Chapter 52
-Farley-
I was angry, frustrated, hurt, and lost. We were stuck in this building for God knows how long. Nobody looked like they were happy with the arrangements. Even Abilene looked ashamed. Her head hadn't risen since we woke up, she didn't meet anyone's eyes.
Four knocks came to the door, and she jumped up, quickly ushering my parents inside. The glare didn't leave my face even when I saw the familiar and loving faces of my family.
"Oh dear, what happened?" my mother asked and cupped my face. "You're as pale as a ghost."
"Yeah, you would be too if you were knocked out and then woke up in a cold abandoned library," I commented with a scowl.
"Knocked out?" my father asked with a frown. "That's not polite."
I wanted to scream at him. Of course, that's not polite, it's the opposite of polite.
"What are we meant to do?" Channon asked my parents. I assumed that they would be the new targets of the teenager's annoyance.
"We can't just sit here for the rest of our miserable-" Channing was interrupted by Lowell.
"You can't say that Channing," he scolded. "We won't be here for the rest of our lives. None of us would allow that, nor would our parents."
"Yeah, but they seemed very happy sending us in here," Channon argued.
"That's going to go on forever if you don't stop it now," Abilene informed them civilly. "Why don't you let this be an opportunity for you all to figure something out which could help us? I know that you have been bursting with ideas which you couldn't share."
"Because we're not allowed at the pack meetings, which makes no sense," Melina mumbled. "Why could Randall go to the meetings when he was seventeen?" She continued, but only got a pat on the hand in response.
"In my opinion, as long as the children are safe, that's the main thing sorted," my father informed. "There's someone there to look after them and they're healthy, away from harm,"
"But our family is probably out there getting killed," I argued. I wrapped my arm around Pax's shoulder. He jumped at the touch but sunk into my arms after a moment. I noticed that he had been very quiet again. "We can't just-"
"You can," my mother interrupted. "You can and you will. Unless you can think of a miracle to fix it."
Pax's shoulders tensed. His lips were set in a frown and his eyebrows were knitted together.
I squeezed his shoulder and kissed his temple. I felt like I had an understanding of the thoughts which went through his mind.
The rest of the time was spent in silence or idle conversation. It was infuriating. Each second irritated me more than the last. I didn't know what my pack was doing, I disagreed with what my alpha was doing, and I couldn't change any of it.
Pax and I stayed in a corner, whispering to each other or just lying there. Nothing could entertain us whilst the thoughts of what was happening outside existed. My parents tried their best to make conversation with everyone else. My mother talked to Abilene and Iris, whilst my father talked with the twins. I would hear the occasional laugh from the twins, reacting to the stories my father would tell them about when he was younger.
"I want to get out of here," Pax muttered. "I want this to end." I felt like there was more to his words than he was saying. I was afraid of whatever else could be connected to those two statements.
"I know," I tried to assure him. "I want it to finish too." I rubbed circles on his shoulder. "I don't know what to do about it though." My eyes wandered over the group of people in front of me, ensuring that nobody was listening to us.
"If you hadn't met me-"
I cut Pax off by pecking his lips. "Stop," I commanded softly. "I don't want to think about that. I don't want to spiral down that path."
His cheeks turned a light pink. "But really, you wouldn't have to deal with this."
"But I get to deal with this. I get to know you and get to know you. I get to be friends with you and, apparently, develop this relationship. We never know what would've happened if you had never met me."
Pax inhaled deeply, resting his head on my shoulder. "What's going to happen, Farley?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I think it's going to be eventful, maybe this is the calm before the storm." I moved my hand from his shoulder and started to play with his curly hair.
A phone began to ring on the other side of the room. Abilene rushed over to it and answered, "hello?" Relief shone on her face, and she nodded, even though the person clearly couldn't see her.
"How many?" she asked. "There'll be room, but will there be blankets? Food?" She ran a hand through her hair and for the first time, I saw the caregiver persona her pack had been describing. "We can't pile everyone in here, we have to open some windows. We'll have to be quiet then. That's a case of self-control, isn't it?" She sighed after a few moments. "Alright. I'll see you soon."
She hung up the phone and looked at us nervously. She had caught everyone's attention, seemingly unintentionally. "We're having more visitors."
Groans filled the room from various teenagers.
My eyes flickered to Rowan. He would've been the kind to retaliate against the groans. He would be the one to tell jokes to entertain us all whilst we were stuck here. He wasn't doing anything because I was stupid enough to leave him by himself. His colour had improved slightly over the past few hours, which was promising. He should be waking up soon, and I didn't want him to wake up in a room packed with people he didn't know.
Pax took one of my hands in both of his and started to trace the lines on my palm. I appreciated the distraction, but I also acknowledged that it wasn't going to do me any good. The pleasant tingling on my hand wasn't going to make Rowan wake up, it's not going to get rid of any enemies which could potentially be a threat to us.
I sighed and rested my head on the wall. "Pax?" I muttered close to his ear. "There's quite a bit of floor space, have you considered training?"
Pax tilted his head to the side. "I feel like training would be beneficial," he paused for a moment, "Do you want to spar with me?"
I nodded my head before saying, "yes." I didn't have much of a reason not to spar him. The idea that I would hurt him floated around my mind, but I still stood up and helped Pax to his feet.
"We're going to do some training," I announced.
"Train?" Iris asked curiously. "What for?"
"Because I like to train," I teased. "It would help in the future, I'm sure." I didn't want to talk about fighting in the future. The thought wasn't one which disturbed me, but I would rather not consider the impending fight for as long as I could.
"Wait, we get to see you and Pax fight?" Channon asked with excitement.
"We haven't seen that before, we haven't even really seen Pax fight before," Channing added.
I ignored the fact that they didn't seem excited to watch me fight. After all, how often do you see a black wolf fight? "I'll shift first," I told Pax before darting into the bathroom.
It wasn't long before I was facing a growling black wolf. We were quiet as we circled each other, but the threatening growls were necessary to the experience. I wondered what Pax was experiencing, if he could see any more in his wolf form, if he had a good sense of direction, if the growls helped him.
Everyone was gathered around us in a circle. It was like we were in a boxing ring or something, we were the centre of attention.
"What are you waiting for?" Channon asked in an almost-whiney voice.
He opened his mouth to speak again but I pounced towards Pax, barely missing his leg by the skiing of my teeth as he dived away. Everyone in the room held their breath or took a sharp intake.
"Well, they're fighting," Oran mumbled.
Pax sharply turned and kicked his hind leg, missing my nose. I used the opportunity to get underneath him, jumping and rolling around so that he was below me. He had his paws on my shoulders, luckily for him, his arms were longer than mine, so he could keep me away from his neck.
After a while of struggling, I gave up and backed away from him, aiming for his stomach which was in the open. He rolled over and scrambled to his feet. He got dangerously close to Lowell before sharply turning, causing me to nearly run into the poor teen.
"Be careful," Lowell warned, slightly breathless.
I nodded towards him in apology, but that was a mistake as Pax barrelled into me. We rolled across the floor again until I felt teeth on my neck. His warm breath hit my face and his legs held me in place. If we were human, it would be an extremely suggestive position.
I moved my head a few centimetres, nudging his nose with my chin. Instead of crawling off me, he decided to lay on me.
I whined and tried to sit up, but it was no use. I looked down to see Pax looking extremely comfortable. His cheek was pressed against my chest, and he was leaning completely on me.
Sniggers erupted from the audience, to which they received a playful glare.
"Well, I don't think we have to worry about the bed situation," Abilene teased. "I don't think that these two need a bed."
I huffed. I couldn't even hug him because my legs were trapped under him. I tried to get up again, but Pax didn't move.
I was stuck under him for two hours. He had fallen asleep, I think. I couldn't be too sure, as he seemed so calm that he could be asleep. Yet, it had been exactly two hours when he stood up and nudged me.
My body was numb from being so still, so it took me another fifteen minutes to actually be able to move. Everyone had dispersed by that point, the teenagers from Ralph's pack were stationed in a corner, chatting to Iris about their siblings, even though they were all in the same room. Abilene talked quietly to my parents about some battle strategies Abilene enforced in their home back in Quartvear. I found the idea of having an underground bunker and tunnel fascinating, but that would be impossible in Caspian's house.
"That would be them," Abilene said as a knock came to the door. She brushed her hands off on her trousers. "I'll be back in a little bit, hopefully with some warm food and company."
My mother nodded and turned to my father, starting a different conversation.
I had my back pressed against the concrete wall, which shuddered when the door shut behind Abilene. My stomach grumbled.
Pax giggled from his position on my lap. "Hungry?" He asked, smiling up at me.
His dark eyelashes and eyebrows contrasted now more than ever against his paling skin.
"Maybe," I said, trying not to let my sheepishness show. "Are you?"
Pax chuckled again. "Maybe," he repeated.
Silence took over us again. "Where's Abilene?" Oran asked from the table in the corner.
"She's been gone a while, she said she was bringing back company." Channon commented.
"And food," Channing added.
"She has been gone quite a while," my mother agreed. "Should I go and see if she's alright?"
She didn't get any real answer, instead my father stood up. "I will," he announced. "I don't think anyone would see me as much of a threat, but I can still hold my own." He gave my mother a kiss on the cheek before leaving the building.
The appropriate amount of time to wait before becoming concerned was something I didn't know, and I doubted that meant that I was meant to be concerned around five seconds after my father shut the door behind him.
"Oh dear, I hope that everything's alright," my mother said for the fourth time in five minutes.
I took Pax's hand in my own before standing up. "I'll go check on dad, okay?" I asked, mainly to Pax. "It shouldn't take me more than two minutes."
Pax nodded. "I'll count, and if you're longer than two minutes I'll come and get you."
I kissed his temple and left.
Hello Lovelies!
Hope you're all doing well :D
Today's question of the chapter is: Do you have any pieces of jewellery you wear all te time?
I wear studs all the time, butterfly ones at the moment. And I've recently been given a turtle anklet from my cousin- which I use as a bracelet. I used to wear similar ones all the time, but they always broke 😭😭