Chapter 38

Chapter 38

-Farley-

Pax was anxious. I was anxious too, but Pax wasn't hiding his as much as I was. He had one major breakdown around two weeks ago. It was terrifying to witness. It was as though all the emotions that he had ever experienced had come to the surface and burst out of him.

The situation hadn't improved at all in the last month; we had only gotten better at dealing with it. We created the safe house for Pax, somewhere close but unassuming. The abandoned library a few streets away was the perfect place. It was more than easy to get into the building, nobody had werewolf-proofed the door.

I must admit, it was fun to put together. Though, it was still very run down and uninhabitable. We didn't put a lot in, just took a lot of the old furniture out. It was easy enough to convince any authorities that we were legitimate removal men, thanks to Rowan.

I looked through the hole we had behind the bedframe and scowled. There was a wolf standing patiently in a patch of grass not very far from the building. Their nose was in the air and their eyes wandered.

I backed away and moved over to Pax again. "After this, tomorrow, we're going on a date," I stated.

Pax's breathing halted and he coughed. "What?" he asked. He blinked a few times and rubbed at his cheek.

"A date. I don't know what it'll be, but we're doing it." I nodded and crossed my arms. "The rule of three can still be applied. We can have a double date," I said. It seems like it would be more of a triple date, with the twins having some sibling bonding time. "I'm determined."

Pax laughed breathlessly. "Let's just see how everyone is, alright?"

I reluctantly nodded. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I know that one way or another, we'll do it. It was also an attempt at distracting ourselves.

There were still no noises outside, just an eerie stillness. The bell that we pulled earlier had ceased after five minutes. Hopefully, it means that someone's on their way. We had created a pretty large email thread full of all the wolf pack's emails. Those of the wolves who were on our side, anyway. Aiden had tried to convince us all to get messenger, but not many wolves were comfortable with that kind of casual communication.

It made sense, but it was annoying. I tried not to be too irritated as it was just a preference for tradition, but a few of us did end up getting a messenger group pulled together.

The issue was, I didn't have my phone on me. I made a mental note to bring that up the next time we have a family meeting. It wouldn't hurt to put an old phone in here.

"Did you see anything?" Pax asked, jarring me out of my thoughts.

"Yes," I answered simply. I didn't know how much the wolf outside could hear. "Can you hear anything?"

Pax nodded and pointed behind him. We were facing each other, so I was facing the direction he was pointing in. "It's getting louder."

I stood up from the chair and crossed my arms. It wouldn't be smart to talk very much now. The issue with being in a building laced with aconite, is that it made me feel sleepy and burnt my nose.

Bangs came from the door. Three, four, two, our secret code. We'd have to change it after today.

I lunged for the wood which covered the door and opened it. Rowan and Iris stumbled inside, Iris' arm around Rowan's neck. There was no sight of the others, so I closed the door again and replaced the wood.

"Are you hurt?" Pax asked as he stood up from the chair he was sitting in. He hadn't brought his cane, so his shoes shuffled across the floor with his lack of confidence. "Where are you hurt?"

Iris gave a weak smile and shook her head. "I'm okay, I just had quite a bit taken out of my ankle." We took her to one of the mattresses and I bent down, rolling up her trouser leg to reveal a very worrying bite mark on her calf.

"That doesn't look at all pleasant," I observed and took the first-aid kit which Rowan handed to me. It was a simple green box which we kept in a cupboard which no longer resembled a cupboard. "I'm not sure much here could help," I said as I sorted through the box, pulling out an alcohol wipe.

"Oh Poe, that's gonna sting," Iris groaned. She'd recently started to reference literary figures instead of swearing.

"Like a bitch, but it'll clean it," Rowan replied. He, clearly, found nothing wrong with allowing his words to become colourful. "That's gonna scar badly."

Iris shrugged and inhaled sharply as the wipe made contact with her messy leg.

"Did you recognise any of them?" Pax asked. He took Iris' hand and let her relieve some of her pain through squeezing his hand. The poor boy's fingers were turning purple.

"I didn't," Rowan replied. "Caspian did. That's why we're here. We got out of the door first and started to fight. It took Caspian some time to shift back and convince the others to do the same." Rowan's jaw was clenched, and his eyes didn't move from his twin's injury.

"So, they're just talking?" I asked with a frown, trying to scavenge some bandages from the box I was still holding.

"Don't you know? That's the solution to the world's problems. Just talking to each other without any action, just learning things for the sake of it, just-"

Rowan was interrupted in his rambles by Iris, "Rowan, not everything can be solved by violence either." She looked down at her leg with a frown. A hint of guilt laced itself in her voice.

"Don't you go feeling bad," Rowan scolded. "They broke our window; they woke up and chose violence."

Iris shook her head. "That's not how the saying goes." She sighed. "Who knows? They might have continued fighting."

"Were my parents still there?" I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah," Rowan replied. "Apparently they know the wolves too. I still don't see why they attacked if they were friendly."

"It might be because Pax wasn't there?" I offered. "They're only after the black wolf."

Iris shook her head. "They could've come through the living room window," she pointed out. "That would've nearly directly been in Pax's way."

I looked up at her with a slight glare. "How long have you known that?" I asked with a frown.

"Well, the thought comes to mind practically every time he sits there," she admitted. "But I feel like we'd be able to intervene before anything happens."

"The important thing is that Pax is alright," Rowan interrupted. He put a hand on my shoulder with a small smile. He was probably just trying to keep me from snapping. "We're mostly okay."

"But what Iris said does make sense," Pax muttered. "If they were after me, there are easier ways than going in through the kitchen window."

I hummed and finished attending to Iris' wound. "Maybe they're just not smart?" I asked and leant back. "It would depend on who their alpha is."

Iris and Rowan exchanged a glance. "I'm not sure they had an alpha with them," Rowan admitted. "Nobody acted like they were in charge."

Iris shook her head. "No, they seemed like they were just breaking in to break in."

"To scare us?" Pax asked. "They did a pretty good job."

"Could be," Rowan answered. "At least we have this place." He moved to a wall and slapped it, not bothering to hide the flinch.

"Are they still outside?" Pax asked.

I stood up and gestured for Rowan to help Iris off the bed. I bent down and pulled the bed away, looking through the hole. There wasn't a wolf on the other side, just pavement and buildings.

"Not here," I informed and put the bed back where it was. "Iris, you should lie down, it'll probably be best for your leg."

Iris nodded and lay back on the bed, resting her hands on her stomach. "Are we just going to wait?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"What else can we do?" Rowan asked. "I'm sure someone will come when the coast's clear."

And that's what we did, wait. We bored ourselves silly and hungry. Nobody came for us. It got to the point where Rowan was pacing the perimeter of the room and Iris was quizzing anyone who would answer her. Pax and I were still sitting side by side, having a quiet conversation about anything which popped to mind

Even though he'd been with us for a few months, he still didn't know everything about the world. I'd explained a few things like school and shopping centre stop him before, but nothing associated with surfing and skydiving, which was the topic of this conversation.

"Ugh," Rowan exclaimed and face planted a bed. "Can I go out?" He looked at me with wide and hopeful eyes.

"No," I stated. I had my arm around my stomach in a futile attempt to stop it frog rumbling. "You know the drill."

"Something might've happened," Iris argued. "We should ring the bell again."

"Please, no," Pax responded. "We've rang it three times. If we were getting an answer, we would've got it by now."

"The enemy must have left. I would've," Rowan said and rolled on his back.

Loud knocks shattered the conversation and created a brittle silence. The knocks were too quick to distinguish any sort of code.

We all held our breaths and waited for the noise again. The knocks came, three, four, two.

I let out a sigh of relief and launched towards the door with Rowan at my heels. Pax moved over to Iris and stood in front of her.

The wood keeping the door closed was removed and the door was unlocked.

Hello Lovelies!

I hope that you're all doing well :D

I'm running out of questions, which is slightly infuriating to me, as I really like questions. But I suppose I will clutch at straws. What's your favourite fruit juice?

I really like cranberry juice, but at the moment, we've got orange juice in the house and I've found myself opting for a little bit around two or three times a day. I don't drink a lot during those times, but it's lovely and refreshing when I do!