thunder following so quickly it feels like the world is being torn apart.

Please strike him down again, but finish the job this time.

He pulls out his blade again and slashes his palm. I stiffen, but he doesn't even seem to notice the wound. He tucks the dirty blade away and gets in my face. I try to pull back, but there's nowhere to go.

"Okay, look, you don't?—"

"Oh, but I have to." Those white eyes are like bottomless pits. "Are you ready to meet your roommate?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I control spirits, stupid Omega, and imagine what I can do to you if I force one into you and control the weather. I've been practicing and have mastered it."

I'm shaking now, rain running down my face like tears. Or maybe they are tears. I can't tell anymore. My wolf is pacing inside me, agitated, afraid. We both know something terrible is about to happen, but there's nothing I can do to stop it.

I glance up at the sky. Come on, I'm in a dire situation. Do something!

Sten lets out a roaring sound that makes me shudder, and with his bloodied hand, he's scooping at the air like he's trying to catch something invisible. In a heartbeat, his hand fists as if he's grabbed something, though I see nothing, and he slaps his bloody, now open palm hard against my cut.

I scream, more from shock than pain, trying to squirm away, to kick him, but he might as well be made of stone. And then…

Oh gods.

Something moves inside me. Not like a physical thing, but like… like when I'm falling asleep and suddenly feel like I've missed a step and am dropping, except the sensation is spreading through my whole body. It's cold, so cold, seeping through my veins like liquid. My wolf thrashes inside me, snarling, terrified of this foreign presence.

Ice-cold fingers drag through my insides, touching places nothing should ever touch. I can feel it winding through me, probing, exploring, violating every part of my being. The violation of it makes me want to vomit, to claw my own skin off just to get it out.

"Get it out!" I scream, thrashing against the ropes until I feel them cut into my wrists. "Get it out, get it out, GET IT OUT!"

Sten just claps like a kid finally getting cake. "Oh, you feel it! Good, good! You know an interesting fact? On this island, there are always spirits around us; you just don't see them. But I do…"

Lightning flashes again, and in that brief illumination, I see the wolves watching me with something like pity in their eyes. They know. They know what's happening to me, and they're glad it's not them.

The sensation gets worse, spreading up into my mind. Memories start to blur, thoughts becoming harder to hold on to. It's like trying to think through static. Something is sharing my headspace, pushing against my consciousness.

Ghost's face flashes through my mind—the way he looked at me last night, like I was something precious, something worth protecting. But he's not here. I'm alone with this thing crawling through my mind, and I can't…

I can't…

Panic overwhelms me, and I thrash harder, crying out as the storm intensifies. The wind is howling now, strong enough to bend smaller trees. The sky has taken on an eerie greenish tint that makes everything look sick, diseased.

Wolves dart around us, but Sten stands unmoved, watching me with those terrible white eyes as I fight the battle in my own mind. It's like trying to hold on to myself while something else attempts to wear me like a costume, pushing me aside to take control.

A massive gust of wind makes everyone look up. Above us, descending from the sickly green clouds, a thin funnel begins to form.

A fucking tornado.

"Oh, you are so impressive," Sten breathes, extending his hand toward me. Heat radiates from him even through the space between us, and I feel the thing inside me growing stronger. My thoughts get fuzzier, more distant, as though I'm slowly being pushed underwater.

And then I hear it—a voice in my head that isn't mine.

Hello, my bitch Omega.

The scream that tears from my throat doesn't sound human. My wolf howls in terror because we both know that voice. Know it like we know our own heartbeat.

It's Jarl.

My dead fucking husband.

I'm shaking, screaming, "Get him out of me, get him out!"

The thin tornado isn't just in the distance anymore. It's bearing down on us, ripping trees from the ground. The sound is deafening, roaring.

"What did you do?" I shriek at Sten, thrashing against the ropes as Jarl's presence grows stronger and colder, spreading through me like poison. "WHY DID YOU PUT HIM INSIDE ME?"

Sten just laughs, even as branches and debris fly past us. "I gave you the closest spirit I could grab."

Miss me, bitch?

I'm crying, and the tears are washed away. This can't be happening!

The tornado closes in on us, and Sten's expression finally furrows as he stares around him, the wind sending him stumbling on his feet. Branches are flying through the air like missiles, and the remaining wolves are running for their lives.

Suddenly, Sten is thrown sideways, shouting as his body is tossed into the woods. Objects are flung in every direction, and even the tree I'm tied to is starting to sway.

Wind beats against me, and I can't see straight from the rain coming sideways. I barely notice any of it because Jarl is in my head, in my body, touching me from the inside in ways that make me want to tear my own skin off. Memories of fists and boots and blood flood my mind. But they're not just my memories anymore. They're his, too.

The tornado hits the island somewhere in the distance, and the world explodes into chaos. Wood splintering, wind howling, Sten shouting something I can't hear. But nothing is louder than Jarl's laughter in my head.

This can't be happening. But it is. My dead husband is possessing me, and a tornado is about to kill us all.