Edge of Oblivion by J. T. Geissinger Page B

sat perfectly still under the cold weight of it, rigid as stone, finding it difficult to breathe.
    There came a voice inside her head, and then breathing became impossible.
    You will be mine. Beautiful stranger, blood of my blood, you will be mine.
    Just as Xander reached the first level of steps, the man in white turned and vanished into the crowd.

11
    Xander saw him turn and vanish, and he ran even faster.
    In a flat-out sprint, he took the steps three at a time, pumping his arms and legs hard, shoving past people or colliding into them, knocking them over—but he didn’t stop or even slow.
    An Alpha. In Rome.
    Impossible.
    In all the four colonies of
Ikati
—England, Brazil, Quebec, and Nepal—there was no one unaccounted for. Travel was severely restricted, Bloodlines were carefully kept; everyone knew everyone and always had. There weren’t even any stray half-Bloods anymore, not since the new Queen had been found. And the few deserters they’d had over the past decades were all caught and returned, or killed, most to his own credit. The fact that a male of his age and potency had gone undetected and unnoticed was impossible.
    But somehow it had happened.
    He reached the top level of the terraced staircase and skidded to a stop, scanning the crowd, inhaling deep. He caught the unmistakable scent of
Ikati
to the west, a glimmer of power fading fast down a narrow, tree-lined side street. He took off after it.
    He was dimly aware of people scurrying out of his way, of the cobbled pavement flying by beneath his feet, of his own heart pounding in his chest, of his lungs, which burned like fire. The only thing he focused on was running, as fast as he could, and the single thought his nerves and blood and bones kept screaming inside his skull.
    Enemy! Enemy! Enemy!
    Because of course the man in white was their enemy. A feral Alpha—with the possible exception of the Expurgari there was nothing more dangerous to the tribe than that, a fact proven time and time again over the centuries. Alpha males of the four known colonies were highly aggressive and violent toward other Alphas. They fought for dominance, almost always to the death.
    If he knew of the other colonies, he would make a move to usurp their Alphas. It was in his blood, in the structure of his DNA. And total domination was the only acceptable outcome; also in his DNA. Which meant death for one Alpha or the other.
    Which meant war.
    Xander had smelled the Alpha’s desire first—aimed at Morgan, animal pheromones thick and pungent—and the shock of fury it gave him sent a flood of murderous aggression through his veins.
    He could only imagine what he wanted from her, wanted to do to her, an unmated female, in her lush, exquisite prime—
    He cursed and ran faster.
    Around a bend in the road, and he saw a flash of white disappearing into an alley. He lunged forward, anticipation seething in his blood. He bared his teeth in victory. The man in white would be trapped—
    Xander rounded the corner of the alley and ground to a sudden halt.
    There, at the end of the long alley, stood the man in white.
    Holding a gun.
    Smiling.
    There was a loud report, a crack of noise that ricocheted off the tall brick buildings on either side. A bright flash of light and the smell of smoke, and Xander just had time enough to concentrate before the bullet hit him.
    It was a perfect aim. Four inches below the collarbone on the left side of his chest.
    His heart.
    The bullet went in the front and out the back, piercing a perfect, round hole in the fabric of his shirt. It left behind the scent of scorched linen. He staggered back with the force of it and lifted his hand to his chest.
    “Shit,” he muttered, frowning.
    He really liked this shirt. He looked back up at the man in white, who had lowered the gun to his side and was staring at him in stunned incomprehension.
    “Surprise,” he said and offered the stranger a smile of his own. Then he reached for his knives.
    Morgan had