Phoenix – Gems of Wolfe Island Read Online Helen Hardt

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Dark Tags Authors: Helen Hardt Advertisement

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I stand tall, and I stand proud.

For I am tall and I am proud. I’m a fucking Navy SEAL.

And they will not break me.

Something treads across my feet. I look down.

Another rat scurries across.

Damn. Even rat meat would taste good right now. I’m starving, and I can’t remember when someone last brought me water and held it to my lips.

Another rat scurries by, and I cock my head. Something seems different.

Then I realize what it is.

It’s silence.

Wolf’s screams have ceased.

Which means…

They stopped their torture, and they would only do that for two reasons.

Either Wolf talked…and I know he didn’t…

Or they killed him.

They fucking killed him.

Have they gotten to Buck?

I haven’t heard him, but he could be in another building for all I know. I don’t know how many people are in here. I knew Wolf is—was—next to me because I recognized his voice. I’m not sure how long we’ve even been here. Only a few days, and the only time they uncuff us is to give us the meager meals they provide.

Still…I am the Phoenix.

And I will rise.

9

KELLY

I tremble as I pick up the small white envelope. Nothing is written on the front of it, so maybe it doesn’t belong to Leif. Normally I’d never open someone else’s mail, but I’m bored, and I’m frightened, and I’m… Fuck it.

I slide my thumb under—

“Fuck!”

I suck the tip of my thumb, flashing back to the last time I got a paper cut opening an envelope.

My eighteenth birthday…

How many envelopes have I opened since then?

A few bills, some junk mail.

During those five years I was on my own, and the tiny bit of mail I’ve gotten since I’ve been here at this apartment.

All those times, I’ve managed to open the damned envelope without cutting myself.

A feeling of impending doom washes over me.

The last time I cut myself on an envelope, my mother abandoned me. I had no feelings for the woman, but I had nowhere else to go. If it weren’t for a friend taking me in, I’d have ended up on the streets.

I breathe in deeply once, twice, three times. Try to settle my heart rate.

But it’s no use.

I take my thumb out of my mouth. The bleeding has died down enough so that I can finish opening the envelope. More careful this time, I tear the paper and take out what’s inside.

It’s another sheet of paper, folded into thirds. A simple yellow sheet of paper with lines, from a legal pad.

I swallow, gathering my courage. It’s probably nothing, right?

I unfold it slowly. It’s handwritten in blue ink.

Hello Kelly

My heart jerks. It’s for me?

Yes, I know your real name, Opal. I found you. You know you were always my favorite. I know how you used to get jealous when I chose another girl over you. That’s why I did it. To make you want me more. Then you were taken away from me, but I found you.

Did you see who I chose tonight? Does that make you want me more?

You were taken away from me, but I found you, and you will be mine. Because if you aren’t?

What I did to your friend, I will do to you.

Mr. Smith

I freeze. The yellow sheet of paper flutters to the floor.

All those times on the island, The Dark One made that same threat with the knife, but he never acted on it. I mean, he did. He used his cock to violate me, but that was a hell of a lot better than a knife.

I considered myself lucky.

I considered myself lucky in many ways while on the island. I had a roof over my head, as much nutritious food as I wanted to keep me strong. The only time I was truly physically harmed—enough to be sent to the infirmary—was when a different man, known as Mr. Wilson, sliced into my thighs, giving me the scars that I bear.

So many women had it much worse than I did, and Aspen probably had it the worst.

I began to rely on The Dark One. In a warped way, I looked forward to his visits, and I was angry and jealous when he chose someone else. After all this threats, he never hurt me with the knife. He gave me the attention I craved—the attention I never had any other time in my life. So when he chose another? I got angry. Jealous.

Because those were the only emotions I knew at that time.

How did he know that? How did he read me so well?

God, I was fucked up.

And now…

Now he’s back.

Leif. I need Leif. I don’t have my cell phone. He told me not to leave his bedroom.

I scramble back into the bedroom, closing and locking the door.

My throat is parched, but I left my glass of water outside. Doesn’t matter. I go to the bathroom, hold my head under the sink, take a drink from the faucet as best I can.

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