Chapter 36 Comfort

Harlow's POV

The day felt extremely long. When Karim and Emi left, I didn't know what to do. I bombarded the pack with some questions but I didn't have the same excitement which I would probably have. It was very late at night at the moment, around ten pm. I really should be asleep by now, since I'm being forced to go to school tomorrow.

The light in the living room was dim until someone started moving in the hallway. They didn't really have lights here, they had candles and fire. I spotted some torches which used batteries but I assumed they were for emergencies. I shrugged the noises off at first, it could've beens someone going to the bathroom or something. I couldn't ignore it when someone entered the room.

"Oh, sorry." Moss whispered as he looked between Aiden and I. Aiden had been asleep for around half an hour or so. Moss seemed rather awkward as he lingered in the doorway. "Nobody's awake, yeah?" I nodded before shrugging.

"I've not seen anyone for about an hour."Moss nodded and looked towards the bedrooms with a sigh. "Is something wrong?" He looked back to me and crossed his arms.

"Someone's in the forest." I sat up with alertness in my eyes. He didn't seem too stressed about the idea. "I've got to go and find someone who'll check it out with me."

"I will." Ralph entered the room whilst rubbing his eyes. "I've been slacking recently, I should do it." Moss looked at him with surprise. I had jumped at his words, I hadn't noticed that he was awake, nevermind that he was in the hallway.

"You've had a lot on your plate." Moss nodded but unfolded his arms. "Someone else should know though. In case it is something bad." Ralph nodded before walking back to his room. I guessed that he was telling Randall. After a few minutes, he came back and the two werewolves wnet to check out the issue.

I must have fallen asleep not long after that. The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by Randall. "Harlow, you gotta come with me." He sighed in annoyance. I didn't want to imagine how long he'd been trying to wake me up. I made a noise of acknowledgement and his voice seemed to get louder. "Harlow, wake up."

"I don't make noises in my sleep." I mumbled under my breath as I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What?" I didn't really care for politeness at this point. I was tired.

"Karim was the one in the forest." I was more awake. "He's in his wolf form and won't turn back. He's just growling at everyone. He must've found something." I hadn't seen Karim's wolf form before. The possibility of seeing it was something that intrigued me.

"But what's that got to do with me? " I was curious as to why I was being woken up in the middle of the night. "I can't do anything about it." Randall nodded and brushed me off slightly.

"Yeah but you could help. Anyway, We' managed to get him closer to the packhouse." He pulled me up without any effort and tried to pull me towards the door. The amount of energy Randall had in the middle of the night annoyed me. My feet barely lifted off the floor as I was pushed out the door.

"Hi." I waved towards Moss and Ralph as we eventually met up with them. It was much too dark for me to see anything clearly. "So where's-" I was interrupted as I felt something on my leg. I looked down to see a wolf wrapped around my leg. I froze slightly before reaching down and patting him on the head. "I feel like I'm dreaming." I mumbled sleepily. The wolf which attached itself to me didn't move at my comment but allowed me to pat him.

"Aww, he's attached." Moss said with a small smirk on his face. Karim's wolf growled slightly, causing Moss to lift his hands. "Alright I get it. You're like Ralph." He crossed his arms again and lent against a tree. Randall snorted at the comment and Ralph gave a slight glare.

"So, what's happening?" I asked, confusion lacing my voice. I wasn't sure if I had missed anything in ym half-asleep state.

"Waiting for Karim to turn back?" Randall questioned Ralph and Moss. "I'm guessing the information is important." The wolf around my leg curled around me tighter.

It was like a child hugging the tree in the park when they didn't want to go home. Of course, Karim was much stronger than a child and I was no tree. I stumbled a little bit when he got tighter around me and I realised that I had stopped petting him. "Didn't think that this would be how I'd spend my night."

"Don't tell Aiden please?" Ralph asked in a somewhat joking manner. "He's adamant that you go back to school tomorrow. Even if it's a bad idea-" Moss elbowed him slightly. "What?" Moss just shook his head.

I stood there for about half an hour before I gave up. I had to tell Karim to let go of me and we were going to talk about things in the packhouse. I had woken up significantly by this point and saw no need to go back asleep. When we arrived back, I messaged Emi saying that Karim was with us and safe.

She sent me a message back which explained why she couldn't come to the packhouse and that she'd see me tomorrow at school. I shook my head and looked towards Karim, who was still in his wolf form. I recognised it from the website and some of the paintings he had. It was enough to convince me that the other wolves on his walls were actually werewolves.

It took another half of an hour for Ralph, Randall and Moss to give up on Karim turning back. They each went to their room with some disappointed grumbles. One of them had said that it mustn't be too important if Karim didn't turn back straight away.

So I sat on the settee, with a wolf in front of me and my sleeping brother across the room. I chuckled and shook my head. "Definitely not how I thought the night would turn out." Karim itched closer to me.I wasn't scared, yet I still felt myself inching away slightly. "Sorry, this is still a little bit new."

It was as though the wolf huffed slightly before lying down on the floor. He made himself comfortable but he didn't shut his eyes. He just watched me. sadness and betrayal shone in his big brown eyes and it made me uneasy.

"I'm sorry for what you found." He tilted his head slightly in question. "You're sad. You had no intention of coming back." I was still whispering as a slight whimper came from his throat. "Come here." I moved to the floor and held my arms out for him. He walked towards me slowly, as though he was trying not to scare me off.

We had hugged once if at all. I wanted to try and comfort him, but I didn't know how to do so. It left hugs as my only option. It was strange hugging a wolf. It was warm and cosy, it was like having a living and breathing blanket to comfort you. It was the exact thing that I needed in order to peacefully fall asleep.