No matter what Alice said, Joseph had no intention of letting her go. His hands stayed on her slim waist, rubbing her stomach. The lines of her abs had grown more defined over the past few days, and he couldn’t seem to stop touching her.“Next time, I swear I’ll pinch you to death, you creep.” Alice gritted her teeth.She regretted coming over. She had only wanted to check on him, to tell him not to blame himself or put so much pressure on himself. Instead, she had walked straight into this hungry wolf’s den.Still, she realized that while she’d been struggling, Joseph had kept her close. She hadn’t once been pressed against the hard wooden bed. His broad shoulders had shielded her the whole time.Pinch him to death? Joseph would welcome the attempt. If she came close enough to pinch him, he could hold her again.He took a deep breath, catching the faint scent of her. Just having her near made him feel better. If they got a little closer this time, maybe next time they could go a litt

A gold bracelet on the woman’s wrist caught Joseph’s eye.He had a feeling he’d seen it somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember where. He shook his head. There had been so many people on the ship, and a crowd had watched when Charles gave him trouble. Even if he had seen this woman then, her face was unrecognizable now.Judging by the state of her body, she had died several days ago. She must have survived the shipwreck, only to drift at sea for days before dying. The rising tide had carried her to the shore beside their camp.Something was still moving inside her swollen abdomen. Joseph had a bad feeling about it.There was the human finger he’d found undigested in the black bear’s stomach, the two people Charles had killed, and the three who had died in the wolf attack. With this woman, seven of the already few survivors were gone.Every death weighed on them. Everyone fell silent, mourning her in their own way.They couldn’t leave her there. In another couple of days, the body w

They could skip a meal, but they couldn’t go without food altogether.Joseph moved the fishing net to a different spot in the pool. Somehow, the pool where they collected drinking water had become their only source of food.After what had happened with the body, no one was ready to enter the forest. They needed time to recover.Beyond the huge rock where Noah Diaz had found the suitcases lay another stretch of beach. Joseph made his way around the rock and across the water. Ahead stood a row of tall coconut palms. The coconuts had ripened, their husks beginning to turn yellow.On the sand was the large “SOS” he had laid out with stones. He hoped a passing plane might spot it and come to their rescue.So far, he hadn’t seen a single plane. He was beginning to wonder if this island really moved. He had spent plenty of time studying world maps before, and he’d never seen it marked anywhere. If it had been on a map, he thought he would at least have some idea where they were.He put sever

The coconut crab turned around and made its unsteady way down the palm. It paid Joseph and Noah Diaz no attention. It didn’t seem afraid of them at all.About ten feet from the ground, it dropped from the tree. Then it raised its huge pincers toward the two men, as if warning them not to touch its food.It scuttled over to the coconut it had cut down, then looked back at Joseph to make sure he wasn’t coming for it.Joseph stared. Had a crab just threatened him?He glanced at Noah Diaz, who looked equally stunned. If they told anyone about this, they’d be laughed at for weeks.“Boss,” Noah Diaz said, blinking, “that crab has quite an attitude. Is it really not afraid of us?”Joseph wondered the same thing. Shouldn’t it have run at the sight of people?Then he thought about its shell. Most animals wouldn’t bother trying to eat something so well protected, especially when its pincers could injure them. Perhaps that was why coconut crabs had grown so bold. Apart from humans and harsh weat

“You know, you’re too strict with her,” Naomi Martin said. “She knew you’d stop her if you were here, so she waited until you left and slipped away. Of course she wants to be clean. You’ve barely been apart, and you’re already this worked up?”As far as Naomi Martin was concerned, Joseph was worrying too much.“Your girl is pretty shy, though. I offered to go with her and keep an eye on her, but she wouldn’t let me. We go to that pool every day. If it were dangerous, we’d have noticed by now. Didn’t you just pull your fishing net out of—”She stopped. The huge hole in the net came back to her.Her face filled with fear. “You mean there’s something in the water?”The hole had clearly been torn by something enormous. And it had happened in the pool where Alice was bathing right now.If that thing saw Alice as prey…By the time Naomi Martin collected herself, Joseph was already running.He couldn’t wait another second.Alice, please be okay.Why hadn’t she listened to him?“Watch the cam