S.J. Sanders Howling Eve: A Ragoru Halloween Short

A Halloween seasonal short story in the Ragoru Universe following the events of Ragoru A widow, alone without any surviving family left, Eve has little in the world except her family's orchard in their little misty valley tucked away from the regular routes of travel. Having known little else except solitude, first following the death of her parents, and then later following the death of her husband, Eve is content with the life that she had at her little orchard and taking hauls of her harvests into town, even if it is a little lonely at times. When an autumn night brings a monster from the fog surrounding her home, the solo Ragoru upsets everything within her orderly life as he claims her home for his own. He's a beast. A snarly brute of a male. How is it that he makes her feel more alive than she ever has? Is he a threat, or the one thing she's privately wished for made into reality in the shadows and magic of the Halloween season? Skal is a lone male by choice. Older than many of the other males who came to this new world, he has no interest in forming triad bonds or mating. He only wants peace and a territory of his own where he can spend the rest of his life living undisturbed. After already having a mate and a triad in his old life, a family who died within his care, he has no interest in taking the chance of seeing the past repeat itself. Yet, when he comes across a foggy valley filled with trees, vegetation, and game, he follows his nose to the sweetest smell that has ever beckoned him. Is it the pumpkin pie, or the lone female who stubbornly dwells there that draws him so? Will they both taste as sweet? What can a lonely male do but savor what has been given him. A little Halloween magic may just be what it takes to bring two lonely hearts together. A little trick of fate is about to become their fondest treat.