Red Run by Viola Grace Page A

chilling at best. The only bonus to her constant movement was the heat her body was generating against the cool of the night.
    The streets were silent, but she knew them. Each nook and cranny, each alleyway and tributary. Only three more blocks and she would be to the river. If it wasn’t too deadly, she just might make it across without disaster striking or getting caught.
    The wolves had a reputation, even after a few days. There were as many who liked to play with their food as there were creatures who simply made humans disappear.
    Out of the nine hidden survivors she had found the day after the landing, only three were left.
    The howls got closer and she shivered. She was going to have to break cover and make a beeline for the river. The time for finesse was gone, if she wanted to reach the north lands, she had to go now.
    Sophie crossed her fingers and ran like the hounds of hell were on her trail. She sprinted down the street and onto the bridge. Their howls turned to growls as they got closer. With her last ounce of speed, she propelled herself off the bridge before she could change her mind.
    The icy water closed over her head and when she surfaced meters downstream, she gave a tired grin at the yipping and barking that her pursuers were engaged in. Apparently, these dogs were not fond of water. With grim determination, she began to pull herself through the water until she was on the north bank. The current had done two hours of walking for her.
    * * * *
    “They lost her.” N’lien announced it with surprise. “She jumped off a bridge and swam away.”
    T’bir couldn’t help a grin from creeping over his features. “Did she now? Do they know which way she was headed?”
    “She seemed to be heading due north. Possibly to one of the settlements there.”
    T’bir nodded. “We cleaned out all of those settlements, didn’t we?”
    “Yes. It was done on the third day, after we cut off communications. She might not know that there is no one in the settlement.” N’lien paused to take a call from one of the security patrols.
    “I would guarantee that she doesn’t. We have done a fairly thorough job of blocking their communications.” T’bir ran his hands through his hair. “I am going after her.”
    “Really, T’bir? She shouldn’t be too hard to catch. From the visual that the trackers got, she is wearing bright red and an open skirt. She doesn’t exactly sound like she is prepared for a long overland hike while dodging patrols.”
    T’bir almost growled at his friend of twenty years. “I will hunt her and bring her in.”
    N’lien finally caught on. “Yes, Commander. Hunt the human female, bring her back. It will do you good to be active.”
    He stifled another snarl and stalked from the control room. His ship was laid out in a wheel and spoke pattern with the central hub being the control area. The spoke he took led him to the ramp which led to the ground below.
    T’bir nodded to the men on duty, shifted into his wolf form and took a northerly path through the blasted city.
    He admired the efficiency of their attack even while he inwardly cringed at the smell of death that dotted some of the rubble. His senses were more acute than that of his subordinates, so he would have to tell them of the living humans hiding beneath the street when he returned. Now was for hunting.
    A scent caught him, light and sweet with an odour of fear and sweat in it. It was blatantly feminine and stood out amongst the rubble like an orchid on a sand dune.
    A low growl started in his throat as his blood heated. This was no ordinary chase. He was on a mate hunt and nothing and no one would get in his way.
    * * * *
    Sophie dodged two patrols by hiding in tall grasses along a stream bed. The damned scarlet clothing she was wearing was going to drive her nuts if she survived this. At this very moment, it did seem doubtful.
    Crouched in the reeds, she saw one of the Sethen up close for the first time. He had been upstream