Eliza
What in the world were we doing? Breaking into a zoo all because of curiosity. My dad had always warned me about Brooke, saying how she was a bad influence on me, perhaps he was right but she brought out the confident side of me. She made me live life to the fullest and now here I was practically committing a crime with her.
"Brooke, this is wrong. We shouldn't be doing this".
I peeked around the corner as Brooke worked the lock with a hair pin that she magically found in her bag.
"You're wrong. We definitely need to be doing this".
Just as I was about to protest, Brooke quietly cheered as the door unlocked open.
"Pass me your jacket!".
"What?" I said in disbelief and shock. There were guards on patrol all around us and now she wanted my jacket for some random reason.
Knowing not to argue with her, I slipped my jacket off and chucked it to her.
Watching quietly like a shadow on the wall, Brooke ran to the opposite side and rubbed my jacket on the wall before throwing it as far as she could.
"Hey! That's Gucci".
"Believe me, right now it's invaluable" she whispered as she ran back over to the door she had unlocked.
Quietly twisting the handle, her eyes lit up as the door swung open but grimaced as it let out a loud creek.
"Hey!"
A burly man burst out of the door that Brooke had just stepped into and shoved her back.
He picked up his radio and began to speak into it frantically. He pinned both of Brooke's hands tightly and she looked over at me with a face full of fear.
Something shifted within me as I watched the man reach to his back pocket. An indescribable anger coursed through me, fuelling my every thought and every move. Picking up one of the signs beside me I raised it behind me and swung it at the man holding my best friend captive.
"Holy shit Eliza, you knocked the bastard out".
Brooke brushed herself down before turning back to the open door and peered inside it.
"Let's go" she whispered as she picked up the unconscious guard's gun from his waistband.
"Why would a zoo security man have a gun?".
"Because this zoo holds too many dark secrets. There's so many things you don't know".
Brooke picked up the sign and smashed the handle off the door.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room before slamming and locking the door shut.
"Okay. That should hold them off for a while".
I felt my body shudder in fear as male voices shouted in the distance and alarm bells started to ring.
Something still felt off. What were we trying to find in a zoo. Why break in and possibly get ourselves arrested. But then a part of me felt like there was a reason why we were here at this very moment in time.
I could hear Brooke bustling about throwing papers off and turning things over, but my eyes were fixated on the full moon shining brightly in the dark sky. It looked more magnificent than ever before.
"Dammit" Brooke growled.
She covered her nose and grimaced as she stepped away from a well hidden door in the corner.
"What? What is it?".
Rushing over to a distressed Brooke, I rested my hand on her desperately trying to calm her down. Her fists were clenched tightly with her eyes fixated on the door.
"Can you smell it too?" Brooke growled out.
"Yeah, it's like a metallic smell. What, could it be blood?".
Brooke rolled her sleeves up and started to shake.
"Something like that. Stand back Eliza".
Her voice turned sinister and something about her demeanour changed as she rolled her sleeves up whilst staring at the small door.
I watched in horror as she began to throw herself at the door in a frantic desperation.
Brooke shouted out in anger as she continued to kick the door until it flew off it's hinges.
Brooke didn't even wait or spare me a single glance as if she wasn't fazed that she had just kicked a steel door down.
"Hey wait up" I yelled at her, but she had completely disappeared into the room.
The male voices were getting louder and I did not want to be left behind.
Swallowing down my nerves, I rushed into the room but stopped as my eyes flew to Brooke who had completely stopped dead in her tracks.
Brooke collapsed to the ground and bowed her head.
"My Alpha".
As Brooke fell to the ground, my eyes fell to an operating table with the same majestic black wolf chained to it.
My heart began to race as I stared intensely at the unconscious wolf. I was in the same room as a wild wolf, but I felt no ounce of fear. I felt strangely safe in their presence.
But as my eyes moved away from the wolf's beauty, I realised what was truly going on here. This was not a medical centre, nor was it to help animals, no, this was a lab, a lab testing on innocent animals chaining them up and hooking them to wires.
The only noise that could be heard was the beeping of the heart monitor machine. It was a steady beat that was strangely comforting to listen to.
Brooke remained on the floor as if she were bowing before this majestic wolf, her eyes full of tears as she stared helplessly at the wolf.
"Please, help him" she sobbed.
"I, he's a wild wolf. It'll kill us". But a part of me knew that what I said wasn't true. Every time I encountered this wolf, I felt an overwhelming feeling of safety. Am I really this delusional.
Brooke stared at me pleadingly as loud bangs and shouts could be heard from behind the door. They must have found the knocked out security guard.
"We're running out of time".
Brooke jumped up and ran towards the wolf. Her hand reached out to grab at the chains wrapped tightly around the wolf, but she cried out as her skin made contact with the metal. Brooke clutched her hand and stared down at the burn mark on her pale skin.
"W-What, I-"
Before I could go over to help, Brooke suddenly shoved me from behind and I fell forwards with my hand touching the wolf's delicate fur.
The beep on the monitor started to go crazy. The wolf's heart rate started to race in comparison to it's slow steady heartbeat not even seconds ago.
Even though I was scared, I couldn't take my hands off the wolf's incredibly soft fur.
The wolf suddenly opened it's eyes and stared straight into mine. They were still as mesmerising as the first time I had seen them. They were almost hypnotising, but I didn't care. I didn't want to look away from the wolf's earthy eyes. I felt my heart sting as a lone tear trickled from the lining of it's eye before falling onto my hand.
The wolf whimpered and nuzzled it's head into my hand.
"Eliza! We have company. You need to unchain him. You're the only one who can".
Knowing I couldn't leave this wolf to be tested on and tortured, I rushed around rummaging through cupboards and drawers in attempt to find a set of keys that would match the padlocks.
Opening up a glass cabinet, I picked up one of the many vials and read the label.
John Carter.
So my dad was connected to this. He was never clear on his research and connection to the zoo. He swore he would never test on animals, but he lied, he lied to his only daughter.
He was the reason this beautiful creature was chained up. He was the reason this wolf was suffering tremendously. He was lying to me all this time.
Yanking open the last drawer, I was relieved to find a set of keys and rushed back to the chains.
I fumbled around trying every key until finally one fit.
Brooke stood in the corner with her hands covering her mouth as she watched on nervously. Pulling all the chains off of the wolf, I let the heavy weights fall on the floor before turning my attention to the wires that were pumping things into it's body.
Suddenly the door burst open and men ran in with guns pointed at both of us.
But I paid no attention to them, instead my eyes were fixated on my father who walked in alongside Kyle both with menacing smirks on their faces.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here. Oh, hello Brooke. I should have known this was your plan".
Kyle licked his lips at her before grabbing her and restraining her tightly in his arms.
"Let go of her!" I screamed as I held one of the chains up ready to use it as a weapon if someone tried anything.
"Sorry sweetheart, she coerced you to break the law. She will be punished. Now, put the chain down and come with me".
The wolf behind me growled lowly, I turned to see it's eyes fixated on my dad and Kyle.
Kyle was staring straight at the wolf with nothing but pure evil.
Dad took another step closer with his arms raised in defence before holding his hand out towards me.
"It's okay. Brooke had you do things you didn't understand. If you come with me now, you won't be held accountable for the crimes of breaking and entering. Step away from the wild creature and come home with me".
I could hear the wolf whimper as my dad stepped closer.
I turned back to face the wolf and noticed that it was staring at me with almost puppy dog eyes.
Something is very wrong. I can't believe what I'm about to do.
"No Dad. Everything is not okay. You lied to me. You said you'd never test on animals, yet I find a vial used for testing in one of the cabinets with your name on it. I'm starting to doubt whether anything you've told me is true. All the sessions, all the men in the house, all the lies. Brooke is the only person that has been real. I don't understand what the hell is going on, but I'm going to stick to my guns and do what I feel is right. So no, I won't be coming home with you".
My eyes flew up to Brooke and saw that she was staring at me with her head raised high and a smile of pride and confidence.
Brooke threw her head back effectively knocking Kyle back into a glass cabinet.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her beside me.
"I'm going to give you one more chance Eliza. Step away from the wolf and come here. Now!".
Turning back to the wolf, my eyes flew over to the machine that had all the wires connected to and before anyone could blink, I threw the chain at it and smashed it to the ground watching as all the wires came loose and the screens shattered.
"Men. Put them both to sleep".
Two of the men held their guns up at us and took a few steps closer.
"Don't be afraid of what I'm about to do. Take my Alpha and run. I'll always protect you, my Luna".
Brooke let go of my hand and moved in front of me.
I watched in horror as Brooke's body began to twist and bones began to shift. She let out a deafening roar and soon the girl I had known since childhood was no longer standing in front of me.
Instead she had somehow turned into the most stunning chocolate brown wolf. She turned around and stared at me intensely with the same blue eyes and bowed before me.
"What the f-"
She instantly turned back and launched herself at the men with guns ripping their heads off with one lunge.
I screamed in shock as she continued to attack the men relentlessly. I felt myself fall back and cower in fear. I had a million questions and a million emotions swarming through my tired body and heavy head.
"ELIZA" my dad roared and tried to get through to me, but Brooke had somehow managed to shove them all of the room with her big strong wolf body.
Turning my attention back to the wolf on the table, I frantically pulled the wires out of his body and stared at him with concern as he started to whimper in pain.
"I'm sorry" I whispered and soon enough the wolf stopped whimpering and instead stared at me intensely like it did when I first encountered it.
Once the wolf was free, he slowly climbed off the table and stared down at me.
The wolf was huge compared to me. I certainly wasn't small for my height, but this wolf was understandably an alpha just by it's looks.
"Don't do this Eliza. That wolf will kill you. He's a wild wolf and you are his next meal. As for Brooke, well, there's no way she's going to survive this".
Dad kicked Brooke down and my heart stopped as my eyes fell to her blood stained body. But her eyes showed no sign of fear or pain.
The black wolf circled behind me as if wrapping me up in some sort of protective shield.
The wolf who I once knew as Brooke stared to the black wolf before subtly nodding her head.
Before I could comprehend what was happening, the black wolf leaned down and nudged at my lower legs causing me to fall backwards onto it's large body.
Instinctively gripping the wolf's fur to support myself, the wolf spun around and jumped up towards the window. I nuzzled my head into the wolf's fur to shield myself from the glass and soon enough the large wolf broke through the window and ran faster than I could have ever imagined a wolf to run.
My head was swarmed with emotions. Fear, anxiety, uncertainty and pain from knowing that everything I had ever known was nothing but a big lie. I had no idea who I was, was there anyone I could trust. What about Brooke? What was going to happen to her?
I had adrenaline coursing through me as the wolf continued to run with me still on it's back.
I felt my head grow dizzy, my eyes turned fuzzy and my body felt heavy and weak. I let my head fall onto the softness of the wolf's fur and closed my eyes as the wind blew past.
The last thing I saw was the wolf stare back at me with it's eyes full of fear and concern. I reached out to stroke it's head, but before I could, I felt my body slump down and my world became dark.
Sorry for making you all wait such a long time.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
It's all about to kick off.