Chapter 45

Chapter 45

-Pax-

"What?" Farley asked as soon as Rowan finished his stance. Fingernails tapped against the sound I associated with laptops, and the darkness which I knew all-too-well became slightly less dark. I still couldn't distinguish much, but it seemed like a light was being shone in my eyes.

"You heard me," Rowan replied. "It came from around the corner. Who knows where they could be now?"

"They couldn't have gotten far," I interjected. "You'd still be able to track them if you go now."

Farley made a disapproving noise int he back of his throat. "We're not going to track them." Someone pulled the wire out from the laptop and the light was removed from my eyes. "It's too dangerous right now. We'll wait until we're able to actually fight back."

"But what if this is our only chance?" Rowan asked. "We could get revenge for what they did."

"Yeah, and we'll all get injured. Where would that leave us?" Farley challenged.

I didn't like to intervene when it came to conflicts, especially verbal ones. I never knew when I was overstepping, not that I had the chance to overstep much back in Kian's pack. I had known Rowan and Farley for over a month, nearly two, and I'm still not comfortable with challenging what either of them were saying.

"No, we'll be able to show that we can fight. Besides, you're not the one in charge here.," said Rowan.

"Neither are you," Farley pointed out. A breeze hit my back. "I'm going to tell Iris and Clementine what happened. Are you coming, Pax?"

I hesitated. "No, I'll stay here for a little while." I offered a small smile in his general direction.

"Cool, see you." His voice was quieter, making me slightly reconsider my decision. Though, I shook my head and shuffled closer to Rowan. I don't need to spend every moment around Farley.

"What's got you staying here?" Rowan asked grumpily. "You don't usually."

"I know," I said with a sigh. "I do usually stick with Iris, but I want to change that." I rested against the pillow which I had claimed yesterday, Mint and coffee filling my senses again. "Though, I've noticed you've been feeling a bit down."

Rowan scoffed. "I didn't know being a psychiatrist was one of your aspiring careers," he muttered. It only caused me to raise an eyebrow. "Sorry, I guess I'm just in a bad mood."

I nodded. "That's what I said," I pointed out. "Want to talk about it?"

There were a few moments of silence. "I just feel like Iris and I's opinions don't matter," he admitted. "Iris got hurt, and I want to get revenge on them for hurting her."

"You will," I said. "At some point."

"Yeah, but when? When will it be safe for us to go out and fight? We'd need decades of training to even compare with them."

I leaned closer to him and whispered, "yeah, but you saw what Farley did to them. He doesn't have decades of experience."

"He doesn't even have decades though," Rowan said. Only adding onto my point. "We're never going to be able to face them, and by the time we do, it'll be too late."

I shook my head. "Rowan, it'll work out. I'm sure you'll be able to get revenge for Iris, if that's what you really want."

"It is," he replied instantly. "Thank you, that's helped convince me." He wrapped an arm around me in an awkward hug. "Now, go make sure that my aunt and sister aren't being lied to, will you? I don't want to say I don't trust him, but Farley can exaggerate or leave things out."

I huffed. "Yeah, trust me, I'm aware of how good he is at telling half-truths." I gave his shoulder a pat before heading out of the fort, before sticking my head back in. "By the way, Ralph and Aiden should be back soon."

Rowan hummed and said, "Thanks." His typing resumed and I left the room.

Rowan had been acting strange today, I thought as I headed downstairs. "Hopefully it will be back to normal soon.

I found Farley explaining what had happened to Clementine and Iris. I sat silently in my seat near the window the whole time, interjecting a few words here and there when Farley stumbled. Though, I still felt useless when it came to technology. I had gotten quite good at using the iPad that Iris showed me how to use. I'd read a few books over the past few days using it, something I never thought I would be able to do.

"Around the corner?" Clementine asked for the third time. "We know for sure who it is then."

"Well, Pax lived in the middle of the woods a mile and a half from the river going south-west. It's not difficult to tell people where you live," Farley explained. "Though, they are probably the only ones who know Pax is with us."

I nodded mutely. That made sense. Though, I was a bit curious as to why he knew my exact location.

"That's creepy," Iris said, reading my thoughts. "I know you're smitten, but that's creepy." Chuckles came from the three of them.

"Shut up," Farley said. "Anyway, we're going to wait for Caspian to come down?"

I guess he must be in his office. He hadn't been spending much time there since the incident in the tunnels. He said that he would prefer to be near us as much as he can, without also being creepy.

"Yeah, sounds like the best plan." Clementine sighed. "I tried to help him as much as I could, but I couldn't get far."

"What's he doing?" I asked. "It sounds like it's not doing him much good."

"It's not," Clementine agreed. "He's working on the website and all the social media. You'd think that we'd be able to use the ones Aiden and Ralph used, but with a bit of tweaking, but no. Apparently Cas wants to start from scratch to avoid suspicion."

"Of what?" I asked. "Humans won't be able to figure out we're the wolves, yeah?"

Iris said, "That's not it. He doesn't want humans to think that we're from the same company as Ralph and Aiden. Or else they might not sign." She huffed. "Although Ralph and Aiden's petition worked. The forest is still there, and the construction stopped."

"Because half of them were kidnapped, their alpha was killed, and there was a fight with over a hundred wolves," Farley sarcastically pointed out. "Caspian's' avoiding that at all costs."

My mouth dropped open. I had heard the story from Ralph before, but when it was worded like that, it sounded disastrous.

"Yeah, that too," Iris agreed. "I think that the more peaceful approach is the better one. I also feel like we're going to fight, regardless of what we do."

I started to play with my thumbs. The twins were so similar, yet so different.

"It would make sense, they'd probably have an advantage if we were to fight," Farley said. "I wish I knew how they trained to be that good."

My back straightened and my hand raised. "I know their training routine," I stated. "I could help."

"You do?" Clementine and Farley asked at the same time.

"Yeah, I wanted to join in at first. So, I learned their routine." I nodded. "It didn't change too much in the past few years."

"Farley's boyfriend!" Harlow's voice called from the garden. "Can you come here please?"

Iris put her hand on my shoulder. "You're being called," she told me.

"What?" I asked, blinking in confusion. "But he said-"

"Farley's boyfriend," Clementine interrupted. "That's you. See, we thought that we shouldn't go around yelling 'Pax' at the top of our lungs. So, this was the solution."

"Who came up with that?" Farley asked, stuttering slightly.

"Actually, it was Caspian," Clementine informed. "You know, some of his choices are questionable. But that one was a real winner."

"Of course," Farley mumbled. "Pax, want me to come with?"

I shrugged. "If you'd like." I stood up and stretched, my shoulder popping. "I think I know what they want."

"We should put money on it," Farley said.

I laughed; I knew it was just a way to stall for time.

"What money?" I asked and pegged my pockets.

"Tonight's chores then?" he offered.

I shook my head, and my hand met his shoulder, before I headed outside. He was following me, with as much distance as he could put between us.

"Pax, hey." Harlow's trainers squeaked against the grass. "Oh, Farley, I win." He clapped his hands together and Karim groaned.

"Fine," Karim grumbled. "We overheard your conversation, and we were curious."

I nodded my head. "About the training?" I received a hum in response. "Want to see their routine?" I got another hum and that was my signal to get to work.

Iris and Clementine came outside halfway through and watched as I showed the others what training technique Kian used. Harlow had to call quits about fifteen minutes in, whilst Karim and Farley struggled to the end.

"Pure madness," Farley huffed. "I did sports psychology for three years. None of this is sensible."

I shrugged; my own breathing laboured. "Yeah, I don't think much of what he does makes any sense."

"At least we know their strengths?" Harlow offered.

Another pair of footsteps descended the two stairs which led to the back garden. "What on earth?" Emi asked. "You two look like you ran a marathon in fifteen minutes."

"I'd probably look better after doing that," Farley huffed out. "They did that for about fifteen years?"

I shrugged. "I just know what I was there for, and it never changed."

"Have any of you seen Rowan?" A voice from above made me jump. It was Caspian's voice; he must be calling from a window. "I can't find him."

"Not since about an hour and a half ago?" Farley questioned. "Last I checked, he was in the blanket fort in our room."

"He's calling from your room, idiot," Clementine remarked. "He couldn't have gone far, but he should've told one of us if he was leaving."

"Yeah, which is why I'm asking if you've seen him," Caspian replied with a sigh. "He's in trouble if he has left the house."

A soft clicking came from where Caspian's voice had, the window shutting.

"Do you think he's left?" I asked Farley. "He didn't seem in a good mood earlier."

"I hope not," he replied. "I'll go look in the house for him. We might need to make a search party."

"I'll come with you," I said and followed him into the house. I had to refill my water bottle anyway.

There was no sign of Rowan anywhere in the house. It wasn't difficult to see that he had left his bedroom, the blanket fort being all but destroyed. The pillows were scattered across the floor and the blanket which acted as the roof had fallen on the right. At least that's what Farley told me when I was instructed to stay by the door.

"I'm gonna kill him," he muttered as he checked the bathroom, and the girls' room, and even Caspian's office. "I swear if he's in the attic, I'll do more than kill him."

I shrugged. "I think you'd prefer to at least know where he is," I said. "Attics can be nice."

"I'd give you £100 to spend the night in ours," Farley told me. "I'll give you £1000 if you can say that after the night as well."

We were going back downstairs at this point. "I'll happily take that." I took a drink of my water. "Though, I'm not sure that's being sensible with your money."

Farley sighed. "You haven't been up there."

"No?" Iris asked out of the blue. "He won't answer his phone."

"That's because it's here," Farley said. The buzzing that I had been hearing for the past five minutes moved closer and then ceased. "He put it on silent before leaving it."

"This isn't right," Clementine said. "Why would he do something so stupid as to run away?"

Nobody offered any answers.

Someone clapped their hands together. "If we keep thinking, we won't get anywhere. How about we focus on getting them back?" Karim asked. There was something off with his tone, I couldn't read his expression, but from what I remember of his stories, he must be thinking back to what had happened with himself and Harlow.

"Karim's right," Caspian muttered. "We should try and get him back; he could be in danger of getting killed for all we know."

"What if that's what they want us to do?" Harlow asked with a small voice. "I know he's your brother, or friend, or nephew, but it could be a trap."

"Then we'll find out when we get there," Clementine said with false cheerfulness. "Cas, did you get any messages from Ralph or anyone?"

"No," Caspian replied. "Although, phoning them wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I'll Do it," Harlow volunteered. "I gotta talk to Aiden anyway." Harlow brushed past me, his hair bounced, causing a slight breeze as he went.

"We'll see if anyone has had luck contacting other packs, if anyone's seen Rowan, and then we'll head out," Caspian said with his usual commanding tone. "Everyone, please get as prepared as you can for whatever this could cause. A fight, or a simple search party."

"Iris and Farley, make sure your wounds are alright," Clementine interjected. "What?"

"Nothing," Caspian replied. "Good idea."

I had a quick shower and got changed by the time Harlow finished on the phone. Nobody had seen Rowan, but they would keep an eye out. I was walking with Farley, Caspian, and Emi. One thing about being a part of a small pack was that there wasn't much sensitive information lying around the house. I didn't want to jinx the packhouse being broken into, but I suggested that nobody stayed behind.

"Little Red!" Caspian shouted.

Every time he did this, Emi sniggered beside me. "It's the reverse of little red riding hood," she whispered to me. "We're looking for a little red riding hood."

I didn't know what she meant, but I let her find amusement in the situation that I previously thought had no possible chance of amusement.

"I don't know why you're calling him that," Farley said with a sigh. "There's lots of Rowan's, do they even know his name?"

"You can't be too careful," Caspian replied.

"I think the shouting will just cause more suspicion," I said weakly. "I'm sure there's lots of people staring at us."

"You're not wrong, people aren't really hiding," Farley told me. "I'm surprised nobody came up to us asking if we need help finding our dog or daughter."

"Both of which would be appropriate," Caspian muttered. "Ralph says that they should be here soon, that might help. We'll be able to cover more ground."

"We'll be covering the entire city if the others join us," Emi pointed out. "Is there anywhere specifically he would go?"

"He was talking about fighting the wolves," Farley said. "Maybe he's gone to the forest?"

I nodded. "Yeah, if he was looking for revenge, I feel like he would go to the one place he knew where they could be."

"I'm going to kill him," Caspian repeated.

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're all doing well :D

The question of the chapter is: How are you doing? I've not asked that in a while <3

Think I'm doing pretty good. My cousin said that she's going to be coming around today and tomorrow, so we're going to be getting some stuff done in the house! I'm so so excited!!