6Chapter Four
Brie had completely tuned out any physical pain or exhaustion as she continued to run, pushing it into a hidden corridor in her mind. When she became a wolf, instinct was everything and emotions came secondary. Her wolf felt her fear and desperation, and then manifested it into strength and energy for her to feed off of. She knew she was hunted and evading her hunters was all that mattered anymore.
Her vision tunneled as she focused solely on the path in front of her, the dark green pine trees melting into a blur, as she bounded through the forest. The wind brushed against her black flecked gray fur and whispered against her soft ears, pushing them back. All of her life she had been on the run to escape the threats in her life. She wasn't about to be caught right now.
The forest began to darken as the sun dipped below the skyline and night fell. She couldn't be certain of how long she had been running through the forest. Her body was beginning to tire and her tongue hung sloppily out of her mouth, bouncing with every bound. She had been running in fast bursts and as she tired she began to slow to a steady pace.
The only sounds she heard were the soft hum of crickets and the ragged pants of her heaving chest. She didn't know how long she could run; maybe she could make it through the entire night. Now she really had nothing, Her bag of all of her possessions and money was hidden back at the station, but it would be too risky to ever return there. She would have to start life over from complete scratch; all of the money she had been saving to be able to travel from place to place with ease was gone.
Her ears prickled forward as she recognized the sound of running water in the distance. It began to get louder as she continued forward, heading towards the reflection of moonlight she saw through the trees. Moving closer, the initial soft sound of water trickling over rocks in a stream turned into the fast rush of a raging river.
Brie reached the trees to find herself at the edge of a riverbank. Her paws sunk into the sand as she padded forward through the sand and approached the water. She whined pathetically, pacing back and forth, with her tail between her legs when she realized the impossibility of the feat before her. The river was powerful; the current pushed violently against the sparkling rocks and would easily sweep her away if she dared to cross.
She lowered her soft wet nose in disappointment and pressed her ears backwards. Walking to the edge of the water, she allowed herself to lap at the calmer water towards that edge that gathered in pools. Her tongue guzzled the water, wetting her mouth that she didn't realize had become parched during her run.
Suddenly the forest was filled with a new sound. It was rhythmic and increasing quickly.
It was mechanic.
It was the whirring of a helicopter heading straight towards her.
She let out a whimper; unsure of whether she should turn in the opposite direction or stubbornly continue onwards. That was the way the man would be coming from. She was being closed in on from all sides and was unable to cross the river.
She veered away from the water, not wanting to remain in the sand where her tracks were easy to follow. Wetness dripped down her muzzle in tiny droplets as she took off in a run once again
She continued to sprint, her pace increasing in desperation and she ignored the fire of exertion in her muscles. She couldn't be caught.
And in the darkness a bright light was switched on. It was a spotlight, lighting the trees in the distance with an almost heavenly glow. The helicopter was heading straight towards her.
She skidded to a stop and quickly turned around, praying not to head straight back towards the man.
The light was catching up to her. She started to cut diagonally off to the side to get out of its path, darting between trees and galloping at full speed.
She skidded to a stop with a howl of desperation. Straight ahead of her was the man and his gun was pointed directly at her.
"Stop!" His eyes were harsh and serious as he leveled his gun directly between her eyes. "I don't want to have to do this."
She contemplated listening to him and trusting him to protect her. She didn't want to get caught and she didn't trust anyone.
Death would be a better alternative to being captured.
She turned to run away when a strong force barreled into her side and she yelped out as her body was tackled into the thick bark of a tree. She growled and bucked her back, attempting to fling Declan off of her but his grip was tight in her fur.
He pushed her to the ground with his strong arms, pressing her muzzle against the dir. "Stop struggling, I want to help."
He stroked the fur on her face and along her back with his hand, whispering calmingly. Even amidst his attempts to calm her, all she could feel was betrayal as she heard the helicopter fly closer. She attempted to bite at his hand but he retracted it quickly, giving her the opportunity to spring to her feet.
She thought she was home free to run again, when a heavy net fell from the sky and crushed her body to the ground. She collapsed, her legs giving out under the weight of the rope, and her head knocked painfully against the dirt. The full light of the helicopter shined on her and she whimpered in fear as she began to struggle under the web of nets she was caught in.
Declan approached her and she growled threateningly. She would bite his hand off before she let him touch her.
There was the sound of other men shouting in the distance as several dropped to the ground to assist him, but he remained focused on her as he kneeled down to her level.
She growled again menacingly, but no fear was in his eyes. Only the haunting loneliness she had seen before. He seemed hollow, and at this distance she could see crinkles of worry and sadness around his eyes.
And just for a second, before the other men could approach, she stopped growling and looked at him pleadingly. She would do anything not to be imprisoned. She let out a desperate whimper in a cry for help.
She watched as his eyes softened and his hand reached out as if to stroke her once again in comfort.
There was a sharp pinch from behind her as a needle slid into her skin and she let out a bark in panic.
The last sight she saw before the blackness took over were his grey eyes filled with regret and then hardening to resolution.
Declan leaned against the curved walls of the helicopter next to the silver bars. In addition to him, the small cage and Johnson who sat across of him, the back of the helicopter was filled, making him feel cramped and uncomfortable.
Two other men sat in the cockpit, navigating the helicopter back to the base in California. It was almost ironic how close Brie had been living to the organization's base all along. It was inevitable that they would find her eventually when she had almost wandered right into their facility.
Declan watched the unconscious woman protectively. She was naked, the sedative had triggered her change back into a human, but Declan had been sure to wrap her in his leather jacket before closing the cage door. He could sense the hostility and hate the other man held towards her. From the curl of his sneering lips and the contempt in his eyes, it was obvious he found Brie to be disgusting.
When Declan had carried her limp body into the cage, after Johnson had injected her with the sedative, he had leered at her and had muttered under his breath, "fucking wolf bitch."
For some unknown reason, in the moment Declan had wanted to lash out at him. He had wanted to wrap his hands around the thinner man's neck and threaten to kill him if he had ever so much as laid a hand on Brie or looked at her again.
It was completely uncharacteristic of him. Even beginning with high school, then the army, and now, he had always been around men who made crude careless comments. He was used to the men he worked with treating werewolf women as nothing more than animals that they were both repulsed by and attracted to. He couldn't count the number of times one of the other men had made a joke about fucking a werewolf bitch.
But the way Johnson had looked at her made Declan want to throw him out of the helicopter altogether. He was thin, not muscular in the way Declan and the others who came from the army were. His hair was a mousy brown and his face seemed greasy and immature. Declan's opinion was tainted by his mistrust and inexplicable anger, there had to be some reason he was on the team, The Organization didn't hire just anybody.
Declan averted his eyes from coldly calculating how much trouble he would be if Johnson were to "accidently" fall out of the helicopter, and landed back on the woman who was softly sleeping under his jacket. This was the closest he had been to her for an extended time. When he had been watching her he had stayed in the shadows, careful not to draw attention or let her catch his scent. Now he was close enough to gently rub his thumb against the soft pale skin of her ankle, if he wanted to of course.
Or maybe she wasn't sleeping anymore after all. He watched as her round brown eyes softly flickered open as she scanned the helicopter and then quickly shut again. She was examining her surroundings and he knew she was already trying to plan an escape. Her foot flicked out slowly to touch the bars, attempting to appear still asleep, and she quickly retracted her foot in pain as she realized it was made out of silver.
That was what she did. She escaped. Declan knew that she had always been on the run. After her parent's death, she had never had a home again. She was running from The Organization, from conviction, and from her past.
"Wolf bitch." Johnson taunted and he kicked the cage to rattle Brie so she fell against the silver and the jacket slipped. She let out a howl of pain that sounded of a wolf and she snarled at him.
"Baby, you're a looker for being a freak." The other man leered as he looked suggestively at the breasts that had been revealed in the tumble. Brie quickly wrapped Declan's jacket tighter around herself.
She began to snarl but Declan finished it for her as he drew his gun up and pointed it at the other man. "Fuck off, Johnson, and leave her alone, or so help me god I will blow your inbred brains out."
Johnson chuckled and held his hands up. "Got a little crush there do you, Cress? It took you long enough to bring her in. Had to slip it to her first didn't ya?" He looked Brie up and down again. "You shoulda gave me a call, you selfish bastard, I woulda wanted a piece of that too."
"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Declan cocked the gun, sorely tempted to shoot his slimy smile off of his face regardless of the punishment.
"Alright, alright." Johnson muttered glaring at Brie as if it were here fault. "Fucking wolf bitch mojo."
Declan lowered the gun but didn't take his hand off of it as he placed it back in his holster. He glanced back to Brie, hiding the hesitation and embarrassment he felt as he did a clinical once over to check if she was all right. Jesus fucking Christ, what was wrong with him?
She was curled in the corner with the jacket hiding her front completely. He could tell she was trying not to shake, obviously scared out of her mind, her face was hostile as she tried to look indifferent, but the fear was apparent in her eyes. The left side of her face was slowly healing in blistering scabs and he could tell she was attempting not to put any pressure on her right wrist.
"I'm sorry Brie," He tried to whisper so Johnson wouldn't hear him, but the bastard probably could anyway. "You have to know why we're doing this. You can't just kill people and expect to go unpunished."
He saw her eyes widen in shock and surprise. For the first time since that night at the gas station, he heard her voice but now there was no thankfulness, only a broken, ragged sound of despair.
"I've never killed anyone." She held his gaze and he saw the vulnerable honesty on her face tainted with fear. She didn't look away as he leaned closer, his face nearly pressing against the bars.
"That's not what your records say," He spoke coldly and without sympathy, not wanting Johnson to be suspicious of him, but his eyes looked at her searchingly. "You've killed someone in every town you've been to."
The shock that flashed on her face was instantaneous and he watched her take a deep breath, never breaking eyes contact with him. "It wasn't me, I swear to you."
So badly he wanted to reach the short distance to grab her hand through the bars and rub her palms reassuringly. It felt like she had some mysterious power over him, drawing him into her and making him want to give her everything of himself.
"We're here!" Johnson shouted, and reality reentered as he broke eye contact from Brie to watch the helicopter lower onto the roof of The Organization's headquarters hidden in the dark desert. "Come on, get ready to move its cage."
He looked back at Brie, hiding the fear he suddenly felt. He couldn't just give her over to them. Not if she was innocent like she claimed. He hadn't ever witnessed it, but he had heard things about what The Organization really did when they detained supernatural beings.
The helicopter landed with a gentle thud and immediately workers dressed in clinical hospital uniforms swarmed onboard to take Brie. Johnson pushed him to the side as the cage was lifted, Brie snarling in fear and panic.
She ran up to the bars, trying to claw her way out of the cage and scratching at the workers who carried her. Throughout her growls and howls, she maintained eye contact with Declan, begging him with her eyes.
"Please!" She screamed out and the vulnerability and fear was clear as day across her face. "Please don't!" She was speaking directly to him and Declan felt his heartstrings give a sharp tug as his body protested their separation.
He started to move towards her but Johnson's hand pushing him back against the helicopter stopped him in his tracts. He spoke softly under his breath so Johnson couldn't hear him but he knew that she could.
"I'm going to help you," He promised. "I'll find the truth." He saw her eyes flash in recognition; they glowed golden as her wolf acknowledged his words. Her growls were silenced as she was injected with a sedative and her body crumpled against the cage.
A/N: Hope you guys liked the update, I know it's pretty dramatic and more like a rough draft.
Review please!