Chapter 10

Chapter 10

-Farley-

"What's our plans for the weekend?" Rowan asked as he threw a ball up in the air and caught it. We had just finished our classes on a Friday night. Iris was cooking downstairs, her humming and singing filling the entire house, along with the smell of pastry and beef.

"You mean what are my plans?" I filled in a bottle label in my colouring book with a red pencil. I had a stack of colouring books beside my bed, in order of spine colour to make it more aesthetically pleasing. "I do not know your plans."

"You're leaving me alone?" Rowan groaned and turned to look at me. "We've hardly seen each other this week."

I chuckled. "Rowan, I highly doubt a week away from me would kill you." I coloured in a sweet jar in blue. "We share a room; we see each other every day."

"But you've been spending less time here," he pointed out. "I feel like I've hardly seen you" It was at times like these, I felt sorry for whoever becomes Rowan's partner in the future. Maye that's what he needs, something more than the four of us as company.

"Why don't you go out? Go to the park or something." The bench was coloured brown, with some red here and there. "Meet people."

"Like you're so social?" He scoffed and paused his ball throwing. "Why don't we go out together? See if we bump into anyone."

I bit my lip, or rather my tongue which I hadn't noticed was sticking out. "I've got plans."

Rowan nearly fell off his bed with the laughter which boomed from his chest. "You? Plans? You haven't had plans since I came here." I paused my colouring and gave him a stern stare. "Got a date? Who am I kidding? Of course, you don't have a date. Why don't we cut those curls off? Maybe then you'll get more plans."

I rolled my eyes at him before turning back to my colouring book. Rowan and I both had extremely curly hair, I would argue his hair was curlier than mine. Clementine once dared me to straighten it, it looked absolutely horrific. It covered my eyes and ears, it honestly looked like I hadn't cut my hair in years, which was accurate. The others didn't seem to share my opinion of the look. Rowan mutters to himself at least three times a week about cutting and dying his hair, but he never ends up going through with it.

"Don't ignore me," Rowan whined. The background would've been coloured purple, had Rowan not thrown a pillow at my pencil, causing the pigment to move outside of the line. I sent him a glare and turned my pencil around to rub out the line. "We used to hang out loads."

"Maybe I have had my fill of Rowan?" I teased him. A knock sounded on our door frame. Iris strolled in and crossed her arms.

"Think you've got some inhuman resistance to Rowaness," Iris continued my teasing. "Now come and infect the rest of us, tea's ready."

Rowan couldn't get out of the door quick enough, he left Iris blinking in surprise. "He's bored," I told her. I put my book on the pile and put my pencil case on top.

"I can tell, I could hear him from downstairs." I shook my head and followed her to the kitchen. Her plate was already waiting for her, chef gets first dibs.

When I told Rowan I had plans, I wasn't completely lying. My plans were to scope out the woods and see what the territory was like. If I bumped into Pax, then that would be a bonus. Ultimately, I was just a person wandering around the woods. I didn't have any bad intentions towards any other potential pack which may be living there. I just wanted to learn more; curiosity wasn't one of my most admirable traits.

It was scorching outside. I wore a red cap which I've owned since I was around eleven, a very thin vest which made little to no difference to my body temperature, and a pair of basketball shorts. My usual trainers protected my feet, but the grass still attacked my legs at any opportunity.

I didn't quite understand how I managed to spend so much time in here if I was in a pack's territory. The only security I've seen is Pax, I don't mean to doubt him, but I could easily fight him off. He looked frail, apart from his muscular legs. I wouldn't be able to keep up with him in a chase, despite working at the gym and constantly running around.

"Hey!" A voice made my blood freeze. With my right foot still hovering in the air, I turned around. "What're you doing here?"

A man with dark brown hair, both on his head and face, and blue eyes stared at me. He had his arms crossed over his muscular bare chest. His foot was tapping on the ground, and he leant against a tree.

"Uh, on a walk?" I tilted my head to the side, my hands gripping the straps of my backpack. "It's a nice day out today." I recognised the man. It had taken me a few moments, but it came to me. This was the person who called Pax a pup. This was...what's his name?

"It is," he agreed. The two of us stood in silence for a few moments. "I'm sorry, but you're not allowed to be here."

I bit my lip, "I've been coming here for a few years now." His eyes widened. "There's really nowhere to say the public can't be here. I know plenty who come camping here."

"And they're all in the wrong." He was trying to stay calm. I could hear the restraint in his voice, see his clenched fists. "The forest belongs to me and my family."

I nearly scoffed at how stupid that sounded. Even if I were a regular human, I wouldn't believe him. "Do you have something to prove that?" My chin was still high, he wasn't that much taller than me, but I wanted to look him directly in the eyes.

"I'll take you to my boss," he spoke more to himself than to me. He turned around and moved away from me. "You coming?" He didn't turn around as he asked, leaving me to slowly walk behind him. I wasn't going to try keeping up with him if he wasn't going to give me any consideration. If the forest belonged to his family, then why would he take me to his boss?

The walk was surprisingly quick, whether it be from me getting lost in my thoughts or the speed of which Cedar was walking. "You know," I started to talk as we approached a clearing. "You haven't told me your name."

"You haven't told me yours," he replied in a much different tone to the one he used earlier.

"Farley," I stated. I would've held my hand out for him to shake, but he still wasn't looking at me. That was, until I actually said my name.

"Strange name," he commented. "Cedar."

"Strange name," I mimicked his tone. "Nature seems to be very popular right now." He didn't make any sort of retort.

The house which came into view wasn't too different in size from my own. Even though it looked a lot worse for wear. It seemed like it had been built out of anything found in the woods, which it might have been. The door didn't seem too steady as it was pushed open, completely made of wood the same as the trees which surrounded us. The windows weren't even, I wondered how they got glass to be the exact shape of the holes in the walls. The stairs were made of the same wood as the door.

On the inside, it wasn't much different. Even though we have homemade furniture in our house, as well as some second-hand, the furniture here seemed a little off in every way. A chair with three uneven legs, a table whose legs caused more hangover on one side, and the fireplace was obviously made of any random stone which was found. Overall, it didn't look too bad.

"Are you done mister inspector?" Cedar asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at him and continued to follow him up very uneven stairs.

It was only when I heard the laughter of a child, and the chatter of two women that I really got anxious. I was doing something nearly opposite of what Caspian had told me to do. I was in the packhouse of another pack. I don't know why Cedar thought that his alpha would enjoy seeing me, I hoped that he couldn't tell that I was also a wolf.

Stepping into the office was like stepping into another world. It was pristine and well-organised. There was a single bookshelf against the right wall, a chair in front of the desk and a chair behind the desk. The desk itself looked like one you would find in any office, dark wood littered with paper. There were two windows behind the desk, providing the much-needed light.

Two people were in the room, both male. One was standing with their arms crossed and a cigarette in his mouth, the smoke filling the room. He had blonde hair which stuck up at the top, dark brown eyes, and a muscular build. The other man, who was sitting behind the desk, didn't look too different. His strawberry blonde hair was in the same style, but his eyes were a cold blue. I assumed that the frown which was plastered on his face lived there permanently.

"Cedar, you must have a very good reason to bring a person here," the man with blue eyes threatened. I shifted uncomfortably where I stood, I also wanted to know Cedar's reasoning.

"Kian, I found him in the woods." The noise of the birds singing filled the room for a few moments. Cedar held his hands behind his back. "Maybe he's the one that we've been suspecting..."

"Maybe," Kian muttered before standing up and stalking towards me. I wanted to back away from him. He looked me up and down, not even attempting to hide his disgust. "How long have you been coming to the woods?"

"Approaching two years," I answered. Kian's jaw clenched before he spun around, looking at the other man.

"Finn, how could this escape detection?"

The person, now known as Finn, looked between Kian and me. I couldn't read the expression on his face. He stepped forward, closer than Kian had, and took a deep breath.

"Go get the pup," Finn told Cedar, who nodded and exited the room.

"Don't think you're getting out of this Finn," Kian warned. "We can't blame the one who just started patrolling."

QUESTION OF THE DAY!!

Let's stick with keeping these chapter-based ...until I run out of questions :D

Do you guys like to draw/colour in?

I really like to draw- but I'm not very good- as for colouring in, I'm not a fan to be honest. I often needed my colours labelled, but the labels rubbed off and so I just got frustrated. And all of my pencils kept breaking! Maybe I'm just a bit too heavy-handed.