Carnage Island (Reject Island)(79)

This was the easy part.

The assault on Nantahala Territory is going to be a lot more intense.

“Yeah, Pan is taking close ups of all the wolves now,” Alpha Duncan says, watching a fourth screen that appears to be tied to whatever video equipment Alpha Pan is using. I think it’s a camera secured by his vest. “I’m running the visuals through a database for a match. I’ll have them any minute now.”

“Good. Let me know when they’re appropriately identified.” Tieran is in full Alpha mode now, his tone harder than I’ve ever heard it.

My wolf is pleased. She likes the demonstration of power.

But my stomach is still twisting with discomfort.

“Four positive IDs and counting,” Alpha Duncan says, lips curling. “All Nantahala Wolves, Alpha T.”

I try to look at the screen to see who they are, but the images are moving too fast. He’s already scanning the next dead wolf, who I briefly recognize as a male not much older than me. No, that can’t be right. He wasn’t an Enforcer.

The image is gone before I can really see it.

“Make that five,” Alpha Duncan adds.

“All I needed was one,” Tieran drawls. “We’re going in.”

“Make it rain, gentlemen,” Alpha Ebony says, excitement coloring her tone.

“I’ll bring back souvenirs,” Volt promises.

“Good,” she replies. “Bloody ones.”

“What other kinds are there?” he asks, sounding genuinely curious.

Tieran clears his throat. “Going radio silent in three, two…” He doesn’t utter the word “one,” his comms already off.

My heart skips a beat.

What if something happens to them?

I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Was that intentional? A way to keep them focused on the task at hand? Because they don’t need to say goodbye as they’ll be back soon?

My mind races, my skin going cold.

It’s happening. It’s really happening.

And I can’t hear them.

I can’t see them.

I can’t feel them.

Alpha Ebony places a hand on my knee. “Hey. They need your faith, not your worry.”

I don’t bother pointing out the concern I caught on her face during Alpha Pan’s part of the mission. She knows. She’s just trying to offer support.

But it’s not helping.

My wolf is frantic, pacing inside me, furious that she’s not there. It feels wrong.

Something’s wrong?

No, this is wrong.

I blink, trying to harness my panic.

But I can’t seem to breathe.

Alpha Duncan crouches in front of me, but keeps his hands to himself. A good thing because I’m ready to bite off Alpha Ebony’s fingers. Her palm feels wrong against my jeans. I want that hand to belong to Volt or Tieran or Caius. No one else.

They’re mine.

I should be there.

I should be helping.

Get it together, I tell myself. This isn’t helping at all. This is making it worse!

But I can’t seem to breathe right. My wolf is a frantic mess. She doesn’t like being separated from them. She hates not knowing they’re okay.

There’s a missing connection, a mental link that should be here that isn’t.

“Clove.” Alpha Duncan’s tone is stern, forcing me to look at him. His Alpha energy pours over me, demanding focus.

I avert my gaze, but my wolf is listening to him, craving that dominant air. It’s not the right male or the right wolf, but she hears the authority in his tone. She knows he’s safe. She trusts him.

She trusts Alpha Ebony, too.

It’s an interesting sensation, having faith in wolves I’ve really only just met. But I’m doing what Tieran told me to do—I’m listening to my wolf.

“Alpha Tieran’s our Pack Alpha for a reason,” Alpha Duncan says, his voice softening a little, but still holding that steel edge. “He’s the best at what he does and he has a team with him that’s been training for this opportunity for seven years. I’m more worried about how much blood they’re going to spill than—”

The ground vibrates beneath us as an explosion sounds in the distance.

Alpha Ebony is on her feet in a second with Alpha Duncan right beside her.

“What the fuck was that?” she demands.

Alpha Duncan starts pulling up island footage, searching for the cause.

Only for the screens to go black.

No.

Not the screens.

The whole damn room.

My wolf reacts, throwing me to the floor as another Boom! rocks the foundation.

Alpha Ebony snarls, causing my wolf to whine inside me.

I scurry backward into a corner, driven by my wolf’s instincts rather than my own.

The door crashes open on the next breath, a bullet whizzing through the air and going straight into Alpha Duncan’s head.

I’m frozen.

Shocked.

Not understanding how I can see until I realize my wolf is looking through my eyes.

I haven’t shifted but she’s entirely taken over my human form, protecting us both while my mind catches up with what’s happening.

I try to meet her halfway, to share control when all hell breaks loose in the room.