A hand covered her mouth before a scream could escape. They pulled her against their body and panic settled in as she attempted to turn her head. She thrashed against them, ready to try and fight until they whispered in her ear, "Hey it's me. Calm down." Relief washed over her when she turned to see Gil crouched beside her with a finger to his lips. He gently removed his hand and pulled her along. They put some distance between them and the dumpsters before speaking. "Enora, I don't even know what to say," he began; arms crossed and anger evident on his face. It made her flinch. "I know that sorry isn't enough, but I am. I did this selfishly because I wasn't thinking. It just happened." "But why? You know how dangerous this is and how much we care about your safety." "I don't know... A part of it felt like I owed it to myself. To not be useless and help out," she answered honestly. Gil pressed his hands to the back of his neck, releasing a long and heavy breath as he took a few
TWO HOURS AGO, AT LOTUS HEADQUARTERS The grandfather clock in the office struck its hourly chime, jolting Victor awake from his desk. He rubbed at his forehead groggily, unable to remember falling asleep. The past couple of days away from Enora had been rough and he was unsure of how much longer he would be able to hide it. It was obvious many in the pack had noticed him being absent and calling less meetings; patrolling on his own and even sparring less, but he couldn't focus. Talking about everything with his parents gave him some clarity of the situation; those decisions had to be made for the good of the pack as well as his own well-being. It was time to get the last secret off of his chest even if it meant benefitting him more than Enora. A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts; it was a pack scientist coming to report. "Alpha, the final specimen results." "Yes, come in. What's been confirmed?" "This is indeed an enhancer. When mixed with a rogue's DNA it mutates into s
MEANWHILE, WITH GIL AND ENORA Another shot went off as the car sped down the empty streets followed by four others. In the rearview mirror she saw two more cars join in the chase from the side and men hanging out of the windows to aim. She screamed as she ducked her head when two shots hit the side mirror on Gil's side and blew out the back window. Shards of glass flew towards the front and grazed her hand, the rest sprinkling all over them. "Enora, reach for my bag in the back!" "Huh? Oh, ok!" she replied hurriedly, her shaking hands trying to get a proper hold of the bag on the floor. Opening it revealed a variety of weapons and other devices she didn't recognize. "Alright, grab the cylindrical cans and throw them behind us. Don't worry, they're smoke and flash bangs. It should slow at least one of down for now." "O–oh. I'll try." She grabbed two canisters and steadied herself as Gil opened the sunroof. She ducked back in when they fired again and tried to calm herself. She co
The collision threw the car off course. The sudden jerk hurt Enora's side as she held a death grip on the seatbelt, gritting her teeth. The breath had been knocked out of her lungs, making her unable to scream as the windows shattered and littered everything in glass; the sudden onslaught of wind whipping her hair into her face. They spiraled forward, seemingly going on forever as Wilson strained to right the car and keep them from crashing, while Gil kept a firm grip on Enora. "F*ck! Hold on!" Wilson shouted, finally regaining control. "Gil! Take the wheel!" He pulled out two pistols from the side of the door and hung out of the window to aim. Shots fired into the night once again as both made contact on each other's vehicles, the bullets popping in their ears as they skimmed the sides of the car. Wilson managed to hit one of the cars in back, blowing out its tire and sending them careening into the barrier. Enora managed to wrangle the hair out of her face, wildly reaching aro
Two wolves stealthily passed between the cars towards the others, and she knew they had to be from the Quercia. She ducked her head down behind the seat, and whispered to herself in panic, "Oh no, no, no." The chances of them not discovering her were low and she didn't feel confident in trying to pick up a weapon. The cars were packed tightly around each other as they'd all arrived in a hurry, so they would hopefully serve as good cover. Gingerly, she walked backwards and around the car door, keeping her eyes on any glimpse of the wolves' fur. She knew they could probably smell her, but the area was large enough to keep a distance for now. She'd wished she had convinced Wilson to let her stay closer, the snail's pace she moved at making every moment more nerve wrecking than the next. In her bad luck, she turned too quickly at the sound of a glass bottle rolling and the canisters she was carrying hit the side of a car ever so lightly, but enough so that it alerted the two predator
AT QUERCIA HEADQUARTERS A chair shattered against the hardwood floor, and several glasses followed suit; Alessandro didn't even flinch at the splinters and shards scraping his skin. The walls vibrated from his wrathful yells and slams of more furniture. His fury would see no end until he dealt with those who hadn't listened. "These ineffective idiots! Waste of space flesh bags! Beta!" "Yes, Alpha," he answered promptly, having been right outside the door. "Status?" "There are four left to be located. Seems they have places to hide." Alessandro laughed a lengthy, hearty laugh and smiled. "These young ones truly do not understand the values of a family. Of our authority and why all is in order the way it is. What happened to the elite like you and I?" "I can't say I know. It is painfully obvious they lessen each day," his beta replied carefully. "Exactly. You understand. How is it that I only have five competent men now? There aren't more in charge because of this." "And we're g
Another snarl sounded in her ear. The air whooshed beside her from a missed swipe at her face and her heart leapt into her throat. Legs wobbled from the pressure of pushing their limits; it was after her and it wouldn't stop until she was caught. In the next moment, the world was ripped out from underneath her. Body weightless, she fell forward and into a mouth full of extra sharp teeth. *** Limbs stiff; weighed down by paralysis, she struggled to open her eyes. She willed herself to move, to not fall asleep again. She wanted to scream. Hands touched her arms with a gentle squeeze, and she was lifted into an upright position. The solace of an embrace eased her eyes open and calmed her spirit. They stayed that way for a while on account of her squeezing back whenever the hold attempted to loosen–it made Victor laugh. "I'm not going anywhere right now. I promise," he said, caressing her face. With a short nod she let go and looked around. She was back in her bedroom, but there was
ON THE WAY TO HEADQUARTERS Usually there was nothing good on the radio in the middle of the day, but Enora dialed through them anyway. She left it on her favorite station and lowered the volume, hoping something would come on after the commercials. Victor pulled onto the line at the fast-food place, reaching for her hand but she pulled away. He suppressed a laugh but couldn't hide the smile, "You're really mad at me?" "What do you mean? Yes! You're kidnapping me!" "No, no. Not kidnapping, think of it as taking you on vacation. We've got everything at headquarters, and you won't have to lift a finger." "Listen, I figured I might get to visit headquarters, but not stay. Vi-sit!" she emphasized, glaring at him when he started laughing. "Fine. I'm just going to ignore you and hang out with Gil and Wilson. They'll be fun." The laughter ceased, "No you won't. You're joking, right?" "Hello. How may I help you?" the voice at the menu screen interrupted. Turning away from him, she fo
Enora panted as she crouched down once more. Pressing her back against the wall, she followed it around to the side where a car on the street would serve as cover. Her legs hurt and her hands shook uncontrollably as she texted Gil and Wilson her whereabouts. "Please one of you pick up. Or please find Victor, please," she whispered to herself. Thankfully during her escape, she hadn't encountered anyone else, and the exit had led her through an alleyway and onto the main streets. Several sirens played on the soundtrack for the night; after the gunshots had finally ceased and the sounds of struggles had subsided. Closing her eyes, she tuned to the background noise, hoping to hear something or someone familiar. Her mind wouldn't stop flashing possible scenarios where Victor didn't walk out of that building and back into her arms, and that scared her. Curling into herself, she rocked back and forth, working to breathe through the severe agony, fury, and sorrow she and Victor were cycl
ONE HOUR AGO Victor's phone buzzed in his pocket, knowing it was Enora before he checked at the screen. As soon as they were within a few minutes of the Quercia base, he'd absorbed her fear to a maximum level. She'd been ok for the majority of the day, so this could only mean true peril was looming over her. Her text informed him that she was inside Bianchi's apartment, about to have dinner with him and she would try to stall for as long as possible. The suspicious feeling was shared between them as he tossed the phone into the bushes and went to get into position with the others. "You two stay alive. I won't forgive you if you dare die on me," Wilson said, hitting Victor and Gil on the back. Gil laughed, "You're the human here. We should be saying that to you." "Ha! You think these untrained losers have anything on me? I'll take them all out in no time." "We'll see about that. You'll still be fighting by the time Gil, Enora, and I come out," Victor said with a smirk. "Ah, fin
There were clothes on the bed when Enora returned to the bedroom; from pajamas to bathing suits, to underwear and dresses, and a shiver ran down her spine at the thought of what Alessandro might be thinking about. "I have another request to ask of you ladies," she began, pretending to enjoy the variety of clothing by holding them up against herself. "Yes, Miss?" they replied in unison. "If you could just wait outside while I rest, that would be great. I was startled before when I woke, and you were standing there. I scare easily, sorry." "Oh! I apologize, I was told to watch and wait, so I suppose I took it quite literally," woman A said, hanging her head in embarrassment. "No, no. Don't be. I probably would have done the same," Enora chuckled. "Thank you. You're too kind Miss. We will be right outside. You need only knock, and we or the guards will open the door." "We can put those away for you first," woman B offered, gesturing to the clothes. "Don't worry yourselves, I've g
Once she'd eaten her fill, she was unsure of how to get anyone's attention. It felt gross to ring the bell to summon people, so she went to the living room door instead, startled when the two women magically appeared in her path. "Miss, have you finished?" woman B asked. "Yes, thank you. Would you both mind if I explored the apartment? A–Alessandro said it was alright with him," she said, hating that she had to speak his name. "You do not need to ask us, you may simply command us to do what you would like," woman A added. "Oh, um. I can't actually. That also makes me uncomfortable. I'd prefer we be friendly," Enora answered sheepishly. The two looked from one another to Enora with questionable expressions. Has no one ever been nice to them? Or had she said something wrong? "Whatever you say Miss. Would you like to see the kitchen?" "Maybe later, I don't want to be in the way as the staff goes back and forth." "Ok, follow us then and we'll start with the living room. As you can
AT QUERCIA HEADQUARTERS The lengthy walk to the dining room was nerve-wracking; she was not ready nor willing to face Alessandro again. Another woman had joined Enora in the room when she'd exited the bathroom in one of the outfits that had been provided. It wasn't bad per say, but it was less modest than she was used to. They'd told her she looked great however, and announced breakfast was ready. Guards were outside of her room, unsurprisingly, and at every doorway of the apartment it seemed. As if she were stupid enough to attempt an escape. This place was completely unfamiliar to her, and it was the enemy base; even if she managed to reach the rest of the building, where would she hide? "You may have a seat here, Mr. Bianchi shall be in shortly," woman A said, breaking her out of her thoughts. Both women had refused to give her their names, explaining it was not in Bianchi's orders and they weren't important enough to be addressed that way. So, woman A and woman B would have to
Sunlight coming in through the window woke Enora, her eyes squinted and fought to open against its harshness. Turning away from it instead, she jumped from fright at the sight of a woman staring at her from across the room. "Ah, Miss, you're awake. Good morning," she greeted. "Um, hello. Where am I?" Enora asked politely, though she had a feeling that she already knew the answer. "At Quercia headquarters of course. The Boss is delighted to have you here as his guest." "I'm sure that psycho is beyond delighted," she said under her breath. "I'm sorry, what was that?" the woman asked. "I said, I'm happy to be here. So, what am I to do now?" "We shall prepare a bath for you and show you the clothes the Boss has chosen for you, so that you may join him for breakfast. Wait here for a minute." Hm, clothes? Looking down at herself, she found ripped and dirty clothing; it looked like she'd been trying to escape them for days, as opposed to twenty minutes. Oh. "Sure." The woman stepped
A struggle could be heard after a second shot went off, and Enora's sleeve was pulled on from behind. "Miss, we have to go. Come on!" They ran towards the end of the street where she said another SUV would pull up at any moment. From the side, a man jumped out at them, grabbing onto Enora while she struggled against him, and the guard stepped in with a right hook to his jaw. "The car is there, run!" The car came to a screeching halt and two out of the four people ran towards her, only to be cut off by more of Bianchi's men. "Oh, come on! How many of these clowns are there?!" she yelled out, looking around for some sort of weapon. A broken umbrella stuck out of one the dumpsters she passed, and she figured it would have to suffice. Swinging it around wildly, she managed to get one on the side of the head and hit his eye. With a scream, he stumbled and gave an opening for a Lotus to get him to the ground and knock him unconscious. They helped her get to the car while dodging swin
Davide slouched against the elevator wall, blowing the bangs out of his eyes and hanging his head. He could admit that Alessandro had been acting a bit out of sorts, and he was quick to shut down others' questions, but this was different. Who would've thought the day would come when he would question his Alpha's sanity? By an odd coincidence, the men he was on his way to retrieve for testing, were waiting when he stepped off the elevator. "Anderson, Marino, and Rojas, perfect, you're up for a promotion in rank. Need you to run the trials first, let's go." "Sure, we can do that, but we were wondering if we could have a word with you first," Rojas said. Davide sighed, "As long as we walk and talk, fine. What's this about?" "The boss," Anderson replied. "We haven't seen him in days, which is odd." "And this isn't the first time either. Too many of us have noticed something is going on and it isn't good," Marino continued. "What are you trying to say here? Questioning our leader?
SUNDAY EVENING, LOTUS HEADQUARTERS Several wolves circled the alpha in the center of the arena, mapping out their steps and timing their attacks. As others lay on the sidelines in exhaustion, Victor moved about in anticipation of attacks with infinite energy; vigor running high. Signaling for three to come forward, he dodged the first with a sidestep, the next with a bob and weave that left her neck open, and the third with a jump forward. Getting around them, he nipped them each in vital take down points, which tapped them out and sent them to do ten laps around the field. "I continue to reiterate the importance of speed. Your power matters once you know your opponent will and can be taken down," Victor stated to the group. Another three charged at him and he waited until the last moment to drop and roll beneath, tripping the second who remained on the ground, open to a bite at the base of their throat. From behind the other two, Victor jumped onto one's back to smash them into t