The Wolves and the White Bird

05. The Pack

"This way," said the Alpha as he stepped in between the rumble of the two collided cars and began a steady jog.

Cora looked down at her feet as she stepped carefully over the shattered glass on the floor, being careful not to slice her feet open in the process. She picked up the pace, jogging behind the alpha as Talon and Ronan took up the rear. It was hard on her feet to keep the pace but she kept going. The last time she could remember running was when she was a young child and that didn't end up too well once the several wolves on her tail caught up with her. They confined her to the pits for a month for trying to escape.

As she continued her light jog, the nighttime breeze picked up, sweeping her hair in all directions and unfurling the ends of her dreadlocks. She made a mental note to tend to those later. In the meantime, she huffed and puffed behind the Alpha, who was keeping a steady pace without so much as a heavy breath of air. Cora, on the other hand, had beads of sweat pouring down her neck at the exertion.

"Just up ahead," said the Alpha, making a turn to the left, and she stepped up onto the footpath just in time for a matte black Jeep Wrangler with its heavy set tires to come racing down the road. It came to a halt in front of them. The driver hopped out, giving a bow to the Alpha before stepping aside, allowing him to enter the vehicle.

"Call in a cleanup team for 18th and Slate Street. Have Elliot escort us back. We need to get in the confines of the facility before another attack." The Alpha directed the orders to the driver, who immediately took out his phone and headed towards the next car in the line. There must have been at least five cars behind that she could see, maybe more that were hidden out of sight, all of different makes and models.

Ronan nudged her forward towards the car. She was tired of his consistent nudging, and she let out a groan of annoyance as she climbed up into the back seat of the car. Talon took up his same position in the passenger seat with Ronan in the back with her. The other man that had accompanied them this far had disappeared into one of the many vehicles behind them, leaving her to wonder if she could just open the side door and slip out quickly into the night. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she heard the engine start and the click of the locks on the door. The alpha glanced back at her in the rearview mirror and she looked away quickly.

The drive this time was quick as the alpha swerved fast in and out of traffic. They were lucky that no-one was following them this time. When the car took a turn into an underground carpark she looked up, just in time to catch a glimpse of the high-rise building above them. It must have been the largest building in the city, and it glimmered with a sheen of reflective mirrors against the night sky.

The car parked in the underground car park and they exited the vehicle, making their way towards the lift. She rarely got to be in a high rise building, let alone the city with most of her captors preferring the wilderness and surrounds of the forest. Maybe it was for privacy or maybe as werewolves and supernatural creatures, they simply preferred being in nature.

As they entered the lift, Ronan pushed her to the back and stood in front of her as the alpha took up position next to her, a little too close for comfort. She felt a mixture of feelings being in close proximity to Draven. Nervous, anxious, safe, excited and an odd pulsing sensation that felt like a symphony of smooth waves gently caressing over her heart. Cora breathed in deeply, trying to keep her distance from the Alpha and these unusual feelings that came to her whenever she stood close to him. The lift went up, eventually stopping at level 96, four floors short of the top floor.

The elevator dinged, opening smoothly as Talon, Ronan and Draven exited, Cora following last. Upon entering the space, a strict security presence immediately greeted Cora, with several guards manning the entrance to a reinforced metal door. She moved forward, hiding herself behind the three men in front of her until one of the guards came over, pulling her aside.