The others were already inside when we arrived.
Mia was pacing near the center of the chamber, her small frame tense, her huge dark eyes darting toward the entrance every few seconds.
The moment she saw Sophie step through behind me, she froze.
"Sophie?" she whispered.
Sophie looked up. Her face, which had been blank and distant during the entire walk back, suddenly broke.
"Mia," she breathed.
Mia ran.
She crashed into Sophie with enough force to nearly knock them both over, her arms wrapping around her friend's neck, her face buried in Sophie's shoulder.
"You're alive," Mia sobbed. "You're alive, you're alive, oh my god—"
Sophie's arms came up slowly and wrapped around Mia.
"I'm here," Sophie whispered. "I'm okay."
The room watched in silence as they held each other, both of them crying.
But I wasn't watching them.
I was watching David.
He stood near the far wall, still hunched over, still covering his caged cock with both hands.
But when his eyes found mine...
Hatred.
Pure hatred.
He didn't look away. Didn't drop his gaze like the broken men in the Elder's compound.
Isaac noticed too.
He stepped closer to me, his voice quiet. "You seeing that?"
"Yeah."
"What are you going to do about it?"
I looked at David for another long moment. At the rage simmering just beneath the surface.
I walked toward him.
"Outside," I said. "Now."
David's head snapped up. His eyes widened slightly...but he didn't argue.
After a long pause, I heard his footsteps following.
---
The jungle at night was different.
I walked twenty feet from the cave entrance and stopped.
Turned around.
David limped into view, still covering his caged cock with both hands. He stopped a few feet away, his face half-hidden in shadow.
We stood there in silence for a moment.
"You've been giving me problems since the day I found you," I said. "The trap at the waterfall. Walking into the Elder's compound and telling her everything about us." I stepped closer.
He didn't answer. Just stared at me, his jaw clenched.
"And now you're standing in my camp," I continued. "Everything here is mine. The shelter. The food. The women." I let that land. "Your mother. And you."
"So let me be clear," I said. "This is your last chance to decide what you want to be. Part of this group, or a problem I solve permanently."
Silence.
"Answer me."
His face twisted...rage and humiliation.
"You cage me like a fucking animal. You humiliate me in front of everyone. You drag me back here just to parade me around like some kind of broken dog—"
"You betrayed—"
"I WAS TRYING TO HELP!"
His voice cracked. Echoed through the jungle. Somewhere in the distance, birds scattered from the trees.
"I was trying to get Sophie back for Mia," he said, his voice raw. "I was trying to do something right for once instead of just sitting there watching you fuck everything that moves and pretending like it's leadership—"
I stared at him.
"So yeah," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I'm planning something."
"What?"
He looked me dead in the eyes.
"I swear to god," he said slowly, "I will kill you myself."
I stared at him for a long moment, letting the words hang.
Part of me — a small part, buried deep — respected it. The kid had just told me to my face that he was going to kill me. No hedging. No games. Just a promise.
Then I laughed.
"You're a child," I said quietly. "You think threatening me makes you dangerous. It doesn't."
I could kill him right here.
Snap his neck. Bury him in the jungle. Tell everyone he ran. It would be easy. Quick. And it would solve the problem permanently.
But it would create new ones.
Rachel would ask questions. The group would fracture...some would believe me, some wouldn't.
Better to keep him alive. Caged. Humiliated. A living example of what happened when you betrayed me.
And if he tried something...well, then I'd have justification.
"Walk away, David," I said quietly. "And pray you're smart enough not to give me a reason."
Then he turned and limped back toward the cave.
I watched him disappear into the darkness.
---
I stayed outside after he left, staring into the dark jungle.
David wasn't the real problem.
He was a mosquito...annoying, persistent, but manageable. As long as he stayed caged, he is harmless. A threat in his own mind but nowhere else.
The real threat was the people on the other end of that radio.
The hunters I'd killed had been receiving regular supply drops. Someone had been coordinating with them...sending them weapons, ammunition, food, medicine. Military-grade equipment. Scheduled check-ins.
That kind of operation didn't run itself.
Which meant someone, somewhere, had been communicating with them. And now that communication had stopped.
Dead air.
Whoever was on the other end would notice eventually. Days, maybe. A week at most.
And when they did, they'd send people to investigate.
Maybe scouts. Maybe another hunting team. Maybe something worse.
I needed to be ready.
The alliance with the Elder helped...more people, more defenses, more eyes on the island. But it wasn't enough.
I needed to find that radio. Figure out who was on the other end. And either neutralize them or turn them into an asset before they became a problem I couldn't control.
That was the next move.
I turned and walked back inside.
---
The main chamber was quieter now.
Mia and Sophie sat together near the fire, hands clasped, talking in low, rapid whispers...catching up on everything that had happened since the storm separated them.
Martha and Chloe were near the cooking area, preparing something that smelled like roasted fish and wild herbs.
David sat in the opposite corner, as far from everyone else as he could get. Isolated. His head was down, his shoulders hunched.
I walked across the chamber toward my private room.
I closed the door behind me and sat on the edge of the cot.
I pulled off my boots and set them beside the cot. My body ached...the hike to the Elder's settlement and back had been long. The confrontation with her had left me wired. And the conversation with David had added a layer of tension that hadn't quite faded.
I leaned back against the wall, closed my eyes, and let the silence settle over me.
A soft knock at the door broke the quiet.
"Come in," I said.
The door opened slowly.
Mia stepped inside.
Her huge dark eyes blinked in the lantern light as she closed the door behind her. She stood there for a moment.
"Jack," she said quietly. "I... I came to say thank you. For rescuing Sophie."
I looked at her.
"We had a deal," I said.
"I know." She bit her lip, her cheeks flushing darker. "That's why I want to thank you. Properly."
I studied her face.
"Properly," I repeated.
She nodded and took a step closer. "You did something dangerous for me. I should... I want to..." She stopped, frustrated, unable to say it directly.
I stood up from the cot and walked toward her.
She tilted her head all the way back to look up at me. I was more than a foot taller. She had to crane her neck just to meet my eyes.
I reached out and ran my hand through her hair, my fingers tangling in the soft black strands.
She shivered, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment.
"You've been thinking about this," I said. "Haven't you?"
She nodded slowly, her breath catching.
"Since the lake," I said. "Since I put my mouth on you."
"Yes," she whispered.
I pulled her closer by her hair...not rough, but firm. She gasped softly, her hands coming up to rest against my chest.
I slid my other hand down her side, over the curve of her hip, and squeezed.
She moaned. I covered her mouth with my hand immediately.
"Quiet," I said against her ear. "Unless you want everyone out there to hear."
Her eyes went wide, but she nodded.
I kept my hand over her mouth and slid my other hand up under her shirt. Her skin was warm and impossibly soft. I moved higher, cupping her breast through the thin fabric of whatever she was wearing underneath.
She whimpered against my palm.
I found her nipple and pinched it...hard.
Her whole body jerked. Her moan was muffled by my hand, but I felt the vibration against my palm.
I pinched harder.
Her eyes rolled back slightly. Her knees buckled, and I had to hold her up with the hand in her hair.
I leaned close to her ear, my voice a low whisper.
"Get on your knees."
She looked up at me.
"Now, Mia."
Slowly, she sank down to her knees in front of me.
I let go of her mouth and took a step back, looking down at her.
She looked so small kneeling there. Her head barely came up to my waist. Her hands rested on her thighs.
"You know what I want," I said.
She nodded.
I reached down and unbuckled my belt. Mia's eyes dropped, locked on my hands as I unzipped my pants and pulled my cock free.
It was already half-hard from the anticipation.
I wrapped my hand around the base of my cock and guided it toward her face.
She leaned forward instinctively, her tongue darting out to lick the tip.
The sensation was immediate — warm, wet, tentative. She licked again, bolder this time, tracing the ridge of the head with the tip of her tongue.
I groaned quietly.
She looked up at me, her eyes watching my face for reactions, and wrapped her lips around the tip.
Fuck.
She started moving slowly, taking me deeper inch by inch. Her tongue worked against the underside, her cheeks hollowing as she sucked.
I tangled my hand in her hair and held her in place.
"Just like that," I said. "Don't stop."
She moaned around my cock...a muffled, desperate sound...and took me deeper.
I watched her.
Watched the way her mouth stretched around me. Watched the way her eyes watered slightly as I hit the back of her throat. Watched the way her hands came up to grip my thighs for balance.
She pulled back, gasping for air, a thin strand of saliva connecting her lips to the tip of my cock.
"Good girl," I said. "Again."
She dove back down, taking me even deeper this time.
Her throat constricted around me, and she gagged slightly, but she didn't pull away.
I tightened my grip on her hair.
And then—
A sharp knock at the door.
"Mia?" Sophie's voice, muffled but clear. "Are you in there?"
Mia's eyes went wide. She froze, her mouth still wrapped around my cock. She tried to pull back, panic flooding her face.
I held her head in place with my hand in her hair.
"Don't stop," I whispered.
"Mia?" Sophie knocked again. "I need to talk to you."
Mia made a small sound around my cock. Her hands pushed weakly against my thighs, trying to pull away.
I leaned down, my voice a low growl in her ear.
"Tell her you're busy."
She tried to speak...her voice muffled and incomprehensible with my cock filling her mouth.
I thrust forward slightly, pushing deeper, cutting off whatever she'd been trying to say.
Her eyes watered. She gagged, her throat convulsing around me.
"Mia?" Sophie sounded concerned now. "Are you okay? I thought I heard—"
I pulled back slightly, just enough for Mia to speak.
"I'm... I'm busy," Mia gasped, her voice hoarse and shaky.
There was a pause.
"Busy?" Sophie repeated, confused. "Doing what?"
I didn't give Mia a chance to answer.
I thrust forward again, burying myself in her throat.
She choked, tears streaming down her face, her hands gripping my thighs desperately.
"Okay..." Sophie said slowly. "I'll... I'll find you later."
Footsteps faded away down the corridor.
I looked down at Mia.
At her tear-streaked face. At her swollen lips stretched around my cock. At the way her huge eyes looked up at me...part fear, part desperation, part something else entirely.
"Good girl," I said.
And then I started moving.
I fucked her mouth...slow at first, then faster. Deep enough to make her gag but not hard enough to hurt her. My hand stayed tangled in her hair, controlling the pace, holding her exactly where I wanted her.
She stopped fighting. Stopped trying to pull away. Just knelt there, her hands braced against my thighs, letting me use her mouth.
The wet, obscene sounds filled the room...gagging, choking, saliva dripping from her chin onto her shirt.
I could feel the orgasm building...pressure coiling at the base of my spine, my cock throbbing in her throat.
"I'm going to cum," I said. "And you're going to swallow all of it."
She moaned around me...agreement or desperation, I couldn't tell.
I thrust deep one last time and held her there, my cock buried in her throat.
And I came.
Hard.
The first pulse filled her mouth. She choked, her eyes going wide, but I didn't pull back. The second pulse followed, then the third, flooding her throat with cum.
She swallowed desperately, gagging, tears streaming, but she didn't pull away.
I held her there until I was finished. Until every last drop had been emptied down her throat.
Then I pulled out slowly.
She collapsed back onto her heels, gasping for air, coughing, her face wet with tears and saliva. Cum dripped from the corner of her mouth.
She looked completely wrecked.
I tucked my cock back into my pants and zipped up.
She sat there on the floor, breathing hard, her small chest heaving, her hands trembling.
Then her hand drifted down toward her pussy...trying to relieve the ache that had been building the entire time.
I grabbed her wrist.
"No," I said.
She looked up at me, her eyes wide and pleading. "Please, Jack—"
"You need permission."
"Please—"
I pulled her closer by her wrist, my other hand gripping her chin, forcing her to look up at me.
"What should you call me?" I asked quietly.
She stared at me, her face flushing even darker, her breathing ragged.
"I... I don't..."
"Say it," I ordered.
Her eyes dropped. I could see her working through the options — Sir, Master, the things she'd heard the other women whisper about. None of them fit.
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Daddy."
Something about the way she said it — small, trembling, completely surrendered — told me she hadn't learned it from anyone. That word had been sitting inside her, waiting for the right person to pull it out.
I smiled.
"Good girl. Now ask properly."
She swallowed hard, her voice shaking. "Please, Daddy. Please let me touch myself."
I let go of her wrist.
"Go ahead."
Her hand flew to her pussy immediately. She shoved it down the front of her pants, her fingers finding her clit, and she moaned...loud and desperate and broken.
I sat on the edge of the cot and watched.
She was still on her knees, her legs spread wide, one hand working frantically between her thighs while the other braced against the floor to keep her upright.
Her face was flushed, her mouth open, small desperate sounds spilling out with every breath.
"Look at me," I said.
Her eyes snapped to mine.
"Don't look away."
She nodded, her fingers moving faster, her hips rolling against her hand.
It didn't take long.
Her entire body went rigid. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her hand froze between her legs as the orgasm crashed through her.
She came hard...shaking, gasping, her huge eyes locked on mine the entire time.
When it was over, she collapsed forward onto her hands, breathing hard, her hair falling around her face.
I stood up and walked over to her. Crouched down beside her.
"And what do you say" I said.
She looked up at me, her face still flushed, her eyes dazed.
"Thank... thank you, Daddy," she whispered.