Page 180 of Kingdoms of Night

Because he’s my Alpha bodyguard.

A scrawny wolf wouldn’t qualify for the job. While I could take care of myself in most situations, I didn’t stand a chance against an army of Infected. And the International Council had deemed my background as one that required protection.

Hence, they’d assigned Jonas to me.

My doctoral background in infectious disease and epidemiology marked me as valuable. And the fact that I was one of the few still alive made me even more important to the cause.

Most of my former colleagues had been human, which hadn’t boded well for them when dealing with the brain-eating amoeba that continued to mutate each time it reached a new host.

One bite and the virus spread.

There were even some wolves that it could infect, like the Ash Wolves.

Not X-Clan or V-Clan wolves, though.

But that didn’t stop the Infected from trying to make a lunch out of us when they had a chance. We didn’t die easily. However, we could be severely injured and eventually die if we were surrounded by too many Infected.

Which was why I had Jonas.

Big, powerful, muscular Jonas.

With his long blond hair, chiseled jaw, icy irises, and pale skin.

He even had a slight accent.Icelandic. Because he’d grown up near Blood Sector in Iceland. I only knew that because Kieran had mentioned it.

Jonas didn’t talk much.

He liked to grunt and growl andstare.

I considered his piercing gaze while I dressed, wondering what he’d thought about while watching me moments ago. He hadn’t smelled interested, but he hadn’t appeared bored either. There’d been a slight flare in his nostrils and a subtle dilation of his pupils.

Can he sense my approaching heat?I wondered as I pulled on a tank top over my bra. Then I busied myself with buttoning up my blouse before putting on a thong and my black pants. Socks and flat shoes went on next—in case I needed to run.

I tossed my damp hair up into a ponytail and debated adding perfume to kill my scent.

But that could also attract the Infected.

So no.

I’d just have to deal with this flight and either find a place to inject my suppressant on the plane or locate a secure place once we landed.

Maybe I can get on Kieran’s plane, I thought, grabbing my purse—which only had my international military ID and a satellite phone in it—and heading toward the door.

Jonas stood outside, his gaze vigilant and his posture prepared for battle.

I held out my hand. “I can take my bag.”

He grunted again and shifted on his heel, ignoring me.

“I’m not weak,” I told him as I followed. “And there’s barely anything in that escape kit. I can carry it.”

He didn’t reply, instead leading me down the white corridor of the residence hall.

We were deep underground here, which meant we needed to head up to reach the airfield.

The alarms outside confirmed it was those walls that had been breached. It would take hours, if not days, for the Infected to find a way to tunnel their way to us. There was a chance they’d never make it.

But the airfield was a very different story.

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