Chapter 16

Chapter 16

-Farley-

My workday was quick. I had met one new person and signed them up for some classes with Kelsey. It wasn't a busy time in comparison to January, where everyone flooded in to get memberships to motivate them to keep up with their New Year's resolutions. Kelsey and I, along with some of our other colleagues have a chart in the separate staff rooms with our bets on it. It didn't win us much, but it was something fun we liked to do. It made me wonder if they did it when I was a member there and how much money I collected.

I had been thinking of the forest all day. Meeting Pax there had given me some hope of getting to know him better, or helping him in some way. I phoned my mam last night; she scolded me for a good quarter of an hour about going against what Caspian told me to do. I didn't want to argue with her, so I just let her get it all out. It didn't stop me being excited to go back to the forest.

I didn't get to see Mary today. It made me feel some guilt; I had been seeing her every workday for the past six months or so. I had gotten on a different bus, going in the complete opposite direction. I got off at a different part of the woods, for the sake of a few more minutes of contemplation. If I chickened out, then I would have more time to think about it before I did. It took about twenty minutes to get to the place I was used to, the familiar chipped signpost with a single piece of paper behind a display case.

It was a pleasant walk as the wind brushed through my hair, I was even a little bit chilly. I had seen some rabbits along the path, as well as one or two squirrels. They were adorable, but I didn't stop to appreciate the cuteness for too long.

A twig snapped behind me.

Usually, I would've assumed that it was one of those creatures, but my instincts told me to turn around. I felt my ear twitch as I turned my neck. My shoulders, which I didn't even notice had tensed, relaxed at the sight of red between the trees.

"Rowan," I said slowly. "Come out."

The dot of red disappeared for a few moments, then out came Rowan, dragging his sister behind him.

"He told you to come out, don't drag me in this." Iris looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. It was probably the truth; Rowan must've dragged her here.

"You said that you wanted to know where he was going," Rowan argued. "You can't be angry at me when we succeed."

Iris crossed her arms the best she could whilst one was being dragged. "Wanting and finding out are two different things." The two of them had finally reached me.

"Either way, following me is creepy." I pointed at both of them. "Do you think it's alright to just follow people around?"

Iris shook her head whilst Rowan nodded.

"Well, it's not," I told Rowan. "It's called an invasion of privacy. Not that you would know anything about privacy." I turned around and let them follow me.

"What were we supposed to do?" Rowan asked, the sound of his hands hitting his jeans followed. "You weren't telling us where you were going."

"That's because I wanted away from you," I admitted bluntly. "I like my peace and quiet."

"It's not a bad place to get some peace," Iris said. She was walking slower then myself and Rowan, stopping every few feet or so to admire the scenery. "I don't blame you."

"Now hang on there," Rowan said with an offended tone. "Does everyone just want to get away from me?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Not necessarily you." I didn't know what to say in order to make the situation better. "I love you, but you're a bit much."

Iris snorted and hid her face in her hand. "Sorry, but he's not wrong."

Rowan nudged his sister's shoulder and huffed. "Well, you two are...rude." He stomped his feet along the forest floor. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Hopefully, you two are going home." I tried to hide just how hopeful I was. "You got your answer anyway."

"Yes, but not really." Rowan ran up to tap me on the shoulder. "We know you've been going to this particular patch of land, nothing about where you're going and what you're doing."

"Farley might just be going for a walk," Iris interjected. "Leave him alone."

I sent a smile in her direction in thanks. "Yes, see? Listen to your sister." We had stopped moving again. I tried to go a different way, but the path was simple, not a lot of chances for turns. "You've seen all you have to see."

"I don't think so," Rowan argued. "Caspian told us to find out everything."

I spun around to look at the two of them again. "Caspian sent you?"

Iris swiftly whacked her brother over the head. "You weren't supposed to tell him that, you dork." She bit her lip and put her hands behind her back. "Yes."

I groaned, Caspian knew who I was seeing, so why did he send the twins after me? "Fine," I surrendered. "Follow me, I don't care anymore."

Rowan jumped into the air and made a fist with victory. "Get in!" He was much more energetic now, the hurt which he previously felt completely melted away. "Now, where are we going?"

I rolled my eyes and faced the road; they'd just have to find out. I didn't have the patience to explain.

It didn't take long for the three of us to come across the river. Rowan was chatting my ear off the entire time. He asked questions, which I didn't answer. Iris gave her input every now and again, but she preferred to observe the forest. She was picking flowers carefully as we went.

I paused as the bridge came into view. "Stay here," I ordered. The twins nodded obediently, Iris more so than Rowan. I inhaled deeply, then headed for Pax.

"You brought people," he said. "I told you not to."

"Technically, they brought themselves." I shuffled uncomfortably. Even though he couldn't see me, his gaze was accusing. "They followed me here; they don't know who you are."

"Relatable," he muttered. I was sure he didn't want me to hear him. "Who are they?"

"They're my friends," I informed. "They're like us, they're really nice when you get to know them." I smirked a little bit and looked back over at the twins. "Though Rowan is a little too much."

"I am not," Rowan exclaimed. "I'm just the right amount of Rowan." He pouted and crossed his arms, stomping his foot. "Can we come over now?"

Pax huffed out a laugh. "I suppose, thanks for the warning."

Rowan rushed over to us; his footsteps caused the bridge to vibrate. He looked down at his feet and then took a slow step forward. "This bridge isn't safe," he uttered nervously. "I'm gonna stay over here."

Iris shook her head and carefully walked over, her footsteps as light as a cloud. "Nice to meet you, I'm Iris." She held out her hand which wasn't holding the flowers.

I opened my mouth to inform her that he couldn't see her hand, but Pax raised a little bit, and she grasped it gently. "My name is Pax, nice to meet you too."

I leant into the hand railing and turned to Rowan. "You sure you don't want to come over here?"

He shook his head. "No, no. I'm fine on land." It was strange to see him so frightened. "I'm Rowan by the way, I'm sure you knew that."

Pax rocked on his heels and gave a small smile. He waved a little in Rowan's direction. "I'm sure you just heard my name."

The air began to get thick with awkwardness. A strong wind blew through us, making the water splash and Iris cuddle herself.

"It's not meant to be this cold in the middle of summer," Iris complained. "It was boiling yesterday."

Pax hummed and nodded. "It was, I think this is just the coolness before it gets hotter though."

"Don't think that's a good thing," Rowan chimed in. "I don't like it when it's too hot." I snorted. When it got too hot, Rowan reflected a dog extremely well. He would laze around and follow the sun. He claimed to be too hot to do anything, yet his fire truck coloured skin would show everyone otherwise. He just wanted to sunbathe the day away and pretend that training didn't exist.

"You really gotta stay out of the sun," Iris scolded her twin. "We're redheads, so we burn like paper." She had turned round to talk to Pax.

Pax nodded awkwardly, tilting his head to the side. "Why does hair colour mean you burn quicker?"

I groaned as Iris started to explain to him. I side-stepped across the bridge and over to Rowan. "You, okay?"

"Who is he?" Rowan asked in a hushed voice. "He's not one of your friends from school." He pointed back towards Pax, who still had a confused expression on his face. "And when are you going to ask him out?"

I felt like a goldfish as I tried to form words. "I'm not, why would you ask that?" I ran a hand down my face to hide the redness from the heat which rushed there.

"Meeting in the middle of the woods? The way you talk to him? It's rather obvious dude." He whacked me on the shoulder. His eyes were wide and pleading for me to agree with him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I slowly started to move back towards Pax and Iris.

"You do," Rowan argued. He followed me back onto the bridge. "You didn't answer my question."

"Then let's ask Pax." I hurriedly turned towards the other brunette. "Pax, who are you?"

Iris hid a giggle behind her hand. "Getting philosophical there, Farley." She was teasing me. She eyed our feet on the bridge with a calculating stare before her eyes snapped back to my face.

"You know me, all about philosophy," I joked. I didn't mind philosophy, but my teacher didn't like me. I may have argued with him far too often.

"I've been asking myself the question a lot over the past month," Pax said. "Though. I don't quite understand the question?" His tone was cautious with a slight waver.

"Like, why do you live in the forest? What do you do for fun? What's your type?" Rowan listed with a cheesy grin.

I sent him a fierce glare. "None of that's important if you don't want to tell us," I told Pax. "Rowan's just being stupid."

"It's fine," Pax said whilst holding a hand up. "I live in the forest because it's just where I've lived since, I was young. I like to play with marbles and go for runs. I don't know what you mean by type."

Rowan tried to hold back his snickers. Iris had to lean on his shoulder and put a hand around his mouth so that none escaped. It was probably her way of getting back at him for asking the questions in the first place.

"Nobody does," she replied. "Really, it's a question that rarely gets asked other than by doctors when talking about blood." She winced and drew her hand back from Rowan's mouth.

"Oh yeah, yeah. I wasn't asking for his blood type. I'm not a vampire." Rowan wiped at his face, which held a small frown. "I was-"

"He'll be here somewhere," a voice interrupted our conversation.

Pax started to breath heavily. He reached for my hand and started to run. I didn't know why he reached for my hand, but I followed him. He was running the way me, and the twins came.

The twins followed without any argument or further sound. I ended up pulling Pax after a while, his eyebrows were furrowed, and his hand got tighter. He wasn't sure where to go. I led us out to the road.

We had only ran for fifteen minutes, but it was a mad sprint. I leant against a lamp post and attempted to catch my breath.

"Who was that?" Rowan asked, taking deep breaths between each word. He was lying on the floor; it was disgusting but still tempting.

"Kian," I replied for Pax. "His alpha."

Thank you for reading! This may be my regular updating schedule- but I wasn't sure if I was going to update today. However we reached 1k views! So I thought it was a special occasion :D

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