ALPHA'S WITCH (Midnight Oath)

When did I first feel loneliness? Or rather, when did it sink so deep into me?

I think the day we buried my grandmother, loneliness took me over completely.

What's the hardest thing for an orphaned girl?

Is it learning to accept death because you've lost so much already? Or is it holding on to the only person you have, so deeply it nearly destroys you?

I suppose both were true for me. My grandmother was everything.

Years ago, she and I left this cursed town behind.

Because this town had taken my mother and father from me. Even the cause of their deaths was hidden away like some dark mystery. They only ever said: a fire.

I wouldn't learn until much later that it was a witch hunt.

And now, I'm carrying out my grandmother's last wish. Returning to this cursed place to spend the New Year in a lonely mountain cabin.

I can hear you asking why this was her last wish. I'm surprised by it too. But my grandmother was always an extraordinary woman. So all I can say is, she must have had her reasons, and they made perfect sense to her.

I also want to let myself drift for a while, let life carry me. I need to accept that she's gone. Maybe this short holiday will do me good.

Three days later, I was driving along the icy road toward the town of Blackthorn.

As my red pickup climbed the hill, the wind filled my ears with an ominous moan. My only goal was to reach the cabin as fast as possible. Soon, in the middle of the snow-covered forest road, I spotted a dark shape. Drawing closer, I realized it was a vehicle.

"Looks like it broke down," I thought. A man stood there with the hood open, examining the engine. The closer I got, the more I wondered. Despite the bone freezing cold, he wore only a T shirt, as if he felt nothing.

For a moment I thought about just driving past, not getting involved. The town's hostility had rubbed off on me, I guess. But damn it. I couldn't be as cruel as these people. My grandmother raised me with kindness. So I pulled over on the right.

I reached for my coat in the passenger seat and put it on. The moment I stepped out of the car, I started shivering. It felt like my nose had frozen solid and was about to fall off. Fine, I'm the type who gets cold even in summer. But these cursed lands really put on a show with their freezing climate.

I walked a little closer and called out, "Hey, looks like you're stranded?"

The man lifted his eyes from the engine and looked at me. His gaze felt colder, deeper than the freezing air around us.

Then I studied him a little more. Aside from this unsettling scene, he was incredibly handsome. Breathtaking, even. Jet black hair, dark silver eyes, chiseled