Chapter 13

BEAST.

I’d never fucking hated my job as much as I did now. They really wanted Natalia dead? A pain twisted in my chest. Not happening, and I would kill them all to keep her safe. I left her sleeping in bed and leapt off the balcony to clear my head. I had to fucking get some air. I hiked down to the ocean, away from the beach house.

How long would it take before they requested proof? Or until they discovered where we were and came for her themselves? I stared out at the waves, throwing broken shells out into the water and trying to figure out how to fix this.

I clenched my fists, not caring that the nails bit into my palms. They wouldn’t touch her.

She was mine!

With the desire to press her into my chest and wrap my arms around her, I hustled inside. At the kitchen sink, I splashed water on my face and took out a beer. I downed the alcohol before I set the bottle into the trash. I had to think about what to do. Figure out how to get us out of this shit.

Careful not to wake her, I took my time going back to the bedroom. Inside, I paused, not hearing her breathing. I gently tossed back the covers. Empty?

Strange.

She was on the bed sleeping a few minutes ago. I moved through the house looking for her. The silence rang through my place like someone had struck a gong and the vibration of it pulsed in the air.

“Natalia,” I bellowed.

Nothing.

I didn’t get it. She was dead asleep a few minutes ago. Where would she go without trying to find me?

Shit!

She must have overheard me on the radio.

A weight sank into my gut and I went to the front window, looking out across half the island. There! Her figure raced across the dune straight to my boat.

One of my men must have brought it there. I didn’t see it earlier when I was on the balcony. They’ve started to put things in place already so that I could dispose of her. The call was clear, but they were putting it all into action now.

Slamming the radio down on the windowsill, I threw open the drawer and took out my binoculars. I zoomed in and she raced straight toward the water.

Fuck!

Then I spotted a huge shadow circle between the shore and the boat. My heart froze in my chest and I squinted, trying to make out what it was, and adjusted the lenses. A fin popped up from the waves. It was a shark. And a bastardly big one. From where she was, she wouldn’t be able to see it.

There was no way I could reach her in time. Not on two legs.

I threw open the door and shifted, letting my clothes rip and fall off as I dove outside. My paws hit the sand. I raced as fast as I could. My breaths pierced my sides, but I didn’t dare stop.

The ocean called, the sound of the waves taunting me. I was only a few feet away, but it felt like miles.

No! I couldn’t lose her.

The wind buffeted my fur. The smell of the salt in the air and the feel of the sand beneath me mixed together until everything was a blur of sensation. But I still pushed forward, faster, suddenly feeling time slow down as I charged into the sea with one thought ringing in my head—Natalia.

Hearing the splash behind her, she turned, facing me. For half a second, I felt like I could breathe again.

I couldn’t swim well in my wolf form, nor could I explain the danger.

There was a flash of silver under the water and I howled, hoping to scare her away from the danger.

But then she screamed and dove into the waist-high water, toward the boat and the damn shark.

It circled mere feet away and I clamped my jaw shut, forcing myself to swim faster. I launched myself between her and the shark, my rear paws striking her in the back.

She came up sputtering water.

But the shark twisted and my teeth snapped down on its tail. It whipped back and forth, making me dizzy. I spat out the half-eaten remains and sank deeper into the water, my blood pounding against my skull.

At least the shark changed its mind about a meal and swam away.

I couldn’t stop the shift as my wolf decided it had won the battle. As my head broke the surface of the water and I pulled air into my lungs, my gaze settled on Natalia.

Tears mingled with the salt water on her face. She stood in the water across from me, completely still. Her mouth was slightly open and I could hear her heart beating faster than normal. My breathing was ragged as I stared at her.

She didn’t say anything, but I caught the whiff of panic and terror in her scent. Her body jerked and she spun around, fighting the waves to get back to shore.

“Natalia,” I shouted after her, but she only swam faster.

Then another scent hit me. A spicy-sweet aroma that called to me and my wolf. The omega I had smelled back at the park. She was here? I spun in a circle in the water, but the only female within miles was Natalia.

Everything clicked into place. How we were drawn to each other despite our past together. How we couldn’t get enough of each other and how she sated me like no woman ever had.

Then she looked over her shoulder at me. Had she sensed it too?

But the look in her eyes wasn’t one of knowing or acceptance. It was full of stubbornness and danger.

She stood up, splashing through the waves that hit her shins.

“Natalia,” I yelled again.

But she didn’t even bother looking back at me. She just kept going, not slowing her steps at all, like I was a monster chasing her.

She jogged up the dune to the house.

What could she possibly think to do there? Lock me out? I chuckled.

No. The radio. Like a moron, I’d left it inside when I ran out to save her.

Fucking shit. I pushed my arms and legs to move faster. She was going to try and call for help. If my boss found out she was still alive, he’d skin us both.

When my feet hit the sand, I shifted again, plowing up the dune to the house.

I had to stop her.

A few strides from her, she must have sensed or heard me because she spun around. Her hands raised into fists.

“Don’t you fucking come near me,” she yelled.

Since she’d already discovered my secret, I didn’t bother to hide it from her. I shifted back and she choked on a gasp.

“Natalia, please.” I stood. “You were in danger. That shark—”

“I don’t want to be here anymore. Take me back. Now.” Her gaze darted behind me to the boat.

“Those are my men.” I didn’t bother following her line of sight. “You could bribe them with anything in the world and they won’t turn on me.”

“This is wrong.” She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut briefly. “I want to go home.”

Her fragileness made me want to take her in my arms. Make her forget her fears. And her scent increased, making my lust increase tenfold. But I stayed where I was, not wanting to scare her any more than she already was.

“It won’t be safe,” I said, not looking away from her.

The panic in her scent sharpened.

Her cheeks held a rosy flush. Her clothes clung to her and showed every curve of her body.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I promised.

She shivered, and I didn’t think it was just from being soaked. “And I’m safe here with you? Is that what you’re saying?” Her voice cracked as she asked, her back rigid. “I heard you… on the radio… with that guy. They want me dead.”

I could feel her desperation, and the magnitude of her desire to get away was palpable.

So I stood my ground, wanting to ease her fears so desperately it took everything in me not to erase the distance between us and make her understand. “Natalia, I won’t let anything happen to you. I will protect you. I swear.”

For a moment, I thought she would break down and run into my arms. But then she stepped away and shook her head.

“I can’t stay here. I won’t.”

The urge to force her to yield pounded through my skull. But I wouldn’t do that to her. Not after what we’d shared. I had to make her see reason.

If she didn’t, then I would do anything to keep her safe. Even if that meant locking her in my room until I dealt with the aftermath of not obeying orders. “Come with me inside,” I coaxed gently. “We’ll talk about this after we get you out of those wet clothes.” And naked in my bed so I could warm her up.

Her breath hitched and her cheeks flushed, but she didn't budge.

“No, no.” She shook her head like she was trying to convince herself. “Y-you’re a wolf… a fucking werewolf? That’s impossible. Werewolves don’t exist. This means you’re some kind of monster. I don’t understand. Or is this some magic island? What does all this mean?”

She was ranting and throwing her arms up in the air, not giving me a chance to respond, until I stopped her as I held up my hands while walking toward her. I wanted her to know I had no intention of harming her.

“There’s more.”

Her eyes widened and she skittered back a foot.

“Don’t come any closer,” she shrieked. “I don’t want to become a werewolf.”

Did she not know? How could she not? I could smell the faint stirrings of an omega going into heat from here, and it was only getting stronger. The same smell I’d scented the other day and in the park back home.

It must be triggered by excitement and fear. She was blooming, and soon, she wouldn’t be able to control herself. She’d want to mate with an alpha, and I was the lucky bastard here.

“Natalia,” I said in a gentle voice, trying to keep her calm. Last thing I needed was her stress level to soar even higher and bring about her heat right here on the beach with my men on the boat so close. Normally I didn’t mind who saw me screw a woman, but not her. She was all mine, and my wolf howled in agreement. “Even if I bite you, you won’t become a werewolf.”

“Oh yeah?” She crossed her arms. “I’m not stupid. I know the lore.”

“Those are stories. If you were fully human, then yes, my bite could make you a werewolf.” If it didn’t kill her. I was one of the fortunate ones to not have died from my bite, but it was a fucking shit fest for days while the virus ravaged me.

She laughed high and tight, mocking me. “Of course I’m human.”

“No, you’re not. Not entirely.” I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering how the hell I could make her believe me. “You’re an omega. A female, non-shifting wolf, and if you don’t come with me now, you could be in danger.”

“More so than I am now... with you?” A shiver rolled through her.

I grinned and she swallowed hard, her face paling. “You’re going into heat. Don’t you sense it despite your fear? How much you fucking want me?” And probably why she was willing to give up her virginity to me, someone who had been her enemy. I shoved aside the thought that twisted like a knife in my heart.

Her eyes widened, but her lower lip trembled. “I don’t believe you. You’re talking rubbish to try and deceive me.”

“It doesn’t matter because you know something has changed.” I shrugged.

“Yes! It’s this island. It’s like the Bermuda triangle, or I’m fucking dreaming, and when you drugged me, you put me in some kind of coma and none of this is real.”

I shook my head.

“You don’t think that for one minute.”

She pinched herself as if she were trying to make sense of it. She didn’t know if it was real or not? But we both knew that this was no dream; it was all real.

I continued to explain to her, “Soon your body will betray you. It will want release and I’m the only one who can give you that. Who can ease the yearning that will pump through you? An undeniable heat that you can’t stop, can’t control.”

She snorted, but her face paled. “So? I’ll just masturbate, if what you’re saying is even true.”

“Won’t matter.” I grinned, leaning back against the palm tree near the house. “Only an alpha can ease your sexual suffering.” Something flashed in her eyes, like deep down she knew what I said was true. “And you’re looking right at him.”

She huffed, taking a step back. But her chest heaved and her nipples strained against the fabric of her shirt.

Even though she pressed her thighs together, the wetness of her pussy called to me. She was ripening before my very eyes and it was fucking beautiful.

“Don’t fight it, Natalia. That only makes it worse.”

“H-how do you know?” She lifted her chin, forcing her arms tighter around herself.

“If you’re asking how many omega’s I’ve had, the answer is none.” A spark of hope lit inside me that she wasn’t running, wasn’t screaming, she was giving me a chance. “Alphas and omegas mate for life. And no matter what happens, I’m not going to let you go. I’m yours, Natalia, and you’re mine.”

A growl vibrated in my chest and she gulped, jumping back.

“We are meant to be together. Don’t fight it. Embrace it. Let me show you what it means to be an omega. To be mine.”

She flinched, taking another step back.

“Don’t be afraid,” I said, trying to reassure her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“But you’re an alpha,” she said, her voice shaking. “And I’m an omega. I don’t understand how this is supposed to work.”

“It’s simple,” I replied, taking a step closer to her. “We’re meant to be together. Alphas and omegas are drawn to each other, and when we find our mate, it’s for life. It’s a bond that can’t be broken.”

She looked at me, her eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. “But what if I don’t want to be your mate?”

“I understand that this is new and confusing for you,” I said, reaching out to take her hand. “But trust me, Natalia. Being with me will be the best thing that ever happened to you. I’ll protect you, care for you, and love you for the rest of your life. All you have to do is give me a chance.”

She looked at me for a long moment, then glanced away. “I don’t know. This is all happening so fast. I feel like I’m dreaming and my insides haven’t decided if this is a good one or a nightmare.” She raked a hand over her face. “Fuck, I don’t even know what I’m saying.” She shivered.

“Go inside and get cleaned up and changed.” I nodded, giving her a wide berth and opening the door for her. It would take time, but she’d soon see the truth as I did.

Natalia was mine. And I would find out who wanted her dead and rip their goddamn throats out.