THE ALPHA'S REDEMPTION

in the cool o

e sweet scent

ale with a sweet

listen, close y

would hear it too yet as much as she tried, she could not still her breath

ed down by the heavy sack of potatoes she had come to buy. She could not run with the potatoes, they were too heavy and yet, she could not leave them behind, death at the hand of a per

self to run. She pictured her home, by now the children would be seated for supper -- scrapes of yesterday's supper warmed on the fire and served like a new meal. Mama would..... Mama would be worried that you

nning blindly, screaming something, perhaps her son's name. The woman trampled on Tara in her bid to get up and she kept running, without a backward

ahead of her. The screams continued, people running in different directions so that apart from being in danger of the lore, she

y to be carried but also too young to run fast and so he kept tripping as they ran, his hand clasped firmly in the woman's, then Tara saw it. It was part shadow, part real as it whooped low, missing the woman with the little kid by inches and taking a man just in front of the w

eir sister. Not unkind laughter but laughter that came from a place of happiness, from the love that bound family together. Her mama once said that she had a strong mind, that whatever she set her mind to do, she always a

ad bodies that fell all around her, taken. She had to get home. She ran, blindly a

ined with the school, the dress makers and the bookstore on one side and the council and windmill on the other side and so it was usually quiet. Perhaps the creatures of the lore hadn't bothered to take the hunt this far. She ran, hearing her footsteps echo in the empty classes of the school and in the council. She n

the hunt now sounded far away, the sound reaching her ears like an echo. She hubbled now, the pain of her ankle too sharp, too raw for her to keep ru

om her ankle getting worse with each step but through it all, she smiled in hope. She had reached

dragon, heading directly for her. His dark hair was flying behind him and there was deter

a glimpse from

the chirping bird

that wakes y

the joy of fami

for a