Free The Alpha by Annie Nicholas Page B

back and won. This wouldn’t beat her either.
    Silky black fur grew from Katrina’s skin. Her face elongated, bones cracked, and joints snapped as the tiny woman grew into a magnificent, huge bipedal beast.
    Spice’s heart fled to hide in her shoes, and her courage followed.
    The beast swung its head in her direction.
    She stepped back but realized she had nowhere to run. It blocked the only exit from the room. She changed her mind. This wasn’t such a good plan. She opened her mouth to tell her to stop, but Katrina drew her thick muscled arm back and stabbed her long, sharp claws into Spice’s heart in one smooth motion.
    Sugar’s ear-piercing scream filled the room so her sister couldn’t tell if she screamed as well. The pain spread across her chest and stole her breath as she coughed up a splatter of blood. She raised her chin to stare at the beast. It had Katrina’s eyes and sorrow poured from them. If she could speak, Spice knew she’d say sorry .
    She wanted to tell her that everything would be all right, there was nothing to apologize for, but the room tilted and she grabbed onto Katrina’s furry arm. Her claws remained embedded in Spice’s body.
    The beast guided her to the ground and shredded her shirt open with the other claws. She stared with tunneling vision as it leaned its muzzle close to her chest and tore her wound wider.
    She cried out. It sounded weak even to her own ears. Blood pumped from her chest.
    Katrina opened her mouth and drool oozed from her canines to mix in with the blood. A steady stream of the clear slime came from her mouth until it coated the wound and the bleeding stopped.
    Concentratio n ? She pondered to herself as the darkness closed in. Katrina spoke of it. Maybe werewolf drool contained more contaminant.
    “What the hell is going on here?” Spice recognized Tyler’s voice as he hollered. “Katrina, oh my God, what have you done?”
    “She’s changing Spice.” Sugar’s tear-filled words answered him.
    “Tyler, I know what I am doing.” Katrina must have returned to her human form to speak to him.
    They sounded farther away. Spice wanted to shout, to tell them she was still there, but her vocal cords wouldn’t work.
    “You must keep Eric away from here. Take him on a wild goose chase if you have to. If she survives this wound and if I mixed in enough of my saliva with her heart’s blood, she should change with the full moon tonight.”
    “That’s a lot of if’s Katrina,” he shouted.
    “I know.”

Chapter 10
    Spice cracked open an eyelid and peeked around. A computer desk faced her. She was in Eric’s office on Robert’s thinking couch. Someone had placed a pillow under her head and a blanket over her body.
    How did she get here?
    The last thing she recalled, they’d been playing Monopoly, she’d been winning, and the dice were in her hands. Daedalus gave Eric a letter.
    Clair. The werewolf bitch wanted to steal Eric from her. With a swift kick of her legs, she flung the blanket off and sat up. Her feet landed on a sleeping Sugar who squeaked when stepped on.
    “What are you doing on the floor?”
    “What are you doing trying to leave?” Her little sister scrambled to her knees and proceeded to open Spice’s shirt. A bandage covered the area over her heart.
    She thought back to Katrina and the beast she’d grown into. Their plan. She touched the bloody bandage and expected to wince but no pain jarred her. Pulling on the edges, she gasped as she exposed healed new flesh. “How is that possible? I had a huge hole.”
    Sugar cupped her mouth with her hand and shouted, “Katrina, she’s awake.”
    “How long have I been out?” She rotated her left shoulder and arm. Nothing hurt, this was a definite perk.
    “All day. The sun’s setting, and Daedalus should be awake soon.”
    “The sun has set, and Daedalus is already here.” The vampire stormed into the room wearing a pair of black silk boxers. “What have you three brainless twits been doing? I