Chapter 12

Chapter 12

-Farley-

I don't know why I asked. I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. Pax turned to me, his lips still agape. My nails were digging into my arms in a futile attempt to keep me grounded, despite my body naturally wanting to drift away from the embarrassment.

"I was very clear I didn't want to meet you," Pax stated.

I had to admit, I felt a pang in my chest. I liked to talk with people, so hearing something like that always hurt me. "And what about now?" I asked hopefully.

"I don't want to meet you a little less." He shrugged his shoulders. He would look nice in wintry weather, a beanie on his fluffy hair and a scarf around his neck, keeping him warm and cosy, despite some redness on his cheeks.

I shook my head to get the ridiculous thoughts away. "That's progress, I suppose." I kicked a stone out of Pax's way. "So, what do you think about meeting my pack?"

He exhaled through his nose. "Whether I'd like to or not, I wouldn't be able to." He crossed his arms, a frown coating his features.

"You'd be able to," I persisted. "We could find a way, even if you just...go a little outside of the forest. That means that we won't technically be in the forest." I felt like I was belittling him slightly, by explaining that we wouldn't technically be in Kian's territory.

He shook his head and stopped. We had come to the edge of the forest, the road a few feet away. I hadn't seen one car drive down this road, but it wasn't at all evenly paved.

"It's too risky, you've already gotten into trouble." He didn't move. He was a statue turned in my general direction. "You should go."

I didn't move. I didn't want to move. I didn't understand what was so intriguing about this boy that I would put myself in danger to learn more about. He was attractive, incredibly attractive, but that wasn't something I tended to dwell on. Maybe it was the challenge, to knock down his walls and get to know him. I wouldn't put either of those reasons past myself. I'd had crushes before, but those were people I knew well, which made this situation feel strange.

"Farley," Pax said warningly. "Go, before someone comes after us." The words filled me with a sense of excitement and danger. We weren't meant to be doing this, which was stupid, but it made me feel like a protagonist in a Shakespearean play.

"I'll be back, every day you don't have a sign." Pax huffed a laugh, but still didn't move. "I might even bring the pack, who knows?"

"Be sensible, Farley."

I waved to him as I walked backwards. "No promises."

He didn't move as I backed away. I had to turn around approximately twenty feet away from him to see where I was going. I was sure he'd be able to tell if I stopped or moved in the other direction. I moved away from him with a nagging feeling in my stomach. The smell of the forest consumed me, whilst the smell of play-doh, which had been invading my senses for the past half an hour, faded away.

"There he is," Rowan's voice was the first thing I heard when I entered the house. I couldn't see anyone in the living room or kitchen. I furrowed my eyebrows and sighed. Whenever I heard that sentence, I knew that there was something wrong. Or more likely, that Rowan had done something wrong.

What's he done now? I wandered as I stomped up the stairs. I had taken my shoes off at the door, as usual. A ruckus was coming from our room, the closer I got, the bigger the hole in my stomach became.

I opened the door and froze; our entire room was covered in some sort of white foam. I blinked a few times and shut the door again. I covered my face with both hands and groaned.

"I better open this door and see that has magically disappeared." No such luck. The foam was covering everything, not even the ceiling was spared. "What did you do?"

The door behind me creaked open, causing me to jump and turn around. Iris poked her head out of the door of her room with a small cheeky grin on her face. Expressions like those reminded me that the two redheads were twins. "Science experiment." Her eyes shifted from me to the door. "I think it's a bit of a fail, don't you?"'

"I did it because I was bored," Rowan's muffled voice yelled. "You should've stayed."

I rolled my eyes and looked towards Iris. "What was your project?"

She opened the door to let me inside, Clementine was swinging in her painted blue chair, a common sight. What wasn't a common sight was the light that reflected off the cream walls.

"It's about lights and shadows and the science behind it." Iris moved to a contraption in the middle of the room, a light bulb with a paper wall around it, little cuts making the light. "I much prefer the presentation aspect, as opposed to fancy elephant toothpaste."

I clicked my fingers and groaned. "That's what it was," I said dramatically. I looked towards the door for extra effect. "I will need to face the foe of the elephant toothpaste." I did not want to go back in there. "Why'd he make so much? It's obvious that it gets bigger."

Clementine laughed. "He didn't believe it." She smirked and pulled down the rim of her cap. "I won the bet though, Caspian thought it'd only affect his side of the room."

I pointed at her with a facade of betrayal. "You're the reason my side is ruined then, he obviously heard the bet and did it on purpose." I slid towards the door and bowed. "Ladies, I shall take my leave on this quest to rid my room of the pestilence."

"Well don't send it in here," Iris said. "I don't want my brother ruining my project."

I barked a laugh and exited the room. Caspian passed me in the hall, patting my shoulder, and wishing me good luck. I was going to stop him, to tell him that we needed to talk, but he was in his office before I could.

Rowan was singing a song which I didn't recognise at the top of his lungs. I wasn't even in the room, but it was annoying me. It was all on purpose, to make me come in there and help him. Doing what he wanted wasn't really my intention, but I feared for my belongings enough to go in anyway.

I rushed towards my bed, moving my quilt and slippers which were hanging off the side. The curtains were already a lost cause, they'd need to be cleaned. Rowan's side of the room was completely covered. The walls and bed were completely submerged, his table held a beaker which lay on its side.

"You're helping?" Rowan asked excitedly. I sent him a glare before exiting the room. "No, no, no. no, come help!" He scrambled off his bed and towards the door.

"I'm being smart Rowan, look it up." I was just in the room next to him, so he could hear me perfectly well. I grabbed the bucket from under the sink and entered the room again. "Get the foam in here, then we can get rid of it." I chucked the bucket at him and left to get another one.

"How do we get rid of it?" Rowan looked lost, looking around with wide eyes.

"Down the sink, how else would we do it?" I grabbed some disposable gloves out of the bathroom, which Clementine often used for her hair, and slipped them on. "This is going to take a while."

Thanks to Rowan's disaster, we were subjected to Clementine's cooking. That woman could burn pasta if she tried to make it. Burnt crumpets and soft cheese was the second option, which we all opted for. I didn't get a chance to talk to Caspian, I had forgotten to. I didn't remember until I was in the shower, freezing cold water waking me up.

I hurried to get dried and ready in plain blue jeans and a grey T-shirt. Caspian's door was open, so I knocked on it and waited in the doorway. He was sitting at his desk, staring into space with a pen between his lips. He didn't acknowledge me the first time I knocked. I knocked again, causing him to jump in his seat and drop the pen.

"Farley?" he chuckled as he picked up the pen. "I'm sorry, you caught me deep in my thoughts." He turned the seat around and gestured for me to enter. I'd heard it was rare for alphas to let other members of the pack into their rooms, somewhere on the werewolf-net. It was difficult to tell which posts were genuine and which parts were simply humans trying to bring some ounce of fiction to their lives. I always took things I found on the internet with a pinch of salt. It was only confirmed when I attended a small werewolf meeting, with just us and two other packs. "What is it you need?"

I gave a sheepish grin, rubbing my left hand down my right arm, I avoided his gaze. "Well..." I trailed off.

"What did you do?" Caspian groaned.

I bit my lip; he could clearly tell I was hiding something. "I met the other pack," I said, bracing myself for whatever shouting would come my way.

Caspian inhaled sharply. "So, you plainly went against what I suggested?"

I shook my head frantically. "No, no. I didn't purposefully go there trying to bump into someone. I'd been walking down the same path for years, I thought I'd be safe." I had to bring my eyes to meet his. "It was an accident, but they took me to their packhouse."

Caspian put his head in his hands and groaned again. "This is causing me stress." He raised his head to look at me. "Do you think they know you're a werewolf?"

I shook my head again. "They were acting incredibly strange, but I don't think so." As I spoke, I remembered that I had forgotten to phone my parents last night. My hand hovered over my jean pocket, where my phone was kept. "They let Pax escort me out."

"Is this who it's all about?" Caspian asked softly. His entire expression had changed to one of confusion and pity. "Is this all for a person?"

My mouth ran dry. Was it? I wanted to get to know him, and I would be able to do that if I saw him more. He intrigued me and I didn't want to leave him yesterday. "Yes," I said unsurely.

"What's special about this person?" He stumbled over the question a few times.

I was silent as I thought about it. I'd thought about it before, and I was sure Caspian had asked it in our last meeting, or something similar. I felt like he was going to ask until he got a certain answer, an answer I didn't know.

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't know, but he is." I ran a hand through my wet hair. "I asked if he wanted to meet the pack, but he said it's too dangerous."

Caspian's eyes became alert, and he shot to his feet. "So, he knows we're wolves?" He stepped towards me, causing me to step back in fear.

"Yes, but." I didn't know what to say, it was stupid of me to have told him. I felt like I could relate to him, like I was comforting him. "He didn't freak out or anything, I told him I knew he was one. I didn't really tell him anything about the pack."

Caspian crossed his arms and looked down at me, he was a few inches taller, but it was enough to give me anxiety. "Farley, when I said don't get involved, I meant it. I can't afford to get messy with other packs."

I didn't know what he meant by 'messy'. We trained in case of an attack or battle, but we hadn't experienced anything like that. Our pack didn't get involved in such violent forms of communication.

"What should I do?"

"Stay away from him." That was the one demand I didn't want to hear. "At least until I try to sort something out, find out who he is."

I nodded glumly. "His name is Pax; he's lived there around ten years..." I trailed off, now looking at the wall behind him. "That's all I know."

QUESTION OF THE DAY!

What do you think Farley should do?