Outcast Island (Exiled Sector)

2. Guðrún

CHAPTER 2

GUDRúN

My chest constricts as growls rip through the air, promising violence and blood.

No, there’s already blood.

My nostrils flare as I draw in the metallic scent coming from the tree line. The distinct aroma is so powerful it’s almost as if I can taste it.

As I roll my tongue, I realize there is blood in my mouth. I don’t think it’s mine, either. It tastes just as wrong as the scents riding the humid breeze.

Whose blood is in my mouth?

I run my tongue over one sharp canine as I scan the dark forest. My vision makes everything seem bright, but I know it’s nighttime. The sun is nowhere to be seen, and the moon hangs in the sky, cowering behind weighted clouds as if it’s an ominous omen of dark things to come.

Hide, it seems to say.

Looking around, I survey my options. There’s a burning escape pod that I recall being jolted around in like a rag doll. Then there are the trees, and the water.

Water is death, my instincts tell me. There’s nothing out there for me.

But whatever is waiting for me in the trees is not much better.

How do I know all this? I wonder. My senses pick up sounds, smells, and every stray glimmer of light with ease. There’s a quiet pattern in the tree line, betraying the passage of skilled predators.

Three of them?

No, four?

I decide on five, at least. But one is separate from the rest and has heavier footing, as if it doesn’t feel the need to hide its approach.

And the sound is becoming louder. I don’t have much time.

My mind automatically catalogs how many minutes it thinks I have until I’m discovered, which doesn’t match up to how much time I need to heal.

How do I even know all that?

Everything about my abilities seems natural, but I can’t remember why I would be able to see in the dark or why my senses are so sharp.

What am I?

Because I’m not human, I don’t think.

I don’t know what I am.

I don’t even know who I am, I realize as I wet my lips with my tongue, trying to get rid of the vile taste.

What’s my name?

And why can’t I remember that?

The ache on the side of my head might explain the diluted memory of my body slamming into the side of my escape pod. It was as if a god had reached down and slapped me onto a new course.

And then shook me around a few times just for good measure.

For the initial push, I’m grateful, because my escape pod had a malfunction and had been about to crash into the sea. I should be drowning right now. Even if I don’t know what I am, I know being trapped at the bottom of the sea would eventually kill me.

But I can’t say I’m doing much better right now, because I’m a mangled mess on the ground.

I seem to be able to clearly remember everything immediately before and after the crash, but nothing beyond that.

Doesn’t matter, I think. I need to figure out where I am. I need to explore ? —

Stay, my body seems to tell me, but I reject that absurd idea.

I have to move. When I try, pain slices up my legs as if they had shattered into a million pieces and turned into glass.

Heal first, I decide.

The appendages are stuck in wrong angles and I force myself to adjust them. A cry bubbles in the back of my throat, but I swallow it down. It feels like a trained skill my body learned to master a long time ago.

Maybe I don’t want to remember my past.

I can’t recall why I might be good at hiding pain, or keeping quiet, but that may be a good thing.

It means I’m good at listening. So I focus on my surroundings as I dig my fingers into the dirt and drag myself forward. My body still seems to be telling me to stay as if it had been commanded to do so.

Who commanded it? I wonder, if that really was the case.

There’s no one around me.

But that is going to change very soon.

The growls in the distance are coming closer, meaning the predators don’t care if I know they’re approaching.

They think I’m weak.

I’m not weak, I protest, but my broken legs aren’t healing fast enough for me to feel very confident in my thought.

A sense of danger skitters up my spine, and I keep my breathing shallow while my legs heal. That has to come first.

I expect my memories to recover as quickly as my bones seem to be mending, but my past remains shrouded in darkness. Whatever healing powers I possess, they don’t seem to be working on my memory loss.

A snarl rips through the air, forcing my chest to tighten. Pain twists inside my stomach, making me swallow a whimper as the rising agony seems to worsen, not get better.

Another growl has knives slicing through my midsection, awakening a new sort of pain that doesn’t feel right.

Can these creatures cause pain with their growls?

An overpowering mingling of scents dominates the air, overtaking the softer salty notes of the ocean and the bitter charred scents of my burning escape pod.

One of the beings I’m scenting pops through the tree line and freezes in his tracks when he spots me. The man with dark eyes smells like rotten flesh, and I can practically feel his lust from my prone position.

He grins, showing off long, dangerous fangs.

Now I know what the creatures are.

Vampires.

My eyes widen as I realize that I’m a vampire, too. Or I must be. My teeth sharpen in response to the danger. They’re long enough to cut my lips, and I peel them back in a practiced move my body remembers better than I do.

My legs are still healing, so there’s no way I can run.

I get ready to bite.

I have sharp teeth, too, asshole, I think as I give him a growl of my own.

My little snarl seems to amuse the vampire. His dark eyes glitter as he chuckles, and the sensation of his perverted desire thrums through me again, making me feel sick. “Be a good little Omega and come with me. I’ll find us a safe spot where my pack can’t get to you.” He adjusts himself, highlighting his dark intentions. “You’ll take my knot before I feed. Protection isn’t free, little one.”

Protection?

A shiver runs up my spine. My stomach turns with disgust and fear as I wonder how effective my bite will really be on this vampire. His hunger washes over me as if I can feel it for myself. Perhaps it’s just the terror painting a terrible picture of what’s about to happen, but the sensations rolling over me are a sickening mixture of his lust and need. My body can offer him something valuable.

Something he hasn’t had in a long time.

He called me an Omega. Maybe those are rare?

“I don’t want your so-called protection,” I hiss. My stomach twists in response to his rancid stench. Pain slices through my core, and my hand falls to my belly.

Everything about him is wrong.

He chuckles again. “You’re going to need an Alpha soon, little one.” He frowns when I hiss at him again. “I can sense you’re not compatible with my bloodline as far as mating goes, but that’s okay. You can still take a knot just fine, and your blood will taste better than the pathetic rations I’ve had today.” He waves his hand toward the tree line now practically rumbling with growls. Each sound awakens a new blade inside my stomach, making dark spots sprinkle over my vision as I struggle to remain conscious. “Still not convinced that you need my protection? Don’t you know where you are?”

“Go. Away,” I pant through slices of pain that seem like they’ll tear me apart. Sweat breaks out over my brow as I try to breathe through it. When I check my hand, there’s no blood at all.

What’s going on with me?

He glares at me. “Are you actually telling me no? What kind of Omega are you?” He spits on the ground as if I disgust him, yet the way he’s looking at me says he fully intends to take what he wants anyway. “If you’re going to be useless, maybe I should settle for a taste and then let you experience a pack of Vampire Alphas when they go into a frenzy.” His mouth parts as he lets his gaze drop over me. Whatever I was wearing before I crashed, it’s now tattered, torn, and barely intact as it hangs from my small frame. “I’m fast, little one. That’s why I arrived first.” He tilts his head as the growls grow louder, and he sniffs the air. “They’re almost here. It’s time to go.”

He seems to only take one step, but he’s in front of me before I have time to blink.

I’m fast, little one.

The others aren’t here yet, which means his speed is some sort of special ability.

Do I have an ability? I wonder.

If I do, I won’t have enough time to find out before it’s too late.

Because the Vampire Alpha begins to growl again.

Defeat lingers in the back of my mind when each low rumble makes it more and more impossible to move. My stomach is in a giant knot, and I’m panting through strained breaths, each one feeling like a chore.

Victory streaks across his face when he sees my expression.

“You, come here,” a low voice commands from far away. I can barely discern the words because they were distant, maybe even a mile off, but the vampire towering over me stiffens in response. His hearing is just as good as mine.

My eyes widen when he’s gone in the next second.

Did he run off?

His scream echoes through the distant trees, cut off by the sound of a bone snapping.

The stench of blood fogs the air, making my nose wrinkle. Whoever killed the Vampire Alpha is covered in his blood, or too far away, so I can’t scent him.

All I know is he has a power that rivals speed.

Somehow, he just convinced another Vampire Alpha to run toward death.

More scents invade my senses—likely the pack the dead vampire had mentioned. These give off varying shades of unpleasant things.

Mold.

Rotten seagrass.

An aged swamp.

I realize that each one is a distinct scent of a Vampire Alpha who has come to the escape site. The growls have changed, lessening the pain in my stomach when they turn on each other instead of directing their attention at me.

They’re fighting, I realize. I’ve landed in a place infested with feral vampires hungry enough to turn on their own pack members.

Although, one of them definitely sounded different from the others.

Maybe it’s a pack and one loner.

A snarl rips through the forest, echoed by another snap of bone.

A powerful loner.

One I don’t intend to be around long enough to meet.

My legs are healed enough so that I can stand without falling, and my stomach has paused the abuse of internal blades. I’m about to bolt when a new scent slams into me, followed by the powerful sensation of white-hot rage. My vision blanks as my knees buckle, sending me into a heap on the ground again.

Every wrong stench evaporates, only to be replaced with the new aroma of masculine woodsmoke and expensive liquor. There’s a bite to the scent, one that demands my attention.

The other vampires I can no longer smell burst through the tree line. One of them breaks from the frenzy and comes straight at me while the others pounce on a larger male I can’t make out.

The one approaching me has eyes as black as night, and his teeth are painted red with blood. He seems skinny and malnourished, but it doesn’t slow him down. He jumps—high.

Another ability.

I try to scramble out of the way, but the sound of growls holds me captive. When he lands, he pins me to the ground as he digs his long nails into my flesh. The impact draws what little breath I have from my chest and leaves me stunned.

I force myself to inhale, ignoring his putrid stench as I fight back. Snarling, I slash at him with little claws of my own, leaving bloody marks.

That seems like a practiced response, too, and I’m grateful my dark memories aren’t haunting me while I try to survive this living nightmare.

The male on top of me kicks my legs open as he stretches his jaw, looking ready to bite.

“Stop!” a male voice commands. The word barrels through the air and slams into the vampire on top of me as if it were a bullet.

My attacker goes still as his jaw clenches. I can almost feel his conflicting emotions battling against the order.

He doesn’t want to stop. The only thing that’ll prevent him from trying to mount me and bite me is his death.

His eyes widen when fear spikes inside his chest, seeming to spear straight through into me.

He can’t move. Which gives the male who ordered him to stop enough time to pounce.

Claws and fangs shred the vampire apart, tearing flesh from bone until I don’t even recognize him anymore.

Blood covers me as I shriek and curl into a ball.

Be small.

Be quiet.

The trained internal thoughts come to me with practiced ease. I’ve been in danger before, and I know better than to run.

Especially when an apex predator is tearing apart his enemies.

“Follow your friend to hell,” the new male commands, but the words aren’t meant for me.

He’s speaking to the other vampires.

I flinch as bodies practically explode all around me, showering me with blood that reeks of old death. From what I can see through my spread fingers, he’s using his claws and his teeth, but he’s so… powerful.

So angry.

Daring another glance up, I see that the predator has shredded through the remaining pack of vampires like they were papier-maché. He’s covered in blood and gore, as am I.

While he’s obviously also a vampire, he’s something other .

He’s bigger, more terrifying, and seems to demand obedience in a way that holds me captive.

I try not to scream when he plucks me from the ground and protectively holds me to his hard chest.

I’ll look my death in the eyes, I decide. Because there’s no way I’m going to survive whatever comes next against such a powerful vampire. Not in my current state when I don’t even know my own name.

When I stare into black eyes with sparks of embers that reflect my frazzled, blood-soaked state, I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of fire.

He’s a male with sharp cheekbones and messy hair and has the face of a god. He doesn’t show his fangs, which is a measure of restraint that I know demonstrates his need for control. He had them out earlier, evident by the blood running down his chin, but he has no need to bite.

He can freeze Vampire Alphas with a simple command. It’s his power, I realize, one that comes from the depths of emotion so darkly violent that I shiver against him. It washes over me, and I’m helpless to fight the onslaught.

I’m burning alive.

This male is rage incarnate.

He is power.

He is dominance in flesh and bone.

And he is furious .

“So much anger,” I murmur as I place my fingers against his chest. A shudder works through me as the overwhelming need for violence and pain rampages through my body.

I know this is what he’s feeling right now. Somehow, it’s bleeding into me.

I’m not sure how to rid myself of it, so I let my body tell me what to do. It seems to have practice with this, and it tells me to give in.

I submit. My entire body goes limp against him as my fingers trail down his bloodied chest, and I discover a necklace. My fingers wrap around the locket, finding it warm. Sleepiness washes over me as I struggle to keep my eyes open.

“Oh, little diamond, what a power you have.” He hugs me closer as my stomach dips, and a heated mist wraps around my entire body.

“You’ll be safe with me.”

Those are the last words I hear, but the emotion that comes with them doesn’t match the sentiment.

I’m not safe at all.

Especially not with him.

“Sleep,” he commands.

Despite all the fight I have within me, it’s a command I decide to obey.

I might be a spitfire, but I know when I’ve met my match.

After witnessing the might of this vampire decimating his enemies into bloody obliteration, I certainly don’t want to be awake when he decides what he’s going to do with me.

Because whatever comes next is going to be the last thing I’ll ever see.