Chapter 51

-Pax-

I was on cloud nine. Farley hadn't pulled away when I kissed him. He had also pulled me in again for another kiss. That was the only thing on my mind as we left the packhouse that afternoon. We would be going to find other packs in order to attack Daphne and her company.

I felt bad that the petitions didn't work. It wasn't as though we were stopping something like deforestation, which Aiden and Ralph had issues with. We were trying to stop the slaughter of a species of werewolves without telling anyone that werewolves existed. It was a far trickier task, and we were doing quite well to begin with.

The thoughts of my parents still being alive also haunted my mind. I had severe doubts, it would be near impossible for them to have been kidnapped all those years ago and kept alive.

"Farley, catch!" Moss' voice called from in front of us.

movement from my side and a tugging of my hand meant that Farley moved, but only slightly. "Thanks," Farley replied whilst holding something in his mouth. "Toss another." A similar movement happened again, but this time there was something being pressed to my lips.

I flinched away for a moment before realising that it was Farley's doing. I opened my lips and accepted the small. Sweet berry which rested on my tongue. "Nice," I commented. "I used to pick berries a lot when I was younger."

"Really?" Farley asked. "That surprises me. I don't know why I'd thought you didn't remember much of when you were young. Picking berries seems a bit tricky."

I snorted. "I've only had sight problems since I was six. Before then, my eyesight was poor, but not that poor."

I could tell that Farley was hesitating by his lack of movement. No sound came from his lips, but I could feel the awkwardness radiating off him. I squeezed his hand. "I don't mind talking about it," I said. "It's one fo the few nice memories I have of my childhood."

He squeezed my hand and brushed his shoulder against mine. "It was just surprising. I wasn't expecting you to bring it up."

I chuckled. "Well, if I don't mention memories from my childhood, nobody will." I'd hope. I didn't want to cling onto the fact that the majority of my childhood was spent in the woods and learning secret paths to avoid people.

"We're here," Moss announced.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What?" my head snapped in his direction. "I thought that we were travelling to find another pack?"

"We are," Tempest said. Her voice cracked a little bit and she audibly swallowed. "Caspian and Ralph had a different plan for you two."

"If you weren't a black wolf, this would've been much easier," Moss commented.

"What is that?" Farley asked. His hand in mine tightened, creating a vice-like grip. "Wolfsbane? That's not funny." He stepped in front of me, my hand twisting awkwardly.

I didn't complain about the discomfort, but my heartbeat had increased. I could feel the pounding against my chest and then against my head as something created an echo within my skull. I held onto Farley's hand as I sunk to the floor. Pain shot through my head and I wanted to hold it to stop the pain, but I couldn't. My already dark world became black.

The pounding in my head didn't stop. I didn't know how long had gone by until I started to feel sensation in the rest of my body. My hand was still clasped in Farley's, somehow. His touch sent a wave of warmth through my arm, something I wanted to encapsulate me, as the rest of my body was freezing.

It was unusual for me to feel cold, wolves operate at a higher temperature than regular humans, and I was usually active. So this feeling of being chilled wasn't one which I was comfortable with.

There was nothing in front of my eyes to tell me where I was. A dim light came from what I assumed was the ceiling, but that was all I could see. I was lying on something firm and as I sat up, my back made contact with something which felt like an ice-pole.

"You're finally awake." a small voice said from beside me.

I jumped and let out a small squeak, tensing my shoulders and curling my hands into fists.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the voice said again. I was beginning to recognise it as Melina's voice. I had met her a couple of times, but she mainly stayed in Quartvear.

"Mel, you could've scared him to death," a male voice scolded. "Remember waking up here yourself? It wasn't fun." That was Oran. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that Lowellw as here too, maybe even Channon and Channing.

"Sorry again," Melina said. "What happened? Why are we here? I was just talking to my parents and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in here."

I was surprised that her voice wasn't cutting through my head like a machete. The pain still hadn't subsided, and I was beginning to fear a concussion.

"I don't know," I replied after nobody else did. "Apparently, Caspian and Ralph had other plans."

Two identical groans came from around ten feet in front of me. "Seriously? They're hiding us away when we can help?" Channon asked.

"Yeah, it's not fair that they get to save the day again," Channon agreed.

I couldn't agree with them. I was grateful that they were doing thai to help me, and other black wolves like me, but I would be no use in a fight. We were still classed as children in their eyes.

"Who's here?" I asked nervously. I felt like I was one of those stupid girls in the horror movies that Rowan forced me to watch. Asking who's in a room was something I had always been shy about.

"Melina, Oran, Lowell, Channon, Channing, Farley, Iris, and Rowan," Melina listed obediently. "Aka, everyone in our two packs under eighteen." She didn't sound too upset about it, but I had learned through our very short conversations that she wasn't a fan of violence.

"I'm here too," Abilene said from the other side of the room. "They're just salty about it." Now, Abilene was someone who I respected as a carer. She took care of all the pack, but that also meant that she was even more protective of them. She looked after them since they were pups, she hadn't really known anything else within her job. At least, that's what I assumed. Ralph had a small discussion with me about the different roles that he had in his pack, but I didn't understand many of them.

"So, we're here to be babysat?" Farley asked, his voice hardening. "Where was this when Rowan was going out on his own? Or when the gym was being attacked?"

I didn't understand what he was implying. I would've thought his anger stemmed from the fact he was being held back now, but it seemed he was angry that it only just started now.

"That's your problem with it?" Channon asked. "When we were attacked years ago., we were part of the reason why everyone got out alive."

"Yeah, we saved Aiden and Harlow," Channing agreed. "Now we're back here in another concrete box like we've been buried."

"It's not like that," Abilene argued. "I'ts like a temporary house for us to be safe in. We just have to stay here until things are sorted." Her voice wavered and she didn't sound at all confident. If I were to guess, I'd assume that she had no part in the decision. "Everyone's here, it's easier to look after you."

"Some of us don't need looking after," Oran argued in a voice which was near a whisper.

"We're not children anymore," Lowell agreed. "We can take care of ourselves, it's nearly time for us to start going to other packs soon, most of us turn eighteen this year."

"And until that day comes, you're under my supervision and are my responsibility," Abilene said firmly. "And I will not let anything happen to you before then."

"Whose plan was it?" I asked curiously. "I don't think that Ralph would order this."

"He's figuring something else out," Abilene stated after a moment of hesitance. "He just agreed with Caspian when it was brought up."

"What?" Iris and Farley asked in unison.

"Caspian wants us to be pushed away? We make up half of his pack," Farley continued. "Without us, it's just him and Clementine."

"Well, they're not doing anything life-threatening yet." Abilene walked towards us and handed something to Farley. A small click met my ear. It was a very familiar sound, a phone unlocking.

"Texts from Caspian," Farley told me. "A lot of texts." His nail clicked against the screen as he scrolled through them, it did sound like a lot of texts. "It's just an emergency phone, there's nothing but these on here."

"Yeah, it's like the phone you have over there," Oran informed.

I touched the back of the bed for the first time since waking up. My fingers jumped back front he cold metal, but it helped me to discover that I was, in fact, in the hideout which we had created.

"Why are we here, though?" I asked. "The enemy knows about this place, surely it's not safe."

Iris sighed. "It's about as safe as we're going to get with such short notice. Even though if we were asked, Rowan... and I could've said where's best to go."

"Well, it's too late now," Melina grumbled. "I bet you that they're just going to pile all of those under eighteen in here. Or the injured, or the old."

"I'm pretty sure your parents are coming," Iris said. I assumed that she was talking to Farley. "But I could be wrong."

"No, you're not," Abilene said slowly. "They're coming later. I have orders to open the door when they come."

"So, that's it?" Farley asked. "We're just going to be locked away until the world forgets about us?"

Hello lovelies! I hope that you're all doing well :D

It really feels like it's been forever since I've updated-

Anywayyy the question of the chapter is-Are you reading anything at the moment?

I'm reading the Blood of Olympus series at the moment, onto the very last book, and it's extremely sad that it's coming to an end- good Rick has many other books though!