Chapter 44

Chapter 44

-Farley-

The movie went as well as I'd hoped. I'd enjoyed spending more time talking about the food then I actually did when watching the movie. Pax's mind worked in such a unique way that I couldn't predict what he was going to say next. His thoughts on 'the lady and the tramp' trope had surprised me, but it was understandable. He didn't know the origin of it, so he just saw it as two people kissing with food in their mouths.

"What kind of trope would you have?" I asked him. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't making a mental list of everything we'd discussed.

"You're already asked that," Pax pointed out with a smile.

"Did I? I don't recall." I tried to play it off with a shrug. "If I did, you didn't give me an answer."

Pax tilted his head upwards. His eyes were closed, making me notice how thick his eyelashes are. "I don't know what tropes are," he admitted. "I can't give you one if I don't know that. Apparently, I don't like them."

I sighed and teased, "So much to learn." I started to rub my thumb along the back of his hand, something I did when I was bored, or the movie was slow. "I suppose a trope is something which is overused. Or maybe it's a staple for the genre."

"So, two people kissing with their mouths full is overused?" His face scrunched up in disgust. "I'm not sure I'll like Rom-coms then."

I tried to hold in my chuckle at how he pronounced 'Rom-coms' and instead shifted so the laptop was beside me instead of on our laps. "I'll have to show you the original scene then. You'll understand. I'll see if there's audio description for it."

His eyes opened and his smile widened. I noticed he did that a lot. He kept his eyes shut the majority of the time, but if he were happy, they'd be open. I didn't know why he did it, but a little voice inside my head thought it was adorable, as though he was trying to take in as much of the moment as he could.

"Do you think that there is?" he asked. His fingers tightened around my hand; they were twitching but it was barely noticeable.

"It's an old movie, so probably." I was going to point out that he still hadn't answered the question, when he pulled away from me, only to wrap both of his arms around me in the biggest hug I'd received from him.

"Hey, what's this for?" I asked. "Not that I'm complaining." I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed his back. The blankets had been discarded about an hour ago, so all that was blocking my touch was his thin t-shirt.

"No reason," he said with his voice muffled by my shoulder. His hair tickled my nose, filling my senses with the shampoo that we had started to share. "Can we stay like this?"

If we weren't going to before, we certainly will now that he asked. It made my chest warm.

I put some meditation music on, and we cuddled until sleep took us. It was the first time in a long time that I actually got a good night's sleep. I had worries, but for that night, it was peaceful. That all changed in the morning as my first thought was 'what are we going to do?'.

I turned my head only to be met by Pax's fluffy hair. He was leaning on me and had his arm wrapped around my waist. I didn't know when that happened, but I thought it was adorable. I didn't want to move.

I wriggled out of his grip and gave Pax my pillow to cuddle whilst I went to the bathroom. The sun was only just starting to peak out of the clouds, so it must have been really early.

I had a quick shower and got dressed before heading downstairs and checking my phone when I got outside. I had learnt my lesson not to spend too much time on it out there, but it was a very nice morning. It had been raining last night, judging by the smell of rain and residual water on the plants.

"Good morning," Caspian greeted from the kitchen window.

I jumped out of my skin and resisted the urge to punch him. His head was right next to my shoulder and his breath tickled my ear.

He chuckled and joined me outside. "Anything of use?" he asked and gestured to my phone.

"No," I answered with a sigh. "I thought that Rowan would be spending hours trying to figure out where the stream came from. I expected him to text me it." It was probably wishful thinking, but I knew that he would have been up until ungodly hours of the morning on his laptop.

"I told him not to," Caspian informed. "I didn't want him to make himself bad over it. Especially since we can't do anything at the moment."

I shook my head. "We can." My voice wasn't at all confident. "We'll figure something out at least."

"I feel like we keep saying that every day." He sighed. "How's your leg doing?"

I looked down to my leg which still had a bandage on it. I had completely forgotten that I was hurt, other than in the shower where I tried my best to stop the bandage from getting too wet. "It's fine."

"And how was your date?"

I put my phone in my pocket and sent him a 'really?' look. "It was fine, pretty fun. I need to show him The Lady and the Tramp." I fiddled with the strings of my hoodie whilst I turned back to the garden. "He also really liked the pastries. I made a mental note of his favourites."

"What does Lady and the Tramp have to do with the pastries?" Caspian sent a wink my way.

"Nope, no. Get your mind away from there," I scolded. "We were watching a romance film and they used the trope." It was a feeble attempt at explaining, and I was sure my cheeks were bright red.

"Ah, so he's into romance?" Caspian teased.

I rolled my eyes and huffed with a nod.

"I think it's rather cute," he continued. "Did you ask him what he thought was romantic?"

"Oh my gosh, Caspian." I pushed myself off the wall and started to head back inside. "How are our guests?"

"You did," he confirmed with a muted cheer. "I knew it." He cleared his throat and eyed the house. "I think they're fine. I haven't seen anyone this morning. Aiden and Ralph should be returning soon."

I nodded and moved to the fridge, grabbing some eggs. "Cooking for an army again?" I put the eggs on the bench and reached into the very back of a cupboard, pulling a platter out.

"Yes. A smaller army this time though." Caspian pointed at me and then to the cupboard which held the miscellaneous items. "Have a look in there, would you? Clem insists that we have some pancake mix in there, but I can't find it."

"That would be because nothing is labelled in this house." I did as I was told and pulled out several containers. "Who had this bright idea?"

"Your mam," he answered. I expected him to laugh at his primary-school-level joke. No laugh came. "Really, she did."

I sighed and determined which one was the pancake mix. "Considering one of them is pure salt, I'd be very concerned if you'd gotten them mixed up."

Caspian looked at his watch. "Oh, ten to six. I best head off." He let the kitchen before I could reply.

I made pancakes and various other things for breakfast. They weren't kidding when they say that wolves do actually eat a lot. It was like cooking for three families at the moment, something which both wasn't in our budget or our capabilities. Rowan bounded u to me at around eight am with a smile on his face.

"Did you have a good night?" he asked. "I did. Harlow and I were talking until like eleven. Well, everyone was talking until about midnight when we were all forced to sleep by certain grumpy-pants,"

I chuckled, knowing that it was definitely Caspian. "I had a good night, yes." I ruffled his messy hair and sat on the stairs in the passage. "What did you guys talk about?"

"They mainly told stories about how Harlow and Aiden's mam was poisoned by wolf's bane a few years ago and how Karim got those scars. You know, that could definitely be his villain origin story."

I reached around the corner and grabbed my trainers, slipping them on my feet and tying them. "Karim having a villain origin story? Unbelievable." I was clearly being sarcastic.

"I know right?" Rowan asked, not seeming to pick up on my sarcasm. "But we also talked about how they live in the woods. Karim has a pack smaller than ours. Well, it's the same size. But it's rare!"

I smiled to myself at Rowan's excitement. It was rare he got to talk to other werewolves and meet other packs. Though, I don't know what he did in his spare time on that werewolf version of the internet.

"Where are you going?" he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"It's Thursday," I informed. "That means that the bins need to go out." I pointed towards the front door with the key, which I then used to unlock it. "Unless you'd like to?"

Rowan shook his head. "I just don't see why you're putting shoes on..." I zoned out of his ramblings as we'd had this conversation before. He may be perfectly happy walking around barefoot, but I wasn't. It wasn't because I was scared of the germs, you could easily wash your feet. The pavement was anything but smooth on our street, something Pax had learned the hard way.

Rowan followed me back into the kitchen and out the door. "Are you even listening to me?" he asked as I put the bag of rubbish down to open the bin.

"Not since you told me about how to avoid getting holes in socks," I replied. "We've talked about this."

"Yes, but I changed the topic." Rowan flicked hair out of his face. "I've got a plan, but I don't' want anyone to know."

I paused and narrowed my eyes. "Rowan, that's not a good idea."

"You don't even know what it is," he exclaimed. "If you'd listen to it, maybe you'll change your mind."

"I don't think going behind their backs is a good idea in general."

Rowan crossed his arms and nodded towards the house. "Look, I can probably track that feed. Data analyse it. I could find out when it was streamed or made. We know who is a part of the plan. We can track them down and kill them. We could do so much, yet everyone is taking the peaceful way out."

"Is this you just admitting you just want to fight?" I asked slowly. "Rowan-"

"They hurt Iris, and they hurt you. Farley, I'm not going to just let them get away with this."

"They're not going to," I assured. "We'll stop them, and we'll figure out how to deal with it when the day comes." I put the lid back on the bin and headed inside. "Although, tracking and data analysis is a good idea."

"I know," he said and trailed after me. "I thought of it."

Rowan had been sending me texts all day updating me on his progress. I honestly didn't want to read them. I knew that no matter what I did, Rowan would continue searching until he found someone to go for. The best thing I could do is be there for him when he eventually does. Telling Caspian would be the sensible thing to do, but if I did that, I would be betraying Rowan's trust. We were like siblings; I didn't want to lose that. I couldn't tell Iris, she was too unpredictable for me, along with Clementine. The two of them would either ask to talk to him outside and have a discreet conversation, or they'd shout at him until their throats were sore.

This left me to choose between telling a stranger, telling Pax, or suffering in silence until something bad happens we weren't prepared for.

Whilst Rowan created a nest in our room, Pax and I were in Pax's favourite spot, the table in the garden. He spent the majority of days there, doing work, chatting, or playing some kind of game. Karim and Harlow were training a few feet away whilst Emi was with Iris in the living room. I had no clue where Caspian and Clementine were, probably in their room.

"Pax?" I broke the silence. "How are you taking all this?"

He had his elbows resting on the table, the sleeves of my shirt rolled up so that more of his arm could breathe. "Taking...what?" He faced me, probably moving closer than he intended, but I didn't mind.

"Potentially seeing your parents again," I answered. "Fighting the people that you were close to. All of it really."

Pax sighed. "I'm taking everything with a kilo of salt." I opened my mouth to correct him, but he held up his hand. "I know what I said. I don't believe they're alive, and I'm not going to get my hopes up. As for fighting Rosary and Cedar, I'd been waiting for the opportunity for years."

My eyes widened. "Were they really that bad?" I asked, suddenly feeling worry seep into my veins.

Pax hesitated. "Not really,2 he said and placed a hand to his chin. "I'm not sure what 'that bad' is. I just never really got the chance to train with or fight any of them. None of them stuck up for me when Kian made all the decisions about my life. I think they mainly just ignored me, unless Kian told them not to."

I hummed and then my phone buzzed. My eyes skimmed over the message to see that Rowan had made slight progress, he had the general location. We knew that already, but it made the end result more promising.

"Well, now you won't be ignored again," I said and gently grasped Pax's other hand.

He smiled at me, nudging me with his shoulder. "You're stuck with me now. Poor you."

I laughed and pouted. "Yes, how will I ever cope?"

"See Karim? That's how you flirt," Harlow teased loudly.

My cheeks heated up and Pax's turned light pink.

"I know how to flirt, I just don't see the point," Karim argued. "We're already together, I tease you enough, don't I?"

Harlow tilted his head from side to side. "Well, if you flirt more, I'd be able to tell the difference. "As soon as he finished the sentence, he had to jump out of the way of Karim's fist, which had been thrown half-heartedly.

"Oh stop," Karim turned his attention away from Pax and I. "We can continue this conversation later." I could've sworn Karim sent a wink towards Harlow.

"Your phone's ringing," Pax informed.

I opened my mouth to argue, but stopped short when I saw it was, there just wasn't a ringtone sounding. The caller ID was blank.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Stop it," said a voice on the other end. It was completely robotic, probably a computer software. "We know what you're doing. Stop it."

I turned around and gestured to those who were training to come stop what they were doing. "Who is this?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't get a straight answer.

"That's the point of a robotic voice, As-" The voice paused for a moment. The tapping of a keyboard and a thump filled the silence. "This isn't an interrogation."

"No, it's a threat," Karim said as he took the phone off me. "And if I find that wolf who-" The phone was taken out of his hand by Harlow and handed back to me.

"I didn't think anymore threats were necessary," I informed. "You know, when you attacked harmless humans because you were after me."

"I'm glad we got the message across," the voice replied. "You hurt one of -two of us as well."

It was clear that they hadn't expected us to talk back. They probably had a script to follow. I chuckled to myself, imagining them practising it in the mirror before picking up the phone.

"Would you take that as a threat as well?" I asked.

The line went dead.

"Okay, what was that?" Pax asked. He had a frown on his face and his eyebrows were furrowed. "I didn't follow it."

"It was someone using a voice-changing device," I informed, already standing up to go inside. "Direct threats are something completely concrete in werewolf society. We'll be able to find out where it's from."

Pax didn't say anything, but he followed me inside the house and up to our room. I knocked on the door, only seeing the blanket fort and a shadow inside.

"What's the password?" Rowan asked. The tapping of his keyboard rang loudly, along with music which I assume he'd be listening to through headphones.

"We need you to track a call," I said, lifting one of the blankets up. "Why stay in here if you're hot?" I asked, gesturing towards his shirtless appearance.

"That's not the password," Rowan remarked as he glanced up at me. "Because blanket forts are cool, I like the roof thing." He pointed towards the blankets which made up the roof.

"Why don't you just buy a tent?" I reached backwards and tugged on Pax's hand.

Pax came forward and knelt just inside of the fort. "What did you say about tracking calls?" Pax inquired. "How do you do that?" I was unsure whether or not he was trying to get us back on track, or if he hadn't heard what had been said after that. My vote was the former.

"He gives me the phone and I use my laptop to do some illegal stuff," Rowan informs. "You know, maybe I should be a detective when I'm older."

I rolled my eyes and handed him my phone. "Rowan the werewolf detective sounds like a children's TV show."

Rowan scoffed, but not because of my words. "You'd think they'd at least use an actual caller ID."

Pax turned his head towards me.

"I don't know," I said with a shrug and sat down next to Pax. "It was a direct threat to stop what we're doing."

Rowan hummed, his face losing a bit of colour. "Don't know what that means, but alright." He plugged my phone into his laptop and started to type again. "Oh, no."

I shuffled forward to try and get a glimpse of his screen. "What is it?" I asked.

Rowan turned his laptop towards me and pointed at a familiar postcode. "The phone call came from around the corner."

Hello lovelies!!

I hope that you enjoyed the chapter :D

The question of the chapter is-do you like to use candles?

My mam's started to use candles at night in the kitchen- all kinds of different scented candles, and I honestly adore scented things- particularly cotton and lavender- I'm not allowed to light candles by myself...I swear I'm an adult! I just can't see the wick too well...or the fire.