SALT #6
Slowly, people drift back to their conversations, and the usual dinner buzz fills the space again.
Evan, Roman, and a few others at our table act like this was completely normal. Especially the alphas. For them, maybe it is? For me, someone who’s not used to being around their kind and their quick bursts of aggression and dominance, it’s something else entirely.
When I catch Roman looking at me, I say dryly, "Sorry about the juice…"
"Don’t sweat it. I’ll grab another one."
Pretty soon the conversations pick back up, and everyone focuses on some unrelated topics. Eliano doesn’t look bothered either.
Meanwhile, Bashir wraps up his victory streak and circles the arena, drawing applause. Some people even whistle and cheer.
I watch him for a moment, then lean slightly toward Eliano.
"Just speaking theoretically, do you think you could handle Bashir?"
Eliano snorts. "I could. But what would that actually accomplish? They run this brawl regularly. Once a week I’d have to stand in the middle and fight forty alphas charging at me. Sorry, that perspective does not exactly tempt me."
"I’ve got a feeling they won’t let this go," I say with a heavy sigh. "Now they know you can fight."
"I’ve got the same feeling," Eliano mutters darkly.
"Sorry…" I add reluctantly, even though I don't regret splashing the juice at Jeff; he deserved it.
"Nah." Eliano just shrugs. "Thanks for what you said. He was annoying me too," he mutters, looking away.
Well. At least I could show him I took what he said to me to heart.
In the meantime, victorious Bashir still stands in the center of the ring, unshaken, accepting something from Pip’s hands, some kind of reward. His beta, Fred, steps up to him and kisses him passionately, right there in front of everyone.
I expect that after the fights there will be some kind of afterparty, but to my surprise, at exactly 9:30 pm… everyone heads home!
It’s almost weird, the wristbands beep, and everyone suddenly stands up, like well-trained pups!
On our way back, I ask Roman about it.
"9:30 is sacred here," he explains. "Everyone has to be home by then. Those are the program rules. Dancing and drinking happen on other days, when there are no fights."
So Eliano and I head back to the house.
I have no clue what’s supposed to happen now.
Eliano doesn’t look even slightly interested in pushing things toward sex. He sits back down with the laptop, which I’ve already started thinking of as his, so I grab my stack of papers and go back to sketching tattoo ideas.
Around 9:55, Eliano heads for the shower. When he comes back, he lies down on the bed next to me, pulls the blanket over himself, and turns onto his side.
That catches me off guard.
To be honest, I half expected him to say something, to circle back to what happened between us earlier, but nothing like that takes place.
And yeah, maybe there’s a small sting of disappointment in me.
About half an hour later, I hear him fall asleep. His breathing evens out, quiet and regular, turning into a soft, rhythmic sound.
Meanwhile, I’m wide awake. My body feels wired, restless, like I’ve had too much adrenaline and nowhere to put it.
As quietly as I can, I slip out of bed, leave my wristband behind, pull on my jacket, and sneak out of Unit 71.
The place is dark and still. Only the small round lamps along the promenade are lit, and all the blinds in the other units are shut.
I wonder if the other couples are having sex, or if sex during a movie is considered more than enough here.
I circle around the house and head toward the back, an area I haven’t checked out yet. Just like Miller said, there’s some rattan furniture back there, tucked away and partly hidden by shrubs on both sides.
Still, that’s not where I’m going.
I push through the bushes and step onto the slope behind them. At this hour, it’s pitch dark, which works in my favor.
After a few minutes of carefully meandering among the boulders on the slope, I turn left and head toward the ridge where the fence runs.
I reach it after about ten minutes of climbing.
The view from up here is actually kind of nice. Below me stretches a long row of units lit by the promenade lamps, but tonight isn’t exactly meant for sightseeing.
I walk up to the fence, fully expecting it to be electrified, because there has to be some kind of security, right?
Turns out it’s just a regular wire fence, no cameras on the posts either.
Apparently, they’re not too worried about people running off.
Or maybe they trust the sea currents around the island to do the job?
I’ve heard those currents can be brutal, strong enough to make swimming across basically impossible; only a complete maniac would try it.
And on top of that, there might be sharks.
That means the only escape point they really need to watch is the ferry port.
So I decide to walk there.
It’s about a mile, maybe a bit less. I follow a rocky path, keeping an eye on everything around me.
On my left runs the fence of Sector G. On my right is a grassy meadow dotted with pale stones.
The road is light-colored gravel, easy enough to follow in the moonlight, since the night isn’t all that dark.
Eventually, I reach the shoreline.
One lamp is on inside the small harbor master’s building, probably where the guy is sleeping.
Other than that, it’s dark, and once again, there are no guards.
Which makes sense, since there’s no ferry docked right now.
Still, it confirms my suspicion that this is the one place where real security would matter, when people are arriving, leaving, and unloading supplies.
I take a closer look at the pier and notice something interesting about how it’s built.
When the ferry docks, it doesn’t come right up against the pier.
It stops a few feet short. From the beach side, you could reach that spot below the level of the stone pier by wading along the rocks that support the structure.
In theory, I could get close to the ferry’s bow without being seen, then swim around it and climb up on the far side.
It’s completely doable, and no one on the pier or on deck would notice.
The real problem is timing.
There’s no ferry schedule posted anywhere, which makes sense. According to Miller, ferries only come twice a week, and everyone here probably knows the days by heart. Sometimes new couples arrive too, but that seems random. Right now, I have no idea who I’d even ask about that.
After one more loop around the port, I decide to head back. For now, I’ve seen enough. Getting onto a ferry wouldn’t be hard. That part seems almost too easy, as long as no one checks it after departure. If that holds, reaching the mainland should be possible.
The only missing piece is the schedule, and I can deal with that later.
I turn around and head back toward Sector C, moving faster now, a surge of hope kicking energy into my legs, I’m feeling energized by how easy the whole endeavor was.
As I reach the fence, I climb over it without trouble. To be fair, I’m in decent shape. Senu and I used to compete in parkour events. There was good money in it, and we were both fairly agile.
As I start heading down the slope, I realize I’m coming down a bit earlier than usual, closer to buildings one through five. I’m halfway down when something catches my eye. Movement.
Behind one of the buildings, there are two people.
I don’t have the sharp hearing that alphas or omegas do, but my eyesight’s solid. From a distance, behind Unit 1, I make out two figures.
It doesn’t take long to figure out what they’re doing.
They’re having sex.
That part alone isn’t surprising on this island. What throws me is that they’re doing it outside, tucked into the shadow behind the building. Still, it’s not my business.
I try to focus on getting down the slope and avoiding the area, but my eyes keep drifting back.
Then I notice something else. There’s a big difference in their heights.
From what I remember, Shane and Jeff don’t have that kind of height gap.
Shane’s tall for a beta, taller than me, and Jeff isn’t exactly towering, definitely shorter than Eliano.
These two, however, differ by at least a head and a half!
Oh. That is interesting. What exactly is going on here? I slow my pace and move carefully, aware that an alpha could hear me. I approach a cluster of bushes and crouch behind it.
Then, in absolute shock, I recognize… Drax, the giant purple alpha we met on the doorstep of Sidorov’s office!
And what is he doing? He is obviously fucking Shane against the wall.
The beta is braced with his hands against the wall, legs spread. Drax stands behind him, knees bent deeply, his hips moving rhythmically, his massive cock driving into Shane’s slender body.
The sight makes me freeze completely, my cheeks burning hot.
What the fuck?
Hidden behind a small bush, I stare with my mouth hanging open, not making sense of any of it.
What is this supposed to mean? Are they having a romance?
Or what? What the hell is going on on this island?
I blink again and again, unsettling scenarios flashing through my head one after another.
I try to explain it to myself in a dozen different ways, but every thought slips through my fingers and falls apart.
The by-the-wall fucking does not last long. It is more of a quickie, fast and efficient. Soon it is over. Neither of them makes a sound, but I can tell it is done. Drax pulls out and fastens his pants. Shane does the same, without looking back, without saying a word.
There’s no gesture between them, nothing, not even a glance or any kind of acknowledgment, really. How odd. Almost like it’s just a job to be done.