The Alpha's Mate | Pt.8

Tora picked out a new bow and a handgun. The bow was meant for something, and the gun was for someone. She bid her goodbyes and quickly left the building. She sprinted as fast as she could.

I need to get there within an hour or two. 43 said that those people were around the forest near entrance 13. This means that they were headed towards section 16.

It might have been wiser for her to bring along someone, but Ryan and Kierra were the only two she could somewhat trust. Ryan has a twisted ankle, and Kierra is the only one who would act fast enough if those two decided to do something.

Tora didn't have enough time to risk bringing anyone else along. She couldn't trust anyone, especially the main protagonists.

The 11-mile sprint would take her over an hour to get there. She had been running for 20 minutes when it suddenly hit her. The drowsiness and dizziness overtook her, nearly sending her to cloud nine.

"Ah...fuck..." She groaned in annoyance as she stopped on a tree to take a break. "I should have known that the painkiller was a narcotic."

The instant pain reliever should've been a dead giveaway. I was too careless.

For a moment, the drowsiness was overwhelming. She stumbled and nearly fell off the large branch she rested on.

"Careful now." She felt warm hands gently pushed at her back, stabilizing her instantly. Her blood ran cold, and her body shivered in fear at the sudden physical contact. She turned around only to find emptiness.

This sensation again. It's the same as in the hospital room.

"Asier...?" She felt her emotions bubbling up. Her chest felt full. She felt it starting to throb in pain.

'There are a few people around.' Her hands clenched the note tightly. She felt angry and confused.

"Are you scared? Why do you come and go so quickly?"

'You would die in my presence. A second wouldn't hurt much.'

So annoying...

She decided to put this in the back of her mind. Her eyes tried scanning the area for the people that Asier mentioned, but nothing could be seen.

And then a sudden flash and loud explosion echoed through the forest.

BOOM!

The aircraft, which was suddenly hit by the missile, caught fire and quickly crashed to the ground. It was a sight to behold. Tora, however, focused on only one area. The location in which the missile was shot from.

Gotcha.

She quickly launched herself forward, heading straight to that location. Her foot stumbled occasionally, but that was the least of her concerns. This situation had been bothering her since she had her glands removed. She felt threatened by the world that Asier said was sentient. The world would do anything to push her towards the ending of the original plot.

Her hands grip the pistol as she approaches cautiously. She scanned the group of six that were standing there discussing something. It didn't matter to Tora whether these people were dead or alive when she captured them. All that mattered was that they were wearing gear made by her family.

She singled out the person who was heavily armed. It was best to quickly get rid of them while they were distracted. Their gears were indeed of the newest technology. She was barely within walking distance when their radar started to beep.

Tora took this as the cue to shoot. She fired shots in succession, not stopping until she ran out of bullets. Tora nearly fell over when a bullet came rushing past her neck. It had slightly grazed it, burning a bit of her skin off.

Her narcotic state had become her shackles. She knew that they would probably kill her now that she was on the ground. She quickly reloaded. Her heartbeat was so loud it blocked out every other sound.

She felt something wrap around her right arm, pulling her to her feet harshly. A multitude of bangs resonated near her head. An arm wrapped around her chest, pulling her up with the jump. It was the first time she had been dragged around like a ragdoll.

"I figured that it was you." He placed her down on the tree and gently turned her around. Tora couldn't help but stare confusedly at the person in front of her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to touch your chest like that."

She felt faint-headed the moment he opened his mouth. Her hands gripped the gun so tightly, that it became numb. "Dr. Hills, you're more pleasant to be around when your mouth is shut."

"It's best to talk without pointing guns at each other." His eyes traced her down to the gun pointed at him.

"You killed them off so quickly without questions." Something's off about this situation. How'd he get here so quickly when he was just on the aircraft that crashed?

"Are you suspecting that I'm doing this to shut them up?"

"Are you not?"

"I would kill anyone for you."

Tora was so baffled she became speechless.

"Red eyes, did you take narcotics to deal with the pain? Let me check the wound."

"I don't have time for that."

"What exactly happened? Your grandpa sure is scary. To have the audacity to hack into my controlled system is quite daring." He reached over and pushed the gun down so that it was no longer pointing directly at him. "I wasn't on the rescue aircraft if that's what you're wondering?"

What is this mind-reading sorcery...Scary.

"I'll help with the investigation. We can leave on my aircraft together. Don't worry about the others."

"I have plans with the rescue team..." Her eyes squinted lightly as she stared at him.

"Are you questioning if you can trust me or not?"

"Are you a mind reader or something?"

"No, I'm just paying attention. I can tell you who's behind all this." That caught Tora's attention. Her gaze was even more severe now. "There's something odd going on in the Sun Wing City, but I'm sure you've guessed that already."

"And my grandpa?"

"I gave him full control of the system, so he should be finding a few things now."

"Can you override the connection in the bracelets?"

"I'll get that done right now."

"Do it with the suit as well. I need to know every location they've been to."

"So commanding. I like it a lot."

Tora rolled her eyes and sat down, resting, while Liam gathered information from the dead. She went over the available information given in the novel, trying to piece things together.

Everything is a mess. Liam was right. I had already guessed that Sun Wing was involved. The Duke of Sun Wing, Duke Carson, was a known maniac who lived for control. He was someone who didn't have a great relationship with Grandpa.

His obsession with control over his son would mean that he knows 43 would be here. He wouldn't allow for anything to happen to his son. For now, I'll rule him out of the suspect list.

Tora had her suspicions about the Sun Wing City after seeing the newest model of the combat suit and weapons equipped by the assailants. It was something currently only accessible by the Royals and special units.

Next month, A special diplomat meeting will be held between the invaders and our Royals. The diplomatic relations would go decently well until the incident involving the death of regiment 118th. This inspired and created extreme morale for the war that followed.

That's supposed to happen during the field trip six months from now. Were the Royals involved in that incident as well? It wouldn't matter since I'll have access to Royalty when I meet our dear protagonist.

"I'm done. You're looking paler now. I should check your wounds." He was stopped by Tora.

"It's fine. We need to head to Section 16." She jumped down to pick up a few weapons and quickly left for Section 16.

"I'll hold on to your arm." Liam noticed that she was stumbling and swaying a bit. He gripped her arm and made sure she was landing safely every time they had to jump.

Tora had always noticed this, but now more than ever, how her body reacted. She had never been someone who liked physical contact much. This world, however, made her feel repulsive whenever she made physical contact with someone. Her Omega body would often react strongly near any form of scent. Even with the removal of the glands, her sense of smell was still very active.

Liam was an anomaly. She couldn't smell his scent nor feel his presence like others. To her, Liam felt like a blank sheet of paper. His touches didn't bother her, just like how Vick was.

Vick...? Her eyes trailed Liam's face to his hand that was gripping her arm. It's warm, but it's like something imitating human warmth...like a heating pouch almost...

"What is it?" Will he bleed if I stab him? "We just have to cross this part."

"Tell me a story from your childhood."

"What's this all of a sudden?" Tora kept quiet as she waited patiently for him to speak. "Do you need a distraction because you're feeling scared?"

Does he actually have abilities to read emotions and minds?

'It would be more interesting if you just stabbed him.' A note by Asier interrupted her line of thought.

"I noticed this a few times now, but you always suddenly have a blank paper in your hand." His eyes sparkled in amusement as they stared at the paper. "It's quite...magical."

"Grab it." She handed the note to him.

"Grab the paper...?" He looked a bit confused, reaching for the paper. When his hand went near it, Tora felt cold chills running up her spine. She noticed the sky darkened like a storm was about to hit them. Her hands tingled, sending her danger signs.

"Forget it. Let's go." Her hand crumbled the paper and tossed it aside before he grabbed it. Everything disappeared at once. The night sky cleared, showing signs of dawn approaching.

Section 16 was half filled with suburbs and the rest with forests and hills. When recovering the different Sections, walls had been built to separate them.

It was merely less than a mile from the wall that they found the aircraft. A couple of people were guarding it. Tora watched as Liam quickly took them out with the machete she gave him.

His movements were ruthless and quick, showing off his highly trained combat skills. Everything ended as quickly as it started. Tora felt her head spinning from overthinking.

I had to train like hell for two months before I could do this much. Something at that level probably requires a lifetime of practice. I'm probably just overthinking things...

"The area is cleared. Let's head over."

"Anything odd on the aircraft when you checked?"

"Yeah, you're gonna love it." He grinned and made sure she was walking fine.

The aircraft was large. It was an aircraft mainly used to transport cargo or vehicles. The inside was filled with loads of large metal containers that reeked of disgusting rotten flesh. It was unbearable, causing Tora to vomit her guts out.

"I'll take care of things here. The team has started moving towards the facility, so you should probably head back." His hands gently patted her back to help ease the vomiting.

"Do you know where my drop-off point was?"

"You need me to grab something from there?"

"You catch on a bit too quickly. I need you to find this in the thing that I killed." She took out the microchip she got from that mechanic beast and handed it to Liam.

"I'll send you back."

Tora wanted to reject, but she knew her body couldn't hold on for much longer. She gave in and they quickly headed to the facility.

"I forgot to ask, but what's the death count of the participants?"

"Out of 104 participants, only 38 remain."

"There's only six of us at the facility. Where's the remaining 32?"

"They're at the medical facility down, towards the south, near Section 14."

"I didn't realize that there was a facility down there."

"For training purposes, the maps don't show any other buildings except for the main Military Facility."

Tora wanted to return to the hospital and rip that novel a few more times. The twitching of her lips and eyebrows didn't go unnoticed.

A soft chuckle floated into her ears. Her head was patted softly, almost like it was placating her. "You can get angry after getting back. Quickly go in and get your wound checked. Come see me for another check-up after this."

Liam quickly left after saying that. Tora couldn't find words to describe how she currently felt. She felt it weird to have someone care for her like this.

"Boss!" Ryan came over to greet her. "You don't look so good."

"Hallie!" Someone came running over.

"Colonel Clark, please refrain from calling me so casually."

"Don't be like that. Besides, where have you been? You look terrible. I was just about to go find you." He reached forward but was stopped by Ryan.

"Miss Moore needs medical attention, please call the medics over." Ethan was taken aback but nodded and headed off to grab a medic. "Boss, maybe you should sit down for a bit."

"I'm fine. When did they get here?"

"A little over 20 minutes."

"Have they checked on the corpses yet?"

"Yes, but only a few of them looked like they were trying to find something." Ryan watched as Tora's lips curled creepily again. He felt shivers dancing around his skin. "I'm guessing that they are looking for this."

"You're looking cuter by the minute, 43." Tora gave his shoulder a rough pat. Ryan suddenly feared for his future when he saw her wide grin.

"I thought that the corpses might also have a microchip, so I checked while Kierra distracted the others. Turns out they really have one..."

"Good boy. I'll help you cancel your engagement as thanks."

"Engage—What? My engagement—that's...how did you know I wanted to escape it?"

"Because your engagement partner is right here in this room. Keep that hidden and hand it over to either Dr. Hills or Colonel Moore."

"She's here...? Well, I already have someone I like anyway." He quickly hid the microchips and saluted her. "I'll make sure to complete this mission successfully, Boss!"

What a weirdo...