My heart raced with excitement. I had assumed this was a desolate island in the middle of the ocean, no souls in sight. I hadn’t thought about it being occupied by others. Were there deserted islands at all anymore or has technology advanced enough to have discovered them all? That was one subject I hadn’t thought of looking up before flying across continents.
Grayson didn’t look to be as happy about this news as I was. I would think he would want to go back to the women who begged for his cock, as he would probably put it.
"Who else is here?" I asked, cautiously. I had heard of dangerous tribes that would kill any civilized person that came to their shores, seeing them as nothing more than the enemy.
"Whoever took down our plane, I imagine."
I gulped. Took down our plane? How did he know that’s what happened? Did he find something out while I had napped on the beach, or maybe before the plane went down? Perhaps we would be hunted down like prey here. The chilling realization made me scoot a little closer to Grayson and his fire.
"Have you seen them?" I asked in almost a whisper, every sound around me now sounding more dubious than before. He shook his head, "I can feel them."
I cocked my head at his comment. He could feel them? What, was he some kind of seer on top of being a werewolf?
"What does that even mean?" I asked, perplexed. He ignored my question yet again and rose to his feet.
"Watch the fire, I’ll be back." I shifted, unsettled by his leaving. "Where are you going now?"
Turning back, the golden glow of his eyes spelled out his intention before he even needed to say it. "To find dinner," he grinned at me and my stomach churned uneasily.
He stalked off and I half-dragged, half-army crawled to the edge of the creek for water.
It’s taste was different from the city water I was used to, even different than the spring water mom would buy from the grocery store. I could feel the coolness as it drifted down my throat into my belly.
Laying back in the grass beside the fire, I tried ignoring the peril around me. The weather wasn’t hot here but it wasn’t cold either. There was a chill in the wind that drifted from the creek that made the heat of the fire pleasant against my skin.
Closing my eyes, I listened deeper as the minutes passed. The air felt thicker but also cleaner in a way, floral and woodsy with the hint of sea and dirt. Being in the ocean felt so familiar, I couldn’t believe I had never been before. This creek was nice but I wanted the waves to be the loudest thing I could hear.
Once I could walk, I would make my own fort closer to the beach. Unless, of course, whoever else was on the island was a threat.
A thought came to me then, maybe this wasn’t an island at all. From where I could see it was surely tropical but it could just as easily be a peninsula. We needed to climb the cliffs I saw from the beach. There was so much needed to be done and all I was doing was laying here.
I was pondering my frustration for my lack of abilities when a rustling noise made my eyes pop open. This time, it wasn’t Grayson. I tried pulling myself to a sitting position but the crawl from the tree to the fire had made the pain in my ribs too great.
I laid perfectly still, watching the direction of the noise. I waited, controlling my breathing so as to not attract any unwanted attention. I saw its fur first, a soft light brown with white underneath. Its ear pricked up, the shape of a tulips petal. Her eyes were pure black and glossy and when she looked at me, she was unafraid.
The doe emerged from the trees to drink from the creek. Her curiosity of me got the best of her and she stepped closer. I reached a hand out, her nose barely touching the tip of my fingers before a noise spooked her and she silently darted back into the woods.
I smiled at the beauty of the moment before noticing Grayson’s pale eyes watching me quietly. As our gaze connected, he came out of the shadows with a rabbit dangling from his hand by the feet. My heart sank for the creature as he moved to prepare it for the fire.
The tension between us made for an awkward silence. I watched Grayson as he worked and he occasionally stole angry looking glances my way. Noticing my awkward position, he dragged a log over to the fire and helped to prop me up against it. I was puzzled by his kindness but remained in our combined silence as his wide hands, completely covering the width of my shoulders, lifted me to a sitting position.
After cooking the rabbit meat, he handed me a leg while biting into the thick of the one in his own hand. I decided to finally break the silence to ask, "what are we going to do for shelter."
His expression didn’t falter with his answer. "We don’t need shelter." I gave him a look, the idea of bugs crawling all over me while I slept giving me goosebumps.
"Yes. We do." I told him with demand in my voice. He returned my look. "So weak." I huffed, the action causing a flash of pain in my ribs and I winced. He expected me to sleep in the dirt like a dog but I wasn’t like him. Or was I?
My eyes were different like his were, but I didn’t sprout claws and spontaneously grow fur. No part of me felt animalistic but there was a connection, a pull between us. It was like I could feel a part of his soul inside my own, sewn together even though we were trying to rip apart.
I began moving around, uncomfortable in where I sat. Grayson eyed me before grunting. "What’s wrong?" The sun was beginning to set, the sky turning a pinkish orange color. "I have to pee," I told him, wishing I wasn’t in so much pain.
Grayson held back a smile and I knew I couldn’t let him help me. I began standing, attempting to push through the pain in my ribs and avoiding putting any weight on my bad foot. I limped about two feet before falling into a collapse, only to be caught by Grayson’s burning touch.
His arm wrapped around me and he scooped me up. "I can do it." I told him but was disregarded. He walked us into the brush, ropes of tree branches threatening to trip us with every step. He found a suitable log and let me use it as leverage to bend down.
He held onto a hand while I squated. "Look away!" I commanded and he obeyed with a half-cocked smile, looking to the tops of the trees above me while I relieved myself.
The feel of his hand in mine was grounding, making my pulse quicken with the contact. I ignored the sensation while I finished up and avoided looking at him while he took me back to our camp.
Once he put me back next to the fire, his hands drifted over my body. The roughness swept over my skin, poking and rubbing. A sensation drifted down below my belly as he did so but then a whimper of pain escaped me when he brushed over the sore spot on my ribs.
Our eyes locked briefly which almost felt like an apology before his face darkened and he pushed harder causing me to cry out and smack his hand away.
"There might be some cracks but they’re not broken. Your ankle is fine too, it’ll heal in a few days. Or a few weeks for someone like you."
There was poison in his voice but he still loomed over me, eyes following the curves of my body. The air shifted and I sat still while the frogs sang their mating calls near the creek bed beside us.
His hand grasped my thigh, the heat sending electricity towards my private area. The pull for him became so strong that I could feel myself suddenly getting wet for him. He was close enough to touch, I reached for his clenched jaw and he grabbed me by my wrist, leaving the ghost of his handprint burning against my thigh.
His eyes moved to mine and I could see the fire in them. He felt what I felt. His grip on my wrist tightened, a space in my chest reaching out towards him. He looked...furious.
He retreated and the air around me became chillier. I gasped, I didn’t want him but in that moment I felt I had no control.
"What was that?" I asked, bewildered. My body still thumping with need for his touch.
"The mate’s bond," he answered. "We have to get off this island before I fuck you into oblivion and ruin both our lives."