Part of the Promise (Book 3 in the 'Part of' Series)

Chapter 21 The Beginning of Chaos

Chapter 21 the beginning of chaos

Aiden's POV

"Wake up." A creature was jumping on the bed I was lying on. I groaned and curled up into a ball, avoiding the creature's area of disturbance. "Get up, we got an ehmail!" I furrowed my eyebrows and lifted my head slightly. Oran was jumping on the bed with an excited grin, his light brown hair was a bird's nest and he was still wearing his pyjamas.

"An Ehmail?" My voice was hoarse and my mouth was dry. I looked over to the clock and saw it was nearing six in the morning. Rhodes was standing at the bottom of the bed, making sure Oran didn't fall off.

"It's an e-mail Oran," she chuckled as he moved closer to her. "We got it rather early this morning. It's from one of the packs we reached out to." I looked to the side of me to see Ralph passed out. I nodded and ran a hand through my hair.

"Thank you, mister alarm clock. I'll get on it." Oran nodded before begrudgingly being led out of the room. He seemed a little upset that his actions didn't wake Ralph up. I shook my head to clear the thoughts and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My feet met with a furry rug and I looked to the right, where a window showed the dark sky.

It didn't take me long to get ready, since it was freezing outside of the bed. That was one of the downfalls of the packhouse, it was rather cold in the autumn and winter weather. I wasn't too sure how comfortable it'd be in the summer either, though I knew it wouldn't make much of a difference.

I reminded myself to change my laptop password when my feet touched the bottom of the stairs. I didn't go into the living room, knowing that the three were probably still asleep. I didn't see Oran or Rhodes either, I assumed that they'd gone back to someone's bedroom. The laptop was on the dining room table, its lid was still up and the light shining from it hurt my eyes in the darkness. It didn't have a lot of battery left so I was unsure about how long Oran was actually on it.

Rhodes must've read the entire thing as I was faced with a signature as soon as my eyes focused on it. I scrolled to the top, it seemed to be a company email. I took note of that and decided to ask Ralph about it later. The email read;

'Ralph,

We are so sorry to hear such terrible news. We were wondering why things had been so quiet over there.

We have faced some troubles of our own, similar to yours but not quite the same. We awoke one morning to humans tearing down the trees in the forest. We have no clue who is behind it and we can't do anything to stop them. The machines are getting rather close to the packhouse now, we are afraid that they'll tear it down with us inside.

If it is Travis Sparsfeild's fault then we will of course be glad to ally with you. Though, we are afraid of losing our home. We will not be able to rebuild once it is torn down. We have a rather big house, built over centuries.

Please, if you could think of any way to help us, it would be greatly appreciated.

Ashton, Alpha of the Russeton pack'

I could tell he wasn't too good with words. I sighed and put the lid down on my laptop and placed my head on top of that. We aren't the only ones involved, as the interrogator said. He seems to be going after every pack from what I've seen. I don't even know what I'm talking about, I don't know how many packs there are.

I must've fallen back asleep because the next thing I knew, Eben was shaking my shoulder with a worried look on his face. "You alright there son?" He was crouched down by the chair I was sat in. I blinked at him in confusion before looking around, the kitchen was much lighter since I had last seen it.

"Yeah..." I trailed off and rubbed my eyes. "Sorry, I was woken up rather early." He nodded and sat in the chair beside me.

"I was informed, little Oran was proud to tell me that he knew how to use your computer." I chuckled and shook my head, reminding myself again to change the password.

"I'm sure he was." I rested backwards in the chair and folded my arms, I could fall back asleep if I tried. "Did she tell you what the email said?" He nodded simply, causing a sigh to come from my lips.

"I think I know what Ralph plans to do." He was spreading some butter on some toast as he spoke. "I'm not opposed to it, it's a good idea if he takes into consideration what's going to happen here." I had no clue what he was talking about but I nodded anyway.

"Do you want to volunteer to tell him?" The genuine question got a burst of laughter from the older man as he shook his head and pointed towards me.

"That's your job now, we don't have to be in the line of fire." I shook my head and smiled.

"Should I go wake him up?" I hadn't a clue what time it was. He shook his head and raised his index finger. I looked up and stayed silent. The noises of feet filled my ears along with a shout of surprise. I grinned lightly, that would be his wake up call.

"It seems you got off pretty easily this morning," Eben noted. "It's a tradition for the children to be as difficult as possible today." I groaned and tilted my head back.

"We have those days, mischief night." Movement caught my eye as the children ran into the kitchen. "Though it only lasts an evening." The twins grinned at me evilly whilst the others raced around the kitchen, trying to find suitable hiding spaces. Oran came and hid next to me, in the corner, behind the table, Lowell had ran to a cupboard as did Melina.

"Yeah, it's a way for them to let off some steam." Eben leaned closer to me. "It's also good for training them in strategy." I chuckled and nodded, looking down to Oran. His eyes were trained on the door. I followed his gaze just in time to not be too frightened by the door swinging open and a very soaked Ralph coming in.

"Where are the monsters?" He growled lightly, I had to try my best to hold in my sniggers. His eyes moved all around the room, they'd almost passed me when they darted back. He smiled softly as he moved closer towards me, giving me a peck on the cheek. "Good morning Aiden, dad, Oran." His expression was dangerous as he looked to the space beside me.

Oran squeaked and crawled under the table, coming out of the other side and running. I laughed as Ralph chased after him. The noise had probably woke everyone up by this point, there was no need to try and stay quiet.

"Oh what a morning."