Page 194 of Kingdoms of Night

The Infected were so starved that they immediately converged on the gap, landing on top of her and trying to sink their teeth into her fur.

She released a ferocious little snarl and bit back, shocking the hell out of me.

When one of the Infected snagged her leg, she yelped and sank her fangs into his neck.

Her animal has taken control, I realized. Either Riley had willingly given the beast the reins, or the wolf had taken them out of a need to survive.

Regardless, I took advantage of the change and slashed out with my claws to help free her from the masses. Then I turned on another approaching horde and took several down with violent swipes of my paws.

Riley joined me, her snout sprinkled with drops of blood.

I grunted, telling her to follow me again, and took off through another crowd.

This one went down easily as both our wolves worked in tandem to create a safe path.

I stand corrected,I thought as we broke through the final mass.This was easier than using a gun.

But there wasn’t time to do a victory lap because more Infected were already heading toward us.

I glanced back at the airport to acquaint myself with our surroundings and find my sense of direction again.

Riley growled, drawing my attention to her. She was staring down another pack of Infected, her teeth bared.

Definitely her wolf, I mused. Perhaps that was where all that feisty energy came from.

I nipped at her to grab her attention, then angled my head in the direction I wanted to run.

She blinked at me, as though coming out of a daze, her gaze running over my form once more. A little whine fell from her mouth, confusing me.

It was a distinctly submissive sound.

Betas and Omegas both bowed to Alphas on instinct, but something about that noise piqued my animal’s interest. It’d almost resembled a plea.

For what? To run? To help her escape? To help her human regain control?

I wasn’t sure.

Her dark orbs shone beneath the early morning sun, providing me with a glimpse of the human beneath the fur. There and gone in a second. She seemed to be fighting her animal.

So perhaps that was what she needed my help with—harnessing her beast.

Isn’t that something she should already know how to do?I wondered.That’s what pups learn at the age of five.

Regardless, there wasn’t time to debate it or help her now. We needed to go.

I released a low purr, similar to what I’d done on the plane, the vibration instinctual and yet so incredibly wrong. Alphas purred for their intended mates or pack members who required it. And Riley certainly wasn’t my intended, nor was she even a pack member.

Yet my wolf seemed to feel differently.

Considering the way her animal swayed toward mine, it seemed she appreciated the attention as well.

So I increased the volume to lull her into a state of obedience and led her around the incoming horde and into the tree line beside us.

We had to do a partial circle to go in the right direction, but there were far fewer Infected beneath the tree cover.

I avoided the few who stepped into our path, my purr never faltering, and took Riley deeper into the forest.

Her wolf followed mine as though entranced. She’d probably never heard an Alpha purr before. Some Alphas purred to help out fellow packmates, but Riley struck me as the kind of wolf who rarely needed that kind of soothing.

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