Page 145 of Alpha Awakened

“Ice. Ice!”

A hand gripped his arm and shook him, forcibly snapping him from his shocked freeze. Sound slammed back into his ears and he realized the shouting was coming from right next to him. He looked down to see Ortiz standing there.

“Hazard,” he said the name in a pained whisper.

“He didn’t make it out,” she said grimly.

At those words, the last of his freeze left him and fierce determination took its place. “I’ll find him,” he said firmly, as if he was swearing an oath. Without saying another word, he took off, running toward the imploded building.

“Wait!” Ortiz yelled behind him. “The site isn’t stable and you don’t know where he was when the building collapsed!”

Ice didn’t bother to answer. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know Hazard’s last location. He would find him.

When he reached the destroyed hotel, chalky dust made it past his mask and settled on his tongue. The smell and taste of it reminded him to use his senses to find Hazard. Ice kept moving, but now he deliberately breathed in, focusing on what he smelled. He smelled concrete, explosives, and water from burst pipes. Breathing in again, he searched for the scent of apples. He didn’t detect it.

Ice narrowed his senses. It wasn’t only Hazard’s scent that he was looking for. It was the soul of Hazard that he carried within him that he was seeking.

Closing his eyes, he stopped and fully opened himself up to his Instinct, letting it take over to search for his lover. Nothing happened at first. He felt... blank. Empty. He was about to open his mouth and howl with grief and rage. But determined not to give up so easily, he clenched his fists and spoke a plea instead.

“Please, Mother Wolf.”

He continued to breathe — in and out — deeply. Ice thought of Hazard, picturing his smile and lovely jade green eyes with their flecks of gold. Then, finally. It happened.

His chest warmed. A connection snapped into place and he felt Hazard within him. Eyes still closed, he concentrated on that connection. Precious seconds passed before he felt a tug pulling him around to the rear left side of the destruction zone.

Hazard was there.

Ice opened his eyes and ran toward where his Instinct pulled him. There were boots running behind him but he didn’t wait for them. When he reached the spot his Instinct guided him to, he dropped to his knees, his hard-shell knee pads scraping over broken concrete. He started to dig, picking up chunks of rubble and tossing them away. In his periphery, he noticed Jax and Ortiz digging too. They kept going until they hit a large, steel beam. Beneath that there was a mattress. This had to be it.

“Help me with this,” he said.

Together, the three of them took hold of the beam and heaved it off to the side. All that was left was the mattress. Ice gently flipped it out of the way. Hazard was there inside of a bath tub, covering someone with his body.

“Dylan,” he breathed.

Dylan’s eyes were closed, his face covered in dust. Ice tugged off his gloves and put a finger to his pulse. The skin was warm and the faint beat of his pulse thumped against his fingertips. The back of his hand under Hazard’s nose let him know that he was breathing as well. He was alive but knocked out.

“Wake up,” he whispered.

Afraid of hurting him if he touched him wrong, Ice settled for soft sweeps of his thumb over Dylan’s cheeks, brushing away some of the dust. “Wake up,” he repeated with a little more force.

After several tense seconds, Dylan’s lashes fluttered open. Ice stared down into jade green eyes lit with flecks of gold. They were hazy and unfocused for a moment before they sharpened with awareness.

“How...” Dylan coughed. “How did you find me?”

“Tracked your scent.”

A small smile curved his lips. “See. I told you scenting was important.”

“You’re important,” Ice said through the emotion squeezing his throat.

Jax got on the comm link and called for a medical evac. Ortiz spoke up once he was finished.

“Let’s move him to see if the councilor needs aid.”

Carefully, holding Hazard’s head steady in case there was spinal damage, they lifted him out of the tub to check on the councilor laying beneath him. Once Hazard was safely settled on the mattress, Ice let Jax and Ortiz handle the councilor. He held Hazard’s hand, refusing to take his eyes off him.

“How’s the councilor?” Hazard asked.