fate of the alpha - episode 3 by Tasha Black Page B

growl building in her throat. If the thing was going to kill her, she would die spitting in its miserable eye.
    A blackened body half-crawled, half dragged itself toward her.
    Erik.
    Oh god, it was Erik.
    Mary broke into a run. Her mother and Miss Bonnie moved aside for her immediately this time, then fell into step behind her.
    She bolted for Erik. He collapsed onto his chest, and rolled onto his back before she made it there. The coppery odor of his blood and the terrifying breath of the fire poured off him. Only a tiny sigh of his spicy amber scent still clung to him.
    Mary dropped to her knees. She felt someone wrap a blanket around her shoulders and didn’t bother to look up.
    She gazed into Erik’s perfect eyes. His body was horribly burned, charred in some places, but his eyes had been mostly spared.
    She slid his head gently into her lap and cradled him. He was badly hurt, but she knew he would shift and heal quickly. And she wanted to stroke his fur and comfort him when that happened.
    He didn’t shift. Instead, his breath grew shallow.
    “Why isn’t he healing? Why doesn’t he shift?” She looked around frantically.
    “Because he can’t,” Miss Bonnie said softly from her place at Mary’s shoulder. “He’s not a wolf.”
    “What do you mean, he’s not a wolf?” Mary asked, knowing already that the librarian was right.
    “Bad people,” Miss Bonnie explained. “People who want that thing in the mine to get free, took his wolf away.”
    “Nooo,” Mary howled. “Please don’t go, please.”
    She begged, tears streaking down her dirty cheeks as she rocked him desperately. If only she were a grown-up and not a kid. She might know what to do.
    But she didn’t know what to do. And Erik wasn’t a wolf. He was just a person, a good person who cared about her family. And he was dying.
    Mary leaned in close, her eyes hungrily taking in a last glimpse of the man she would never forget. The man who was not a wolf, yet somehow more of a wolf than any of them.
    Someone turned on a spotlight over the site, illuminating him in her arms.
    Mary’s vision blurred as her tears dripped onto his charred flesh. The too-bright light stung her wet eyes, forming a golden halo around Erik.
    It was right that he should look like an angel. He had saved them. He should have been their alpha.
    His chest rattled with what she knew would be his last breath.
    “I love you, Erik Jensen,” she whispered. “You will always be my alpha.”

                                   

    CHAPTER 15
    G race’s body felt somehow unbearably hollow and impossibly heavy at the same time.
    Only the mantra of her police training kept her going.
    Do not replay the incident mentally .
    Do take deep breaths .
    Do not allow yourself to become distracted imagining possible future outcomes .
    Do focus on staying safe now .
    But her mind stuttered like a broken projector, hung up on the image of Julian disappearing into the red light.
    Cressida followed her in silence.
    At last, they emerged from the darkness of the woods.
    As they approached the intersection of Yale, Grace noticed the excited crowd in the pools of radiance from the overhead streetlights. For a moment, she panicked, thinking that the moroi had already created terror in Tarker’s Hollow.
    The squeals of laugher reminded her that it was Halloween. This was the parade from the Community Center through the local businesses.
    Her stomach turned as she envisioned that thing tearing through the giddy group of children and parents.
    She and Cressida picked up the pace, and crossed Yale. They were wet, dirty and terrified, and the small downtown was packed. Grace tried to imagine what she would say if someone tried to greet them.
    They passed the pastry shop and art studio without drawing any attention. There was a crowd outside Coslaw & Associates, where Minnie Henderson gave out candy. Minnie was still tall and thin with a touch of hippie glamour — just