Chapter 14
-Farley-
It had been a month, a month of going into the forest and not running into Pax. I didn't run into anyone in the forest anymore. There still wasn't a sign, but I think I would've preferred it if there was one. Iris and Rowan's science projects were over, thankfully. I went to work for three days a week and went along my regularly scheduled life.
I was bored. I wasn't meeting anyone new, the thought of Pax still hovered in the back of my mind. It taunted me, just like the pictures of my friends on my bedroom wall.
One good thing came from my adventures into the forest. I found a lovely new spot by a waterfall. A small bridge connected two pieces of land across a magnificent stream, or river, I'm not sure of the terms. It was one of the most beautiful landscapes I had ever seen.
I leant against the very thin piece of wood which acted like a handrail on the incredibly old bridge. I could fall into the river at any time, all it took was some sort of disturbance and this plank of wood would snap, sending me headfirst into the water below. I wasn't really afraid of falling into the water, I'd probably be able to get straight back up, if I was expecting it.
I had my camera in my hands, it was just a cheap and simple one, the surface was scuffed from where it had hit walls, and one of the buttons was a bit difficult to push. I'd had it since I was around thirteen. I liked taking pictures of the waterfall. Since spending more and more time here, I realised that it never quite looked the same. The sun would reflect off the water differently, sometimes there's wildlife in the water, sometimes there was even some company on the bridge. There wasn't a day which was the same here.
I lifted the camera to my eye, the only way to figure out if the picture was going to be any good or not was to close the other one. I held my breath, an attempt to stop my hands from shaking. I pressed my finger firmly on the button, a satisfying click emitting front eh device.
My shoulders relaxed and I finally exhaled. I pressed the 'Gallery' button, but a rustle in the bushes behind me caught my attention. I pushed myself off the wood and carefully inspected the bushes. They were shaking due to the disturbance, but the cause of the disturbance was unclear.
A person burst through the bushes, breathing heavily. It was Pax. I stumbled backwards in shock. After three months of coming here and not seeing him, I wasn't expecting to see him today.
"Pax?" I asked. "Are you alright?"
His shoulders tensed; he whipped his head around. "Who?" He walked backwards, backing up into a tree.
"It's Farley." I moved towards him, stopping as he stepped back again. "Are you alright?" I repeated.
Pax shook his head, his shoulders not relaxing. "What're you doing here?" His tone was harsh and accusing. "You're not allowed here."
"There's no-"
"-sign. I know." He rolled his eyes at me. "How long have you known about this place?" He gestured to the rushing water.
"About a week and a half?" I scratched the back of my head. "You didn't answer my question," I pointed out.
He shrugged. "I guess I'm okay. I'm a bit achy and have been feeling claustrophobic, but I'm okay." The way he spoke reminded me of those incredibly sad videos on YouTube which blended all the sad points of television shows together.
"That doesn't sound okay," I told him and rested back on the bridge. "Have you been on holiday or something?"
He looked at me for a moment before bursting out laughing, clutching his stomach. Tears started to leak from his eyes. "Holiday?" He lent on the hand railing for support. "There's no way I'd consider that a holiday. Hell, I barely understand what that means. Why would someone have to take time out of their lives? Surely, it wouldn't do them any good. I suppose getting to know the rest of the world, yes. That's the only reason I could think of going on a holiday."
I stared at him, I tried not to, but it was difficult. He was talking freely; he had even laughed. It was like he was speaking another language; the sound was difficult to comprehend as it came from his lips. "You get away from work?" I offered. "That's a fun thing."
He stumbled closer to me, resting on the hand railing too. I was expecting him to disappear at any moment, a fragment of my imagination. He was acting peculiar. "I don't know what it's like to work," he admitted. "I just know what training is, and I've only just gotten around to that."
I hummed. "Well, training is like my job. I work at a place where people go to keep fit, so my alpha counts that as my training." He didn't say anything, just kept his head turned in my direction. "I do schoolwork too, like maths and English. Some other stuff, science and history..." I trailed off. "Why are you listening to me? Talking to me?"
He opened his mouth to reply, closed it, and then opened it again. "Well, I'm not sure." He sighed and his head dropped. "I've not really had a sane thought the past week."
I snorted and shook my head. "That's relatable." He turned his head and looked at me strangely. "I mean, not being able to have a rational thought."
"I suppose. Could just be because I've not talked to anyone new in ages. Someone who didn't know a lot about me, you know?"
I nodded my head, even though he couldn't see it. "Yeah, I get what you mean. I meet new people every day, I'd hate for that to change." I knocked on the wood behind me three times. "So that last meeting." A grin was spreading across my face. "Am I handsome?" I couldn't help but tease him, along with the genuine curiosity which filled my entire being.
"What?" he exclaimed. "I don't know, what?" He gave a nervous chuckle before punching me in the arm. His expression of emotions was giving me a slight headache. I couldn't figure out how he was feeling by his actions.
"Ouch." I grinned and brought a hand to my heart. I put my camera in my pocket, as I had forgotten it was still in my hand. "I'm not handsome?"
"I wouldn't know." He shrugged. He was still using a high-pitched voice. "I'm sure you're handsome enough not to need my input."
I didn't know if I should take that as a compliment or not. I huffed and pouted. "Surely you got some idea. Kian seemed to think that you touched everyone's faces, I want to know how I compare."
He let out another short laugh. "I don't. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that at the time." He ran a hand through his hair, allowing me to see his unfocused eyes better. "But if my opinion matters that much to you. You have a very proportionate face, very defined features."
"I have a big nose," I said honestly. I was waiting for him to get to that part, but it seems he was being nice. "Just say it." I nudged him softly.
"I wouldn't say it was big." He chuckled. "It's ...proportionate to your face."
"So, I just have a big head?" I faked offence. "I didn't think I'd be getting insulted today, but I guess it springs up anywhere."
"I didn't say that." He stomped his feet like a child. "I said that your nose suits you."
"How can my nose suit me? I need more to work on."
"No, we're moving on from your insecurities." We shared a laugh. "Wow, don't think I've had a conversation like that in years."
"Which is why you should meet my family." I paused for a moment after the words left my mouth. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't push."
"It's fine," he assured. It wasn't very reassuring, given his avoidance and lies earlier. "I've gotten to the point, where I really don't care about a lot of things."
I frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that, it must be a rough time."
"It's just the pack being overprotective. Something I'm not used to." His right foot started to swing back and forth. "I had to get away from them for a little while. I'm in a world's worth of trouble if someone notices I'm not there."
I lifted myself off the bridge. "I don't want to get you into trouble. They've already accused you of meeting me." I shifted further away from him.
"I don't really care if I get into trouble at this point. Maybe they'd go back to acting how they did earlier." Hope was the foundation of his words. "But I should head back, they'll be finishing up soon."
My shoulders sagged, my heart fell into my stomach, and I sighed. After a month of not seeing him, talking to him was too good to last. "Yeah, maybe change when you get there too." I didn't move, just watched as he lifted himself off the railing and walked away. "See you soon?" I asked hopefully.
"Talk to you soon," he replied with nothing louder than a whisper. My cheeks flushed pink as I realised my mistake. He was gone before I could apologise, sprinting into the trees. I snapped back to reality and shook my head, getting my camera out again, looking at the picture of Pax which I took.
Rowan was splayed across his bed when I returned to the packhouse that night. I rolled my eyes and put my bag down on my bed. I moved straight to the bathroom and got changed into my pyjamas. I tried to be as quiet as I could possibly be, the age of the floorboards didn't help me in my task, but Rowan was a pretty heavy sleeper.
I picked up my camera and went searching for Caspian. I knocked on his closed door, which was very unusual for him. I closed my eyes and listened for any sign that he was in there. There wasn't a sound from inside the room.
I sighed and moved away from the door. I knew that Iris was probably sleeping by now, I didn't want to check and see if Clementine was awake, in fear of disturbing Iris.
I hadn't seen Caspian when I came in, so he wasn't in the living room. That left me with the kitchen and the back garden. The door which separated the passage from the kitchen was closed, another unusual occurrence. I opened the door to see it empty. The back door was open. On my way to investigate, I stopped to get myself a yoghurt. I put my camera on the bench and picked out my favourite spoon, it was supposed to be a soup spoon, but only some of us liked to conform to the idea of certain spoons being used for certain things, save for a teaspoon.
I leant on the counter by the open back door and waited whilst eating my lemon and dairy delight. I hadn't eaten much today; I should work on that. I stayed in the forest for a few more hours after Pax had left, taking in the views and valuing the peace. I was joined by a rabbit some time in. I was incredibly surprised when it approached, bunnies don't tend to get on with wolves.
"You've been staring at me for about twenty minutes," Caspian said from in front of me.
I jumped, the spoon in my hand clattered on the draining board. My hand reached for my heart. "Don't do that," I hissed at him. "I like living."
His eyes had a twinkle of the smile from what I could see in the kitchen light. "That's relatable." He entered the kitchen and shut the door behind him. "What's on your mind?" He joined me, leaning on the counter where the sink was stationed.
"Pax was in the forest today," I told him.
He inhaled deeply, nodding once. "Alright, what happened?" His hands were clasped together, fidgeting with his thumbs.
"He'd been stuck in his room the past month. Or at least, the packhouse." I couldn't look at him as I spoke. I wanted to see his reaction, but I knew that seeing the face of my kind alpha would make me angrier.
"That's cruelty," Caspian sounded astonished. "That's not just being a strict alpha who is territorial, that's abuse."
I nodded. "I got a picture of him." I reached for my camera and turned it on, flicking to the gallery and pressing the right button a few times. It wasn't the best photo quality, due to me having to take it on the sly. You could see his features; his brown eyes reflected the bright light from the waterfall. His brown hair looked a little damp, as it didn't flow in the wind like mine had. At least it couldn't annoy him too much. His clothes hung off his thin frame, which had seemed to be getting more muscle on it since the last time we saw each other.
I snapped back to reality and handed the camera to Caspian. I had to watch his reaction this time. His eyebrows raised in surprise, his head tilted, then his eyes widened. His hand started to shake, along with his head. "Do you know his surname?"
I was taken back by the question. I stumbled over my words, "no. The topic didn't really come up in any sort of conversation."
He hummed before sharply turning and heading into the living room. I hurried after him, putting my empty pot in the bin and throwing my spoon inside a bowl in the sink.
He bent down by a cabinet, yanking one of the doors open and grabbed a book out of it. The book was something I had seen many times. Caspian often looked at it during the late hours of the evening. It was a scrapbook. It wasn't anything significant to me personally, I skimmed through it a few times when I was bored, but I didn't really understand much. I didn't dare take the photos out to look at the back.
He flipped through the book until he landed on one picture. It was one of the largest in the book. It was of a couple, holding each other lovingly. They each wore formal attire suited for royalty. The lady was wearing a stunning white dress with navy crescent moons which covered the bodice completely in the colour. The man was wearing a suit of the same colour. They stared into each other's eyes, blissfully unaware of the camera. The male had brown hair and a beard of the same colour; his wide grin made pearly white teeth stand out. The grin made the creases around his jade green eyes show with deep happiness. The lady had a small smile on her lips, but the sparkle in her brown eyes shone brightly. She had hair, which was darker than the man, but it was still a shade of brown.
"Do these features seem familiar?" Caspian asked, turning the scrapbook to completely face me.
I began to shake my head, but I stopped myself. The eyes of the lady were familiar, the shape and the shade. The man's facial structure and hair also seemed to be calling to me. They looked like Pax's.
QUESTION OF THE DAY!
Do you like photography?
I am very bad at it, but I do enjoy taking photos with my phone. I can't really use a camera, but I've got some pretty pictures of sunsets and flowers!