Eden's Alpha

Chapter 2

Run, Run, Run. We scramble out the building and start weaving through alleys getting deeper into the city. Isaiah and the twins have a head start, but I start catching up to them, my adrenaline kicking in. I feel Finley at my heels and turn around to...

"Aaugh!" I fall down, getting a face full of rubble. My foot had gotten lodged in a gap between two stones sending me sprawling towards the ground.

Finley comes from behind me and pulls me up underneath my arms. "You okay? Is your ankle sprained?"

"I don't think it's sprained," I say clenching my fists in pain. While my ankle doesn't hurt, my whole leg is bloody from the ordeal, a gash running down from my left knee. "Let's go, we can't stop"

I hold on to Finley's shoulders for support, not trusting my legs. We stumble along, Finley throwing worried glances behind us.

"Eden, I know you're not going to like this, but we have to get out of here"

"What are you..."

Finley suddenly picks me up, holding me across his arms. I gasp in shock, but he doesn't let me down. "We need to get back to one of our safe houses. Hold on Eden"

Finley takes off and I try my best to help direct him through the alleys. I bounce against him as he jogs, and watch as his once white shirt slowly turns red from my blood.

"Finley, your shirt..."

"Eden, seriously? Not the time"

He carries me onto the main road and I recognize the red building we had stayed in not too long ago. "Okay, we're here. You can let me down now."

He doesn't seem to listen, however, and instead carries me up the dirtied stairs and into one of the abandoned rooms. He sets me down on the musty bed, a cloud of dirt springing up around me.

"Stay right there Eden"

Finley peeks out the door before promptly bolting it shut. He then grabs his pack, pulling out a roll of gauze and a flashlight.

"You're lucky I had the first aid kit, otherwise you'd be screwed"

He sets the flashlight on the ground, angling it up towards my legs. It casts eerie shadows around the room, but still gives us enough light to see.

As Finley starts unraveling the gauze, I try listening to what's going on outside. I hear the occasional howl, but nothing sounding close. I think of the rest of our group, and picture them all running with wolves at their heels.

"What about the other guys, how are we gonna find them?"

Finley looks at me cautiously; "I don't know Eden. But what I do know is that something's happening out there, we're not going anywhere"

I lean back against the mattress as Finley grabs my leg, balancing it against his chest. I wince, trying to keep my mind from the throbbing in my leg.

The room we're in is dull, a thin coat of paint peeling off the walls. There's no furniture except for the bed and a lone nightstand off to the side.

We stayed here not too long ago, maybe a few months ago? I know this building very well, from top to bottom. Our group slept in here at nights, always remembering to bolt the door.

"Finley, are we....are we going to be okay?"

He stops wrapping my leg to look up at me, his blue eyes shadowed from the weird lighting.

He offers his best smile; "We'll be okay"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure"

I'm instantly relieved and close my eyes as Finley finishes with my leg. Once he's done, I slide off my brown boots and grab my flannel from my pack. Finley turns away from me, pulling off his bloodied white shirt. I'm used to this by now, having lived with these guys for about two years.

I unroll my sleeping bag, placing it on the right side of the bed. Finley follows suit and soon we're both tucked in.

"Goodnight Eden"

"Goodnight Finley"

I fall asleep to the sound of the wolves howling in the distance.

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POV-unknown

"I'll say this once more, WHO ELSE WERE YOU TRAVELING WITH!"

The man before me stays silent, his face turning purple from the pressure I have on his throat. He's a persistent one, I'll give him that. It won't be long before his air becomes trapped in his chest and his eyes roll back.

It's been a while since we've found our last outcast and I've missed my hunting days. With our new Alpha in control, he's sent us out with direct orders to search every city in our region for any more survivors.

And what we do with them? We search for information and then bring those with cause back to our pack.

This one doesn't seem worthy of that cause, though he is hiding something.

"I'll find out, either way, just tell me who else you were traveling with"

The man before me clenches his teeth before speaking, "Never"

With that, I grit my teeth and apply even more pressure until he falls unconscious to the ground. I look over to my partner, "bring him to the Alpha, he definitely was not traveling alone."

 And we're not going to stop until we've found every last one of them.