Running in Circles

Abby and Owen were currently standing in front of Isaac’s scrutinising eyes. The man’s shirt was tainted with blood – obviously having just come back from the torture chambers to welcome the crew ‘home’.

The group was ushered inside the deeper parts of Seattle upon arrival, and Abby and Owen were pulled away for a report on their journey.

In all honesty, Abby was rather surprised that Isaac had willingly risked some of his best men to go after Joel; but, then again, he was a man that prided on justice, and Abby knew he was more than happy to let the smuggler meet his demise. Especially considering their history.

But Abby wasn’t too sure what his reaction towards finding out that, not only had they not killed Joel, but had stumbled across you, would be.  

The ginger-blonde knew little about your relationship with Isaac. She knew you two were part of the same pack for a very long time and had travelled for a year or two after a supposed ‘fallout’. Then your little group stumbled across Abby’s father, Jerry Anderson, and had wound up joining the Fireflies. The facts got blurry from there.

“So,” Isaac drawled, watching the duo intently. “Is the deed done?”

There was some awkward shuffling that was shared between Owen and Abby before the latter decided to speak up – mainly because she was closer with Isaac and knew Owen was an old favourite of (y/n)’s, hence it was safer for Abby to bite the bullet.

“There were some… complications,” Abby hedged tentatively.

The dark-skinned man’s eyes narrowed. “Go on,” He said, tilting his head back in a seemingly innocent manner as the man swiped his hand out, gesturing for Abby to continue.

“Just before the final blow, a girl stumbled in upon the scene but was dealt with quickly – pinned against the ground. It was as we were finishing up that we…” Abby took a deep breath, steeling herself as she pushed her shoulders back. “We ran into (y/n).”

The room froze, suddenly thick with tension. Isaac’s eyes flickered over to Owen before focusing back on Abby.

“And?”

The question, admittedly, threw Abby a little off guard. She was expecting more of a reaction, not such a dismissive response.

“She… ended up saving Joel. But with his injuries, even if he did pull through, Mel said that he won’t get away without an amputation and some serious brain damage…”

Isaac’s eyes narrowed before he let out a chuckle. Such a quiet sound seemed to resonate throughout the dull room the three were currently in.

“So you’re telling me, that, that bitch saved the man that ripped her away from this pack as well as—” Isaac abruptly cut off, the rest going unsaid throughout the room. The venom in his voice made both of the younger alpha’s cringe. “Did she tell you anything?” He questioned tiredly, rubbing at his temples.

“She said it was because they were… compatible,” Owen said warily.

“Like I’d believe that shit,” Isaac snorted.

“That’s what I said,” Abby mumbled under her breath.

The three lapsed into silence as Isaac seemed to drift off in thought. Both Abby and Owen knew that he was angry, despite not appearing obviously so.

“We’ll deal with this later,” Isaac sighed, standing up. “We’ve got more important shit to deal with than that fucking wrench.”

And, with that, Isaac walked out of the room, leaving the two younger alpha’s in silence.

“That went vaguely better than I expected,” Owen remarked.

“Shut it,” Abby huffed, elbowing the man in the side. “He’s not happy… But let’s hope our arses aren’t on the line for this. Letting Joel live and not bringing in (y/n)? We’re lucky we ain’t got any bullets in our heads.”

Owen just hummed as the two headed out, silently agreeing simultaneously to put in some extra effort for their work in an attempt to appease the leader of the WLF.

The rift had grown.

Even when barely any words had been exchanged throughout the past few days, the ravine just seemed to grow. Pulling the pack apart and creating a bottomless chasm of unsaid words and constant tension.

You, Isaac, and Riyana had started to make sure you were together at all times. Some of the pack members seemed to agree with Elijah’s belief that you three were just holding the group back due to your secondary gender. It felt unsafe to go anywhere in the base alone anymore.

The base was originally a library. It was holed up in the middle of a country town and was rather big for its location. Either way, it was a good find. But it also meant that the rooms echoed a lot. Thin walls and all that.

You had heard Elijah talking to himself before… Words of insanity. Plans of genocide against omegas and echoed words of Mai’s death being intentional. The man was becoming psychotic.

Cherry and Milo had tried to keep your mind off of the man’s blame, but it was hard when you yourself believed that you were the cause of Mai’s death. If only you weren’t an omega…

Sighing, you shook yourself out of your thoughts and continued to skin the rabbit in front of you. Saving it’s pelt for later to make some new clothing. Winter was starting soon after all.

You and Isaac were in charge of making the pack’s dinner tonight whilst a handful of the others went out to clear some Hunters that had been spotted settled in a nearby town.

“You okay?” You asked after hearing Isaac’s grunt of pain.

“Yeah. Kiddo just kicked is all,” Isaac huffed a laugh. “This one sure is feisty.”

You smiled at the other omega. Isaac has been pregnant for a few months now and it was certainly starting to show. His stomach was starting to noticeable bulge – looking less like a beer-belly and taking on the more unnatural shape that hinted at the beginnings of another life.

“Thought of any names yet?”

Isaac hummed in thought as he continued to cut some vegetables the two of you had collected from the garden earlier. “Milo wants to call them Anubis if it’s a boy.”

“Isn’t that, that the Egyptian God of Death?” You frowned.

“Sure is,” Isaac snorted. “But he likes the origin of it. Says that we already live in a hellhole and that Anubis would guide lost souls to the afterlife, as well as judge whether souls were good enough to be passed onto the afterlife or something…”

“Oddly enough, that has made me like the name more,” You laughed.

“I had the same reaction,” Isaac smiled. “He found some book on Egyptian Gods and Goddesses and is a little obsessed. He also wants to name the baby Anat, if they’re a girl.”

“I like Anat,” You hummed.

“Same,”  Isaac smiled. “But I kind of want to name them after my mother if it’s a girl…”

“The cat’s already stolen that name,” You laughed.

“I guess so,” Isaac said, shaking his head fondly.

“What would you like to call ‘em if it’s a boy?”

“Icarus, perhaps.”

“You two are obsessed with mythology,” You giggled.

“Icarus is a pretty name!” Isaac said, feigning hurt.

“How about Issa?” You suggested.

“Issa?”

“It’s an African name that means ‘salvation’,” You supplied.

“… I like that,” Isaac said softly, smiling.

“So I guess it’s either Anat or Issa,” You commented as you gutted the rabbit before sliding it into the boiling water on the stove.

“I guess so,” Isaac hummed.

The storm hit the next day, forcing you and Joel to hole up in a house on the outskirts of the beginnings of a deserted town. You had to take out a few infected, but nothing too much. You’d been on horseback for almost 16 hours and you could tell Joel’s body wasn’t holding up very well already. The man was still recovering, after all.

You helped Joel get off the horse and reattach his prosthetic. The man was rather affronted by your nagging of him to not wear the prosthetic whilst riding because it put you both in danger if you needed to dismount quickly and run. But Joel no longer had a fucking knee joint and the metal pole was scaring the horse who kept walking to the right, trying to get away from the cold metal. It also was uncomfortable for Joel since he couldn’t actually get said prosthetic into the stirrup. So the man, albeit exasperatedly, gave in.

You dragged Joel inside one of the cleared houses and checked to make sure that all of the windows were closed and covered, checked all of the bathrooms and bedrooms before deciding to stay here for the night. It was as you were finishing up looting one of the kids' bedrooms that you stumbled across a note. It had a written message on it, the kid obviously having used crayon. The writing, oddly, got hastier and more rushed and harder to read as it went on.

Mum says that the world is changing. So we have to leave the house behind. But we also have to leave Bronwyn behind… Just because she’s a dog doesn’t make her any less human!

The electricity is out so my phone is dead. I haven’t heard from anyone from my school.

Apparently the neighbors, Mr and Ms Wickery have become different people. Whatever that means.

This is bullshit! My life doesn’t fit into a bloody backpack. I don’t want to leave!

You flipped the page to check the back and frowned at the sight of blood staining to crinkled paper.

Something visited us. I don’t know what it is, or what it was… It was just screaming and crying and screaming. It sounded like it was in pain… It looked like the Wickery’s. It… It ate Mum! It’s banging at the door! SomeBoDY HeLP mE

Blinking, you took a deep breath before stuffing the note into your back pocket. Kids that went through Outbreak Day… who were expected to up and leave at the drop of a hat. You wondered how many children had to watch the horror of their friends and family getting eaten that night.

You realised there were no bones in the room and pondered, hopelessly, if the child had managed to leave. If they were still alive.

Shaking your head you left the room, going back downstairs to join Joel, who was nibbling on a muesli bar.

“Hey,” you called out, as to not startle the alpha.

Joel grunted in acknowledgment, passing over another plastic-wrapped bar as you flopped down on the couch next to him.

“Wrong-?” You frowned at Joel’s words, sending him a confused look. Joel just pointed to you. “Some-… wrong?”

“Oh.” You said sheepishly, raising your hand to play with a loose strand of hair. “Sorry, just found this note. Makes me wonder about all the kids that went through that night…” You trailed off gently, your mind wondering. You could see Joel frowning and moving his mouth in the corner of your eye but no sound came out. In the end, the man just gave a frustrated huff and started to croon. You were so surprised by the noise that it took you a moment to realise that the alpha had pulled you into his arms.

Craning your head to look up at the man, you saw that his pupils were blown wide and, in that moment, you knew you weren’t with Joel, but his alpha.

Blinking owlishly up at the man, you were at a loss as to what to do or how to react. But you could already feel yourself subconsciously starting to relax in his hold. Sighing defeatedly, you just gave in and let your body melt against Joel’s.

It was a few minutes later when the man came back to his senses. You could tell by the way he suddenly tensed, seemingly frozen in time. Biting your lip, you wondered if you should save Joel the embarrassment and all that by removing yourself from him. But a selfish part of you just wanted to enjoy his embrace for a bit longer, even if it wasn’t really Joel.

Just as you’d made up your mind to extract yourself from Joel’s grasp, you felt the alpha relax against you before pulling you more firmly against his chest. Whipping around, you looked up at the man in confusion, only to see that Joel was completely lucid, blinking down at you with a slight blush dusting his cheekbones.

“S’nice,” He mumbled as he buried his face into your hair to avoid your intense gaze. Smiling, you settled back against Joel.

“You okay?” You questioned softly, your voice more of a whisper to avoid shattering this peaceful moment.

Joel hummed in affirmation.