Chapter 1

I curl my toes out of the reach of the grimy, seeking fingers and tighten my grip on the bars above me for better balance as I avoid the arms reaching through my cage. After hours of maintaining my awkward pose, my entire body aches, but I ignore my burning muscles and tingling fingers and focus on the dark thunderclouds gathering on the horizon. Although the sea looks calm near the boat, white-capped waves crash in the distance.

The sun beats down on the tarp stretched over the top of my cage. My knuckles brush against the rough material as it flaps in the hot breeze. Even in the shade, my pale skin throbs as though on the verge of sunburn. The scent of fear, alpha aggression, and death clogs my sinuses.

Sweat runs down my sides, plastering my skimpy dress to my skin. Barely long enough to reach my upper thighs, the thin material offers little protection from the sun and even less from the crowd's leering eyes. My skin crawls as fingers inch closer to my legs. If my cage weren't on a pedestal, I'd have no way to avoid the crazed alphas' hands.

I shift my gaze to the small gathering of people on the upper deck, but avert my eyes when fear skitters down my spine.

The Head Sister, who leads an organization of beta females so expansive yet secretive no one knows their true numbers, watches the proceedings with calculating eyes. Even without direct eye contact, her disapproval spears into my chest.

The bruise around my ankle throbs. I didn't move fast enough earlier, and a man grabbed me. She'll never forgive me, which means I'll feel her wrath after she sells my first heat.

Her instructions were clear: remain untouched and unmarred to bring the highest price.

I failed.

Tears sting the back of my eyes.

Even though my soul aches from loneliness, I hold no hope of filling the void. The Sisters may sell my body time and time again, but the disgusting men swarming the cage solidify what they've told me my entire life: I will not survive underneath an alpha without their protection.

Alphas are too self-centered. Too brutal. Too animalistic.

At least with The Sisters looking over me, I won't die a gruesome death.

I wish the storm would roll in faster.

The pile of dead bodies underneath my cage grows as the crazed, half-starved alphas fight over the chance to reach through the bars. At least the wind and rain of a storm would wash away the worst of the smell.

I don't want to do this anymore. Nausea grips me as fingertips graze my heel.

The ship jerks. Vibrations well up from the bowels of the ship. Violent, white-capped waves smash against the hull on the port side.

Untethered cages topple and slide against the floorboards. Bodies fly. Snarls and screams batter my eardrums.

My knees bash against the side of the cage, but I keep hold of the top bars as the deck swings in the opposite direction.

A hand wraps around my calf. I kick at their elbow, but the man refuses to let go even as the ship changes direction and he smacks face first into the bars. Blood pours from his nose, and I jam my heel between his eyes on instinct.

He releases me. I clench my fingers tighter and walk my feet up the bars to brace myself in the top corner, but a jarring crash nearly sends me flying across my cage. The crunch of metal on metal encourages a louder, more desperate cry from the crowd.

I fight nausea as the deck pitches impossibly further to the starboard side. The pile of bodies under my cage shifts, pulling those standing on top along the deck with them.

Hissing pulls my attention to the sea beyond the hull.

A gigantic black beast rises from the depths of the ocean. Easily twice the size of the slave market ship, the metal monstrosity continues to grow as it cuts through the hull, locking both vessels together with wrenching finality.

When the sharp nose of the beast reaches the main deck, it stops its ascent with another eerie hiss of air.

Even through the screaming and chaos, my ears pick out the creaking of the pedestal underneath my cage.

A scream burns my throat as I freefall. Trapped in my cage, I slam against the bars as it topples over. The cracking of bones and squishing of organs releases the meal The Sisters gave me before the auction.

With the bars digging into my shins and my knuckles still white around the steel bars of the ceiling, I kneel and vomit into the tangle of limbs trapped under my cage as it lies on its side. My arms shake, but I can't force my fingers to let go.

Despite the horror of my predicament, a deeper sense of dread settles into my chest. With premonition jangling through my veins, I lift my head and look over my shoulder.

A circular hatch opens on the top of the black beast and the broadest shoulders in existence rise from the depths. Too large to pass through with ease, the alpha maneuvers himself out with predatory grace.

My stomach clenches as our eyes meet.

Amber orbs fill my vision. The world narrows. Nothing will save me from this male.

With lethal calm, he pulls first one, then another, blade from his thigh holsters. Covered in tight black material, he makes the simple t-shirt and pants ensemble look deadly and mysterious, like a warrior from before the rains began. His black boots glimmer in the sunlight as he stalks down the nose of his ship.

Movement from behind him breaks my trance. Man after man emerges from the belly of the submarine.

A snarl sounds above my head. I jerk toward the opposite side of my cage, narrowly avoiding the crazed alpha's fingers as he reaches through the bars.

Madness resumes. Bodies block out the sun as those too lost to instinct swarm my fallen cage. I scream, kick, and fight with all my might, but there's no escape for me.

A low growl steals the breath from my lungs. I curl into a ball on my side, ignoring the hands tugging at my limbs.

Sunlight heats the side of my face. I glance up as massive hands curl around the shoulders of the man directly above me and yank him away. With a sickening crunch, the amber-eyed alpha breaks the male's neck and tosses him aside.

My insides clench and wicked heat pulses through my veins.

I must be in shock. This cannot be real. It's only an estrous-induced nightmare.

Nails dig into my flesh and wrench my arm away from my leg. I twist my wrist and lash out, kicking my attacker in the face and snapping his elbow in the wrong direction. With his arm trapped between the bars, he screams in my face until hands wrap around his throat from behind.

He disappears.

My savior systematically destroys the males swarming my cage. His snarl as he warns one of his men away clenches something deep within my abdomen.

He won't share the glory.

Maybe he won't share the spoils, either?

Eerie silence descends. I peek through the curtain of my hair.

Unlike the blown pupils of the crazed males, The Submarine stares down at me with sparkling amber orbs.

My nipples harden and lust pulses between my legs, but the stench and horror of my surroundings ground me in the present. I tremble as scarred knuckles wrap around the bars of my cage.

With terrifying ease, he yanks open the door, rips it off its hinges, and tosses the metal aside. My heart leaps and fear locks me in place as he reaches into my cage.

He wraps unyielding fingers around my biceps. My skin ignites. I jolt in shock.

Instinct swallows me whole. I sink into the feral animal lurking within my soul. Biting, scratching, and hissing, I fight with shocking intensity, but my strength is no match for the massive alpha.

He captures my wrists, pins them to the small of my back in one of his gigantic hands, and plasters our fronts together. I hiss as he yanks my head back by my hair.

The world drops out from under my feet. Specks of gold shine from the ring of amber around his enlarged pupils. His nostrils flare and the most delicious vibration leaks from his chest.

I'm helpless against his purr. My bones melt as it resonates throughout my entire body.

"I found you, little omega. You're mine now."

His deep timbre reaches into my soul and awakens instinctual needs.

I shake my head as much as his grip will allow.

A devilish smirk tilts his lips, creasing the thin white scar trailing from the corner of his nose down to his chin. He pulls my head further back, exposing my neck, and shifts our fronts together, rubbing my hard nipples against his impossibly harder abdominals.

My breath hitches as he leans down and nuzzles my temple. Goosebumps pepper my flesh as his breath ghosts over the sensitive shell of my ear.

"Fight me all you want, angel. Nothing will stop me from dragging you into my hell."

Despite the grime covering me from head to toe and the cloying stench of death wafting from the piles of bodies lying around us, his alpha pheromones invade my nostrils and short-circuits my mind.

A switch flips in my brain. My higher thoughts leap out of reach. I snarl.

Pure delight sparks in his amber orbs.

I'm doomed.