Chapter 102: Who Is Zayden?
They kept running until the hospital lights disappeared completely.
Jane finally said, "He’ll come after us."
"Yes," Liam agreed. "But not tonight."
Jax shot him a questioning look. "What makes you so sure?"
Liam turned, rain streaming down his face.
"Because Alpha doesn’t chase what he thinks he already owns."
They melted into the darkness, and for the first time in a long while, Alpha pursued nothing but shadows. But who knows which shadow will be escaped and which shadow Alpha’s men will catch?
The forest swallowed them whole.
Branches snagged at their clothes as they dashed through, boots sinking into the muddy ground, breaths coming hard from lungs that were already burning. The rain made everything slick, turning roots into traps and stones into potential weapons just waiting to break some bones.
"Don’t stop," Liam urged from the front, voice sharp but steady.
At first, they stuck close together, shadows weaving through even darker shadows, bodies close enough to feel each other’s warmth. A flash of lightning lit up the sky briefly, revealing their faces, fear written all over them.
Then things changed. A gunshot rang out behind them, cutting through the forest like a knife.
They scattered, no plan, just instinct ripping them apart.
"Aylin!" Jane yelled.
Another shot followed, way too close.
Aylin thought fast and turned sharply to the left, dodging low branches, her heart pounding against her ribs. She heard heavy footsteps to her right, uneven and loud, and assumed it was Jax or Jane close behind.
But it wasn’t. The rhythm felt off. She pushed herself harder.
The forest thickened, swallowing sound and distorting direction until left and right didn’t make sense anymore. Leaves whipped against her face, and thorns snagged at her sleeves. She leaped over a fallen log and didn’t look back.
"Stay together!" Liam’s voice echoed faintly behind her.
Then it disappeared. Silence rushed in, loud and overwhelming.
Aylin slowed down, then stopped. Her chest heaved as she bent over, hands on her knees. She listened, counted heartbeats, and strained to catch familiar voices.
Nothing. No Liam. No Jax. No Jane.
Just the forest. Then she heard it, voices. Men’s voices. Low, sharp, and organized.
Alpha’s men.
Panic surged through her, hot and sudden, creeping up her spine, but she pushed it down. Panicking got people killed. She’d learned that lesson early on, and it was a tough one.
She turned and ran again, this time as quietly as she could. Her steps were light. Her breathing was steady, despite the fire in her lungs.
Lights flickered between the trees behind her.
"They’re splitting up," one guy called out.
"Spread out. She’s here somewhere."
They were getting close.
Aylin veered off the path, sliding down a slight slope into a thicket of brambles. Thorns ripped at her hands as she fought her way through, ignoring the sting and the blood.
Then she spotted it, a hollow under an uprooted tree, roots arched like ribs over a dark space.
She dove inside. Mud soaked her clothes right away. The earth smelled sharp and wet. She curled up tight, pressing her mouth against her sleeve to muffle her breathing.
Footsteps passed so close that she could see boots through the gaps in the roots.
A flashlight scanned the ground.
"Nothing here."
"Keep looking."
Minutes crawled by like hours. Her muscles shook from trying to stay still. Her lungs burned, begging for deeper breaths.
Eventually, the voices faded away. She didn’t move. Didn’t let herself breathe deeply.
Only when her body started to shake from exhaustion did she cautiously inhale, slow and careful, until her heartbeat calmed from a roar to a dull throb.
She was alive, for now. Time blurred together.
The forest cooled down. The rain turned into mist. Her eyes closed against her will.
Sleep crashed over her like a blow.
When she woke up, the forest had changed.
Weak light filtered through the canopy, gray, early, and unsure. Birds chirped somewhere far away, unaware of the hunt that had just swept through their world.
She didn’t move right away. She listened.
Nothing. No voices. No footsteps. No engines.
Slowly, she crawled out from under the roots. Her body ached everywhere, legs stiff, arms scratched up, throat dry as sand.
She swallowed painfully. Water. She needed water.
That was when she heard it, faint, steady, unmistakable. Flowing.
She crept towards the sound carefully, avoiding branches and keeping low. The forest opened a bit, revealing a shallow stream cutting through stone and moss.
She dropped to her knees and drank, hands shaking, water trickling down her chin. It was cold and tasted like earth, but she didn’t care.
She splashed her face and froze.
Her reflection stared back at her, dirty, wide, and hollow eyes, hair a tangled mess.
She barely recognized herself. Aylin stood and moved on. Going back wasn’t an option.
If Alpha’s men were waiting for daylight, the forest behind her was a trap. She had no weapon, no food, no one to back her up.
Just herself. She walked on.
Minutes turned into hours. Her legs grew heavy, each step slower than the last. Hunger clawed at her stomach, sharp and relentless.
Her mind wandered back to the auction hall, the noise, the lights, the smell of fear.
The woman guard. The food she had pressed into Aylin’s hands like a secret.
"Eat. Quietly."
That had been the last thing she’d eaten.
Her vision blurred as she leaned against a tree, sliding down to sit. She pressed her forehead into her palms and forced herself to breathe.
Think. Martial arts wouldn’t help her against guns.
Running forever wasn’t an option. She only rested for a moment.
Then, voices. Close. Too close.
Her eyes snapped open.
She rose silently, turning her head to pinpoint the sound. Men again, this time laughter, relaxed and confident.
They were searching.
She moved in the opposite direction, careful at first, then faster as the voices followed, a branch snapped.
"Hey!"
She ran.
Boots thundered behind her. Shouts tore through the forest.
"There!"
She pushed herself harder, her lungs screaming and her vision fading. The ground sloped suddenly; she tripped, caught herself, and kept moving.
Branches scratched at her skin. Her scarf had long been torn away. Her lips were chapped and bleeding. The trees blurred into messy streaks of green and black.
Just when she thought she couldn’t keep going,
She crashed into something solid, a chest so tough it knocked the wind out of her.
She stumbled back, gasping.
He stood there like he owned the place. Zayden.
