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

Chapter 40 Chat with the Devil

Chapter 40 Chat with the devil

Aiden's POV

Harlow and I were led out of the safe room and out of the packhouse. I kept a firm hold on his arm until we got to a black car. "This is some super villain stuff right here," Harlow muttered under his breath.

"Thank you, it was inspired." Travis' triumphant grin still hadn't left his face, I could hear it in his voice and see it in the mirror.

The ride was long but I couldn't tell how far we were going or where we were heading. The windows were blacked out so the only clue I had was the shadows of trees. Harlow was sitting very close to me, his hand constantly holding onto something. Whether it'd be the seatbelt, his knee, my knee, his hand, his hair, nothing was safe from his fidgeting antics.

The car stopped after an unknown period of time. I stared at the mirror and into Travis' eyes. I was trying to look for answers to where he had taken us but I found nothing more than mischief. "Hopefully you abided by the laws of cars, not too fussed if you did."

Neither of us made a noise as the door opened. It wasn't Travis, they were much larger. The other door opened, we were surrounded. I gave a sigh and took Harlow's hand again, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I slowly got out of the car and tried to look around.

The person in black blocked the majority of my view but the ground was so familiar, I knew where we were immediately. We were at Ralph's packhouse.

"Why are we here?" Harlow asked slowly as he crossed an arm over his torso. The unease and tenseness could've been cut with a knife. I shivered at the familiar feeling of the house. It felt safe but I knew it wasn't, not anymore.

"Just wanted to make my guests comfortable." Travis grinned at us as he walked backwards. The person who had opened the door for us was standing behind us now, egging us forward with a glare. "What better place to feel comfortable than your own home?"

The warmth from Harlow's breath which he huffed out brushed my cheek as he looked towards me. I shrugged slightly, shaking my head. We followed into the house, it seemed as though nothing had been touched, at a first glance. Melina's colouring supplies were scattered everywhere, not in her neat wooden box which Harlow and Moss made together. My laptop was on, with the password screen showing. The pillows were placed on the settee without any creases.

It all looked so strange without us being there over the past few days, a stranger taking over the place. "Isn't this comfy?" Travis went and plopped himself down on the settee, placing his feet on the table and his hands behind hsi head. "Please sit."

I didn't feel as though we had a choice in the matter as our feet shuffled into the room and over to the other settee. "What's your plan?" I asked quickly. "I don't understand why you would want to take over the packs, or knock out so many wolves."

He held up a finger. "A question at a time." My mouth clamped shut as I waited for a response. "My beef with the packs is very personal. I'm sure you can relate to that." Harlow looked at me silently, I was reminded of the times I had to take him to the doctors and I answered every question that was asked.

"Why should we know anything about beef with packs?" I didn't know how to word it. I rolled the palm of my hand up and down my leg, a force of habit which I'd recently developed. "We don't have any issues with other packs."

"No? Well you certainly have beef against me, isn't that right?" Travis took his feet off the table and leant forward. I don't think I've ever seen him stay still. Everything about him was starting to irritate me, from his accent to the way he locked his fingers together. He reminded me of an arrogant businessman, which is a rather good way of describing him.

"Yes," Harlow said quickly. My eyes darted to him in surprise as he spoke but my attention returned to watching Travis carefully. "What you did was cruel and unforgivable."

Travis sucked his teeth and stood up, I would've backed away if I was standing. "There's the difference, I don't see it that way. It was a business expense."

"It's our mother's life!" I found myself standing up, facing him with fire in my eyes. I tried to make myself seem big. "You are not one to decide that a life is worth your business." He raised his hands as his smile grew, he enjoyed the anger which flowed through my veins.

"That's it, that's the anger that I wanted. That's the anger I felt when my pack left me." I reached down and grasped Harlow's shoulder, pulling him backwards , if we were standing then it'd be easier to run.

"They left for a reason, think of that." I knew my words would come back to bite me somehow. Travis paused for a moment before launching at me. I ducked out of the way and legged it out of the room, Harlow following after me. He wasn't as fast of a runner so I had to drag him but as long as we got away from Travis, everything would be fine.

"Get them!" Came from behind us, The vibration of many pairs of feet made my breath quicken. I stumbled through the trees. The backdoor had been easy enough to get to and the fence was easily jumped if you knew where to place your feet.

I was glad the fence was there, it put some space between us and our pursuers. I didn't quite know where we were going. I had ventured into the woods many times, but forests don't have many notable orientation points.