The Alpha's Last Choice.

ra'

ould consider getting a ca

y seventy-year-old neighbor, peering at me over the fence. Her gray hai

Patterson." I manage a tired smile. "You s

l this overtime isn't he

from my clinic, and I haven't slept more than a few hours each night. Every time I

sing m

arked under the broken streetlight at the end of the alley. Th

eps echo off the brick walls as I fumble for my keys, and

. "You're a doctor, not some

dows seem t

umpster and the fire escape. Something large and low to the gr

Has to

And they don't have eyes that bur

r, backing toward my c

light from the distant street l

as midnight, with lips pulled back to reveal

ith strange dark markings. They move with purpose, spread

wolves in the city. No wolves anyw

es from its throat. The sound raises every hair on my body and

e's nowh

, fingers shaking so badly I can b

hs... a sound that's part animal, p

an," it says in a voice like

is some kind of stress-induced breakdown

" The question com

ack one growls. "Like the Al

what you're ta

rils flaring. "His scent is all over you. I

u're insane.

rees. "But insane or not

ble to move. I scream and throw myself backward, b

n apart by impossible talking wolv

ht explodes

it flying into the brick wall with a wet crunch. The other tw

are gone, replaced by silver fur that seems to catch and reflect what little light there is. He's still human in shape but wrong in every other

und shakes the window

in sick fascination as his claws, longer and sharper than any human should possess, tear

, lifting it off the ground by its throat. The crack of brea

to its feet. Blood pours from its mouth, an

it gasps. "The others will come

n a voice that's more animal t

t stand for th

k, cutting off its words. "The pack will

s eyes go wide with terror

or my ragged breathing and the

never hurt me, I know that somehow, but he's lost to the beast inside him. The

unds like a prayer and a curse.

f him. But the words won't come. The world tilts sideways, a

Kael reaching for me, his face shifting back toward h

I fall into dreams filled with s