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44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YP33pkHla
At eighteen, Jax had arrived on the island as nothing more than a broken soul - a boy dragged through hell, his chest bound with chains of grief and fear. He had been prey then - his wrists bound, his mouth gagged, thrown into the wild like discarded meat.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbop6rbTan
He wasn't supposed to survive.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vRWbKiPK5
But he did.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWoXBI1NgY
He didn't just endure - he evolved.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6yVIThGjR
Three years later, Jax was no longer the hunted. He was the hunter - a predator sharpened by pain, forged by the island itself. Day by day, it had stripped away his humanity, layer by layer, until only something raw and deadly remained. What had once been dreams became tools. What was once innocence became memory.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOdA5793B5
He learned to survive not by running, but by watching. By studying. Learning the rules.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71wHVC0489
Then mastering them.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMaCV2nFpd
His body had changed - muscle built over lean bone, reflexes honed like weapons. He could read the trees, hear danger in the wind, disappear into shadows like fog. He moved like rumour. Like fear.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVZIJD62pI
The hunters who had once looked down on him now whispered his name. Some with respect. Others with unease.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Kb5XE6twa
Jax was no longer just a player in their twisted game. He was a force. A ghost.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYA0kbhvyp
A legend in the making.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ha0oqcrQg
At first, he hunted to survive. Now he hunted to dominate.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKg4bNSXnk
He carved out his own territory deep in the forest - a brutal network of shelters, traps and lookouts. No one approached without his knowledge. His camp was invisible to the unwary, untouchable to the weak.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHM5UUZRsuW
The island's newest prisoners spoke of him as a myth. The shadow in the trees. The silent one. The predator who knew your name before you knew his.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiJsjlFvHz
But Jax remembered everything.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokC2j9ou46
He remembered the bruises. The screams. The girl who had tried to save him. The way her voice broke as they dragged her away. That sound lived inside him - no longer as grief, but as purpose.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4MEKIjouF
He trained. He waited. He calculated.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1IqiES1UC
And when it moved, it moved like nightfall.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8RenSxNdT
The women who came were no longer sisters in suffering.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmI8nLTI9i
They were pieces. Booty. Currency.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4wM84pch4
Currency. Strategy. Each one had value - and Jax decided how to use it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZEHggPpdH
He didn't take them all. That would have been clumsy. Predictable. No - he was methodical. He studied them. Watched. Waited. Understood what made them tick. What made them tremble.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6M2O6FpuN
And then, when the thread holding them together was thin enough to snap - he struck.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdMstNynrk
Some followed him out of fear. Others, finally, out of something colder. Something that looked like loyalty. Affection was a rare and irrelevant thing in Jax's world. He didn't need to be loved.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3RW361E2q
Just obeyed.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfZUDlLx7S
Jax had become the dark balance of the island.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbriAhlkSTn
Not its saviour.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyuMOMnr2j
Not its devil.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7MQnOeXJy
Its law.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzgirDQYjk
And the law was cruel.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAQXISgdmK
There were no fairy tales here.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQ4UX31zNa
Only choices.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzEMUEfqyn
Only consequences.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCTinnUT5g
From the top of the cliffs, he watched a new transport cut through the water far below. His fingers curled slightly, the familiar thrill already crawling under his skin.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBjl8j24L8
New arrivals.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5gCVnBgpL
New eyes.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJ9BXFXsv7
New fear.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsIARwB8qG
New fires to put out - or to test.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqt8m3Bgujq
And maybe, just maybe...44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDmnBCurUl
Someone worth breaking.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTp0XFoWJN
He turned away from the edge and disappeared into the trees, the forest swallowing him whole. The birds scattered. The leaves fell silent.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQ3OrKe9ol
The hunter was on the move.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwTrwiQfNK
And this island?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaTylTLQYE
This island was his.
The narrow path that wound through the forest had all but disappeared. Overhead, the trees arched like clasped fingers, filtering the sunlight into shards of green and gold. The air was thick, almost heavy, and the sound of birds had all but disappeared - replaced now and again by a faint, unfamiliar crunch in the undergrowth.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRX2wSJolcf
Jessica narrowed her eyes at the map in her hand, turning it over for the fifth time.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQ61vHiO07
"This is complete rubbish," she muttered. "According to this, we should've hit 'Bottom of the Well' ages ago. There's no well. Hell, there's not even gravity that feels normal here."44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTMWPFzBlV
Tom leaned over her shoulder, studying the faded lines. "So... if this isn't it, then where the hell are we?"44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2R91OhDr1
"Even if this map is ancient," Jessica said, "there should be some landmarks. Unless the trees have decided to replant themselves."44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ085UUc0xgb
Tom squatted down and dropped his rucksack. "Maybe whoever drew this map wanted it to be confusing. If this island is undocumented... maybe it's meant to stay that way."44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYg6OYWaS8
Jessica didn't answer immediately. She had taken a few steps forward and was leaning against a large tree, her eyes scanning the dense foliage. The sound of the ocean had faded completely - replaced by something quieter. Something deeper. The rustling of leaves. The call of a bird, distant and strange. The heartbeat of the forest itself.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaRXc23Hvp
And for the first time since his arrival, a flicker of unease danced behind her confident demeanour.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JiexRywhK
Tom bent over the map again - and that was when the sound came.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoz374T9zJb
Deep. Muffled. Mechanical. An engine.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrQtRQXMy1
It didn't roar. It didn't roar. It pulsed through the floor like a whisper in metal.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGao32mSPDK
Jessica straightened instantly, her eyes narrowing as she turned her head towards the sound.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlygShbMIte
"That's... an engine," she said in a hushed voice. "A truck, maybe. Not close. But not far."44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYBybBzhGa
Tom nodded. Slowly. He tightened the straps of his pack and stood.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Wm1tRpwGz
"Let's move. Carefully."44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SHiFoQ42Q
The forest swallowed their footsteps as they started again, slower this time. Jessica took the lead, her stance sharpened by instinct. Tom followed, each step measured, his breath held.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchu4Cj4x0Z
The sound became clearer. Not louder - but more defined.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7xVjbHRsb
A rhythm. A vibration.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDulPYiLlw0
Not natural.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEomxR12wtE
And definitely not alone.
Jax remembered the first time he saw them.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoUW8R0fAV
He had been hidden deep in the woods, his body woven into the shadows like a predator born of the trees. Not a sound escaped him. Every breath was a silent calculation, every twitch of muscle restrained by instinct sharpened over years of solitude. The wind howled in from the ocean, tearing through the branches, dragging the scent of salt and something sweeter—sweat, skin, life. The waves below crashed against the rocks in a rhythm only Jax understood now, a rhythm he had listened to for years. It was the pulse of the island. His island.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQL1GUEOLVT
That moment, the moment he first laid eyes on the woman and her daughter, was etched into him like fire into flesh.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoQC8Q7V1F
The girl moved without fear. She danced barefoot across the mossy stones and fine sand, her laughter rolling with the wind, piercing the night with something innocent, something that had no place here. Her long curls shimmered in the moonlight, her blue bikini catching starfire like scattered sapphires. She was light. Unspoiled. Untouched.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyA4y87OjSw
To Jax, she looked like a forest nymph, something not quite real.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkl3cOpQpv8
But the mother—she was different.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKTAKp5PYZ
Every movement was measured. Her feet tested each step before committing. Her eyes didn’t just look; they hunted. She read the trees, the silence, the shifting air. Jax could see it in her face—the weight of experience. This woman had seen pain. She had survived it. Her body, still graceful, moved like it remembered violence. She was danger wrapped in beauty. And unlike her daughter, she didn’t belong to the light.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPVzeiBPJA
She belonged to Jax’s world.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYnxee0m36
They were both prey.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzyemfBSOv
But the girl? She would break too easily.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOuD0YuqjW
The mother? The mother was the real game.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaV6iiUsQs7
Back then, Jax had still been learning. The transformation from prey to predator had been violent, but it had also been necessary. He had come to this island when he was only eighteen, dragged into its shadows by those who thought he would disappear into the trees and never matter again. And for a time, they were right. He was just another broken thing dropped into the island’s silence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8RGO4sgb9
But the island had spoken to him.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKIM176udP
It had taught him that survival wasn’t enough.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5Y0uHisR3
He had suffered. He had run. He had cried under the rain and curled into the roots of trees like a dying animal. He had been prey—beaten, hunted, used. But the pain hardened him. The silence became his armor. He learned how to move without being seen, how to listen when others made noise, how to wait when others acted. The island had taken him in like a wild thing and made him sharper than the thorns that tore his skin.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxWiVxVBRe
Now, at twenty-one, Jax wasn’t just a survivor.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwKQdx8ZPg
He was the island’s reckoning.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYJ7Ms8RRr
He knew every trail, every cave, every blind spot. He knew how to avoid the hunters and how to hunt them in return. He had built a territory of shadows, where no one entered without him knowing. The island had its laws, unspoken and brutal. And Jax? Jax had rewritten them. He had become a law unto himself.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyijeV17iB
And the island had begun to offer him gifts.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQgzUr7ROW
Women. Girls. The lost, the trapped, the forgotten.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2HVcSZBTA
Some came in boats. Others were dropped like coinless secrets in the night. They arrived frightened, defiant, angry. But none of them understood the rules. Not at first. Jax did. And that made all the difference.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClA7E5lRcI
He had become more than a hunter.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGMbi432Jg
He had become a collector of choices.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwWSzk8hzH
Every time he watched a new arrival, he measured the moment they crossed the line from hope to fear. From fear to desperation. That change—that precise instant when they realized no one was coming to save them—was the most exquisite part. It wasn’t about hurting them. It was about watching the light fade from their eyes, knowing he was the one who took it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jTOC7J6bF
Power wasn’t in dominance. It was in knowing when someone broke.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTkZUr1Dzt
That mother and daughter, walking the shore that night—they were something different. Something rare. And Jax, hidden in the trees, had seen everything. The daughter had skipped toward the waves, throwing her arms up to the sky like she belonged to it. So open. So unaware.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsC9UY7DLG
The mother had stood back, watching the sea with a silence that Jax recognized. She was waiting. For a man who would not return. Jax didn’t need to know the story to read the outcome. Her body held the stillness of someone who had waited before.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoV3EZg0ivK
And then, in the pause between one breath and the next, Jax saw something in her face.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLOstNQ4W0
Uncertainty.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgfLhnq6Ij
It broke through her mask for a second. A tremor. A memory. A hope.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSMT1WA1GW
And Jax felt it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduBt8dG6T2
Empathy. Just a flicker.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8WjDcmD6v
He crushed it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjUs9OrrB6
Empathy had no place here. He was not the boy who came to the island crying. He was the man who ruled the night.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5x2xDJpum
He remembered how he watched the mother’s shoulders stiffen. How she scanned the darkness. Almost like she sensed him. He hadn’t moved. He hadn’t even breathed. But something in her blood knew.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvN3EA8HV8H
She was dangerous.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6kgSj7gnw
She was perfect.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbuQJ1qpjk
She would take longer to break. But that was what made it worth it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyF0KhTRx3m
He didn’t want them to die.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYfrWLmuZR
He wanted them to surrender.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAhdXxvPCe
Not with screams.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPZbyh3Fdt
But with silence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqk6W8D9uSv
With acceptance.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOR6jOUFwYQ
That night, something shifted in Jax. A stone rolled into place. A decision was made. And in that decision, there was no turning back.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOG1l1WXM5R
This wasn’t about the girl. This wasn’t even about the mother. This was about the island. About everything it had taken from him.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIRRdQ6gfb
And everything it had given back.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0Ki3v0b60
Jax knew the game now.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4nEr8aAn1
And he was done playing by anyone else’s rules.
