The Island Of Alphas: A BBW Paranormal Romance (22 page)

I barely slept that night, and the next day, my resulting lethargy was apparent to Bev and Laura, who both assumed I'd been sleepless over missing Eric and Nate, which was definitely part of it, though not all of it, of course. Over lunch, which the three of us ate indoors with the two other clinic nurses on account of the continued rain, I fought an urge to pull Bev and Laura into my office and tell them everything, from Jason being on the island, to his request, to my pregnancy, to my fears that my baby might not be Eric's. Just everything.

But I knew I couldn't. Eric and Nate deserved to hear about my pregnancy before anyone else, and as far as Jason, there was really no need to say anything about him since he'd soon be out of my life for good. I'd decided that when we met again, I was going to tell him in no uncertain terms that my final answer about procuring the amulet for him was no. I'd thought it over and I wasn't going to do it, and I also hadn't been able to think of any other way I could help him without revealing everything to Eric.

I was also going to tell him that if he had any ideas about going into the village to try to take the amulet from the bunker himself, it would be very foolish for him to even try. Despite the fact that so many of Eric's men were needed in the jungle, he always left at least a dozen of them behind in the village to protect everyone.

Additionally, I was also going to tell Jason that I could never meet with him again. For one thing, after I gave him my final, unequivocal answer about the amulet, I couldn't see that we had anything to talk about anymore. For another thing, even if we did, the thought had occurred to me that maybe our meet-ups on the beach, with just the two of us present, weren't exactly right, as far as relationship ethics were concerned.

After all, I'd realized, if the situation were reversed, and
Eric
were meeting an ex in private, even if they were just platonic friends, I didn't think I'd be at all pleased.

For these reasons, I was determined to make Jason's and my final visit a very brief and to-the-point one. I was going to steel myself against all attempts by Jason to soften me up, particularly jokes about Mr. Blinkers. I was going to have to be hard, and I would be. I was going to get in, tell him my final answer in regards to the amulet, then tell him I could never see him again, but I wished him well, and then get out and be gone.

Early in the evening on Tuesday, after a long walk down the beach, I made it to our sitting log at the usual time. The rain had finally stopped, though the skies were still a dreary gray, with only a few rays of sun peeking out between the clouds every so often.

Jason soon arrived, giving me a friendly grin. "So, did you bring it? Did the attacks these past few days make you desperate to make them stop and get your man back home?"

Biting back a groan of disgust that he'd thought I'd betray Eric so easily, I shook my head. "No. No, Jason, I didn't bring the amulet. And I came here to tell you that I never will. I can't see you ever again, either. This is goodbye."

Jason's amiable expression immediately became replaced by a look that could only be described as menacing. It was a look so dark and cold it instantly made a chill dance along my spine, despite the fact that the day was unusually muggy.

He took a step forward, narrowing his eyes at me. "You're right about that. This
is
goodbye. For you."

THE FINAL
CHAPTER

The split-second Jason had narrowed his eyes at me, I'd been able to tell something was off. Way, way off. He wasn't himself at all. There was something much more threatening about him now than there had even been when he'd spoken so harshly to me days earlier. He wasn't the same Jason I'd dated for several years. He didn't simply seem stressed now. Something about him was spinning off its axis, and I didn't even know exactly what. Panic made my heartbeat begin to sound like a jackhammer in my ears.

Even before Jason had spoken his threatening words, about how this was indeed goodbye, for
me
, I'd begun reaching into my shorts pocket for my phone. While he was speaking, I'd been unlocking the touch-screen and getting it to the numerical keypad screen for placing calls without even taking my gaze from his face.

Now that he'd finished speaking and had taken another step closer to me, making the distance between us maybe only seven or eight feet, I froze, afraid to take my phone out of my pocket to dial Eric's number. Something about Jason's angry scowl just told me he'd knock my phone out of my hand immediately.

Instead of risking that, I decided to try to placate him in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. Trembling inside, I forced my lips to curve in a tiny smile. "I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to make you mad. I should have never said this was goodbye for good; I was just being dramatic. We can still visit, even tomorrow again if you'd like.

“I'll even bring you the amulet. Maybe I didn't realize before how badly you need it, but I do now. I'll bring it. I promise."

My de-escalation act didn't sound convincing, even to me. It elicited a snort with a curled lip from Jason.

"You seriously think I'm going to believe you? Try again. I'm not an idiot."I took a little step back from him and his menacing eyes, trying to be discreet about it. "No, of course you're not an idiot. I've known you for so many years; of course I know that."

He snorted again, narrowing his eyes even further. "We actually only met very recently. Stupid bitch."

A gasp got stuck in my throat. I suddenly found it difficult to draw in air. Something had happened to Jason, and I couldn't even begin to fathom what. Not only had he never called me a
bitch
before, I'd also never even heard him say it in regards to anyone else. I honestly couldn't even remember him ever doing any name-calling at all, even to call someone a
jerk
. He'd always been very cool, calm, and collected. Even somewhat emotionless at times. He'd certainly never called me even the mildest of names before.

Folding his arms across his chest, he glared at me silently, and at that moment, with my hand still on my phone, I felt it vibrate. Someone was calling me. Maybe placing a call or just praying for the patrol guards to come around wouldn't be my only way to summon help, after all. I just needed to answer the call with my phone still in my pocket, then speak loudly, in order for whoever was calling, probably Eric or Nate, to hear me.

Carefully tapping my finger in the center of the screen in order to answer the call without simultaneously ending it at once, I tried to distract Jason from the action by talking. "I'm not going to lie...you're kind of scaring me right now. This isn't at all how I thought our meeting on the beach would go today. But I'm not only scared, I'm confused, too.

“We've known each other for several years, and we were even engaged once. So what did you mean when you said we actually only met very recently? And also, what did you mean when you said this is 'goodbye' for me? You're not really going to hurt me, are you?”

I hoped I wasn't laying it on too thick, but I wanted whoever was on the phone, listening,
if
I'd even managed to properly answer the call, that is, to know that I was scared and in trouble. I realized there was at least a good chance someone was listening, because the phone had stopped vibrating the instant I'd tapped the screen.

If Jason thought I was doing any kind of an act or speaking louder than usual, he didn't show it. In fact, he seemed somehow placated by my questions. His scowl lessened just a bit.

He did, however, take a large step closer to me. "One question at a time. As to what I meant when I said we actually only met very recently...well, I'll just show you."

Stunning me, within the blink of an eye, Jason shifted. But he didn't shift into a wolf, or any of the other shifter animals I'd heard about on the island. He shifted into the form of another man. A man I'd never seen before, with inky black hair and piercing pale blue eyes. When this man spoke, his voice was completely different than Jason's, much deeper.

"I'm not Jason. I'm Dominic. It's me you've been visiting with all these times, not your ex-fiancé."

Petrified, I struggled to find my voice. "But...but, how?"

"Literal magic. You see, over the past several months, I've developed some supernatural gifts that Eric and
your
wolves have probably never even imagined before. I have the ability to read the minds and memories of outsiders to the island, then shift into perfect images of people
from
those memories."

Astonished, I couldn't even respond. I realized what Dominic had just said explained why "Jason" had appeared so typically pale even after supposedly having spent several months on the island.

Smirking, Dominic continued. "Based on all the very vivid memories buried in your mind, I probably could have even shifted into Mr. Blinkers himself." Pausing, Dominic took yet another large step toward me, making him now only three or four feet away from me. "Now, you asked me another question, and I'll answer it with all honesty and sincerity. You asked if I'm going to hurt you, and the answer is...maybe.

“You see, getting you to simply bring me the amulet with a minimum amount of hassle was just my plan A. Now we've moved onto plan B, which is me hauling you back to Wulfric Palms, kicking and screaming, I have no doubt, where I'm going to keep you and hold you hostage in exchange for the amulet. If Eric gives me the amulet willingly, I
might
let you go unharmed. If he doesn't give me the amulet...well, I'll send him different little pieces of you until he does."

With an icy chill tickling the back of my neck, I decided to begin asking as many questions as possible in an attempt to stall for time. Dominic seemed to almost like questions, as if he found them flattering.

"Why do you even want the amulet so badly?"

Smirking again, he scoffed. "Simple. It will increase my supernatural powers to the point that I'll be able to kill Eric and all his men single-handedly. Then, I'll take over Clearwater and all its land, women, and resources will be mine. Then, I'll be the strongest leader on the island. At that point, I'll begin work on taking out the bears and the dragons as well.

“After that, I won't just be an alpha anymore; I'll essentially be king of this entire landmass. King, with hundreds of women at my disposal. Hundreds of women to do with whatever I want. And if you play your cards right,
you
could even be one of those women. I might even give you special status, just because I've taken a liking to you...particularly to that nice, round ass of yours."

Leering, with his surprisingly white teeth glinting in a bit of pale sun breaking through the clouds, Dominic took another large step forward, putting us almost face-to-face. Reflexively, I took an equally large step back, not wanting him to grab me or touch me, but that's exactly what he did.

With his leer turning into a scowl, he grabbed my upper arm and squeezed it painfully. "Stepping away from your future king is no way to earn special status."

I tried twisting away from him, but to no avail. "Let me go!"

"Not a chance. It's time for us to go now. The patrol guards will be coming by here before too much longer, and I intend to have us halfway to Wulfric Palms before they do."

"But, just wait. I have more questions for you. I want to ask you if-"

"No, question time is done. We're leaving right now, and you can either come willingly, or I can carry you through the jungle on my back. Your choice."

With panic rising in me once again, I attempted to yank my arm from his grip with one good tug. "Let me go!"

He only squeezed my arm tighter, making me yelp.

"Ow! You're hurting me!"

"There's more where that came from. Now, shut up, and start walking."

"No! I'll never go back to your village with you! You'll have to knock me unconscious and drag me."

With his pale blue eyes completely devoid of expression, Dominic suddenly stooped, picked up a rock about the size of a baseball from beneath the log, and raised it above my head. "Knocking you unconscious can definitely be arranged."

*

Dominic raised the rock higher, and I covered my head, screaming and struggling, but I couldn't get away. He still had my upper arm locked in a vice grip. Expecting a powerful blow to crack my skull at any second, I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut. At that moment, I heard a loud snarl, and then suddenly, I fell backward, feeling Dominic release my arm.

Opening my eyes, I landed on my rear in the sandy, rocky soil near the jungle, terrified that the snarl I'd heard had come from Dominic. I thought maybe he'd decided to kill me by ripping me limb-from-limb or something and had shifted into wolf form to do it. However, the snarl hadn't come from him.

Massive and silvery in his wolf form, Eric was charging toward us, charging at Dominic, specifically. Gasping, I scuttled away toward the trees just as Dominic shifted into a large wolf with dark, nearly black, fur. Instead of waiting for Eric's attack, he charged out to meet him, snarling and snapping his powerful jaws. The sound he and Eric made when they collided wasn't just the thud I'd expected; it was more like a boom.

Immediately, they both seemed to recover from the impact and began fighting, tearing at each other with their knife-sharp teeth. Soon, they were both bleeding, their fur becoming matted with blood in many different spots. Because his fur was so dark, the patches of blood staining Dominic's fur appeared as a dark maroon color, almost a purple. Though before very long at all, he and Eric were fighting so fast and furiously, I couldn't even see any blood spots on either of them at all. Their bodies had become a blur of silver and black.

I stood up to watch, rubbing my arm where Dominic had squeezed it, and found that my legs may as well have been wet noodles. I took several deep breaths, filling my lungs with salt air, in an attempt to steady my legs and also to stop an all-over trembling that was making my hands shake like leaves.

Meanwhile, Dominic and Eric were still ripping each other to shreds, their fight slowly moving toward the pale golden sand of the beach. And it was there that Eric seemed to take the upper hand, slashing at Dominic with one large, long-clawed paw before pinning him on his back and clamping his strong jaws around his throat. He then shook him like a rag doll, eliciting some sort of half-strangled gurgling howl from Dominic.

With my trembling lessening, I heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."

Suddenly, Nate was charging onto the beach, too, fangs bared, and he joined the assault on Dominic, clamping his jaws around one of his legs. After that, things got very vicious and bloody quickly, and I turned my face away.

Soon it was all over, just as more of Eric's wolves stormed the beach. Eric immediately shifted into human form near them, shouted that Dominic was dead, and instructed them to now go after Dominic's men, who were still in the jungle near Black Lake. The pack took off, all except Nate, who'd now shifted into human form, too, and he and Eric raced over to me, both of them bleeding from a few cuts and scrapes on their arms and necks, and both of their faces masks of concern and anxiety.

Right before they reached me, I called out, wanting to assure them I was okay. "I'm completely fine. Just a bruise on my arm, but I'll live, I'm sure."

They pulled me into their arms, both of them groaning with what sounded like relief.

Eric pressed a kiss to the top of my head, then pulled away slightly to look at my face. "Are you sure you're okay?"