I pushed harder, forcing my body to outrun the dread blooming like mildew. My lungs burned, my ribs screaming with each gulp of air, but I didn’t dare slow. If I stopped, even for a heartbeat, I knew the Alpha’s men would catch me again.

I tried. God, I tried. But I was unlucky because just as I ran out of the alleyway, I out of the blue came in contact with something.

The impact knocked the air out of me, sent me stumbling backward with a gasp that scraped raw against my throat. My ...