My wolf sits down in the crate, staring at him. The complete opposite of what I want to be doing right now. She’s acting like a damn obedient dog, her ears perked, tail slightly wagging.
“I knew you would come around,” he says, crouching down. “Why don’t you shift so I can see you better?”
My wolf cocks her head like she can’t understand him.
It’s disorienting to feel so detached from her and out of control. I imagine it’s how she’s felt all these years while I suppressed her—something I’m realizing now isn’t natural.
Because I saw a few pups running around on Wolfe Island.
Female pups.
“I’m not letting you out until you shift,” he says.
Well, that’s not happening, I want to tell him.
Instead my wolf lays down with a sad little huff.
I have no idea what she’s doing and I’ve given up trying to understand. Instead, I roll with it. She wants to mope, then we’ll mope.
The guard frowns. “I can’t let you out in wolf form, little one.”
Which means he plans to dump my crate on the island. Awesome.
The boat slows to a stop, the guard’s lips twisting.
“Yo! Push her off and let’s go!” the guard from the front calls back to us.
Mister Muzzle sighs and shakes his head. “All right.” He reaches forward, his fingers on the latch. “Try to attack me, and I’m going to toss you in the water to drown in this cage. Be a good wolf, and I’ll let you swim to shore.”
Wow, those are amazing options, I think, rolling my eyes.
But my wolf doesn’t move, just continues to watch him.
He opens the door and she sits up, tail wagging happily.
“Well, go on then,” he says, pointing to the shore that I can now see is about a hundred feet away. He wasn’t kidding about swimming.
My wolf whines a little and paws at her muzzle.
He narrows his eyes. “I’m not falling for that.”
She sighs, laying down again.
“What the hell, Jack? Push her overboard already!” the impatient guard demands.
Jack doesn’t move, his eyes on me. “All right. Come here and I’ll remove it. But if you bite me, you’ll regret it.”
My wolf sits up again, wagging her tail like an obedient pet.
I wonder if he realizes that I’m not in control at all, that she’s running the show entirely.
His smile suggests he thinks it’s all me.
And it should be since I am the human here.
But I feel locked away, similar to how I used to push her to the back of my mind.
I can feel and hear and see everything. I could even taste the rotten food they gave me in my cell. However, I couldn’t stop myself from eating it.
Just like I can’t stop this ridiculous wagging now.
“Come out here like a good girl and I’ll take it off before you jump,” Jack says.
My wolf stands and stretches, obviously understanding him. Although, I don’t think it’s his words she processes so much as his tone and movements. There’s an animality in her that doesn’t assess phrases the way a human would.
Which is why I should be able to control her.
He reaches for my face and I try to recoil back, but my wolf stays absolutely still, allowing him to undo the muzzle. He’s cautious, carefully pulling it off my head.
And my wolf lunges for his throat.
He curses, throwing me overboard with his robust strength and sending me into the water by the boat. “Fucking bitch!” he shouts.
“And you’re a fucking idiot,” the other guard snaps back.
The boat begins to sputter as they take off, the blades on the back nearly catching my tail as they go.
My wolf sinks under the waves, uncertain of how to swim.
And the water is cold.
Like ice.
I’m frantic, trying to take over, to tell her how to doggy paddle, to give her a way up. But she won’t let me free. She won’t listen to me!
We’re sinking.
Water is swirling around us as we claw at the murky depths, trying to figure out how to float or reach the surface.
My wolf is whining.
I’m screaming.
Then brawny arms are suddenly around my torso and dragging me up. “What the fuck are you doing?” a male demands, his voice making me shiver inside and out.
Well, not out.
My wolf is snarling at him, furious at his touch.
“Oh, quiet,” he snaps back, his Alpha energy shimmering across my fur in a manner far more potent than Alpha Bryson’s ever did.
This male is power personified.
And it instantly calms my wolf.
She submits with ease, allowing him to drag us to shore.
I wonder, just for a moment, if she’s faking it like she did on the boat.
But no. I can sense the lack of tension in my body now, the true will to submit to someone she believes is a stronger being.
He doesn’t immediately release me, instead rolling me to my side and staring down into my wolf eyes with a clinical look.
I stare back at him, mesmerized by his ebony irises. So dark and alluring. At least until they narrow in confusion. “You’re not an Alpha,” he tells me.
My wolf grumbles in response, clearly not approving of his tone.
Or maybe she really does understand him.
Hell if I know anymore.
“Shift,” he says.
I don’t because I don’t know how. Because my wolf won’t let me. Because apparently I’ve gone mad and allowed my animal to take over.
“She can’t,” another voice says, this one slightly accented and radiating even more power than the Alpha beside me.
How is that even possible?
Wait… I glance sharply at the newcomer, my wolf finally allowing me to take over for just a second. How do you know I can’t shift? He’s the first to sense it. The first to realize I can’t control my wolf.
But any elation I feel dies as he steps forward, his aura humming with electric superiority.
This is an Alpha.
Well, so is the guy beside me.
Both of them are Alphas.
Carnage Wolf Alphas.
Oh, moon…
I swallow, my insides turning to ice as I suddenly remember where I am.
“Shh,” the male beside me hushes, laying down as though to appear less aggressive.
It doesn’t work.
He’s too big, too Alpha, to appear any less intimidating.