Chapter 53

Chapter 53

-Pax-

I kept my word. As soon as Farley shut the door behind him, I counted down the seconds from 120. When I got to 180, I gestured for someone to follow me before heading towards the door, but I was stopped.

"Why are you leaving?" Iris asked with worry. "I don't think that it's a good idea."

"But Farley and Brin left," I argued. "I should be able to leave."

"Yeah, but you're the..." she trailed off. I knew what she was going to say, and I didn't like it. She was about to say that I was the reason that we were in here in the first place. I was the black wolf which caused the need for a shelter anyway.

"But Farley is out there," I repeated. "He could be in danger. Abilene said that allies were coming, this didn't seem like something that would be caused by allies."

Iris sighed, her voice was no longer projecting towards me, but the direction of the bed. "As long as you're safe but take someone with you. They were stupid to go alone."

I wanted to argue with her, to tell her that if that's what she thought, then why didn't she bring it up earlier? But I didn't. Instead, I felt a gentle breeze as someone's shirt sleeve brushed against my arm.

"I want some action," Channon announced.

"We can all go together," Channing said.

I had a twin on each side. I was told that they were identical, unlike Rowan and Iris. The comment about how rare twins were, and we had the opportunity to have two pairs, was one which came up in conversation every now and again. Though I found it easy to tell the boys apart, I had been informed it was difficult.

I nodded and opened the door, stepping out to be greeted by a strong breeze. I knew immediately which direction to go in. The smell of coffee and aftershave was carried in the wind.

I didn't hesitate to rush around the corner, the twins' feet vibrated behind me. I paused before rounding the corner, and listened for something that would indicate an enemy.

"Stay calm dad," Farley's voice called. "It'll be better if you stay calm."

My breath caught in my throat, and I rounded the corner. I didn't know what was in front of me, but I instinctively sank to the floor around five paces into the street.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I knew that I was in the right place as Farley's breathing was louder than I had ever heard it.

"I don't know," Farley told me. "He's struggling to breathe."

I nodded. "Check his pulse and his heart rate," I told him. I was sure that in any other situation, with any other person, he would've already done it.

He hummed, the noise breaking in his throat. Two shadows fell over me, blocking out the heat from the sun.

"It looks like what happened to Eben, Ralph, and Karim," Channing said. "He'll have to go back and get looked after. I think it's similar to what happened to Rowan."

"Where's Abilene?" Channon asked. "She has to be around here somewhere." His voice was panicked, and I didn't blame him at all. Abilene was a part of their pack, and they grew up being cared for by her.

"Can we go look for her?" the twins asked in unison.

I sighed and shook my head. "Help us with Brin first," I instructed. I felt like I was out of place by commanding them to do anything. I wasn't their alpha, but he wasn't here right now. It felt a little natural for me to assume the role in his absence.

"Alright," the twins agreed.

"I'll go and tell the others to get the other bed ready," Channon said before running ahead of us.

"I'll help carry you," Channing said to Brin, and helped the man to his feet.

I felt ashamed that I couldn't do this myself, but I led the way back to the safehouse, following Channon's footsteps.

I slowly led the three back to the safehouse whilst keeping on my guard. I listened for anything other than our footsteps. I didn't hear anything, but it still didn't make me feel like we were safe.

It was clear that Brin had been attacked by someone. He couldn't just be poisoned all of a sudden. There had to be someone behind it.

Could it be Abilene? It seemed like peculiar timing, Abilene going missing and then someone ending up poisoned.

I shook my head as I sat in the corner of the safehouse, again. Abilene seemed like one of the sweetest people I've had the chance to know. She wouldn't do something so horrible as to poison a strange man she didn't know. She might have been kidnapped, said kidnapper poisoning Brin. I couldn't make assumptions about her without any proof.

Yet, the suspicion which was held in the room caused the air to thicken, like flour being added to gravy.

"We're just going to be split up even more if anyone goes out there," Iris said, cutting into the silence. "If anyone goes out there, we'll be attacked. They know where we are."

"We knew that before we started, before we were forced in here," Farley said from his position beside his father. "This place has been attacked before; it wouldn't take a genius to know that we haven't changed our safe space."

"Or at least to check it," Lana commented. She had been sniffling since Brin returned. "What happened to the other pack members which were being sent here?"

"They were probably the ones to cause it," Lowell commented. "Who was the one to call anyway?"

"It was definitely Ralph," Oran informed. "I listened in."

"Me too," Melina said. "It was Ralph, could recognise his voice anywhere. It was probably someone he'd trust."

"So, we think that children or elderly were the ones to do this?" I asked. I fiddled with my fingers and rested my head back onto the wall. "That's who we were going to be meeting, yeah?

"What if they poisoned the people who were coming here too?" Channon asked. "Surely there'd be a trace of wolfsbane."

"We'd be poisoned too, dumbo," Lowell commented. I heard the noise of someone being hit after the comment.

"I can do it." I raised my hand. "I'm not effected by wolfsbane as badly."

"No," Farley said, possessiveness sinking into his voice. "We can't let you go out by yourself to track these people down."

I bit my lip, I wasn't often one to argue, but I had to stand my ground. "I have to Farley," I said. I wish that he was closer to me, so that I could squeeze his hand and try to assure him that it would be alright. "I'm our only option. We wouldn't be able to track them down if we're tracking wolfsbane, whoever came with me would be severely weakened."

"It would mean that he would have the pressure of someone else if he did go with others," Oran pointed out. "It would probably be safer if he went alone."

"Pax, you're not going alone. I trust you, but I don't know what they can do."

"Well, what's our other options? Because I don't think there are many." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well..."

"Absolutely not," I said, once again folding my arms. "I'm not going to let her put herself in danger like this."

Farley sighed and rested his hands on my shoulders. "It's the only option we have. Unless you know a group of humans who are stronger than werewolves, I don't think that we could do anything else. Besides, if we mask your scent, give you a hoodie, nobody will be able to telly hat its' you."

That didn't reassure me.

"Yeah Pax, it'll be fine." Kelsey put her arm around my shoulders. "It's nice to meet different werewolves too," she said happily. I think that she was talking more to our audience than to me.

When she had first arrived at the safe house, everybody was on edge. There were a few people tapping their feet or their fingers. People disappearing was caused by us having new people who were meant to take shelter here.

"I'm glad that you are happy meeting other werewolves," I told her awkwardly. "So, we're just going to be on call and track the scent?"

"Yeah," Lowell said. "You should be able to track it, and Kelsey could stay on the phone."

"And you don't look like yourself," Iris informed. "Which is a positive."

"I don't?" I asked slowly.

Many noises of denial reached my ears.

"I told you, I'm good at makeup," Kelsey told me. "You look three shades darker; your hair is hidden. You look twice the size you usually are."

I was wearing a very baggy hoodie, something which made me feel both incredibly warm, and very self-conscious.

"It'll be okay," Iris said for the third time in a row. She had been whispering it to herself most of the day.

"So, it's a plan. Let's go, Pax." Kelsey started to pull on my arm, dragging me towards the door.

"Wait," Farley said. He grabbed my shoulder again, pulling me around to face him. His lips were placed on mine, and the scent of mint flavoured coffee filled my sentence. "Be safe," he whispered.

"We will be," I replied, a smile creeping onto my lips. He pulled my hood further over my head and patted my shoulders.

"Whilst we're still young," Kelsey commented with a teasing tone.

I pecked his cheek one more time before leaving the safety of the four walls and the pack.

"You know, I really wasn't told what we were doing," Kelsey told me as she led me down the street. I couldn't bring my cane with me, or it would attract too much attention. She had my arm linked in her own and was leading me down the street. "You said we were going to the shops?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just around the corner I think?" I was following the scent of the wolfsbane. I could smell it very clearly in the air, but I hadn't put my finger on what it actually was at the time, back in Mary's garden. It had been covered in vinegar there, but now it was much stronger. It was much earthier; it prickled my nose and caused my eyes to water.

I was leading the two of us down the street, I stumbled over pebbles and bumped into a Bullard in a very unfortunate position.

"You're very bad at this," I told her as she pulled me away from my inanimate attacker.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not going to get any further in my caring occupation."

I snorted a laugh as the scents started to become muddled. The smell of Channon, Channing, Brin, Farley, and I were strongest in this spot. It must have been where we found Brin. If we went a few more steps in a random direction, I would be able to tell where Abilene had gone.

"Over here," I whispered, grabbing her hand instead of holding onto her arm. Her palm was sweaty and shook lightly.

I caught my heel a few times on the pavement, and a branch caressed my cheek, something I was far too used to. The scent was getting stronger, a fact which made me want to both stop walking and start sprinting.

"We're going in a zigzag," Kelsey said. She was mainly talking to the microphone, which was attached to her headphones, which was attached to her phone. We were calling Farley as we walked, just so that he could keep an eye on us, tracking where we were. I had been informed that there were better ways; apparently our safe-roommates used the GPS in Aiden's phone and watch to track them down when they were stuck and the Reilly house. "We're heading towards The Pity."

"What's The Pity?" I asked curiously. I knew I shouldn't be talking much, but the curiosity about the world I was living in seemed to always have the upper hand.

"It's the field with the playground in," Kelsey informed me. "Apparently you ran off there by yourself that one time." She sounded grumpy; I suppose that she was quoting Farley's exact words. I could faintly hear him through the headphones, we had lowered the volume as much as we could, just loud enough so Kelsey could hear.

I nodded and continued down the road, until I had to start walking into the high grass. Kelsey hesitated behind me, but she didn't say anything to argue, she just informed the others that we were going off the path. She had been very technical when saying where we were going, like how we were 210 steps away from the base of the swings when we rounded the corner and went ninety-five degrees into the forest.

Hello lovelies!

I hope that you're all doing well and had a wonderful weekend!

The question of the day is: Do you guys get fairs where you live?

We get one every year for about a week or two, but I've not been in ages to be totally honest. I used to like it though! And I really appreciated some fo the stories my cousins came back with after they went :') I just think it's always too hot for things like that! And I'm not quite sure if I could handle rides now, which is sad, because I really liked them when I was younger.