Chapter 33

-Pax-

I didn't have to wait for long before Mary had a few visitors. I would've paced the living room if I was sure I wouldn't bump into anything or knock anything over. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and my hands became so sweaty I was constantly wiping them on my trousers.

My heart jumped out of my chest when the knock on the door came. My breath hitched and a whine came from the back of my throat. I felt incredibly vulnerable and childish, but I couldn't get around it, I was vulnerable and childish.

"Yes, he's here," Mary confirmed from the passage, I had completely zoned out in panic.

I unnecessarily looked up, only to be engulfed in lavender and sandalwood. "You're okay," Iris said as she hugged me. She was standing and I was sitting, so it was a bit awkward. "What happened?"

"Give him some air Iris," Clementine said from behind her niece. "He looks like he can't afford to lose any." I didn't know what she meant, but it was concerning.

"I-okay," Iris admitted defeat and let me go. "But what happened?"

I could only shake my head with a frown. "I don't know. He went outside and didn't come back, I found his phone and got worried."

The room was feeling claustrophobic now, I couldn't tell how big it was and there were many others here. I could imagine marbles in a tub, the sides closing in on them and causing them to roll over each other.

"It was good that you phoned," Caspian said with a comforting tone. "We were worried too; afraid someone had caught up."

I had been stuck so long in imagining the worst-case scenarios that I had actually forgotten what happened. "Is everyone okay?" I asked, sitting up straighter. My hand tapped my right leg, as though looking for a physical sort of comfort.

"We're fine, they gave up after a few miles," Clementine answered. "We had to split up, but we know this place better than them. We knew where we could go."

That made sense as an advantage. I couldn't imagine Kian using one of those phone map devices or coming into the city.

"Where is he?" Brin's voice broke through the room like a bulldozer. I hadn't heard the door open, but I sure heard it close. "Where's Farley?" His breathing was concerningly heavy.

"He can't be far," Caspian replied. "There's no way that he's not trackable. We just need to know what we're getting into, and we'll get him back."

"Brin, you don't need to barge into people's houses," Lana scolded. Beads clashed against each other rhythmically, the sound of wood colliding was harsh, but calming at the same time.

"She knew that we were coming," Brin retaliated. "What do we need to know?"

"Who took him would help," Rowan answered. It was strange; he was speaking for the first time. He was usually so upbeat and talkative. "How they knew where he could be another."

"Well, if they followed the two of them here, it'd make sense." Iris was now sitting next to me. "They might have waited for a good time to strike, so they didn't expect it."

I nodded. "I couldn't tell if anyone was following us, but it wasn't long...it was just after his phone rang." That was probably why Rowan was quiet.

"They set us up," Clementine said with a gasp. "Oh, I feel stupid now."

"That makes two of us," Caspian commented. "Mary, thank you for helping Pax. Do you mind if we stay here a little longer?"

I opened my mouth in a mute gasp. I had forgotten Mary was here, making blood rush to my cheeks in embarrassment and shame.

"Of course, just know I'm not in the right shape to fight." Mary chuckled. "Not as fit as I used to be."

"Thank you. Pax, can you show me where you found his phone?" Caspian asked.

I stood up and grasped the cane, my cane. The excitement that I felt when holding it had almost diminished by the fear and urgency. I made my way through the room without knocking into anyone and out the back door.

"Oh no," Caspian mumbled. "I should've expected this." I didn't know what he was doing, but he stopped several times in the garden. "This isn't promising." Grass being ripped from the ground confused me, but I didn't want to ask. "Nothing natural being grown."

"What are you looking for?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I can smell wolf's bane," Caspian stated, as though I should know what that was. "It's weak here, but it gets stronger." His voice became higher, not in pitch, but direction.

I reached out for his arm and pulled him towards the bench, but he stopped me before we got too close.

"Yeah, it's near here." A muffled cough escaped him. "The scent of aconite would make it trickier to track him, but the aconite could tell us who took him."

I nodded. "I don't know what the smell is meant to be," I said. Caspian's breathing sounded strange, but I could breathe just fine. I could just smell vinegar. "What's aconite?"

Caspian put a hand on my shoulder, moving me away from the bench. "It's just a flower which is highly toxic."

My heart jumped to my throat. "Toxic?" I repeated. "And someone's got Farley with it?"

Caspian inhaled deeply. "I probably shouldn't have worded it like that, sorry. Yeah, it's toxic, but I don't think anyone's personally out for him, who would know where we live anyway."

His words weren't comforting. "But there were people out for him, it wouldn't be hard to find him if they knew what he looked like. Maybe Kian spread some sort of picture or something?"

"What I mean is," Caspian interrupted. "They would have easily killed him in the back garden."

"Caspian, you're terrible," Clementine said. I hadn't noticed that she was anywhere near us. "What he means is, we're not going to jump to conclusions just yet. We'll follow the trail, see where that takes us."

"Even if it takes us into fire," Rowan added.

"I'm not quite comfortable taking the children," Caspian admitted.

It was as though the entire room inhaled at the same time as a tense silence followed his statement. I didn't know if I counted as one of those children, but I had been left behind for years, never going out. I could survive another time. I would only just hurt Farley more by being a hindrance. I readied my hands to cover my ears for shouting, but none came.

"We'll be coming. Whether it be with you, without you, or with permission," Rowan stated. It was the most serious tone I had ever heard him use.

I did end up covering my ears for most of the conversation, but Caspian could do very little to sway the twins.

I wasn't expecting to be in wolf form darting through the woods that night. My wolf form was apparently as black as the shadows that covered the forest floor; so, I had nothing to worry about when it came to camouflage. I turned into my wolf as the sun's presence became hidden. It was difficult to navigate the house on paws, but I managed with some help from Rowan.

When I came into the living room, gasps filled the air. It made me want to run away and hide. What was so impressive about it?

"We should put you on a leash," Rowan joked weakly. "Use our teeth to pull you along."

A thumping sounded. "He could probably drag you by your teeth," Clementine commented.

Brin, Lana, and Mary were going to stay in Mary's house until we came back. We were just tracking him down for now.

I did end up dragging them behind me, but at least it was planned. Since the Aconite didn't affect me too much, they were more than happy to let me lead. I was unfamiliar with the trees from this angle, and my cautiousness was higher than it had ever been. I acted as a tracking dog until the pack shifted for themselves.

They didn't put a leash on me, thank goodness. Instead, one of them walked beside me. I could tell it was Iris from the smell of lavender and sandalwood, but that wasn't helpful in tracking down the scent of aconite.

Nightlife in the forest was much different to life during the day. It was a lot quieter, and much scarier. I wasn't familiar with it, so every noise made me more anxious.

The bigger the noise, the more comfortable I was. If the noise was loud, then chances are it could be a human or a werewolf, either one was preferred over animals that might think wolf sounded like a nice supper.

Leaves crunched under my paws and warmth came from my right. I ploughed ahead, a path of vinegar and flower leading the way. Not being able to talk felt like a handicap in itself; knowing what surrounded us became even more impossible.

I slowed down, turning slowly. There was something strange about this particular patch of grass, the smell was very strong here.

The warmth, which was on my side increased, becoming heavier. I backed up a few paces with Iris and turned to the other wolves. A head nudged mine, telling me to keep going.

A whine left my throat, I wasn't sure about this.

We could go straight ahead, or we could go to the right, the smell was stronger going right. I changed my direction a few times before shaking my head and continuing forwards. If Iris was struggling, then it would be better to go where the scent is weakest.

It went on for around a mile more, then it became confusing again. The scent moved to the left, but there was still some straight ahead. The only difference was it was diluted. There was more of a familiar scent.

I sped up, the scent driving me and motivating me. Caution was thrown to the wind. He was close, and I didn't care what tried to stop me from getting to him. I started to lead independently, somehow darting past trees. Anything ahead of me became known as the sound of my paws bashing into the ground hit them. I avoided things without comprehending their existence as my thoughts were trained on mint, aftershave, and coffee.

A growl made me skid to a stop. My breathing was heavy, and I couldn't stay still. I turned around to see what the matter was, the warmth returned to my right after a few moments.

Warmth hit my face; the sound of breathing filled my ears. The earth beneath me vibrated, they were catching up. If I were in my human form, I would be blushing in embarrassment.

I was nudged again, but they lingered. I had to slow down, be careful. The scent of vinegar had grown stronger, but the other scent had dispersed. Farley's scent was the centre of my attention.

I walked slowly, jumping when the dirt under my paws turned into cold concrete. I shivered; the floor was wet.

Our steps echoed loudly, disorientating me. I was expecting more violence or resistance. We were close, very close.

Something barrelled into my side, throwing me against the wall. I growled and rolled over, feeling their muscles shift underneath me as they moved. Their head kept hitting me in the face, stopping me from using momentum to sit up.

The weight was thrown off me and another echoey growl sounded. Footsteps and grunts came from my right, but I continued on. I couldn't do anything, and the dark pit of self-hatred was becoming more apparent to me. So, I continued on and did something that I knew I could do.

Someone followed me and two wolves stayed behind. The Farley couldn't be too far. I followed the scent until I was abruptly stopped. I rammed into something hard and cold. I whined involuntarily and sniffed around. Farley was close, he was very close. Why wasn't he here?

"It's a dead end," Iris said from behind me. "We've got to turn around." I hadn't noticed her turn from wolf to human, but I noticed when she turned back into a wolf again. Farley's scent was intoxicating, it was the only thing which I could smell, and it was beginning to drive me crazy. It smelt stronger now than when I was with him.

Iris slowly nudged me, so I was facing the way we came and started to lead the way, until a small click sound came from our left and then a gigantic crashing noise made my bones vibrate.

Iris' whines started quiet and then grew louder and louder. She ran away from me, her footsteps like the water which was dripping somewhere. I slowly followed her to inspect the source of the noise. I didn't want to lose her.

I walked into something again, similarly metallic and hard, but there were gaps in it. The bars went on to cover the entirety of the opening. I paced around the room once, and then again. I got more anxious each time I covered the entire room.

Warmth came to my side again, but it was barely noticeable. I couldn't catch my breath, which was not helped by the suffocating scent and close walls.

"It seems that you can lure a mouse with cheese," a familiar male voice said from behind me. "I have to admit, I'm surprised the plan worked." It was Cedar. 

Hello Lovelies!

I hope that you're doing well :D

My question of the day is; what is your go-to drink? It could be anything! Warm, cold, alcohol... not, still, fizzy etc!

At the moment, and for the past few years, I've been drinking lemon and lime water. It's been convenient and tastes nice. I used to take it to school when I was younger, so it also has a bit of nostalgia :D