Page 21 of Alpha Infected
“Jump down.”
The little girl nodded. She scooted to the edge of the cabinet and pushed off.
Ice caught her then set her on her feet. “Come on, your mom is waiting for you.” Shielding her from the corpse on the floor, he led her out to the hall where the woman was anxiously waiting.
“Mommy!”
The little girl let go of Ice’s hand and ran to her mother.
“Oh, Jessica!” The woman swept her daughter up into her arms, squeezing her in a tight hug. “Sweetheart, I told you to stay put!” she scolded her daughter even as she cried.
“I thought you needed my help to fight the monsters so I went to find you.”
“Brave girl,” Ice said. As sweet as their reunion was, they couldn’t afford to stand there and celebrate. An infected could pop up at any moment. And he was holding on by the skin of his teeth. Through sheer force of will, he’d managed to hold back the change by focusing hard on the very important task of rescuing a child. But he couldn’t hold it back for much longer.
“We need to get you both to a secure location.”
He remembered the other group of survivors in the bathroom on the floor below. A bathroom would be the perfect place for the mother and child to hide. Ice took them to the nearest restroom. He checked first to make sure there weren’t any infected inside. Once he verified it was clear, he held the door open for them to go in.
“Now you’ve got all the water you want,” he said. “Stay here. My team is coming back to get me. I’ll send them for you as soon as they do.”
“Are you sure they’re coming back?” the woman asked.
“Yes.” He knew his mate and his pack would do everything in their power to get back to him. “If I turn before they come for me I won’t be able to let them know you’re here until I’m cured. So don’t be alarmed if it takes a while.” He took out the protein packs from his tac vest and handed them to the woman. “Here’s some food. Ration it.”
Now it was definitely time for him to get out of there. His blood burned lava hot under his skin and pinpricks of light were starting to creep into the edges of his vision.
“Stay safe,” he said as he turned to go.
“Thank you, Mr. Monster,” the little girl piped up.
“Yes. Thank you,” the woman said with deep gratitude.
Ice looked back at them. They clung to each other, but both were smiling. He was glad he’d taken the chance and helped. He nodded in acknowledgment of their thanks then directed them to close and lock the door.
Once they were secure, he returned to the room he’d been in before so his team didn’t have to waste time searching for him. Inside, he relocked the door. Too restless to lean on the desk again, he paced back and forth, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck.
His head was so hot it felt as if the inside of his skull was on fire. He clenched his hands into fists, trembling as he tried to resist the change. The anger coursing through him was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. He wanted -needed -to bite someone.
As he fought not to give in to the violent urge, his Instinct screamed at him over the red-hot rage slowly drowning out his rational thoughts.Shift.Shift.Shift!
Ice obeyed the insistent demand beating in his chest. He hurriedly stripped out of his gear and uniform, carelessly letting everything fall to the floor. Naked, he stretched and let the shift happen. A burst of power went through him and then he dropped down onto all fours, transformed into a big, white wolf.
In his wolf form, the heat and rage eased off. His mind cleared for a moment, the urge to bite fading into the background. Ice shook himself, thankful for the respite. He realized shifting had been the smart move. With paws instead of hands, he wouldn’t be able to get the door open and escape to possibly harm someone.
Unfortunately, the respite was brief. Soon the heat was boiling his insides again. And the rage...
Lips pulled back from his fangs, Ice growled deep in his throat. He wanted to attack someone. Something.Anything. But there was no one there. Frustrated, he prowled up and down the room, futilely searching for a target. He needed tobite.
Chapter 7
Saturday, October 29th, 1983.
1900. Fifteen minutes post bite.
KV Perkins Office Building
Moving with grim determination, Hazard hustled up the stairs with Major Ortiz and Jax. He would find this fucking antidote and hewouldsave his mate.
