Page 178 of Kingdoms of Night

It’s Jonas,I thought.That damn insufferable Alpha is driving my inner Omega crazy.

My wolf had been acting up since the day he’d arrived thirteen months ago.

He was here to guard me. Which only made the situation worse. Because my animal practically melted beneath his protective vibes.

Fuck.

I gripped the countertop, the svelte muscles along my arms flexing.

I used to take one or two suppressants a year. They masked my scent and quelled my mating instincts. But I’d already takenfoursince Jonas’s arrival.

And it was definitely his presence that set me off. I’d been around several other Alphas over the last decade, and I’d never had this problem before.

Of course, none of those Alphas had been X-Clan wolves, so perhaps that was the real issue—having an Alpha of my own kind around.

He thought I was a Beta. Everyone did.

Well, everyone except for Kieran. His affinity for healing had clued him in to my natural traits almost immediately. However, he’d agreed to remain quiet for my benefit.

Or perhaps for his benefit, too.

Because the second my true nature was revealed, I’d be claimed by an X-Clan Alpha and forced into a nest. That was what my kind did—they cherished Omegas yet coerced them into breeding roles.

No professional opportunities.

No life outside of the nest.

Nochoices.

Just a pampered existence with a doting Alpha.

Or, in my case, a trio of Alphas, if my father’s earlier arrangements in my life had come to fruition.

Perhaps not a terrible way to live, but I had too many aspirations to just allow myself to be claimed.

That was why I’d run.

Why I’d left my pack and pursued my own path.

It had been going well.

At least until the Infection had begun.

I hung my head on a sigh.Even more reason to take another suppressant.I couldn’t focus on my research while in heat.

Not that we were close to discovering a cure, though. No, we were far from that prospect, what with the amoebae eating through every fucking solution we devised.

It was just mutating too quickly.

Destroying everything in its path.

And essentially reacting just like it did in its host byeatingwildly without any thought.

Zombiism, the humans called it.

Infectionwas my chosen term.

Over sixty percent of the world had been destroyed already. My unit was the only one left searching for a cure. And it wasn’t a coincidence that most of us weren’t human.

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