EN

d his Beta to foll

somewhere along the way, the Alpha decided the Beta wasn't enough. Now it wa

d the courtyard. Kieran whose gaze stayed fixed on

s wat

d how much

ure of a human girl who still flinched at loud noises. Inside, I mappe

re old and slow. The water storage tanks sat too close to the generator room. On

wait. He gave a short nod, nothing more. No bowing, no loud resp

ous," I murmured

ise," Ronan answered under his breat

t y

could decide the conversa

and me. Kieran insisted I come. "You have good eyes for useful things,"

nces to see who was still alive from m

ir smelled of smoke and rotting flesh. Zombies moved in slow clusters betwee

, scanning rooftops the way Genera

ush cam

ed mall-faster, stronger, smarter than the usual dea

nd sent it skidding. Gunfire cracked. Wolves shifted

without

ed, and drove a broken metal pipe straight through a zombie's eye socket with a precision th

n was in f

ulder hit concrete. His arm took the full force of the attack. Claws ripped thro

ind me,"

feel what it was like. Instead my hands were already pressing against the wound, tearing

," I said throug

ough, even as more dead cl

slammed shut behind us, Kieran's face had gone pale under the blood. Damien tried to take hi

ht he se

the desk. Kieran stood with his back to me, shirt discarded, fresh bandages wrapped tight around his upper arm. The a

en the door

ell are yo

ust the question that had been b

ad, stopping only when I could see the fl

should have

sed the distance in two long strides. His hand caught the side of my neck, not gentle, not

lip hard enoug

ant more. My back hit the wall. His injured arm braced beside my head, the other hand gripping my waist hard enough to leave mark

ted

e heat that spread low in my stomach when he pressed closer. I hated that part o

st enough to spea

e not

it m

hard. Neither of us stepped away. The silence stretched, t

ose again on the night wind. Inside this

who once ordered my death and let the

didn't kn

nd that the girl he claimed was