It's the year 2047, and a virus is turning anyone it infects into rabid animals. The human race is on the brink of extinction. This is Eve's story, a woman struggling to hold onto her humanity while the virus wreaks havoc on her body. Living in a hu...
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Chapter Six
It was close to afternoon when we finally returned. I had a deer slung over my shoulder, and the wolves each carried two rabbits in their mouths. We brought them to Bastian, who was sitting on a nearby rock that allowed him to overlook his pack.
"Very good!" he declared, leaping down from his perch to inspect our prey. He took my deer from me, "A good buck. It will feed the pack well."
He then took the rabbits as well, giving each of them a satisfied nod, and set them down in the center of the pack's ground. He then leaned his head back and gave a quick, short howl that brought the rest of his family to the food pile. They all gathered around the food, slobbering hungrily, but Bastian cut them off with a wave of his hand and a sharp bark. He then turned to me.
"Eve," he called, "you will eat first."
"Me?" I asked, a jolt of surprise going through me.
"You brought back the largest piece of prey," he explained, "so you get first pick at the food pile."
Nodding tentatively, I stepped up to the pile and examined the prey. Eating raw meat wasn't an issue for me. Sometimes I even preferred it that way. What had shaken me so much was that I was actually getting to eat first. A small blush rose to my cheeks, and I self-consciously reached out and pulled the smallest rabbit from the pile. Then, drawing my hunting knife, I cut into the rabbit and carved a small section of meat out of it for myself before stepping back.
"That's it?" Bastian asked in disbelief, looking at the tiny hunk of meat in my hand.
"I- I don't think I can eat any more than this," I lied.
"You're not in the human tribe anymore," the wolf-boy insisted. "You have first pick. Take as much as you want!"
"Thanks, but this is enough," I insisted.
Bastian's eyes narrowed and he grabbed the rabbit I had cut into and stubbornly thrust it into my hands.
"Eat it," he ordered.
"But..."
"I am this pack's alpha," he asserted. "And if you are going to be with us from now on, you will obey what I command. Now, eat that whole rabbit, and if you're still hungry afterwards come back and get some more!"
My blush only darkened, and I bowed my head in submission before backing away with my rabbit. An entire rabbit to myself! Bastian gave another bark, and the rest of his family dug in, shredding the rest of the prey in their hunger. Turning away, I went to a nearby tree and sat against it before sinking my teeth into the rabbit. Its meat and blood filled my mouth, making me shudder in pleasure. Before I knew it, the entire rabbit was gone, and I was sucking on a bone, trying to get the rest of the meaty flavor out of it.
"I thought you weren't hungry," an amused voice broke into my thoughts.
With a gasp, I spun around to see Bastian sitting next to me, a bloody deer's leg sitting in his lap. Half of me was embarrassed that I'd let him sneak up on me, and the other half was impressed that he'd managed to do it.
