Page 98 of The Alpha’s Heir

“This is bad.” Justus put his phone down and dropped his head into his hands.

“It’s just a power outage,” I tried to soothe him.

Electricity was spotty where I lived in the cabins, but a little more reliable in town thanks to Jareth’s hydro-electric station. After the river flooding, I was sure it’d be at least a few days until it got fixed. Until then, they could use the older generators, and Jaxon would move shipments of biodiesel to supply them.

Thinking about my family made my wolf whine.

I was confident that we’d left them after the worst of the crisis was handled, but the gods arriving posed an entirely new problem.

And I wasn’t there to help my pack.

I looked at the locked door.

“Just a power outage?” Justus scoffed. “Do you have any idea what that means? No. You wouldn’t understand.”

I started to growl, but then his face crumpled and tears filled his eyes.

“It’s all connected. Alice. The internet. Our food. Our water. Our transportation. Our money and credits. The very livelihood of every citizen in this city is connected through the power grid. Without it, life will never be the same.” He took a shuddering breath. “What’s taking Roman so long? I want to go see my mom.”

“Hey now.” I patted his arm. “I’m sure there’s a backup plan.”

It’s not like they actually needed power or the internet to survive. We could show them the way.

Justus’s shoulders shook as he began to cry in earnest.

Oh… This is awkward.

“Where are you going?” He sniffed.

“To see what the holdup is.” I broke the door handle and lock with a strong twist. Oops.

“You can’t do that.” His eyes widened.

“I’ll be right back.” I smiled, stepping into the empty hall.

Even without the mate bond tugging in my chest, it was easy to track Roman’s scent through the sterile halls. I ducked into one darkened room as a team of men in uniform came rushing past, but they were too focused on whatever mission they were heading toward to notice me.

At the end of the hall was an office of sorts where I sensed Roman and heard another male speaking.

“Yes sir,” Roman responded.

I peeked around the corner, finding Roman standing ramrod straight at the foot of a desk where a large man sat with his back turned to me.

“Drop the brat off with his mother,” the man said. “Then get back to your unit. You’re being assigned to patrol the Eleventh District.”

“And the woman?” Roman’s gaze seemed to flick in my direction, and I slid back behind the doorframe.

“The mutant should’ve stayed with her own kind,” the big man spat. “I don’t know what the councilwoman plans to do with her now. Even if we have this sham of a wedding, it’ll be weeks before it can be broadcast like she planned. No, this isn’t a job for the council anymore. It’s time that the iron fist steps in. You know your role, Lieutenant?”

Roman nodded once.

“Good,” the man barked. “Dismissed.”

“Sir…” Roman lingered a moment longer. “The hospital, specifically the ICU. What provisions have been made?”

The man waved his hand in the air. “They cut unnecessary life support already.”

The knife that twisted in my heart threatened to bring me to my knees, but Roman was a statue as he nodded again.